Battlestar Galactica - Season Three Reviews

• A great show proves its greatness, and then loses its footing

  
  By A33L7G4E8CID3 on 2008-01-11
  Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica took over a bit after the second season finale, which found most of our heroes stranded on the dismal planet of New Caprica, under Cylon oppression, and with the odds tilted heavily against them in terms of being able to mount an effective resistance. The series's third season starts out with four episodes that must rank among the very best of the series, which detail the covert resistance against the Cylon occupation. It's four hours of television full of modern-day resonance, as we see the "good guys" grappling with the ethics of suicide bombings, and the "bad guys" are somewhat sympathetic as they sit in their councils and wonder why the humans aren't taking advantage of the great new order they have been promised. The lines are blurred, to some extent, and the fact that this does not come off as political agitprop (from the left or right) is a testament to series god Ronald D. Moore, whose conviction and attention to detail in setting up the political and personal implications of occupation is plausible and impressive. Characters are continually making sacrifices for what they think is right, regardless of what side of the conflict they take, and we see real courage all around. It is, in sum, a truly satisfying four hours of television. And the episode that follows immediately afterward, which involves secret trials for collaborators, is another masterpiece, especially in how it looks at Starbuck's feelings about her role (or lack of one) in the resistance, and it reminds us just how closely the personal and political can be entangled.
  
  So, for the first quarter of the season, this show put out some great television. It's a pity that it couldn't keep up the pace. Instead, it seemed like as soon as our heroes found their way back aboard Galactica the show immediately lost any forward motion, preferring variations of stock stories like the infamous "people trapped in the mine" episode (A Day In The Life). At times, it doesn't feel like the arc of the series is being advanced at all--the episode with the evil, racist doctor is one such episode (The Woman King). And the show's focus gets broader to encompass the travails of the fleet's working class (Idle Hands) in an episode that feels like a lack of focus. Hell, that could be the entire season summed up in a nutshell--after a terrifically focused opening salvo and before the pretty good three-part finale, it seemed as the show had lost any sense of forward momentum. It frequently felt like the show was just going from week to week, and that the episodes could really be viewed in any order--this is not entirely true, as the story arcs were frequently advanced in minor ways in these episodes, but for a show that has all been about the big picture and all about the arcs from day one it is incredibly frustrated to have to watch all these intrinsically trite and uninteresting storylines, presumably intended to add more "depth" to the series, but that I suspect were included to entice more viewers to tune in. The gambit failed, and perhaps they'll be gone in the next (and final) season. Nevertheless, it is enough to make one doubt the show's trajectory as it concludes.
  
  This is not to say that the season was a wasteland between the beginning and ending episodes--I felt that the Kat episode "Maelstrom" was actually quite good and appropriate, and the midseason two-parter in which the humans and Cylons square off over a planet that might just hold the key to the location of Earth certainly held my attention. But these were rare exceptions, countered with heavy doses of episodes like "Hero" that were impossible to care about even at the time one is watching them. Let's hope that the show is able to rediscover in its final season that ambition and vision that made the show such a hit in the first place.
  
  

• Every season gets better and better

  
  By A204ETWOV23HO4 on 2008-01-08
  Some of the best writing in TV is in Battlestar Galactica. As well as some of the best acting.
  
  All seasons have been great, but this one is particularly excellent - the characters and the people are truly struggling and striving to survive. Not a season of space battles, like the previous ones, but a season of introspection and character development. As well as a fair number of plot twists and "Whoa! I didn't see that coming!" moments.
  
  I am constantly amazed at the depth of the writing in this series. It is filled with creative and complicated plot lines; many plot twists; and terse writing that is so efficient, that I often have to rewind and listen to a part of a scene again to get all the words. This series has the least amount of exposition of any show I remember seeing. It can make following what's happening difficult, but it makes for far more exciting and interesting story telling.
  
  If you are new to Battlestar Galactica, I suggest that you start with the movie and then work your way through the seasons. The episodes don't exist very well on their own, since they are all intertwined in one grand narrative that one needs to watch from the beginning.
  
  I think this series is brilliant. And not just as a science fiction fan, but also as a fan of writing and story telling in general. Technically, Battlestar Galactica is excellent. The story line is also compelling, watching a small group of human beings trying to find their way back to their ancestral planet of earth while they deal with issues of religion, mythology, lost and altered history, and fight their own mechanical creations which are more fundamentalistically religious than the human who created them.
  
  Great stuff!
  
  

• Battlestar is the greatest show, but this was its weakest season

  
  By A1F7SX3GNVBNE3 on 2008-02-05
  Battlestar Galactica's new incarnation is superb entertainment. The first two seasons were the best show on television, SciFi or otherwise. Huge themes, such as an apocalyptic vision of the end of the world born of the robot servant's revolt (the Cylons); or a theory of human genesis that posits sister worlds, is interwoven with minute intimate personal detail of fascinating charaters. Characters are explored - their pasts delved into to reveal their evolving natures. These individual threads are picked up and engage the main threads and build towards exciting conclusion after exciting conclusion. The central plot - humanity's struggle against the robot Cylons is nuanced as well. There are moments of savagery on the part of the humans, and moments of odd tenderness, vulnerability, and spirituality on the part of the Cylons. Like life, there is little black or white. Hated characters become humanized, then loved. Characters evolve and change. They are scarred by their experiences (physically and psychically) - and are never again the same. This all increases the sense of reality and our (the viewer's) sense of involvement. Many of the plots echo current events - New Caprica looks like Iraq, for example. The writing, on the whole, is exemplary.
  
  Battlestar's staging succeeds as well. The special effects advance the state of the art for television. As others have noted, technology does not dominate. In fact, many key technologies are familiar - or even retro: they use telephone handsets with intermittent audio problems; guns shoot bullets; space fighters look like 1960s jet fighters; "Dradus" looks like contemporary radar; books are on paper (albeit with a trapezoid shape); their computers are not networked by design. Like the rest of the writing, even these small details are explained and woven into the plot - the anti technology slant is a reaction to the Cylon's revolt. This allows the plotting and writing to remain in the fore - transcending the SciFi genre. I didn't even mention the subtle and addictive language "Galactica speak" that you will soon be talking (if you don't already). This is some 'frackin' good stuff indeed.
  
  Season 3 starts where season 2 left us - with the Cylons occupying the human settlement on New Caprica and oppressing the humans. The humans react with armed resistance and acts of insurrection including a suicide bombing. This depiction of armed insurrection as a basic human response to oppression is bold, and extremely brave considering the political environment at the time those episodes were written and filmed. These early episodes in Season 3 are controversial, thus, and as hard to watch emotionally as anything in the series. To folks who feel that this means the writers of this show have joined Al Qaeda, I'd refer them to read history, including the history of the American Revolutionary War. Americans have behaved this way before (not that the humans of Battlestar Galactica's world are Americans, of course, but they represent us - unavoidably. The 1984 film "Red Dawn" is all about American citizens engaging in insurrection to fight the Russians for example). The resolution of the New Caprica crisis involves a space battle that contains the most thrilling special effects sequence I have ever seen on the small screen. The finale is also extraordinary - involving a mind blowing confluence of events impossible to even remotely characterize without spoilers but involving brilliant plotting, emotional power, and fantastic special effects too.
  
  So why not 5 stars? Season 3 has a tough time exceeding the high bar set by the first two seasons. Other than the New Caprica beginning and that crackling ending, the focus on Gallactica and the Colonial Fleet becomes absolute for much of the remainder of the season and the show loses sight of the Cylons. This is a shame. The battles with the Cylons - both physical and psychological, are the wellspring of the show's crackling tension. Without the Cylons in view, the show sags. We have an airlock crisis, a whole show about Admiral Adama's memories of his troubled marriage, a long show trial of Gaius Baltar - that while dealing with great issues and having great moments lacks the life or death slam of events in the first two seasons. Season 3 is more cerebral, and less action packed than the first two. Is it still worth watching? There are many great moments even in the slower episodes. If you've come this far you've probably fallen in love with the characters and will not mind some psychological background story. Plus, you're crazy if you don't watch the first two seasons and if you do you'll absolutely need to wait on tenterhooks for season 4 with the rest of us - and you'll need to have watched season 3 for continuity alone. Make no mistake, season 3 is still great television - just not quite up to the heart pounding level of the first two seasons, that's all. The finale to season 3 is incredible, and will leave you panting for more. So say we all!
  
  

• Great show, decent season...

  
  By A2NG8XPY9RK1AG on 2008-01-11
  I will say that Battlestar Galactica is the best sci-fi series currently on TV. However, this most recent season feels much more defined by its bookends. Battlestar's third season started off with a bang, logically taking up the overarching plot from the end of the second season, and wrapping it up with four strong episodes. However, the season takes a nosedive from there.
  
  While the episodes that follow fluctuate from entertaining and meaningful to mediocre and pointless, all of them share some common weaknesses. All of them are standalone episodes. Standalone episodes are only good if they are qualitative enough to justify a character study, small story, etc. or if they still contain small bits of the C-plot of where the series is going story-wise. However, due to Battlestar's very strange oil and water relationship between its standalone and overarching stories, the latter strategy is never implemented. What we get is a plethora of disjointed episodes that provide flash in the pan moments of exquisite acting and writing, but barely seem to make sense in the big picture, a balance which the previous two seasons were able to meet at higher degrees.
  
  Throughout most of the season, you're waiting for something to happen. You're waiting for them to find a marker to Earth...you're waiting for more details into the final fates of certain characters. When those payoffs are hindered, even by relatively astounding standalone episodes, you're going to feel a bit cheated and a bit impatient. I would definitely say that Battlestar's third season is a "bookend season," where the first four and the last two episodes are really all that truly mattered to the premise and plot of the series itself. With some amazing episodes, this season's rating is only hurt by its poor layout and meager story offerings.
  
  

• Another stunning season for the best show on television

  
  By A16QODENBJVUI1 on 2008-01-24
  Warning! The following contains spoilers. If you haven't seen Season Three and want to remain spoiler free, do not read this review.
  
  Season Three of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was the most debated and controversial yet. Much of the controversy stemmed from the number of hot button political topics it addressed. What other show would take several major characters we know and love and have them execute another character we had known from the beginning of the series for collaborating with the enemy, demonstrating in the process the extreme danger to justice inherent in independent military tribunals (disturbingly similar to the ones that the Bush administration has advocated)? What other show takes up the logic and ethics of suicide bombing by having "us" attack "them" by the death of another semi-recurring character in an effort to kill recruits for the local police force? Many of the episodes outraged those on the political right, as the parallels with the situation in Iraq was, despite efforts to minimize the resemblance by references by creator Ron Moore in interviews to Vichy France, became increasingly blatant. To his credit Moore, a member of the left but a self-admitted Rush Limbaugh listener, has not had the show lean too heavily to the left for most of the show's run, but in the season's first several episodes that balance fell away. And in the most controversial episode of the season (debated on Internet boards more passionately than I can ever remember any episode of any show) the question of whether genocide against a murderous enemy is justified, pitting several of the major characters on the show against each other.
  
  On the other hand, Season Three had several surprisingly uninspired episodes. All of these were of the "stand alone" variety. All of the "mythology" episodes (to use the X-FILES terminology that Ron Moore himself often uses) were outstanding. In posts on boards, podcasts, and interviews Moore has said that most of these episodes are produced by the insistence of the network. The thinking is that having nothing but arc episodes intimidates potential viewers. But the brute fact is that at this point in the series it is a sheer impossibility for anyone to start watching at this point. This is the beauty of DVDs. Anyone who wants to watch BATTLESTAR GALACTICA can by buying the DVDs, borrowing them from a friend, downloading them from iTunes, or renting them from Netflix or their local DVD rental store. Bizarrely the networks don't seem to have comprehended the ways that viewing patterns have changed.
  
  Season Three is structured around the Cylon occupation of New Caprica and the ongoing effects of that occupation following the rescue of the humans by Galactica. Many of the characters on the show never quite get over their experiences there, in particular Tigh and Kara. Interpersonal conflicts that were created on New Caprica, especially between Kara and Lee, take much of the season resolve, and the whole New Caprica experience doesn't really come to an end until the close of the trial of Baltar in the season finale. In one way or another the experiences there color almost everything that happens during the season.
  
  Instead of summing up individual episodes or talking about the major story arcs, I would like to highlight my ten favorite moments of the entire season.
  
  1. The Adama Maneuver: During the rescue on New Caprica Adama gets crucial Vipers into the fray by jumping into the upper atmosphere of the planet. Since Galactica cannot fly in an atmosphere, they launch the Vipers as the ship plunges in a fiery ball towards the surface, jumping again just a couple of hundred feet before smashing into the earth. It is - and I say this with little fear of contradiction - the most extraordinary special effect in the history of TV. No one who has seen it has been able to forget it. It is inconceivable that the show won't win the Emmy this year for Best Special Effects (but then, it is impossible to see how they lost to LOST and its black smoke effect last year) and when it does, this is the special effect sequence they will show at the awards.
  
  2. Leoben has imprisoned Kara in a living situation that parodies that of a married couple. As they dine Leoben stands beside her and tells her how beautiful she looks. She smiles and rams a pair of skewers through his neck, kicks him back and falls on his chest stabbing him repeatedly. She returns to the dining table, takes a bite, then daintily dabs at her mouth with a napkin, oblivious to the blood that covers one of her hands.
  
  3. The death of Jammer: In "Collaborators" several characters we've known and loved kill Jammer for being a collaborator during the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. We've known Jammer since Season One when he, Cally, and Socino tried to make a still. But that doesn't prevent him from being shot out an airlock. Nearly as good was the near execution of Gaeta later in the same episode.
  
  4. Five great Sharon moments. This is a total cheat, but here are five great moments involving Sharon in Season Five. 1) The last time we saw Sharon in Season Two she was deeply distrusted from not having told Galactica about Cavil being a Cylon. She had told Helo that she wanted nothing to do with him or anyone on Galactica. Our first shot of her in Season Three, her cell door is open and we see it filled with comfortable furniture: a desk with books, an end table and coffee table, wall hangings and curtains, a comfy chair, and a large and extremely comfortable leather couch. Adama is sitting beside her drinking tea and he tells her that he feels all alone, except for her. Clearly in the previous year, somehow Sharon had become just about Adama's closest friend. 2) Because of the new trust Adama has in Sharon, she becomes an officer in the colonial fleet. Through the rest of the season she repeatedly tells others - whether human or Cylon - that she has given the fleet her word and she intends to keep it. Though some doubt her, Adama's faith in her is repaid repeatedly in the season. 3) Sharon enters the Cylon Detention Center on New Caprica to recover the launch keys that are crucial if the humans are to escape from New Caprica. She gets interrupted by D'Anna Biers, who tries to tempt her into coming back to the Cylons with the news that Hera is still alive. Sharon responds by putting a bullet into both her D'Anna's knees. She walks away, saying "Adama wouldn't lie to me" (and it turns out he didn't, since he didn't know that Laura stole Hera and faked her death). 4) Sharon and Boomer come face to face. One of the season highlights had to be the show's two major Number Eight's meeting. The irony is intense, since at the beginning of the series Sharon was completely on the side of the Cylons and Boomer was with the fleet, unaware that she was a Cylon sleeper agent. Now, however, Boomer like D'Anna before her tries to convince Sharon that she doesn't belong with the humans. Her reply is to the point: "I made my decision and I know where my loyalties lie." 5) Boomer does, however, tell Sharon that her daughter is still alive and is on the nearby Cylon basestar. After Adama confirms with Roslin that Boomer's story is true, Sharon rescues Hera by talking her husband Helo into killing her so that she will resurrect on the Cylon resurrection ship. Only seconds after reaching Hera she plots her return to Galactica. The irony is that only a few minutes earlier Roslin was dressing down both Helo and Adama for their faith in Sharon. Knowing that Sharon is downloading into a new body she tells them, "And now all of our lives are in the hands of Sharon Agathon. All we can do is hope that your wife is worthy of the unconditional trust you place in her, Captain. And you as well, Admiral." What is wonderful is that Laura states all this as if it is in doubt. But less than an hour later Sharon is back on Galatica with Hera. Oh, and Sharon is given her own handle: Athena, a nod to the original series in which Athena was Adama's daughter. And in this one Sharon has become one of his surrogate daughters.
  
  5. "Exodus, Pt. 2": I said I wouldn't summarize any episodes and I will resist doing that here. But this episode, which contained "The Adama Maneuver" I mentioned above, is easily one of the two or three most unforgettable episodes in all of BSG. At the end of 2006 the well-known Internet TV website The Futon Critic issued its annual list of the Top Fifty episodes of the year. With total justification they named "Exodus, Pt. 2" the number one episode of 2006, not just of BSG but of all television shows combined. It was that good. Four beats made it stand out. First, Saul Tigh's killing of his wife Ellen for collaborating with the Cylons, second the Adam Maneuver, third, the rescue of Galactica by Pegasus and its destruction, and fourth, Kara learning that Leoben had lied to her by telling her that Kacey was her daughter.
  
  6. The fight between Kara and Lee in "Unfinished Business." In the Season Two finale we learned that somehow Lee and Kara had fallen out with each other so completely that they were barely able to talk to one another. In this episode we get that back story. Adama has called for a series of boxing matches to air out grievances that crew members feel towards one another. We see Lee and Kara's story intercut with their pounding on each other in the boxing ring, learning of the night of passion that they spent with each other and their declaring their love for one another, and of Kara's sneaking off and marrying Anders the next morning. As Kara and Lee (who she is able to fight evenly partly because Helo beat up on him in an earlier fight and partly because Kara resorts to dirty fighting) collapse into each other's arms, their faces bloody messes, she tells him, "I missed you." His mouth filled with blood, he is barely able to say, "I missed you too." Her face buried in his shoulder, you can see her smile broadly as the episode ends. One of the best episodes in the show's run.
  
  7. In a stunning scene on a Cylon basestar, D'Anna Biers tortures Baltar while he manages to project to a beach where Six makes love to him to get him through the ordeal. As he tells Six "I love you" D'Anna hears the words as addressed to her and although torturing him feels deeply moved. It is a sequence that has to be seen to be believed.
  
  8. Adama and Laura's intimacy. Through Season Three Adama and Laura grow closer and closer, as intimate as two people can be while remaining completely Platonic. They still have conflicts. When Laura tries to justify stealing Hera and faking her death Adama walks away without even listening to her. And in the finale Roslin feels betrayed by his vote of Not Guilty in Baltar's trial. But you get the sense that they have moved to a new level. That they have an intimacy that can't be affected by mere disagreement. The highpoint of their intimacy might be their smoking dope on New Caprica and cuddling while gazing up at the stars. It is so wonderful to see two people who have shouldered so much in order to save the remnants of humanity to get a few minutes of peace/
  
  9. Lee Adama's moment on the stand. During Baltar's trial Romo Lampkin (magnificently portrayed by Mark Shepard) calls Lee onto the witness stand even though he is serving as co-counsel. Jamie Bamber's performance is one of the season highlights and perhaps the best moment in a season finale stuffed to overflowing with truly great moments.
  
  10. The last ten minutes of the season: In the final few minutes of the season we learn the identify of four of the Final Five: Tigh, Tyrol, Samuel T. Anders, and Tory (the four T's--giving additional credence to the thought of some that Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is the fifth member) by their response to a song that they keep hearing in their heads, which turns out, almost impossibly, to be Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" (leading some to refer to them as the Dylons). Then the Cylons attack. The four new Cylons ponder what to do before Tigh magnificently tells the other three: "The ship is under attack, we do our jobs. . . . My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be. But those lines are rivaled by the last of the season, as Lee pursues "a bogie at my ten" in his Viper and discovers none other than Kara Thrace, who had died spectacularly three episodes earlier. She looks at Lee, assures him that it really is her (a fact confirmed by executive producer Ron Moore, who also confirmed that the four Cylons really are Cylons), and tells him, "It's gonna be okay. I've been to Earth. I know where it is. And I'm gonna take us there." The camera pulls up over their two Vipers and then rapidly pulls back through the colonial fleet, through the pursing Cylons, back through the nebula and an arm of the Milky Way, and then rushes across the galaxy to our solar system, focusing on earth as the season ends. It is an utterly breathtaking moment.
  
  This is absolutely essential television. If you care for great television, this is the kind of stuff you have to care about. The tragedy is that while every major television critics has passionately praised the show and while a host of major publications from TV Guide to Time to Rolling Stone have proclaimed it the best show on TV, it has struggled to find viewers. The irony is that many Sci-fi fans don't watch it because it doesn't resort to the clichés that dominate the genre and make it in most cases completely unchallenging television and many mainstream TV fans don't watch it because they mistakenly think it will only appeal to Sci-fi fans. It is what it is: the best show on TV. You need to watch this.
  
  
• Frackin' amazing television!
  By A3KEZLJ59C1JVH on 2008-01-08
  I continue to be amazed at how much I love "Battlestar Galactica." I usually don't enjoy science fiction, but this show is unlike any other sci-fi series I've seen before. In fact, "BSG" just may be my favorite television show of all time, which says a lot!
  
  Season Three of "BSG" picks up right where Season Two left off. The majority of people have been living on New Caprica for more than a year and are trying to build new lives for themselves. Unfortunately, the cylons eventually managed to track the humans down. After invading New Caprica, the cylons convinced President Gaius Baltar to cooperate with them. Now people live in constant fear of the cylon occupation. Resistance leaders including Chief Tyrol and Colonel Tigh continue to fight the cylons and attempt to come up with an escape plan, which is a very hard thing to do since both Adamas and their respective ships jumped away from New Caprica as soon as the cylons invaded. Obviously, the Adamas and their small crew can't just abandon the rest of humanity, and an elaborate rescue attempt is planned.
  
  I don't want to reveal too many details about the season and spoil things for people who may not have seen it yet. However, there's a lot that goes on in Season Three, especially where Tyrol, Tigh, Tory, Anders, and Starbuck are concerned. If you thought the Season Two finale was shocking, just wait until you see what happens at the end of Season Three!
  
  There are a few small issues I have with this season. First of all, I think there are too many "one-shot episodes" that don't really seem to advance the main plot of the show at all. Having a few episodes like that is fine, but I think there were an abundance of them this time around. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the way certain music served as a major revelation during the season finale. Hopefully Season Four will do a good job of explaining things.
  
  Overall, though, this was a great season. I'm very sad that there's only one more season left, but I can't wait for it to start up again in March.
  
  
• worst presentation of BSG so far
  By AK1298ALMMYK0 on 2008-03-22
  BSG has had something of a sordid history with video quality on dvd. my motivation for writing this review is to let others know what the quality of the product is, as opposed to the quality of the show. if you're a fan, you're going to want to buy this, we already know that. but what exactly are you getting for your money?
  
  a brief history of BSG on DVD
  with the release of the miniseries on dvd, fans were treated to a digital quality copy of the source material. this dvd was far from perfect though, suffering from excessive grain in every shot.
  
  with the release of the seasons 1-2.5 box sets, audiences were treated to a much better visual experience. the show itself is shot on HD, so these transfers benefited from much better source material. on a 42' HD set, these DVDs looked fantastic.
  
  the BSG season 1 HDDVD release held a lot of promise, as it's only logical that a show shot in HD should be viewed in it's native format. sadly this version BSG season 1 looked arguably worse than its standard def counterpart. this version suffered from excessive grain, low contrast, a lack of delineation of fine detail in dark scenes, and a blown out color palate. the HD release looks even worse than the universal HD broadcasts, which suffers from its fair share of problems.
  
  being familiar with the hit or miss quality of BSG on disc, it was with some anxiety that i picked up this boxed set. sadly my fears have been borne out, as season 3 is one of the worst presentations of BSG available.
  
  the details:
  20 episodes are packed onto 6 dual layer discs, which would appear to provide ample space for a high video bitrate and any commentary/subtitle tracks. unfortunately the video quality is beyond sub-par, the biggest complaint here being rampant grain in almost every single scene. for the record, i've viewed every episode in the set (although i have yet to work my way through all of the commentaries). i know people are thinking "grain", all this guy talks about is film grain, well it's film get used to it. no, i won't. well-lit scenes look great, but the darker a scene gets the worse the detail gets. since so much of the show takes place in dimly lit interiors of various spacecraft, this deficiency hits BSG particularly hard. this version of season 3 is definitely a step up from the standard def broadcast versions, but if you've seen any BSG on sci-fi HD or universal HD you're going to feel cheated.
  
  bit rates hang around a very average 4Mb/sec. for comparison the seasons 1-2.5 box sets hover around 8Mb/sec, which (math time!) means these dvds check in at roughly half the quality. so it's not just me being picky here, there's a quantifiable difference in video quality between this release and earlier box sets. the main difference, as far as the human eye is concerned, is that these dvds lose much of the fine detail inherent in the source material. look at virtually any scene aboard the galactica and you'll see what i mean. the BSG interior design is filled with clean lines and deep shadows, none of which comes through on this release. at first i wasn't convinced that these dvds could really be so bad. i figured that maybe the discs were suffering because of upconversion to 1080p, courtesy of my ps3, so i turned off upconversion. even at 480p these dvds look every bit as awful as i had feared. bottom line, this is most visually disappointing presentation of what is otherwise a visually stunning show.
  
  extras:
  included in this set are some deleted scenes, an extended cut of the episode unfinished business, and some web-released content that is now being billed as a "special feature". the deleted scenes don't change anything major throughout the season, and would appear to be largely cut for time. the extended episode is easily the best bonus feature, as it just feels like you're really getting something extra, whereas most of the material i could do without. the podcast commentaries are by far the weakest of the bonus features. they are every bit as cheap sounding as one might imagine a podcast to sound, and lack the thoughtful introspection i'm accustomed to hearing on commentary tracks produced after the on-air run of an episode. there are only two proper commentary tracks included in the set, and they are what one would expect. i completely bypassed the video blog and webisodes, since i've no interest in the former and have already seen the latter. if you're a fan of youtube quality video on dvd, by all means spend your time watching these.
  
  my big beef with this release is that it seems to pack a lot of special features, but does so at the expense of the main attraction; the episodes themselves. yes i like special features, but good ones, why not use more of that valuable storage space to up the quality of video?
  
  the bottom line here is this; if you, like me, want to brush up on season 3 before season 4 airs this is really your best option unless you've tivo'ed the HD episodes. the video quality of this set is superior to the standard def broadcast and itunes downloads, but beyond that there's not much to be said about quality here. if you're gifted with more patience than i, i would suggest waiting for a blu-ray release. given the quality of the first HD BSG release though, i still hold a fair amount of skepticism. in the end, it gets two stars simply for being BSG.
  
  
• Great series, this is the most complicated portion of the story's arc...
  By AVKQV5I25SMN0 on 2008-01-08
  Excellent series, nothing better (in terms of fiction) being released on television right now. The series deals with complex and even difficult issues and does so well without becoming preachy or boring.
  
  Season 3 is the lowest ebb in the story arc as many reviews all over the place will indicate. The quality isn't any lower than the previous two seasons by any means, but the stories and the flow of them do make for a slower paced experience than seasons 1 and 2. Season 4 should be one to remember.
  
  Aussie guy is misinformed - he thinks the movie that came out is the series. Ignore the review or flag as inappropriate due to the misleading statements.
  
  
• I can't get no FRACKIN relief!
  By A2FIMQIKNOHFPK on 2008-01-09
  Having grown up as a kid totally addicted to the original campy/glossy BSG I must say when I heard they were beginning the whole thing anew in a new big way I was excited! I remember all the hoopla and hubbub regarding the direction of the new series and treatments of characters and can safely say I love BOTH series with equal veracity.
  
  Allow me to state however that the modern BSG is fast becoming for me one of THE greatest works of film making art I have ever had the privilege to witness. The story arc of the modern BSG series is beyond superlative. Unlike some other reviews I have been gripped equally by each season and have also been totally immersed in it's emotive and deeply powerful story line. To be quite honest the story line of BSG makes Star Wars seem like a cartoon by comparison and I love the Star Wars series as well.
  
  I am not going to bother giving away ANY plot spoilers as it's the last thing any new viewer needs - all you need to know is that with each season that passes I find I can't get no frackin relief! It was an agonizingly long period to have to wait in Australia between Season 2 and Season 3, so much so I feared we'd never see it at all. Now I have literally just finished watching my edition all in the one hit in the space of 2 days ... after the final scene I HAD to jump online and read the reviews I had been deliberately avoiding!
  
  This show kills me! So now I find out there is a new Mini Series prequel about Pegasus called RAZOR! When can I get this and when will it be released in Australia? If any Aussies out there care to fill me in I will be eternally grateful. All I can say is that I am totally spent after Series 3 and yet I NEED more already. Those who have watched this season already will know exactly what I mean when I say ...
  
  "I can't get no relief"
  
  BSG reigns supreme and I would love this to run to 10 seasons! So say we frackin all!
  
  
  
  
• Battlestar Galactica The Complete 3rd Season DVD
  By A96W4MZD5RR1Q on 2008-01-08
  Battlestar Galactica Season 3 DVD boxset was indeed released in Australia in November and in September in the UK. However, neither versions had any bonus features, none at all.
  
  Battlestar Galactica Season Three DVD extras (R1):
  
  -Deleted Scenes (on all 6 discs)
  -Ronald Moore's Podcast Commentaries (on all 6 discs)
  -Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance Webisodes (on Disc 2)
  -David Eick's Video Blogs (on Discs 2, 3 and 6)
  -'Hero' Commentary with Executive Producer David Eick (on Disc 3)
  -'Unfinished Business' Unaired, Extended Cut Commentary with Executive Producer Ronald Moore (on Disc 3)
  
  So R1 gets the best deal even if the release date is late.
  
  
  
• The reason Season 3 was terrible. . .
  By A3R3BMDOVPAYMZ on 2008-03-09
  The producers strayed from the formula that made BSG the best show on television. This season is NOT worth buying. Save yourself the hours and read some internet sites for a few minutes.
  
  BSG 1 was one of the best seasons on television I'd seen in a long time. BSG season 2 and 2.5 were equally gripping and held high some cinematic excellence. Season 3 was a tremendous disappointment and letdown. My wife will no longer watch. It has become a scifi soap opera. They showed Vipers exit the launch tubes a handfull of times, and focused on everyones relationships.
  
  Character development is one thing, but completely changing the face of the show and moving away from the action was a season killer for me.
  
  
• Great Series: Wait a year or so to buy please
  By AFZACWN3E3UTX on 2008-01-11
  First. This is a GREAT series which is doing a world of good for sci fi and popular acceptance of sci fi(as long as they don't follow the harry potter cookie cutter for fantasy movies as we have seen for the past few years)
  
  And, this is a great season. Some didn't like the "artistic license" taken in the last episode but I thought they did a very good job of the whole thing.
  
  However, I have two negative points. First this series keeps skipping the edge of good sci fi and popular (read petty) interpersonal plot devices to attract a wider audience. Yet considering that they do such a good job with the rest of it that it is fairly easily overlooked.
  
  The second negative point is the way the publisher/producer/studio???? keeps jerking us around in DVD sales. They tried season 2 and 2.5, why, to get more money for the same package. I might understand that its an expensive series to shoot yet we also find out that the writers strike comes about because so few are getting royalties on DVD sales. Other regions get this MONTHS before the US does. Many of us wanted to watch it again before the 4th season comes out. Now that is not possible! Also its originally slated for 60 dollars (a markup to make 40 dollars seem more reasonable??) I understand the producers/publishers have to make money but I suspect given the popularity you are getting greedy and it may just bit them(I hope).
  
  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>My suggestion. WAIT 6+ MO TO BUY THIS
  wait till the price drops to 30 dollars or less. Don't give in to the hype and pay the inflated prices. Show the publishers that we want to be loyal fans, we want to buy it when it first comes out. However, when they mess with us like this without making it widely known why they are delaying the release, playing around with prices etc.... we can exact punishment by not buying it for 6+ months. We can show them that if they dont play nicely then neither will we. Please wait to buy this, and possibly send a message that we, the once loyal consumer, will behave when they do. Or even buy it used when the opportunity exists.
  
  I generally make it a point to buy things new when they come out to support the types of shows I want to see more of. but not this time. Im going used.
  
  
• Provocative sci-fi at its best!
  By A2QDPJRVXL7P4F on 2008-02-23
  I was never a fan of the earlier Battlestar Galactica of the seventies. I preferred to watch Star Trek. However, I am hooked on this remake. The acting is great and the plot captivating. The characters are believable, and the cinematography quite spectacular. There are many twists in the story: you will be eagerly awaiting the next episode. My favorite character: Kate `Starbuck'!
  
  Though I did not like Battlestar Galactica Razor, and actually started Season 3 with low expectations because of it, I ended up loving Season 3.
  
  Season 2 ended with the Cylons discovering and invading New Caprica. Gaius Baltar, the President of the twelve colonies, surrenders to them, while Galactica and the rest of the fleet escape.
  
  Season 3 opens with the stranded Colonials struggling to survive under the Cylon rule. A terrorist group is formed to fight the Cylons, and sacrifices are made. We see humans strapping themselves with bombs, and blowing themselves up in the presence of Cylons and their human sympathizers.
  
  Can we stop for a second here? Isn't this what the Palestinians are doing in Israel, and the Iraqis in Iraq? What are the producers of this show trying to tell us? Is it that whenever a nation takes over another all means at one's disposal should be used to attack the invader, including using humans as bombs? Furthermore, terrorism is shown to be in the eye of the beholder. To the colonials, the terrorists are freedom fighters. To the Cylons, they are simply terrorists. There are some provocative scenes, but after all, this is the kind of world we live in.
  
  We are shown Admiral Adama struggling with his crew to save the colonials, and to resume his quest to find Earth. The following is a spoiler so stop reading now if you haven't watched the show yet: Adama does come back to New Caprica and rescues the Colonials. The Season continues with trying to find Earth. New clues are discovered, and a planet is found where early Earth settlers lived.
  
  Season 3 focuses on the human element, survival, and punishment. Even after the Colonials are rescued by Adama, some crew members take the role of vigilante, ejecting betrayers into space out of an airlock. These `victims' are not judged by a jury of their peers, nor are they given legal representation. Again we are shown how people broken by war resort to unconventional and immoral actions that are fully justifiable by them alone. Again, depends through which eyes you are looking. Adama did not see such actions justifiable, and he put a stop to them. However, the perpetrators, or self-appointed jury, were never charged.
  
  I very much liked the episode where a chance is given to Adama to exterminate the Cylons. There is talk of genocide, and many in the fleet are against exterminating the Cylons. But wait a second. Cylons are machines. If today we decided to destroy all Windows based PCs in the world in favor for Apple, would this be genocide? What if some of the Windows PC contained human DNA, would destroying them then qualify as genocide? Meanwhile, though, the Cylons decide against exterminating the human race, resorting to living in harmony with them. Again, the writers manage to include provocative topics in this series. Isn't this what good TV is all about?
  
  Another episode I liked was the trial of Gaius Baltar, bringing to mind scenes from John Grisham. Again, whether Baltar is a traitor or not depends on the eye of the beholder. We know he was forced to take certain actions by the Cylons, but we also know that he had his own motivations in certain actions as well. His trial brings up many provocative and controversial topics. I personally thought that episode was the best one. I like it when TV episodes make me think days on end.
  
  The Season ends with a huge revelation: some of the Galactica crew are actually Cylons. I won't tell you who, because I know some of you who haven't seen the show will read this review, and this revelation could spoil the whole season! Just let's say you will be utterly surprised. However, I think the writers took a big risk with such a revelation. We'll have to wait for Season 4 to see what all of this means. Will the Cylons and human beings end up living in harmony?
  
  Starbuck is also resurrected in the last episode. We saw her die three episodes earlier. She says to Lee,"It's gonna be okay. I've been to Earth. I know where it is, and I'm going to take us there." Is she a Cylon too? Did Lee see another Starbuck copy?
  
  I really enjoyed the bonus disk, "The Story so far." This episode recaps all that happened from the beginning of Season 1 to this Season. There were many scenes I had forgotten, and this episode sort of brought everything together again.
  
  There is only one issue I have with this show: I think there are too many standalone episodes that don't really seem to advance the main plot of the show. The major appeal of this show (at least to me) is its continuity: how each episode continues on the previous one. Seeing too many standalone episodes kind of destroys the flow of the storyline, and slows down the action.
  
  Battlestar Galactica is a great show for all sci-fi fans! Like Razor, Season 3 is shot in HD (High Definition).
  
  
• POSSIBLE SPOILERS - Still the best, BUT..., IF...
  By A3J3SRPOJFO9LG on 2008-01-20
  and it's a big BUT, and a big IF. BUT - it shows signs of losing the plot midway, and IF - season 4 pulls it all together again. And, I'm afraid, there are a few threads that it would take a Thomas Pynchon (Gravity's Rainbow) to pull together with style - we have the weird love triangle on the Cylon ship, with Baltar, No 6, and the Cylon D'Anna ( playe by Lucy Lawless, 'Xena, warrior princess'), and new hints about Baltar's destiny, and then D'Anna goes doo-lally, and there's the ongoing mystery of why Baltar and No 6 hallucinate each other's presence - all that alone would take a genius to pull together, and there's much more, like Sharon 2's child, and why the Cylons didn't know who the final 5 were. I've just watched the series 4 sneak preview on the Razor dvd; one of the cast says a lot of balls were thrown in the air in series 3, and he thought some of them were bound to get dropped - that's a hint!
  All the same, I can't think of ANY other series that would be worth Pynchon's talents.
  
  It starts great; there's a change of pace, announced at the end of season 2, with the Cylons changing tack, and deciding against exterminating the humans. The occupation, escape and consequences are great, and continue the momentum of the previous 2 series through discs 1 and 2 , episodes 1 to 8. As other reviewers have noted, episode 8, Hero, has a rather unconvincing plot, but it does contribute important background to the plot. However, I find Sharon's wholesale conversion to the human side a lingering weakness, though not a fatal one; I can indulge them a bit of artistic licence - this is SF, not Tolstoy, and all the better for it, in my opinion. But there's a slight sore thumb: in one episode we see the Cylon's deciding that Sharon's baby must be protected at all costs; then, in the next episode we see Sharon saving the fleet from a Cylon all-out extermination attempt - this does not compute!
  But there's a bigger sore thumb - as previous reviewers have noted, when they have a chance to destroy the Cylons and save the human race, SOMEBODY SABOTAGES IT AND NOBODY SEEMS MUCH CONCERNED - WITHOUT EXPLANATION (apart from, possibly, some qualms about genocide)! That just seemed to dissipate the momentum of the story (though it certainly picks up again). I really hope the writers have realised that and will make sense of it in season 4, I hope they don't just glide over that. Anyway, their plan wouldn't necessarily have finished off the Cylons - just the ones on the closest Resurrection ship. That was sloppy too. Come to think of it, they could fix most of the outstanding flaws by inserting a few 30 second scenes here and there, but then I'd have to shell out more money for a new 'director's cut' - I probably would too!
  
  
  The next episode is where things start dropping slightly below standard, for me, and this continues for the next 2 discs, episodes 8-16; momentum having already been lost a bit, in my opinion, we now find what some reviewers have called a 'soap opera' intruding - a lot of time being spent on the mixed up love lives of some of the major characters. Opinions seem divided over episode 9, Unfinished Business, which concentrated on love lives - I couldn't say it wasn't good, and it fills out the characters a bit, but I find myself itching to use the fast forward for the first time in my BG life - maybe I'm a hopeless boy's adventure type. I agree with some reviewers that I found the next episode, the Passage, could have done with a pre-amble, but it's a good episode; BUT, it did leave a slight sour taste in my mouth - one recurring character is written out in a way that could be interpreted as suggesting that her heroic death was an atonement for her recently discovered previous criminal life - a bit severe, to say the least! And the the love interest from Unfinished Business crops up again to water down the next 3 episodes, which are great in themselves - it's not the human interest that bothers me, it's the amount of time it gets, and that the writers don't really do anything interesting with it. Then there's episode 14, the Woman King, which all reviewers including myself agree is a filler, and seriously below standard - but not that bad, really! And the next 2 episodes while very good, and containing more useful background, are a bit in the 'crisis of the week' mould. Episode 16, Dirty Hands, is great though - it's just a pity it comes 3rd in a row of 'slight diversion' episodes. Dirty Hands deals with industrial disputes and labour problems, and some of the dialogue hints, for the first time, at the class/power structure of the world of the colonies. This is something that has been missing from BG so far; in Babylon 5 and Joss Whedon's 'Firefly' the hinterland of corrupt politicians and shady corporate power is an important part of the story - without dwelling on it too much, we're made aware of the structure the characters inhabit, but BG seems to exist in the abstract - for instance, how did a system dependent on robot labour adjust after the robots rebelled? What about the corporate powers that manufactured the Cylons in the first place? All we know about the colonies (apart from hints given in this episode, mostly in a conversation between Chief and Cally) is that they have sports teams and an elected government involving a 'quorum of 12'. Dirty Hands helps fill it out a bit, but there's still a lot missing.
  
  Anyway all the above niggles accumulate to diminish the spell a bit, for the first time, but Dirty Hands is the beginning of it getting back on form again, and the last 4 episodes are back to the old edge-of-the-seat form. The revelation of the remaining Cylons (bar one) is great, and done with real style, and I'm sure there's a good explanation coming up for that and how come you-know-who's been to Earth.
  
  If all the above seems a bit negative, take it as read that I agree with all the praise others have heaped on it - there's no point in repeating it - this is still head and shoulders above anything else on the tv, even the Sopranos; and it's a good contender for the best tv series ever - it's certainly the best looking, and most convincingly realised science-fiction ever, on tv or feature film. But it still only gets my number 3 for favourite tv series, after Babylon 5 (though BSG makes B5 look like a stage-show) and Oz (HBO's prison drama)- maybe joint 2nd spot with Oz!, and I think I've figured out why, and a big reason why this series of BG wanders so much - there are too many significant characters, and many of them have doubles who are also significant characters(several in No 6's case); and some of the 'male romantic lead' types, like Apollo and Helo and Anders, are hard to tell apart at first glance, I find, because they're about the same size, weight and have similar hair colour and style.
  
  But again, compared to nearly anything else, no praise is too high for Battlestar Galactica. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, MAKE IT ALL COME RIGHT IN SEASON 4.
  
  A slight quibble about the discs though - some of them can be really reluctant to load; and the navigation - if I use the 'select episode' option, it sometimes takes me to immediately after the main theme music, missing out the bit of the story that always comes before it - could be very confusing to newcomers.
  
  As an afterthought, having just seen the trailer for series 4 - it looks great! Can't wait!
  
  
  
• From what I've seen. the Best show on TV
  By A2MGD0JWVZHPY9 on 2008-01-27
  From what ive seen enough of (24, prison break, lost, CSI, bones, eureka, stargate, heroes, Dr who etc) Battlestar Galactica is quite easily the best out of them. I wont go through why I think the other named series arent good enough (because it would take all day) but ill say why BSG is top quality.
  
  Season 3 starts with the new caprica arc which is the best opening four episodes for any season because they were true to the storylines and were written by Ron moore (who will direct in season 4) and BT and DW who are excellent writers. This arc finishes with Exodus part 2 which is the best episode ever filmed and is almost flawless. After new caprica we have all the bulldog, kat, and genocide stuff which for the most part is very good but at Unfinished Business most people say it was one of the worst they have made. But its an amazing episode but if it would take ages to tell you why so ill just say that its something that grows on you.
  
  Season 3 mid season was nothing compared to last seasons with Pegasus and the resurrection ship but and was when I as a viewer felt that BSG was losing its steam just like all big-budget series do (lost, prison break, 24, heroes). After mid-season you could call the next four boring but I would say these average episodes (apart form a day in the life whcih was bad) of BSG are a lot better than the best episodes of other series. It is this characteristic that sets BSG apart from other series.
  
  The final arc is what everyone waits for in BSG, the last 4 episodes of the season... After wathing all four for the 1st time I thought there was no question that the final arc last season was the better but I realised that this arc is patchy but still is equal if not better overall than last season. Maelstrom and the son also rises couldve been better but still are decent episodes. Crossroads part 1 and 2 are both excellent and are real examples of why BSG is something that is amazing and underated.
  
  Dont get me wrong this season was the worst season out of the 3 seasons (season 1 being the best) there are and no one should be under any illusions about that (the seasons dont just get better and better- it works like sequels for movies-its very difficult to make a sequel thats better than the predecessor). However, season 3 overall is far beyond any season of any other series ive seen so that make this season still pretty amazing then!
  
  On the transfer, i would say that its the best dvd transfer ive ever seen (note thats probably because its shot in HD) so kudos to universal for that. Dont be fooled by some of the grain you WILL see, that is added in post-production by BSG to make it look intense. All the clear stuff can be seen on any planet they are on ie new caprica. The level of detail on close ups is very high and colour saturation is rock solid. Sound is decent not spectacular but we all know we want the picture quality more than sound.
  
  If youre not into scifi it doesnt matter youll like this... its not star trek (the common misconception). Remember everyone who starts watching this gets addicted and I am yet to meet a person who has willingly given it a proper chance and doesnt like it. This is a series you must own...
  Think about it what other series can you think of that offers insane cgi (so good Lucas tried to sue BSG for copying off Star Wars and lost), intense action in ships and on ground, nuclear warfare, sex, drugs, threesomes, torture, rape, suiside bombers and normal suiside..the list goes on. All that and a show that movie directors look up to ie Tarantino
  
  Highly Recommended.
  
  Roll on the last season... He that Believeth in me
  
  Sap BSG62
  
  
• Can't get better than this
  By ASBBXTMWFTIV3 on 2008-01-18
  One only wishes there were more episodes in each season.
  
  The first four episodes are amongst the best ever done for TV , the episodes taking place while the search for the Eye of Jupiter goes on makes you think ' well ... can't get better than this ' - but it does, for the last quarter of the season is simply awesome.
  
  Watching this series is a great pleasure - and never disappointing, for it treats you as an intelligent person.
  
  Direction, acting and writing and production are perfect and the story it tells is one that you want to know.
  
  Don't miss it.
  
  
• It's sci-fi, Jim, but not as we know it.
  By AF0G67MITCN65 on 2008-02-23
  Most people would be slightly weary of the idea of a new and re-invigorated version of the spectacle Science Fiction Drama series Battlestar Galactica (1978-1980) being up to the year in which the series became 'Galactica 1980', which lead to its thoroughly trashed downfall, was a bit of a surprise that a network had decided to re-fashion the show with a more updated and far more interesting story. Many fans would, should insist that this is a re-imagining not an intrinsic remake of a cheesy lovable, and to use a pun for a modern show, "That 70's Show". Many of the sci-fi fan-boys, and girls, were in need of a successful sci-fi drama series that had the ability to keep fresh interest and action, drama.
  
  The fundamental premise is it's a development from that concept made the introductory 2003 mini-series, a somewhat thorough and enjoyable close to 3 hr pilot. The legacy of this show happens to be the principal point, machines made by man, they evolved, rebelled, and so on and so forth.
  
  People who claim through their noses that they never watch or read science fiction are missing some great work, be it rough, symbolic or even sardonic. One key point is it's not juvenile, asinine and cheesy sci-fi; it's adult allegory.
  
  Battlestar Galactica is the best character drama, perhaps the only drama that daringly and boldly engages the big issues currently on TV. It's about the good, bad, and ugly. American stereotypes, family melodrama, love and personal betrayal mingles with dark, post-9/11 parable, plots rife with socio-political and ethical conflict, heroes and visionaries to profiteering gangsters and religious extremists. With hate, power, desire and being human, evident in stories inspired by recent history and current events. In addition, unremittingly keeps putting forth the notion of what is exactly human. It's about Genocide, war and the abyss after the precipice. Current concepts and futurism see them with faster-than-light space travel, but stuck and firmly rooted by laws of Newtonian physics. Range of human experience and emotion that can be only compared to dramatics of Shakespearean theatre.
  
  Excellent characters include Edward James Almos' brilliant depiction of Commander/Admiral Adama; easily being a favourite. His slightly depressed attitude yet experience make him capable, if not slightly down heartened. His display as a commander of the pride of the fleet does show why he is the best person to have control of a superior vessel. He is quick to think, act and knowing what the cost is. His own life is confounded like the other characters, two being handed as female, where the predecessor had two male characters, (when fans should not complain) Katee Sackhoof as Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, is born into the role of a hard-headed female Viper pilot. As well as the other female candidate played by Grace Park nicknamed 'Boomer'.
  
  It is sci-fi enough to offer space battles with spiffy CGI and digital FX, 'in the mind of the pilot/documentary' shot sequences, new, improved, scary Cylon centurions and human-looking Cylon infiltrators who are more brutal because they have found a god to kill for. Sound familiar? Moreover, what you have been waiting for, yes it does have graphic scenes of a sexual nature.
  
  Verdict:
  
  The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica is light-years beyond Glen A. Larson's 70's adventure series, which introduced bad robots and the remnants of humanity on a biblical, cosmic exodus. Real dexterity of life in space is freshly depicted, through war and personal losses. 10/10.
  
  
• evolution
  By A2C2G4IWLJN9VX on 2008-02-28
  I don't usually watch TV. I am not a sci-fi fan. That said, Battlestar is the BEST show I have ever seen. By far it is. With the miniseries and the first and second season what they were (amazing), the third season dared to change. I believe it changed in a marvelous way. The show evolved. It never stayed with one successful style/theme/setting, it dared to evolve. I believe that's why some were critical in a negative way about the third season, because it wasn't what the viewer was used to watching. The third season is brilliant, don't shun it just because it's not like the others!
  
  
• The dark side of the moon
  By A106016KSI0YQ on 2008-03-30
  Consistently the best thing about the ongoing BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series has been in its intellectual ambitions. While its predecssor and namesake, the Glen Larson series from the late 1970s, was largely a space opera, this series is actually a study in war, and attempts to cover such difficult ethical problems as loyalty, violence, torture, religion and class in a war-torn society (except this happens to be a society in outer space). But you often find yourself applauding the series more for its intentions than for its execution, particularly in this, its third season.
  
  Season 2 ended extremely thrillingly with a leap forward in time of a year in the final episode when the fugitive fleet, after settling on an Earth-like planet, found themselves invaded and conquered by their Cylon nemeses. This season begins four months after that during the ongoing Cylon occupation; although the show's creators remark repeatedly on their pride concerning these first four episodes (which involve the humans having to escape the Cylons yet again) in their somewhat gaseous podcast commentaries provided as extras on their DVDs, these actually some of the least enjoyable and least original episodes of the series so far. The creators of the show seem to have tried to hard to push for contemporary analogies to Iraq and Afghanistan. The cinematography replicates the gritty stock and overexposed lighting of recent international problem films (such as RENDITION and BABEL), and the tone goes from the darkness of the previous seasons a bit too far into out-and-out bleakness. There are too many fancy torture scenes here (and in other episodes during the season), and it's a big relief when the fleet gets back into space. The succeeding episode, "Collaborators," is one of the best of the series, and some of the other stand-alone episodes are quite intelligently done. But by the end of the season, when the show has bizarrely become an endless courtroom drama (with Apollo a defending attorney!) you feel like the writers have become a bit bored by the premise and don't know where to go next. It may be the best thing for the series that it ends next season.
  
  The acting on this series can be absolutely first-rate, and Grace Park, Alessandro Juliani and Katee Sackhoff continue to turn in terrific performances episode after episode. Some of the other actors seem a bit hampered by the fact their characters seem caught in a creative revolving door: yet again we have to see Colonel Tigh descend into alcoholic sprees and depressive bitterness, Laura Roslin struggle with cancer, and Apollo and Starbuck have a fling all over again. The special effects are sometimes heartstoppingly beautiful, as with a flight through a bullseye -colored planetary storm system and a battlestar falling through clouds towards the ground of a planet below; at other times, such as in the scenes set on the Cylon basestars, the sets seem cheaply furnished courtesy of a Seventies mall giftshop. The whole season is worth seeing despite its wild unevenness: you always feel at the very least the creative team is trying at something, even when they don't quite succeed.
  
  
• Don't believe the guy from Australia
  By A15KZO6SB63QDC on 2008-01-08
  The Australian geezer is janking yer chains....Season 3 was NOT available in November of last year in Australia...porkies there then....it is available on Amazon Australia in March..go check out their web site as it is only available on pre-order as with the US..and then it will be available if and ONLY if the writers strike is resolved in America.
  
  One has to wonder why the guy in Australia, what is his nickname? Cornholio?, is trying to muddy the waters over the release date of Season 3....unless he is confused of course! Too much sun maybe?! Is he confused with "Razor" the DVD moviette?
  
  
• Great Season - And it WAS on DVD November 2007 in R4
  By AQCU0K635E3ER on 2008-01-08
  Hi - yes another fantastic Season. And YES the Australian Chap is right - Season 3 was available here in NZ as well at the end of November 2007! I purchased my copy in store at Whitcoulls (a NZ bookstore like Borders) on the day it was released 21 November 2007.
  
  P.S. Note there have been large numbers of Region 4 DVD Sets of TV Series releasing in NZ & Australia 1-3 months or more before the same releases in the USA or even the UK. So this region _is_ getting regular 'first dibs' on a lot of stuff (note that soem of these are TV shows that never screen down here, at least in NZ e.g. BSG S3 has never screened in NZ).
  
  
• Nothing better
  By A2TP5IQLSJRXAB on 2008-01-08
  I can truly say that the first half of season 3 is the best television ever made. Maybe some found it all too grim even for Galactica but no show as ever had the guts to take their characters and plots to a logical conclusion. No feel good resolutions or bowing to the conventions of modern sentimentality, this is as real a show as you will ever see. Comparing it to the fun but often silly stuff that makes up most SF just won't do. This is a show for grown ups. The second half did lag with some of the stand alone episodes being among the poorest of the shows run but it did end on a strong note which bodes well for the final season.
  BUY THIS!!!!
  
  
• Why so late in U.S. for release
  By A3EJ6LY75CSKON on 2008-01-10
  This March,2008, will be the last year for this excellent series. Amazon, why is season 3 for sale at Amazon U.K., but not in The U.S.
  
  
• Battlestar Giraqttica
  By A1ICIGWBPXWTH8 on 2008-02-06
  As always, excellent - a little uneven but still excellent, however, I think that Mr. Moore's ego may have "Jumped the Shark" somewhere in around the 4th wall outing of "the four of five".
  
  That's the way my friend first summed up the first few episodes, and I'd have to say I agree. I wasn`t entirely enthusiastic about the immediacy of the issues presented, but I suspect that's the idea.
  
  The don't pull any punches but the do leave some viewers way outside of their ethical comfort zone, when it comes to issues of torture, wmd's, insurgency and occupation, which again is not such a bad thing since the reality of the real war is incomparably worse than most of us can possibly imagine.
  
  Personally though, at the time this series came out I was also studying the neoconservative political movement, and the unrelenting surreal nature of hubris, coupled with the real news and the unreality of the real political discourse in that quarter of our political landscape was such that I found that not watching BSG until this examination was finished was preferable.
  
  
• Even when Galactica falters, it's better than most shows on the air
  By A1PV38HWW6UU3X on 2008-03-17
  The suits at the Sci-Fi Channel told Galactica's producers to make more standalone episodes in an effort to bring in new viewers who may be afraid to jump into the serialized storyline, so the season does waver a bit in the middle of this season. But Season 3 started out great (wrapping up the New Caprica storyline from the end of Season 2.5) and it certainly finished strongly, setting up the upcoming final season in gripping style. If you can put up with about five weak episodes in the middle, Season 3 is more than worth owning.
  
  
• Best Season Yet
  By A1FI7I5I956LO8 on 2008-03-23
  It is of considerable (psychological) interest to me how broadly distributed across the spectrum reactions to this season have been. Here is my reaction, for what it is worth.
  
  This is the best season of BSG so far. Individual shows suffer from individual weaknesses, but as a whole *I* was unable to "put it down."
  (1) "I" -- this is my more or less subjective opinion, and,
  (2) It is a DVD and not a book ...
  
  One of the strengths of the season was that the sexual violence was diminished while the psychological dysphasia was amplified. Character development was given some *SERIOUS* attention. And for all of his flaws -- in more than a few instances, because of them -- Colonel Tigh is something of a personal hero to me. After spending much of season 3 delaminating, he gets one of the best lines of the series in the final episode of this season. Of course, noble sentiment can often be a setup to an even greater fall -- this is BSG.
  
  As noted, a few individual episodes were not as strong as others. But my biggest complaint against the *season* is that the writers/directors once again chose to end on a cliff-hanger. This seems rather sophmoric on their parts; they evidently do not trust their audience to return after the break to see the 4th (and evidently final) season.
  
  The DVD's are still worth owning. The stories are good and many of them are exceptional; while the acting, camera work, lighting and sets are consistently rich in that BSG sort of way.
  
  
• Writers ruined it all.....
  By AWJCJC2J6SS9D on 2008-04-03
  Having been a fan a long time I was greatly disappointed with the direction this took. The actors all have the ability to perform great, the tchnology for awesome graphics exists as this show has proven but the writing just took this to the trash. This had some great potential but the writers just moved too far from the spirit of Battlestar Galactica. Too bad, maybe the next season can raise this from the dead. New writers anyone? I love sci-fi but man, is there anything those hollywood writers won't mess up?
  
  
• This is just a soap opera, in space
  By A3MA7SDWD1HJE5 on 2008-04-08
  Don't be fooled by all the positive reviews. This show is not "ground-breaking", or "the best show on television" or whatever. Its a caricature of a sci-fi show, in that its basically a soap opera in space. BSG even gets covered in Soap Opera digest, that's how far gone it is from the realm of sci-fi
  
  All of the characters behave non-sensically, no plot issue is ever resolved, any time anyone is getting along they have a fight for no reason, just to keep everyone at each other's throats all the time, and the writers routinely contradict themselves in every single episode
  
  Starbuck is not only the best fighter pilot ever, but the best sniper ever, the best hand to hand fighter ever, she can time travel, Cylons love her, she is the only one who can find Earth, and any man on the show would give his right arm to sleep with her, and she's a great painter? What can't she do? Nothing comes to mind
  
  One episode you have a guy point his fire arm at his commanding officer, mutiny, refuse direct orders and demand to have his way, then 10 minutes later everyone has forgotten about it, and the next week THAT SAME GUY is doing something he doesn't want to do, something he knows will lead to disaster, because "orders are orders"?
  
  There's all of 10 main characters left on the show, and as of this writing there are maybe 5 of them who haven't been revealed to be Cylons. Kind of makes you wonder why they're bothering to continue the war on humanity when every single human leader is a Cylon, but I don't guess the show was meant to be scrutinized that closely
  
  BSG is an insult to its viewers, and has much more in common with Desperate Housewives or Dirt than it does with the X-Files, the original BSG, Star Wars, Star Trek, or any other sci-fi show I can think of. Which is fine if that's what you want, but they don't market it as the kind of show it is, that's what I'm saying
  
  I will say the mini-series was pretty good, and the first season wasn't bad, but in season 2 this show went off the rails big time and by season 3 it was just a complete joke. Do yourself a favor and don't ever get started on it unless you just love lots of pointless screaming and soft core sex scenes that stop and start at random times
  
  
• It just keeps getting better every season!
  By A18IR38NQ0LV9D on 2008-01-08
  Before I saw Season 3, I had heard mixed reviews. I also have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but it delivered. Battlestar Galactica is the best television show of any kind in so, so many years. This season is no exception: character development, story line, action, suspense. My only complaint is that there was such an unnecessarily long delay in releasing this season on DVD in the US.
  
  
• Season 2 vs. season 3 pirce wise rating
  By A2ZIRJI20E2UC2 on 2008-01-10
  Okay...Season 3 -20 episodes with over 15 hours of additoinal footage you can get on Amazon for 40 bucks yet seaon 2 which is being sold as a split would cost you about 70 bucks for 20 episodes. The biggest reason I never bought season 2 on DVD was because I thought it was a rip off. Season 3 is reasonable so does anyone have any info on if they are going to combine all of season 2 and lower the price?
  
  

• Battlestar Galactica - Razor (Unrated Extended Edition)
• Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)
• Battlestar Galactica - Season 3
• The 4400 - The Complete Fourth Season
• Stargate Atlantis - The Complete Fourth Season