Actually the "torture of prisoners" issue was dealt with in Season 1 as well (in "Flesh and Bone"). The problem isn't the way they deal with controversial issues (though it is getting a little heavy-handed); it's in the general writing, weak pacing, and lack of direction. For one thing, season 1 had a good mix of different kinds of episodes, to give the viewer some breathing room. Bleaker episodes like "33" and "Flesh and Bone" were occasionally offset by more upbeat episodes like "Hand of God" and "Colonial Day" (and even some comic relief in "Six Degrees of Separation"). And it had a very strong sense of direction. The season was structured clearly to end with the discovery of Kobol and the realization of a subtle mysticism that had been subtly hinted at throughout the season.
Season 1 also had an immediacy and mystery that's lacking now. Moore himself referred in an interview once to one of the biggest problems they had on Star Trek--the fact that enemies who are initially frightening can become much less intimidating the more you best them (and get to know them and their flaws and weaknesses). The Cylons were initially a force of nature, a mystery with an unknown agenda. But, in subsequent seasons, we've seen so many of their flaws, so many of their weaknesses. And so they seem to have lost that intimidating air of mystery that they once had. And whatever "plan" they had at first seems to have fallen by the wayside at this point.
)Why don't we compromise and call it based on the country of origin (BBC shows have series, U.S. shows have seasons) and leave it at that? Must we argue over EVERYTHING?
If it wasn't blatantly obvious to you, even on the first viewing, then I can't help you. But there are tons of interviews with Ronald Moore and David Eick where they elaborate on this, if you really need them to draw you a picture. Here is a good quote from Moore that sums it up nicely:
Looking at it in a post-9/11 world, brings with it a different resonance than it did [in 1978]. It's a surprisingly dark premise. Twelve entire planets are wiped out in the pilot; entire civilizations destroyed and the survivors are on the run from the enemy. They're not heroically doing anything except trying to survive and hunting for a place called Earth... In the original version, where the characters are coming to peace, and in the version I want to tell where they are at peace, suddenly this bolt from the blue happens and it just shocks their collective psyche in a very profound way... What happens to the people in Galactica is what happened to us in September, but in several orders of magnitude larger. It's sort of like saying September 11th happens, but the only people who survive are the people inside the Twin Towers. So it feels like what we'll be able to do is play out the psychic and emotional reverberations of that kind of an apocalypse through the characters and through the series.
Well, yeah, it's relative of course. It's sort of like pointing out that "The Simpsons" has declined in greatly in quality. Even at their absolute worst, they're still better than 90% of everything else out there. BSG is still easily one of the best TV series of all time, even with the decline. But in the miniseries and 1st season, it was THE best TV series of all time.
It's funny, I expected to really hate it too. When I heard they were remaking Battlestar Galactica and casting Starbuck as a woman, my first thought was "Oh great, another cheeseball, politically-correct retread that pales in comparison to the original." Boy was I wrong. At first I wasn't even going to watch the miniseries, but at the last minute I decided to and it absolutely floored me. It was one of the most aggressively brilliant pieces of television I have ever seen, before or since.
It was also the first serious attempt to deal with 9-11 that anyone had done up to that point, and it was absolutely gut-wrenching. The idea of tying the premise of a fairly cheesy 70's TV series into 9-11 now seems so obvious, yet who would have thought of it at the time? There is no way you could have made this remake at any other time, or gave it that kind of brutal impact. The shot of those nuclear explosions blanketing Caprica left me just stunned. And seeing that Raptor lifting off and leaving Helo behind was heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.
And, amazingly, it got even better in the first season.
The miniseries and first season of BSG was probably the best science fiction even made for television. But it has declined significantly in quality since then. I'm actually glad this is the last season of the show (since it allows them to give a definite conclusion to the series before it declines even more, and gives them a focus that they lacked in season 3). Making follow-up movies or series is a mistake, and it would only tarnish the name of a once-brilliant series.
I will NEVER give any one company the power to switch off my entire music or movie collection with the push of a button, or because of a computer error, or because their company went bankrupt or got sold.
Last year, when I needed to upgrade my PC, I ordered a new motherboard and new processor for a fraction of what it would have cost me to buy a whole new system. Is it just a "once true bias" that you can't do anything like that with the Mac? This grumpy nerd likes that he has the option to build his own PC and upgrade it in any way that he sees fit. That's something you can't do (and likely will never be able to do) with a Mac.
That's all well and good if you're a hipster or computer newbie with money to burn. Not so great if you want value or a system that you can build to your liking.
I'm sure there are state laws which specify X number of handicapped spaces at workplaces and retail businesses, whether their property is "private" or not. Just try that "this is private property, we can do what we want here" crap with OSHA sometime and see what happens.
No Apple is only the "king of cool" because they've *convinced* a bunch of people that they're the "king of cool." They're masters of style, flash, and smug hipness. But to the uninitiated (i.e., us Windows and Linux-using non-hipster heathens); their computers and devices are just proprietary, difficult to repair and upgrade, significantly overpriced for their specs, a pain-in-the-ass to develop for, and locked-down tighter than a ugly nun in Salt Lake City.
A brain aneurysm or massive stroke that killed your brain (while in the hospital) but left everything else untouched would be "best" in such a scenario, I suppose. The brain isn't worth anything as a transplant organ.
The target market in this case bring smug suckers who equate flash and hype with quality.
Re:One future cadaver for sale, liver not included
on
The Real Body Snatchers
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· Score: 2, Funny
It would have to make you a little nervous. But, in practice, it's very unlikely that a company would ever risk a major go-to-jail-for-a-very-long-time-loose-everything scandal just to harvest a few bodies a little early. They would just adjust their rates accordingly.
I've got a middle finger that I would gladly give George W. Bush for free.
One future cadaver for sale, liver not included
on
The Real Body Snatchers
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· Score: 2, Interesting
A recent staple of science fiction is the story of people optioning their body parts for money while they're still living (companies pay you based on the value of said parts and the odds that your body will still be intact at death and not crushed in a car accident or something). Personally, I think this is not so unlikely as many science fiction scenarios. After all, about the only thing standing in the way are medical ethics regulations, and when times get tight, you can bet that corruption will put a stop to those.
Guy is deep in debt. His kids have had to leave their private school. His furniture has been reposed. The sheriff has put up a foreclosure notice on his front door. He comes home smiling. His wife asks him why he's smiling.
Is it going to come with cablecard support? Because, if it doesn't, what the Hell good is it? Almost all HD programming comes over cable or satellite (except a few local OTA stations).
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Well, you obviously know better than Ronald Moore of David Eick what BSG is all about.
Season 1 also had an immediacy and mystery that's lacking now. Moore himself referred in an interview once to one of the biggest problems they had on Star Trek--the fact that enemies who are initially frightening can become much less intimidating the more you best them (and get to know them and their flaws and weaknesses). The Cylons were initially a force of nature, a mystery with an unknown agenda. But, in subsequent seasons, we've seen so many of their flaws, so many of their weaknesses. And so they seem to have lost that intimidating air of mystery that they once had. And whatever "plan" they had at first seems to have fallen by the wayside at this point.
)Why don't we compromise and call it based on the country of origin (BBC shows have series, U.S. shows have seasons) and leave it at that? Must we argue over EVERYTHING?
Well, yeah, it's relative of course. It's sort of like pointing out that "The Simpsons" has declined in greatly in quality. Even at their absolute worst, they're still better than 90% of everything else out there. BSG is still easily one of the best TV series of all time, even with the decline. But in the miniseries and 1st season, it was THE best TV series of all time.
Geez, even that Cylons aren't THAT ruthless.
The "Enterprise" cancellation wasn't murder. It was a mercy killing.
It was also the first serious attempt to deal with 9-11 that anyone had done up to that point, and it was absolutely gut-wrenching. The idea of tying the premise of a fairly cheesy 70's TV series into 9-11 now seems so obvious, yet who would have thought of it at the time? There is no way you could have made this remake at any other time, or gave it that kind of brutal impact. The shot of those nuclear explosions blanketing Caprica left me just stunned. And seeing that Raptor lifting off and leaving Helo behind was heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.
And, amazingly, it got even better in the first season.
The miniseries and first season of BSG was probably the best science fiction even made for television. But it has declined significantly in quality since then. I'm actually glad this is the last season of the show (since it allows them to give a definite conclusion to the series before it declines even more, and gives them a focus that they lacked in season 3). Making follow-up movies or series is a mistake, and it would only tarnish the name of a once-brilliant series.
I will NEVER give any one company the power to switch off my entire music or movie collection with the push of a button, or because of a computer error, or because their company went bankrupt or got sold.
Here's to Brad Pitt having a stroke on the same day that my body is crushed in a machine press.
That's all well and good if you're a hipster or computer newbie with money to burn. Not so great if you want value or a system that you can build to your liking.
Ah, the all-to-rare Dennis Leary reference. If you were a girl, I would propose to you right now for that one.
I'm sure there are state laws which specify X number of handicapped spaces at workplaces and retail businesses, whether their property is "private" or not. Just try that "this is private property, we can do what we want here" crap with OSHA sometime and see what happens.
No Apple is only the "king of cool" because they've *convinced* a bunch of people that they're the "king of cool." They're masters of style, flash, and smug hipness. But to the uninitiated (i.e., us Windows and Linux-using non-hipster heathens); their computers and devices are just proprietary, difficult to repair and upgrade, significantly overpriced for their specs, a pain-in-the-ass to develop for, and locked-down tighter than a ugly nun in Salt Lake City.
A brain aneurysm or massive stroke that killed your brain (while in the hospital) but left everything else untouched would be "best" in such a scenario, I suppose. The brain isn't worth anything as a transplant organ.
Whoever modded this off-topic isn't much of a thinker.
The target market in this case bring smug suckers who equate flash and hype with quality.
It would have to make you a little nervous. But, in practice, it's very unlikely that a company would ever risk a major go-to-jail-for-a-very-long-time-loose-everything scandal just to harvest a few bodies a little early. They would just adjust their rates accordingly.
I've got a middle finger that I would gladly give George W. Bush for free.
A recent staple of science fiction is the story of people optioning their body parts for money while they're still living (companies pay you based on the value of said parts and the odds that your body will still be intact at death and not crushed in a car accident or something). Personally, I think this is not so unlikely as many science fiction scenarios. After all, about the only thing standing in the way are medical ethics regulations, and when times get tight, you can bet that corruption will put a stop to those.
"Because I just won $50 on a lottery ticket!"
Actually, the Nigerians don't actually have astronauts. The AIDS and malnutrition have just made them delusional.
Is it going to come with cablecard support? Because, if it doesn't, what the Hell good is it? Almost all HD programming comes over cable or satellite (except a few local OTA stations).