Battlestar Galactica The Second Coming

[bionicbob]

Thanks Menbailee for the very well written and entertaining review.
Your input is greatly valued.

But I do have to take exception to you calling my interpretation of the devastation of the Colonies as "unintentionally callous".

While popcorn fare or not, BSG Second Coming is still a very dark movie about the holocaust of the Colonies of Man.
It is not light subject matter.
I honestly feel it would be a disservice not show the Fall of the Colonies considering the nature of the narrative.
With the removal of all the "Skin Jobs", the Cylons have no voice. No way to express their intentions or motivations.
The only way express their voice is through their actions. Brutal and cold as they may be.

Remember, Heroes are only judged great by how impossible the obstacles they must over come or how powerful their villains are.... and the stakes have never been higher than they are in this story, as mankind stands on the precipice of extinction. And I think it is important to hammer this fact home repeatedly, because there is no option for failure in this dark universe.

When I finally decided to do this edit, the first decision I made was to include the Colonies Fall from The Plan. As it really bothered me that the Fall was not shown in the original mini-series... only mentioned in reports on the Galactica bridge and on Colonial One... but this was soften by the fact that you have the Human Cylons continually explaining things and just being very menacing. Though the truth be told, the real reason the Fall was never shown in the mini-series was probably due to Budget and Time Restraints, the curse of most television series.
But now with this edit, I felt this oversight could be rectified.
As one of the cardinal rules I work by in Fan Editing, Don't TALK about it if you can SHOW it!;-)

As for the suggestion that the FALL does not fit with the tone of the classic series, I would argue that you may not be intimately familiar with the source material. As Classic BSG could be very dark and violent. The 3 hour pilot SAGA OF THE STARWORLD (which this edit is loosely modeled after) is exceptionally dark for a 70s Sci-Fi series. You see the horrific destruction of the Colonies, people starving and sick on freighters, and even the infamous "casino planet" is really a lure by the Ovions to capture them, encase them alive in cocoons to be later used as food! Very grim stuff.

In fact, the "overstated 70s score" used in the Fall of the Colonies scene, is the exact same music used in SAGA for the Cylon attack and Colonial Holocaust.

As for the Star Wars comparison, I don't think the two are alike in anyway. You are right, in SW seeing the civilians cowering in fear before being destroyed by the Death Star would not serve the story or audience. But this is not Star Wars. It is not trying to be Star Wars. As stated, this is still a much darker, more violent, more "real" universe than Star Wars even tries to be, especially the original trilogy. This a story of desperate survival.

Just because it is Popcorn Movie, doesn't mean it can't have some weight or substance to it.

 

[bionicbob]

Edit has been re-upped. PM me if anyone is interested.;-)

 

[Menbailee]

But I do have to take exception to you calling my interpretation of the devastation of the Colonies as "unintentionally callous".

I considered going into more detail about this point earlier but decided not to make my one gripe an overlarge part of the review.

Obvious point is obvious: *Bob* is not callous, intentionally or otherwise. Have you interacted with him for five minutes? He's pretty awesome. I'll elaborate now on why the scenes felt this way to me.

Just because it is Popcorn Movie, doesn't mean it can't have some weight or substance to it.

Agreed.

It's a question of how that weight or substance is handled. I considered mentioning how you wouldn't throw a DUN DUN DUUNNN with a Wilhelm scream into Schindler's List, but that's an inverted and extreme comparison.

So, did you ever see the original 1985 Transformers movie? A whole planet gets eaten! And there's another planet of mock trials and massive injustice! Lots of well-loved characters die horribly! Dark stuff. It's shown, not told, and because the music and tone of the film match so poorly with these events, they mostly wind up feeling callous on-screen. The second Pirates of the Caribbean movie suffered from similar problems.

But this is not Star Wars. It is not trying to be Star Wars.

It's a little difficult to see the original BSG as anything other than a space adventure based on the success of Star Wars. The premise was darker, but the show mostly had the feel of a Saturday morning cartoon. Exemplia gratia:

even the infamous "casino planet" is really a lure by the Ovions to capture them, encase them alive in cocoons to be later used as food! Very grim stuff.

Plotlines like that feel more goofy than grim to me.

In fact, the "overstated 70s score" used in the Fall of the Colonies scene, is the exact same music used in SAGA for the Cylon attack and Colonial Holocaust.

For those who find the original almost unwatchably cheesy, this isn't necessarily a good thing!

the real reason the Fall was never shown in the mini-series was probably due to Budget and Time Restraints

Maybe. I'm dubious that such a sequence would have belong even if they'd had the budget for it--and if the creators had wadn't to show more destruction at the expense of some other effect, they could have. Even when we finally see this destruction from the Cylons' perspective, the music is a dirge mourning a destruction too colossal to comprehend.

Showing this devastation during the pilot gives the audience the completion of attacks that are intended to be in progress as our characters receive word, and it destroys the tension of whether anything could remain of the Colonies that's worth fighting for. The understated and largely mute performances of the cast send the message that this is a catastrophe too large to take in. That's a different message from showing as much demolition as possible with Saga of a Star World's glib score on top.

With the removal of all the "Skin Jobs", the Cylons have no voice. No way to express their intentions or motivations. The only way express their voice is through their actions.

This is a good point. A heavily edited version of the fall of the colonies sequence could be called for, and it needn't necessarily have this feel to it.

I wouldn't call for the alteration of a movie you're clearly happy with, but I hope I've given some idea of why viewers who found the tone and music of the original BSG extremely goofball would find that score oddly matched over graphic depictions of death and destruction. Your audience will consist mostly of people who liked the original, and so who probably won't experience these scenes as I did--the fanedit is clearly a success.

 

[bionicbob]

^ I think this is just a classic example how people can all LOVE the same show, and yet have completely different interpretations of it.

We will just agree to disagree.

But thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions Menbailee, they are always welcomed.

 

[Menbailee]

^ I think this is just a classic example how people can all LOVE the same show, and yet have completely different interpretations of it.

We will just agree to disagree.

But thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions Menbailee, they are always welcomed.

No problem there! Part of what makes a good script into a classic is its appeal on multiple levels. That's why Shakespeare's rated so highly in the English canon, even though we think of him now as mostly highbrow. As said in the original review, great work, and I hope I can get to be as good at fanediting as you are.

 

[bionicbob]

A Thank You to Ionvox for his very nice review on the homepage.

I am glad you enjoyed the experience!

 

[Dethryl]

Started this today, but had to run to work. Only about 30 minutes in so far, but it's masterful. I'm gripped by it all over again, and I can't wait to watch the rest of it.

 

[bionicbob]

Started this today, but had to run to work. Only about 30 minutes in so far, but it's masterful. I'm gripped by it all over again, and I can't wait to watch the rest of it.

Love to hear your final thoughts once you watch it all.

 

[Dethryl]

Absolutely fantastic, Bob. I was gripped from start to finish. Taking away all the other subplots really gets down to the meat of the Bill/Lee relationship, and I found myself caring a lot more than in the miniseries. It proves that at its core, nuBSG is a worthy successor to the original. The score really was well-placed. I'd like to give more than two thumbs up, but I only have two hands. I will be sharing this with other BSG fans.

 

[bionicbob]

Absolutely fantastic, Bob. I was gripped from start to finish. Taking away all the other subplots really gets down to the meat of the Bill/Lee relationship, and I found myself caring a lot more than in the miniseries. It proves that at its core, nuBSG is a worthy successor to the original. The score really was well-placed. I'd like to give more than two thumbs up, but I only have two hands. I will be sharing this with other BSG fans.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Thank you for taking the time to comment upon it.

 

[DriggyDriggs]

First of all, let me start off by saying that I loved the new Battlestar Galactica. I’m not all that familiar with the original classic series except through what I’ve heard from others. When I saw this fan edit show up on the main page, I had to check it out. I loved the idea of editing the “human” cylons out of the new BSG. So, I downloaded it.

It’s been quite a long time since I watched my BSG DVDs, so I don’t remember everything, but that’s how I prefer to watch fan edits.

Story Editing:

I didn’t really miss anything that was deleted, I’ll say that much. This works very well without the human cylons involved as just a straight-up, killer robots, sci-fi action flick. My only gripe was Baltar’s sudden entrance into the story on Caprica when he shows up at the Raptor with the other survivors. It just seemed like we were supposed to know who he was, yet he had not been introduced into the story before. I understand he had to be left at that point to explain what happened to Helo, but I wish Baltar could have been introduced earlier somehow. Other than this, great concept. I really liked the intro with the voice over. Nice set-up.


Score: 8 out of 10.


Video Editing:

Didn’t really notice any issues here. The majority of the video transitions were nicely done. A previous reviewer had mentioned that there was a deleted scene added. If there was, I didn’t notice any serious quality difference.

Score: 9 out of 10


Audio Editing:

I’m going to have to break ranks with the previous reviewers in this area, as this is where the majority of my problems were. Being a musician, I’m very anal about audio, and while most of the audio transitions are pretty good, there were a couple of rough audio cuts toward the beginning. In the scene where Adama has crash landed on the planet and the cylon ship is lifting off, it seemed like there were some noticeable cuts there. Also, there was a really rough transition from the “Heart to Heart” scene with Lee and Will to the ceremony. Plus, I noticed a couple of audio clicks during the cylon attack montage.

I liked the idea of mixing in some of the classic BSG music with the new. Unfortunately, while I thought it worked in a few places, overall I’d say it didn’t work. The added music with Starbuck and Apollo in the brig takes you out of the scene a bit. I would have either lowered it or left it out. I also thought that the added music over the scene where they have to leave the sub-light ships behind lessened the emotional impact. In addition, there were a few spots where the classic music didn’t really sync up with the percussion from the original scoring, and some spots where the music overpowered the sound fx too much.

Score: 5 out of 10
​

Overall, I’d say this was a great idea. I would have liked it much better without the classic BSG music, though.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

 

[bionicbob]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review DD. It is much appreciated!

My only gripe was Baltar’s sudden entrance into the story on Caprica when he shows up at the Raptor with the other survivors. It just seemed like we were supposed to know who he was, yet he had not been introduced into the story before. I understand he had to be left at that point to explain what happened to Helo, but I wish Baltar could have been introduced earlier somehow.

I agree. I actually wish Baltar could have been removed completely. I did toy briefly with the idea of using the Baltar news interview from the beginning of the movie, but I nixed it for a couple of reasons... one, it would seem to set up Baltar as an important character, which he isn't in this version, and two, he immediately comes across as slimy arrogant, thus making Helo's later sacrifice seem pointless. Oh well, it is what is is....

A previous reviewer had mentioned that there was a deleted scene added. If there was, I didn’t notice any serious quality difference.

Yeah, I forgot to address that before.... there are no deleted scenes in this edit. There is footage from the two other BSG movies THE PLAN and RAZOR, but no actual deleted scenes were incorporated into this edit.

I’m going to have to break ranks with the previous reviewers in this area, as this is where the majority of my problems were. Being a musician, I’m very anal about audio, and while most of the audio transitions are pretty good, there were a couple of rough audio cuts...

Well it would not be a Bionic Bob edit without some audio issues.:lol: No way my audio editing style is going to fool someone with a musician ear!

The added music with Starbuck and Apollo in the brig takes you out of the scene a bit.

No new music was added to the brig scene. That is the original unedited scene.

Overall, I’d say this was a great idea. I would have liked it much better without the classic BSG music, though.

Well it was stated pretty clearly from the beginning that this edit was attempting to inject some classic 1978 BSG flavor and model the original pilot movie SAGA OF A STARWORLD, and the original soundtrack is a big part of that classic flavor, so I am not certain what you may have been expecting?

I think this edit definitely skews more towards fans of the original series than nuBSG.

Overall, I found it an interesting experiment.
I am quite proud of it.
For some it works,
for others it doesn't.

The wonderful world of fan editing!

 

[DriggyDriggs]

I was entertained, I want you to know that. The classic BSG music and audio just took me out of it a few times that's all. ;-)

 

[bionicbob]

I was entertained, I want you to know that. The classic BSG music and audio just took me out of it a few times that's all. ;-)

No problem. Wasn't trying to sound critical. Just discussing your many valid points.
Glad you enjoyed it.
eace:

 

[DriggyDriggs]

I understand. Thanks for reading. Maybe I should put a disclaimer before my reviews. Sometimes my tone is a little harsh. ;-)

 

[xebo]

PM sent. Edited post after reading forum rules.

 

[Eric Gorman]

Question-If 'Second Coming' is your second favorite edit thus far, which is your first?

 

[bionicbob]

Question-If 'Second Coming' is your second favorite edit thus far, which is your first?

While my edits are my children, and I love them all in different ways, STAR TREK "This Other Eden" is my personal favorite.

Though Star Trek "Resurrection" may be closely tied. Both I feel like I fully accomplished the goals I set for myself. But for sheer fun, CYBORG was a blast to make and I think it turned out really well.

 

[Neglify]

I am happy to say that this edit is once again available for all to enjoy!

 

[bionicbob]

YAY!!!! Thanks Neg!