Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2007)

This is a movie that should be watched after at least finishing the first two seasons of the main series this movie is based on. Plus then you will be following it in chronological order thus would be more invested into the whole experience when watching "Razor". It's not a grand-scale epic space opera like "Star Wars" and it leans more towards the fans of the TV series. It might come off as a bit of a filler and to a certain extent it does. However it is a decent filler that expands upon the story of "Battlestar Galactica" without it being a pivotal plot piece. It's a film that doesn't take away from the main series, but it's not a mandatory watch to get the story or some missing links from the main series. Just think of it as a longer and higher production value of the main series. Just think of it as any other long going anime series movie. Except it doesn't include a lot of the main cast members in it. And that pretty much sums up this movie. It has the "battlestar Galactica" vibe going for it. And it does show certain parts of things that happened behind the scenes. This movie is not a stand alone and viewers that haven't seen at least one season of the main show will be lost and not as invested. Overall, this is a decent TV show movie that is worth the watch if you are into the TV series it's based on.6.5

It's ten months before Battlestar Pegasus encounters Galactica. Pegasus is docked at a station when they are attacked when the war begins. Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes) takes command and leads Pegasus into the fight. Kendra Shaw (Stephany Jacobsen) is a newly arrived officer. It also shows the other parts of season 2 of the TV series after the two Battlestars meet. Lee Adama has taken command of Pegasus with Shaw as his new XO. Admiral Adama reveals a mission from the first Cylon war which adds to the Cylon origin story.This is a side trip in the Battlestar Galactica TV series taking place in different time sections. The prequel section relies on Forbes and Jacobsen to take the lead. They take a different tact from Galactica. Tricia Helfer keeps that section interesting. I would have been happier with a simple prequel and leave the main story with the TV show. The difference between Cain and William Adama's command style is compelling on its own. It doesn't need the TV cast and its present day story. It would be a nice one hour movie.

I happen to like the show very much for how theatrical and intriguing it is, and I knew that Battlestar Galactica: Razor had a lot to live up to. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as the show and it wasn't, however it is better than the other Battlestar Galactica movie The Plan. Razor does have its problems of course, the characters don't have as much depth as they do in the series, the story does have moments where it is rather rushed and contrived despite some very intriguing moments and the dialogue at times does sound as though the writers didn't proof-read to make sure it made sense. Also what questions were left to answer after Season 3 weren't resolved as well as they could have been here. On the other hand, it has some cool-looking costumes and sets and is edited well. The music has many moments of rousing, haunting intensity, the idea was interesting and when it made sense and didn't feel rushed the film was quite thought-provoking as well as with some quirky revelations. The acting is decent enough. Overall, not bad(better than I have heard it made out to be, from what I heard I was expecting horse poop) but mildly disappointing at the same time. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Excellent stand alone/season 4 intro (watch it how you want) that finally puts the whole franchise's roots on screen.Centurions, vox-boxes, Gold Centurions! Ah, finally. And they don't look clunky, move poorly OR suffer from Stormtrooper Syndrome.If, like me, you were not yet 10 when Ben Cartwright began to lead his Wagon Train toward earth, then you probably thought it was the most amazing thing you'd ever seen when first broadcast. Oh, how memory leads you astray. Damn you, VHS cassette and VCR, for ever allowing my golden, hazy dreams of days yore to be punctured by cruel reality. Amazing SFX (but what else from Richard Edlund?), blow-them-out-of-the-water opening (complete with sacrificial-lamb), boring, sermonising speeches, standard over-focus on leads (why does Apollo, a pilot, have to space-walk for the blast/oxygen vent, where are the engineers?), zero development of universe (oh, one comment about "loose" Geminese women) and (come the series) repeated FX shots that weren't simply repeated, but were obviously so.If, like me, you saw all this, but refused to by bowed by it, then Ronald Moore's arrival on the scene (after Todd Moyer's departure, whew, that was close) was cause for pure rejoicing.But as the series progressed, it gave fewer and fewer nods to its, admittedly dodgy, source material.Until Razor. How to meld the painful past with the amazing now without destroying either or, worse, both? Write Razor.Anybody who says that original Galactica was brilliant, current Galactica is a pale shadow and Razor is just crap is lying. Lying to themselves and you. Original Galactica was hamstrung by budget, pacing and imagination (yes, you read that right, imagination, see "over-focus on leads"), modern Galactica needed the legitimacy of the original. Casting Richard Hatch as Zarek was a good start, this is the perfect bridge.Oh, and it's a great script, involving three time periods, moral conflicts, interpersonal conflicts and some kind of redemption. And centurions, vox-boxes and Gold Centurions.By your command! 7.5/10