Battlestar Galactica Blood and Chrome Review
BSG is back! Well not really. BSG Blood and Chrome was to be the return of the franchise to the small screen, a prequel that would follow Ensign William Adama’s exploits during the first Cylon war. Originally pitched as a whole new series, SyFy, perhaps still stung from the failure of another BSG prequel Caprcia, decided instead to feature Blood and Chrome as a web based min-series rather than a full fledged franchise of its own. This mini-series was sewn together into a 2 hour “Movie Event” which premiered on SyFy last night.
I had seen a few of the webisodes, but it was nice to sit back and watch the series run together, I think it fits better as a 2 hour movie rather than the serial format. Writer Michael Taylor, whose credits include Star Trek Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and indeed Caprica, must have gotten notes about how slow Caprica was, for Blood and Chrome is a polar opposite experience. Where Caprica focused almost solely on characters and their internal struggles, Blood and Chrome is an orgy of dog fights and gun play.
Luke Pasqualino, following in the foot steps of Jamie Bamber as English Actors playing American characters in BSG, does a serviceable job of filling the massive shoes of Edward James Olmos playing a young William Adama, but besides him, and maybe Ben Cotton’s “Coker”, no one really stands out, or survives for that matter This, perhaps, is the main reason SyFy chose to decline B&C as a full series. What made BSG strong was Ron Moore’s ability to fully flesh out the characters, but balance that development with great story telling and tense action sequences. Where Caprica focused too much on its characters, devolving into a prodding story line, B&C goes too far in the other direction, coming off as just another green screen/CG heavy action movie, lacking the organic tactile environment that Ron Moore’s BSG was known for.
All in all, Blood and Chrome is a fun watch, and I would highly recommend taking a look either when, or if, SyFy re-runs the series or picking up the DVD/Blu-Ray. It was nice getting back into the Battlestar Galactica universe, and I wont lie, I got a little bit giggly seeing the old Battlestar in all her glory again. That said, Im sadly relieved that I do not have to dive back into another BSG prequel. I, like many of you, loved the Battlestar Galactica remake, it was a masterpiece of science fiction story telling. I say, rather than muck up what we loved with an ill conceived new series, lets remember the good times and move on.
