Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 [Blu-ray]

 

 

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One of my favorite television series of all time along with 'The Wire'
and 'Breaking Bad'.

Like 'The Wire' this is a complex, Dickensian study of human nature,
not afraid of asking big questions, and meticulously plotted like a
great novel, so that each episode is a chapter in a much larger whole.

Just as 'The Wire' used the overly familiar cliché' world of the cop
show to jump off from and shatter our preconceptions, and 'Battlestar
Galactica' uses the sci-fi series, and the idea of human versus robot
wars the same way.

This is thinking person's sci fi, in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke,
or Isaac Asimov. It's about why we are how we are, what it means to be
a human being, morality under constant pressure in times of war,
fathers and sons, impossible loves, metaphors for modern and recent
politics and real world situations.

My wife, far from a sci-fi fan was hooked after 3 episodes, and we tore
through 5 years of shows in just a few days. It's that addicting.

The acting is all at least quite good, and some cast members are
remarkable, creating characters full of depth, complexity and
contradiction. The writing is terrific, allowing the characters to
change and grow, but always in ways that make sense, creating seemingly
inexplicable conundrums, only to find surprising, sometimes shocking -
but ultimately logical and satisfying - ways to explain where they've
taken us. The special effects are generally very impressive for TV,
even if they're not really why you watch this show.

It also has some of the most tense episodes of television I've ever
seen, and some of the season enders left me completely wrung out and
blown away. I was sad to get to the last episode, just as one is sad to
finish a great book.

I haven't bought it in other forms, so I can't compare, but generally
the blu-ray set (the non-Cylon box) is quite complete, and well packaged.
However, I have read accounts that quality control was a bit of a problem
and I didn't escape the bugs. On a couple of my discs there was
a slight 'pulse' to the image at times. At first I thought perhaps
it was a strange, but intentional, lighting effect, but looking at it carefully
it seemed more a reproduction problem.

This isn't just the intentionally added grain, a look I don't love, but accept
as an artistic decision.

Since then, I've read similar comments from others, so I'm not crazy
(or at least not in this case!). So, if you do order this, you might want
to make sure it's returnable, and try to do a quick quality check the best
you can. Of course, if the problem is intermittent, and mostly in the later
discs, as was in my case, by the time I saw it it was way too late
to ask for an exchange.

None-the-less, for me, the quality of the content way over-rode the
occasional image problems (and I'm a perfectionist - my wife
never noticed the pulsing until I pointed it out.).

As far as getting the individual seasons on blu-ray, it looks as though
you can do better buying the box set, although prices fluctuate
quickly here on Amazon and elsewhere, so I'd advise you do the math
and figure out the most reasonable way to own the complete set.

Also, Amazon UK currently has a complete region free blu-ray box
set for about $100 with shipping. It seems to have all the same extras
as the US box set. Well worth considering as long as the price holds up.

FRIENDS TOLD ME BUY THIS IF YOU LIKE SCIENCE FICTION FINALLY, I BROKE DOWN AND BOUGHT SEASON 1. WOW! GREAT ACTING, GREAT STORYLINE { FOR THE MOST PART}

I JUST BOUGHT THE COMPLETE SERIES AND IM HOOKED !!

ITS GREAT

If you're reading this, I'm sure you know how awesome the show is... Needless to say, the quality of the Blu-Ray version is top-notch, with great sound and image and interesting bonuses.
The problem I found is ordering cardboard-like material (here - the Blu-Ray package of BG's season 1 in Blu-Ray) from Amazon. If I ordered a "physical" Blu-Ray instead of renting or buying from iTunes, it's because I'm a fan of the series and want the Blu-Rays as a collector. So, like with previous purchases of previous cardboard-like DVDs, I am regularly disapointed by the shape of the products I receive - damaged boxes, torn corners, etc. Sure, it doesn't change the quality of the show nor does it prevent me from watching it. But it makes me regret that, for only a couple of $ of difference in the price, I chose not to buy a clean, not damaged, one from a "physical" store near where I live, and have to live with the not-so-great-looking $80 Blu-Ray.
Can't say how much I like the show. But I'll just stop ordering that kind of material from Amazon - I got disapointed for the last time. Oh - I also ordered "The Plan" which is a "regular" Blu-ray (not cardboard for the core packaging) and it arrived intact. I think you got my point...

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