"Battlestar Galactica"(Original Series/1978-80)coming to blu-ray May 12th, 2015

This was confirmed today in a late update by Bill Hunt at www.TheDigitalBits.com complete with pre-order links for 2 versions of the box set: "The Remastered Collection"(8 discs/1.78:1 aspect ratio) & "The Definitive Collection"(18 discs/1.78:1 & 1.33:1 aspect ratios)..."The Remastered Collection" MSRP's for $119.98 and is being discounted to $83.99 while "The Definitive Collection MSRP's for $149.98 and is being discounted to $104.99...

Have at it, old-school Galactica diehards!!!

 

I hope it has some new extras and unseen footage.

 

Just my opinion, but after watching the remake, I'm not sure I could ever watch the original again except for nostalgia.

 

Great news, as I never got a chance to watch the original series, only the pilot episode which was previously released on Blu-ray. I've been anxious to find out what happens next!

 

I don't know if I could make it though this series again. Way back before the remake was done, I made it though but it was a tough slog.

 

Yeah. But if you think the old series is hard to get through, don't EVER try to watch the abomination that is Galacica 1980. And I see the deluxe edition of this set is including those episodes. It has the one episode (Starbuck's Return) with some merit, but other than that, it is horrible. I can't believe they are bothering to remaster those to hi-definition and in widescreen.

 

I tried really hard to like the remake. But I found nothing in it that made the original great. Sure it was campy. But it was about the Cylons being the enemy and the humans on the run. In the remake they didn't need Cylons. The humans were their own worst enemy.

 

I remember that. I might have seen one episode. Horrid.

 

That was kind of the point.

 

Then why call it Battlestar Galactica if not just to cash in on the name?

 

Because it used the same elements and brought up questions about what separates humans from robots and the morality of both. It wasnt a cash in and it would be hard to cash in on a series like BG when it failed to capture a large enough audience to stay on the air in the first place. Certainly the series found a cult audience but never explored any of the cômplex themes offered by the premise.

Now you may not care for what they did with the series but it explored themes that grew out of the question of how we define our humanity. The original BG was much more black and white about the good guys and bad guys. The characters were much more complex.

The conflict between the Cylons (who reflected humanity with its own flaws) and humanity STILL existed within the series the fact that they could move without being seen among humans made it even more interesting and challenging IMHO.

 

I don't have a problem with the remake being called "Battlestar Galactica", although I hope no one gets confused and buys the wrong series. But the original started well and was doing well before CBS moved All in The Family against. BG might have been saved if production costs weren't so high

 

Yes, at first. In fact if they had been able to break down the demographics, the show would have continued to run. Even before All in The Family was put against it, it had lost some of its audience.

ABC did realize its mistake hence BG1980.

 

Talk about compounding a mistake with an even bigger one...

 

Man, those Cylons scared the crap out of me as a kid.

 

That means Buck Rogers can't be far behind, right?

 

I agree. The compromise that was reached was to reduce the budget and the way to do that was to bring them to contemporary Earth.

I can't recall if Richard Hatch and DirkBenedict had both moved on to other shows or not at that stage but I thought the smart thing to do was to bring them both back and as much as the original cast as possible but, again, it was $$ that eloped decide most of the creative decisions for BG1980.

 

I remember reading not to long ago that SyFy was developing a Buck Rodgers reboot that was going to have Gil Gerard and Erin Gray play the parents of the new Buck who went into space and eventually woke up in the future. I guess it never came to be.

 

Plus ABC put a rush job for a January release instead of September, put it in 7PM time slot so it had to be educational and little violence, they hired a bunch of children all with stage parents, lots of overtime and producers who did nothing but cash paychecks.

One thing also in the era of three channels. Sci Fi shows didn't last. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was probably the longest at four years unless you count Twilight Zone. I guess mass audiences find it too geeky and if they dumb it down, the hard chore fans see it as betrayal. James Doohan once said religious areas see it as somewhat blasphemous.

 

Horrible Show.

 

Unfortunately for me, the area I lived in at the time didn't have an ABC channel and we didn't have cable. Those that were more well-off would talk about the show the next day at school. I did go see it in the theater when they made the first three episodes into a movie with a Sensurround audio track called Saga of a Star World. I didn't actually see the series until I got the DVD box set ten or so years ago.

 

Some things you just shouldn't go back to. This is one.

Basically they could have just put together a 2 hour best of sequences DVD/BD with loads of interviews and behind the scenes stuff in. That would better serve the nostalgia fans.

 

After watching the reboot series I went back and tried to watch the original on Netflix and I didn't make it past the pilot episode. It was fine when I was 8 years old, but that's where it needs to remain, in my childhood memories.

 

This was the only good episode of the entire series. I remember even at 10 years old realizing that. After seeing the new series (which, believe it or not, isn't aging well -- I rewatched the finale with a friend recently), there's no way I could go back to the original show.

 

i'm a bit nostalgic for the classic show, but a little might go a long way. i had trouble getting into the modern galactica series because, at least from i watched, it seemed a bit too military for my taste. i.e. characters talking/acting in military chain of command lingo, etc. that just turns me off. i wonder if the series became more "civilian" as it went along?