Review for Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Introduction

I came unfashionably late to the nu-Battlestar Galactica phenomenon, a disquiet about post 9/11 angst, coupled with a nostalgic loyalty to the original series kept me from savouring the re-imagined show until a ludicrously cheap bargain boxset in a sale a year ago. I’ve since come to recognise the show as the landmark television event that it was, a reconsidered look at the show that caught the mood of its era, and did what good science fiction always does; provide a mirror to our own society. Those four seasons of television started off good and simply got better and better, and I now look at that boxset as one of the best TV shows that I own. If I did have a criticism about it though, it was the spin-off movie that was included, Razor, which was designed to tell the story of Admiral Cain before she and the Pegasus joined the fleet, those interim months following the Cylon attack. It was a dull, plodding movie that added little new to what was already known, simply presenting in film what had previously been explained in exposition.


However, like the fiendish collector that I am, I went on a spending spree on all things Galactica without considering the quality. I also picked up the other Blu-ray content as well, including this second spin-off movie, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, made after the series wrapped. At the start of every episode in the first couple of seasons, we were regaled with the text, “The Cylons were created by man. They rebelled. There are many copies. And they have... a plan.” The one major lingering plot point after the series ended was that it was never spelled out what the Cylons’ plan actually was. This movie remedies that with a story designed to tell of the final annihilation of man from the Cylon perspective, those first three hundred odd days following the destruction of the colonies. It seems an ominously familiar set up.


At the end of the second season, with Anders’ resistance group rescued from Caprica, the Caprica Cavil arrived on the Galactica to come face to face with the Fleet Cavil, with both unmasked as Cylon #1. That was a revelation that led to an airlock, but on the way to their executions, both Cavils had an opportunity to reflect on what they had learned living among their respective groups of humanity, journeys which took them to diametrically opposed positions, but which began together almost one year previously, as they set in motion the events that would lead to the near extinction of humanity. As one Cavil infiltrates Samuel Anders’ resistance group on Cylon occupied Caprica, the other sets up as a preacher aboard Galactica, secretly co-ordinating the other Cylons infiltrated on board, in order to finish what they had started, destroy the fleet, and wipe out humanity.

Picture

Battlestar Galactica gets 1.78:1 widescreen transfers at 1080p resolution, but note that the disc kicks off with a bunch of logos, copyright warnings, and most pertinent, a frame of caveats and provisos regarding the image quality. Battlestar Galactica was deliberately shot in a verité style, a lot of handheld cameras and candid footage to give the drama a documentary style. While the miniseries was shot on film, the television series and this movie were shot in native HD, given the post-processing to add grain, wash out some colours, give each world its own visual style, lower the clarity a bit, blow out the whites, crush the blacks, keep some lens flare and glare (real lens flare, not the artsy fartsy JJ Abrams lens flare), generally make the show look like all the things that Blu-ray cinephiles complain about on back catalogue movies transferred to HD.

But it works. Battlestar Galactica’s style is immersive to the point of voyeuristic. It invites you into its world and makes you live the experience along with the characters. The digital effects are good enough to be seamless and get something of a spruce up for this movie, the sets and locations work well, the digital extensions, the spaceship shots, the action shots all maintain a level of quality that keeps you invested in the story without deliberately drawing attention to themselves, although there given the nature of this film, there more than the usual eyecandy. There’s also a lot of stock footage from the series as well, but the only place you see the seams, notice a difference in quality, is where footage from the mini-series is used.

Sound

Battlestar Galactica gets a DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English track, with optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish. You can’t get away from the fact that it’s a television show, but the sound design does offer some envelopment and ambience, and the action sequences certainly get a boost. Over the seasons, I’ve come to appreciate Bear McReary’s music a lot more than when I first started watching the show, and what he does for this movie, reworking old themes into new forms is really impressive. The dialogue is as clear throughout as you’d expect, given modern drama’s penchant for realism i.e. mumbling actors. Thankfully the subtitles are concise, accurately timed, and well placed on the screen. You definitely want a home theatre set-up for this. A flat panel TV’s speakers are woefully inadequate.

Extras

The Blu-ray offers copious extra features, including BD Live content if you’re Internet connected.

I’m not, so I can only tell you about the 13:57 of Deleted Scenes on the disc, presented in SD format,

There’s also some HD featurettes, with From Admiral To Director: Edward James Olmos & The Plan offering interviews with the director, cast and crew about his role on this show. This last 6:48.

The Cylons of the Plan lasts 6:51, with more interviews, this time looking at the Cylon characters.


The Cylon Attack (4:03) takes us behind the scenes of the first significant action sequence in the show for Anders’ rebels and their campaign against the invaders.

Visual Effects: The Magic Behind “The Plan” lasts 19:03, and we get to see the digital artists wax lyrical about their achievements on the show.

Finally there is the Feature Commentary with Edward James Olmos, and writer Jane Espenson. I recall the penultimate episode in the series was directed by Edward James Olmos, and he gave a commentary for that, which wasn’t the most verbose of affairs. Thankfully, this being a two-hander, there’s a lot less of stating the obvious, back-slapping, and lengthy gaps, and it’s a lot easier to listen to. It’s still not the most elucidating of commentaries though, and a Ronald D. Moore podcast was sorely missed.

Conclusion

If the obscurity of that synopsis wasn’t enough, let’s spell it out. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is for fans of the series. If you haven’t seen any of the show before, then this movie will go completely over your heads. It’s really a companion piece to the series, looking at the events of the first two seasons from the Cylon perspective, and more specifically the humanoid models (although Three/D’Eanna Biers only appears through stock footage).


Also, calling it The Plan is something of a misnomer. That text intro to each of the early episodes in the series was unfortunately ambiguous. It turns out that the Cylon Plan was a lot more straightforward, and the series intro suggested intrigue and layers that just didn’t exist. What we do learn here is that the Plan as formulated failed from the start, and all that followed was a ragged attempt to finish what the Cylons had started. Of course as the series progressed, the unity among the Cylons vanished, and the disagreements about how to proceed changed everything. This movie shows how the seeds of those disagreements were planted.

It should be called A Tale of Two Cavils, as it was Cylon #1, John Cavil that came up with the initial plan, or as we see here, two of him. Following the destruction of the colonies, one Cavil infiltrates the fleet and Galactica, to finish what the Cylons had started, and the other goes to Caprica to infiltrate Anders’ resistance group, ostensibly for the same reason. That much we knew from the series, but what we see here are the experiences that shape the respective Cavils, as they interact with the other hidden Cylons and the humans in the fleet and on Caprica.


Of the Significant Seven, well the show’s carried by the Cavils, but we get an added insight into what happened to Boomer, the sleeper agent in those early months, we also see something of Leoben’s spiritual awakening, and the connection he develops to Kara Thrace, and we also see two sides of Simon, two models, just like Cavil, infiltrated with the resistance and the fleet. The show also follows the Final Five from before the attack, to the execution of the Cavils, and we see how even when unaware of their Cylon nature, it was subtly motivating them.

However, the Plan isn’t the key to the Battlestar Galactica story that you might have hoped for. It doesn’t answer every question, although it does have a few, marginally consequential reveals that might spark a light bulb of understanding into life. It really does work best as a companion piece. And while most of the new footage concerns the Cylons infiltrated in the Fleet, and Anders’ resistance group, most of the film is carefully edited together from footage from the series and mini-series, as it revisits events that occur in the Season 1-2 timeline. It does offer a whole new perspective on the attack on the colonies, with copious CGI applied to bringing the surfaces of planets Caprica, Aquarion, Picon and others to brief life, before visiting flaming death upon them. Freed from the constraints of broadcast standards, there’s also a greater degree of sexuality and nudity, which I actually felt was out of place given the TV series and the comparative lack therein.


The Plan is most certainly an improvement over Razor, as the story here is better constructed, and more interesting. There are one or two interesting revelations, and it’s a much more rewarding watch. But given just how much of it is just looking at events in the series from a different perspective, the reuse of existing footage, I did feel ultimately that The Plan was something of a missed opportunity.