Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Jane Espenson. That name has graced the credits of good television shows ranging from Ellen to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's not an actor or director, but one of the best television writers out there.

That's why when I sat down to watch the direct to DVD film, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, only to discover that it was a limp clip show that told a predictable, sloppy story that no one needed to see I wasn't just disappointed, I was insulted.

Personal feelings aside, until I saw The Plan I considered Starship Troopers 3 to be the worst film of the century. Now The Plan easily takes that title. I'd rather watch Starship Troopers 3 three more times than see The Plan again.

Let's get this over with quickly.

Performances:
Functional. The clips from the show were as expected since they were just that, rehashed portions we've already seen. The half of the content that was new was performed functionally, with the exception of the rebels on Caprica. They were convincing and even though we knew what happened and didn't see much of them, I found they were the best part of this movie.

Direction / Editing:
Matching old footage with new material is difficult. They did that adequately but you could tell that several scenes were roughly blocked in by cargo crates or small set pieces piled up to create a backdrop. I also saw some chroma-key work that was so bad that it looked like it was done when the original series was around in the 1970's. That's more of a special effects concern, I realize, but in the scene I'm thinking of there were a number of ways to get around using a green screen entirely, and they should have taken one.

In short, there really wasn't much wrong with the directing but there was absolutely nothing special either. The editing shone for the first 15 minutes of the show and dragged us sloppily from one clip to another for the rest of the film. Considering what they had to work with they may not have had a choice.

Writing
Ronald D. Moore is credited as the "developer of the Battlestar Galactica Series". Glen A. Larson is not credited as the creator in the opening credits. Moore can have it. After the thorough job he's done of crapping in the well during the last season of the series and by approving this "film" I don't think the original creator, Glen A. Larson, should want it back. In fact, Glen A. Larson is working with Bryan Singer to develop the series over again, scrapping Ronald D Moore's "Cylon battle for God's favor" version.

Moore didn't write this movie, but Jane Espenson was interweaving her story through a show she wrote with Ronald D Moore, David Eike and a few others. Moore's misguided notion that we want to see science fiction interwoven with religion (remember Star Trek DS-9? He did it there too), is absolutely tangible throughout The Plan.

The Plan is about the continually failing Cylon plots to finish the destruction of the human race from within, using the Cylon models camped inside the fleet to carry out their carefully planned evil schemes. I don't have time to point out all the holes in that concept, but let's wave to at least one.
When a Cylon operative dies within range of a base ship / resurrection ship they are downloaded into a new body. At many points in this story any one of the blundering Cylon operatives could have chucked themselves out of an airlock, or tossed themselves into a big grindy-thing and voila! Rebirth and fresh intel on the location of those darned, pesky humans. Big base ships would have come in and nuked them into oblivion.

There are even bigger holes, but I won't spoil it for you. This is an artfully written clip show with no redeeming entertainment value. Jane Espenson, credited as the only writer on this film, dropped the ball. It's sad, it truly is because the result looks like a desperate money grab as the Battlestar Galactica franchise dwells in rerun heaven.

If this is the type of story we can expect from Caprica (the prequel Battlestar Galactica series coming up some day), and at any moment any of the machines can be expecting to break into dialog about how they just "want God to take them to his bosom" then I won't be wasting my time.

Overall:
Don't buy it. Don't rent it. Don't even bother stealing it.

RL

[How could you Jane?]

Virtuality - Some of the worst science fiction I've ever seen.

Again, I'm throwing bricks in a glass house, but I just can't keep quiet.

It seems everyone is worshiping the ground Ronald D Moore and his cohorts walk on. Sadly, I'm not drinking the kool-aid.

Jonestown references aside, the "two hour movie" Virtuality is really a television pilot. Critics loved it, which surprised me. I couldn't have disliked it more.

The actors are fine, there are several who I've seen before and they're good performers. The performances are par for the most part with some impressive moments scattered throughout, so I have no complaints there. It's just too bad their considerable talents are wasted on this bit.

The technology the crew uses in this "feature" does not surpass what is available right now. I'm not talking about the unimaginative virtual reality trip the characters go on, but the control systems and gadgets that are used on screen. I can order better than what they have from Hong Kong today. I realize this isn't set in some super-future, but even ten years on we'll have better gadgetry than what we see them interacting with in Virtuality. It was unconvincing.

The pacing and flat direction of this snore fest reminded me distinctly of a film called Silent Running, a hit science fiction film that came out before Star Wars (1972). Silent Running is a film from an era of science fiction we generally do not miss because it was typically drawn out, under featured, under funded and bland. For its time Silent Running was a great film and should be considered a pre-George Lucas classic, but no one's rushing to remake it simply because the film's message is one we hear every day and the pacing isn't something that would keep audiences interested.

That brings me to my next point; the interiors. They were flat, bland, had padded panels everywhere which don't make sense since they'd hamper any efforts to make repairs or take quick measures in an emergency. They also looked like they were designed in the 70's, and I'm not talking the outrageously colourful Austin Powers 70's design, but the 'everything is clean, shiny and perfect' boring 70's design. The garden they show during this pilot is nothing short of pathetic. Even the most advanced genetically modified plant life on earth cannot provide any significant amount of food, medicine, oxygen or anything else in the quantity that they display. I've seen bigger planters in public buildings, frankly.

Now we go on to the general concept of the show. Virtuality is about a vessel that is seeking a new home for us earthlings because we've ruined our planet. It's a ten year voyage so they have an artificial intelligence and a virtual reality system to keep them entertained. The artificial intelligence and virtual reality system is damaged or corrupt causing injury and death. I have a few things to say about how they handled these concepts.

First of all, the flat, emotionless artificial intelligence makes HAL look like an Robin Williams by comparison. Secondly, their idea behind virtual reality is nothing new at all, in fact Star Trek has managed to explore most of the ideas that you'll see in this show (if it gets picked up as a regular series), already. Artificial intelligence is also a factor in Caprica, the upcoming Battlestar Galactical Prequel prime time soap opera from Ronald D Moore and it is handled exactly the same. It's like Ronald D Moore just realized that virtual reality is a solid Science Fiction concept and he's "pressing at the boundaries" of the idea. I have news for him; virtual reality has been around for a very, very long time as a concept as has been demonstrated quite well in films such as The Matrix. He does nothing new in Virtuality, in fact his version of virtual reality is pedestrian and boring for the most part.

The most interesting virtual reality scenario included is a direct rip off of several old anime concepts that isn't adequately explored probably because the writers knew they were ripping off countless anime classics based on the idea of a crime fighting rock star / secret agent rock star. Oh, and the music? Fun the first time it was on screen, but irritating when they revisited the band scene.

Virtuality was also predictable and at times even irritating. The whole thing is sort of packaged as a reality TV show like Big Brother. They do a half assed job of it, making it look a little more like a scripted television series rather than creating an atmosphere for the viewer that is similar enough to a reality TV show to draw them in, to make it more immersive. I didn't feel that I was rooting for one character or another, in fact they gave the most interesting characters the least screen time. This is a problem that plagued Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space Nine, two series that Ronald D Moore worked on extensively.

After seriously blundering with the whole last season of Battlestar Galactica it shouldn't surprise me that Ronald D Moore and others from that show have managed to thorougly cock up Virtuality right from the start. Why does this matter? I'll tell you. If this show performs poorly it makes all the network execs think twice about other science fiction shows. If it performs really well and continues to be this bland and terrible, then network execs will actually ask; "is it like Virtuality?" whenever someone else comes along with a good science fiction show pitch.

In all honesty I hope this show turns into something decent when it gets picked up as a regular series. Many space science fiction shows without a big franchise behind them fail, it would be nice to see this show turn around so well that I end up eating my words (that happened with the Sarah Conner Chronicles), but I don't see it happening. I'll watch the show if it gets picked up as a series in hopes that they somehow take this very thin concept and develop it into something worthwhile regardless of the terrible pilot and I suggest any science fiction fan does the same. If anything it's good to support science fiction TV, at least for a few episodes. I guess the biggest reason for my disappointment is because I know Ronald D Moore can do better, much better.

Well, that's my rant, I'm finished throwing stones in this glass house for a little while. Now back to work on Spinward Fringe Rogue Element. I'll try not to pull a Ronald D.

RL

[What did you think of Virtuality? Speak amongst yourselves in the comment section!]

Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis: Bridging the Gap

I don't write spoilers. Not for my own projects and not for anything else. Now that I've gotten that out of the way and you know that this little article is spoiler safe, let's get on with it.

Like a few other million people around the globe I eagerly await each and every episode of this little series called Battlestar Galactica. Producer / Writer Ronald D Moore has a talent for keeping us glued to the screen. The first time he did it for me was when he was working on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The only time he lost me was when Star Trek DS9 when he got all religious. That was so terrible that I didn't see the series finale until years later.

Let's let the past reside right where it belongs; way the frack behind. I say that because the new Battlestar Galactica uses all the classic elements of the original series and introduces important new factors. With a female president and Starbuck with along with few other transformed and invented elements the show feels new and shiny. Well, not quite, since they do such a great job of making everything look so used and dirty. The work they've done has been enough to carry this new show much further than the original.

Over the years since this show first started airing it has become a staple to science fiction fans, as much as the various Star Trek series were, as much as Buffy or Angel were. There's a certain group of core fans that need science fiction content on television, they're discriminating, they demand quality, but that doesn't mean that they won't watch bad science fiction. They watch it, and they tear it to pieces on the Internet. Other science fiction fans read the posts and blogs. The same happens when a show like Battlestar Galactica goes wrong, those core fans are the first to scream. Funny thing, we're seasons in and I don't hear much screaming yet, that's a good thing. A welcome change if you ask me. Battlestar Galactica has not reduced in quality at all as far as I'm concerned, and as we watch the last few episodes for the next several months, I'm looking forward to finding out where this wild ride goes. If you haven't seen this show yet, you should know it's available on iTunes and DVD, I highly recommend it.

There's one other point that I feel is really important to mention. Battlestar Galactica came just in time. Star Trek Enterprise flopped and disappeared, Stargate SG-1 came to an end after 10 seasons (watch out for the straight to DVD movies!), Firefly was slapped down fast by Fox (need a big damn sequel!), and most of the other shows weren't that great. Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis has bridged the hungry, lonely gap for us Science Fiction lovers. It has been a dark few years where deep space futuristic science fiction is concerned.

In about 10-12 episodes Battlestar Galactica ends for good, forever. This is a decision that I'll back all the way. I say it's better to call an end to something well before it ceases to be at it's best. That way, when I pop the DVD collection into my player I don't sit there thinking; too bad the last season sucked. We are left with a classic that may stand the test of time. Now THAT is rare in this environment where the big networks don't trust their showrunners unless their show is an instant hit and can draw massive advertising revenue. Something inside me will still miss awaiting new BSG episodes on Friday nights. I think it's my inner child.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, however! This September Caprica, a prequel series in the same universe as Battlestar Galactica, begins. In July Stargate Atlantis comes back with a new season and I can't wait. This summer the animated series; Star Wars: The Clone Wars launches with a major motion picture release. The rest of the series will air on the Cartoon Network in half hour episodes every week. George Lucas has informed the world that the new live action Star Wars series was in the works as of fall 2008 and we should see it sometime in 2009 or 2010. In May of 2009 the new Star Trek movie, a franchise reboot under the direction of J.J. Abrams of Lost fame, will premiere. That's just the stuff that's set in outer space, there's a lot more science fiction that's set on or near earth, in current day or not long from now.

The future of science fiction is looking a little brighter again, and I'd be remiss if I forgot to thank Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis for keeping us all entertained while we waited for it to happen. Here's to you!

Cheers!

RL

Hey, if science fiction gets really popular, maybe I could get my own little First Light show on television?