Most helpful customer reviews
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligently Sensational!, April 25 2009
Before watching this show i was a little hesitant to give it any credit as a legitimate show, because spinoffs never really seem to be as good as the original. However, after watching Caprica,i was blown away. I am a big Battlestar Galactica fan,but even for those who may not know much about Battlestar Galactica,it is still a very well thought out story of the origins of the previous series. There are some very interesting philisophical questions proposed in this show that really makes you think deeply about what it means to be human, and whether death is really the end of life. This movie is also a little grittier than the Battlestar series since theres more nudity and violence present,but it does not detract from the engaging story line. I am not sure if this show will be successful as an entire series, since alot of the major plotlines of the overall story are presented,but this movie is phenominal on its own. It's a definite must for any Battlestar Galactica fan, or those who like science fiction or for those who like to think about a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Genesis of the Cylons, Jun 6 2009
"Battlestar Galactica" has barely ended, and already a spinoff series is being trotted out by the Sci Fi (or Sy Fy as they now call themselves) Channel.
Fortunately "Caprica" (a pilot to the forthcoming spinoff) is no quick cash-in on its parent series' success. Okay, the fate of humanity doesn't yet hang in the balance, and there are no space battles at all -- but it maintains the same suspense, intelligence and philosophical musings as "Battlestar Galactica" had, even as it shows how Adama and the Cylons came to be.
A pair of secretly monotheistic teens -- Zoe Graystone (Alessandra Toreson) and her boyfriend Ben -- are running away from Caprica to escape the decadent polytheistic culture. But then Ben turns out to be a suicide bomber, and destroys the lev train.
Two men are left to deal with their grief in the aftermath -- prominent cybernetic inventor Daniel (Eric Stoltz), and mob-connected Tauron lawyer Joseph Adams (Esai Morales), who lost his wife and daughter in the explosion. As the Caprican government starts ruthlessly hunting for monotheists, the two men bond. But then Daniel finds that Zoe is not completely gone -- in an orgiastic virtual rave, she left behind a virtual "echo" that has all her memories, feelings, and even experienced her death.
Believing that the avatar can bring Zoe back from the dead, Daniel is determined to somehow put her avatar in a robotic body -- and offers the same to Adams. At first Adams is desperate enough to agree, even to sacrificing his principles to get a vital piece of machinery for Daniel. But their ethics drive the two men in opposite directions, as Daniel's obsession drives him to spawn something terrible...
It's pretty obvious that "Caprica" is meant as the pilot of a TV show, because there are too many plot threads (the monotheists, Lacey's involvement, the Adama family's changes) left floating in the air with no resolution. Not to mention that final scene, which will leave you shrieking, "What next? What next? What's gonna happen next?"
That said, it has the promise of being a truly brilliant piece of work -- the writers deftly interweave topics of racism, religious oppression and misguidance, sorrow, and the existence of the soul (do our memories alone define us, or do we have something more?). And they spin up a totally believable world in Caprica, which is a wee bit more advanced than our world but essentially the same, with rebellious teens, Mafia-esque mobs, smooth downtown buildings and a seething undercurrent of sex'n'blood decadence.
The first half of "Caprica" is a bit slow, especially since it mainly focuses on how rotten Daniel and Joseph feel. But once Daniel discovers virtual-Zoe, the story blossoms into a beautifully tense tango between the two men, full of quietly poetic dialogue ("Sometimes faith can be a victim of chance") and some eerie horrific moments (Joseph's reunion with his dead "daughter"). The last ten minutes truly links "Caprica" to "Battlestar Galactica."
Both Stoltz and Morales do brilliant jobs here. Neither Daniel nor Joseph is portrayed as a bad guy, but one of them allows his obsessions to carry him into dangerous territory, while the other has lines that he's determined not to cross. Torresani is also quite good as a fierce young woman who wants to change the world, and her digital avatar, and Polly Walker gives a solid if brief performance as a serene young teacher with a secret.
"Caprica" is a solid start to the proposed spinoff series, although the wide-open ending keeps it from quite working on its own. Still, a little something to tide people over until the series really gets going.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A surprise homerun!, Oct 6 2009
I started watching Battlestar Galactica on DVD the day the series ended, several months ago. I fell in love with the series and subsequently bought all the sets, and I was estatic to learn there was going to be a prequel. However, as time drew on, I began to worry that it would be entirely off base and not remotely similar to the tense, gritty, militaristic Battlestar Galactica.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Caprica isn't a ripoff of Battlestar, but it's a self-contained show in its own right that frequently references and incorporates events and themes that were present in Battlestar. It's more of a exploratory drama in a sci-fi setting, and I believe that is what the creators have gone for.
As far as the plot, I can't say too much without spoiling. Suffice it to say that the movie (and the upcoming series) revolves around several elements, such as ethical concerns, cultural dynamics, and family life. It also deals with the creations of the Cylons.
The hard, hard, hard-core BSG-philes might not like the movie because it isn't BSG at all. And it's not trying to be. But it's a great movie, and will hopefully be a great show, and it is in its own way an homage to the groundbreaking Battlestar Galactica.
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