Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Is that a Cylon in your pocket or are you just glad to see me again?
Tags: Battlestar Galactica (series) Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 3rd, 2009
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan starts out enigmatically enough, which fits in with the series. One of the reasons why Battlestar Galactica was so good was that it raised issues and asked questions that made the viewer find their own answers.
“The colonies of man lie trebled beneath our feet.” It is the act of the Cylon attack from their viewpoint that really kicks things off with some interesting perspective. Longtime viewers of the series have been waiting to see this and The Plan delivers.
Things move quickly from the initial invasion to what happened in the first season, again, from a different perspective and adding some dimension to the proceedings. We see plenty of major plot points fleshed out from throughout the series regular run, but what I was expecting was some of the buildup to the initial invasion and holocaust.
The film is directed by Edward James Olmos, but there are plenty of scenes lifted from the bulk of the series regular run, so somebody is getting the short end of the stick as far as credit is concerned. Also, since it is not rated, they could get away with some stuff that wouldn’t normally happen. Since this wasn’t broadcast (as originally planned) we get a little nudity.
The whole thing is a bit anticlimactic, because it’s like looking at snapshots of a sports game that you attended, but taken from a different section of the stadium. Do we get the ultimate answer as to why the Cylons attacked? Well, yes, but much like the series it is still left open to interpretation. There is no real plot, so we’re left with these snapshots.
Don’t get me wrong, these snapshots are worth looking at, because the subject matter is so compelling. Also, within the first moments of the film we get one of the beiggest secrets from the series discussed. There are so many spoilers from the series as a whole that this is very much not something to watch as an introduction to the seres.
Special features start off with about 15 minutes of deleted scenes – in standard definition. Why aren’t these in high definition like the rest of the feature? Lame decision on Universal’s part.
The real special features kick off with an audio commentary with director/actor Edward James Olmos and Jane Espenson, who acted as both screenwriter and producer for The Plan and is going to be the showrunner for the upcoming prequel series Caprica. The two of them have plenty of gaps in what they have to say, but when they get on topic, they really have a good analysis of the movie, series, characters and plenty more that fans will want to check out. As for the featurettes, they total up to less than 40 minutes, with the longest one looking at the visual effects. Another looks at Edward James Olmos’ turn as a director. Then we get some character analysis of the Cylons. Really, these all should have been expanded and strung together to create a much more comprehensive and less disjointed look at The Plan and how it fits into the Battlestar Galactica series.
Don’t watch The Plan before the whole of the series, as it is like watching The 6th Sense for a second time. The Plan is a nice look at a different perspective, but a little underwhelming. For fans looking for “just a little more” will find it here.
Oh, the Blu-ray and the DVD are both exactly the same.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + Interesting view of events | 6.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Slow pacing - Not as many answers as one would hope - Lackluster special features |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Don't watch this without having seen the whole of the series. Serious fans only. | |
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Tags: Battlestar Galactica (series)
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 3rd, 2009 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
