Battlestar Galactica (2003) (TV)

Director:

Michael Rymer

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (earlier teleplay)
Ronald D. Moore (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 December 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Never create what you can't control.

Plot:

A re-imagining of the original series in which a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Cylon | Quest | Survivor | Planet | Museum

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Edward James Olmos	...	Commander Adama
Mary McDonnell	...	Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff	...	Lt. Kara Thrace - Starbuck
Jamie Bamber	...	Capt. Lee Adama - Apollo
James Callis	...	Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer	...	Number Six
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Leoben Conoy
Grace Park	...	Lt. Sharon Valerii - Boomer
Michael Hogan	...	Col. Tigh
Matthew Bennett	...	Doral
Paul Campbell	...	Billy
Aaron Douglas	...	Crew Chief Tyrol
Barclay Hope	...	Transport Pilot
Lorena Gale	...	Elosha
Kandyse McClure	...	Dualla
Connor Widdows	...	Boxey
John Mann	...	CAG
Alessandro Juliani	...	Gaeta
Nicki Clyne	...	Cally
Michael Eklund	...	Prosna
Haili Page	...	Cami
Alonso Oyarzun	...	Socinus
Ty Olsson	...	Capt. Kelly
Ron Blecker	...	Launch Officer
Ryan Robbins	...	Armistice Officer
Tim Henry	...	Doctor
Kwesi Ameyaw	...	Liner Captain (as Dwesi Ameyaw)
Brenda McDonald	...	Old Woman
Suleka Mathew	...	Reporter
Erin Karpluk	...	Woman #1
Jenn Griffin	...	Woman #2
B.J. Harrison	...	Woman #3 (as BJ Harrison)
Moneca Delain	...	Blonde Woman
Zahf Paroo	...	Man #1
Robert Lewis	...	Man #2
Denzel Sinclaire	...	Man #3 (as Denzal Sinclaire)
Nadine Wright	...	Chantara
Michael Soltis	...	Chantara's Husband
Fred Keating	...	Jr. Reporter
Lymari Nadal	...	Giana
Biski Gugushe	...	Pilot #1
Nahanni Arntzen	...	Pilot #2
Nigel Vonas	...	Pilot #3 (as Nogel Vonas)
Ryan Nelson	...	Pilot #4
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Trevor Beeby	...	Doomed Pilot (uncredited)
Richard Busch	...	(uncredited)
Paralee Cook	...	Warrant Officer (uncredited)
Georgia Hacche	...	(uncredited)
Mike Mitchell	...	Desperate Man (uncredited)
Mark Redsky	...	Caprica Man #1 (uncredited)
Brady Schlecker	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Rymer

Writing credits
Glen A. Larson		(earlier teleplay)
Ronald D. Moore		(written by) and
Glen A. Larson		(written by) (as Christopher Eric James)

Produced by
David Eick	....	executive producer
Harvey Frand	....	producer
Michael R. Joyce	....	consulting producer
Glen A. Larson	....	consulting producer
Ronald D. Moore	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Richard Gibbs

Cinematography by
Joel Ransom

Film Editing by
Dany Cooper

Casting by
Heike Brandstatter
Eric Dawson
Carol Kritzer
Coreen Mayrs
Robert J. Ulrich

Production Design by
Richard Hudolin

Art Direction by
Doug McLean

Set Decoration by
Shirley Inget

Costume Design by
Deborah Everton

Makeup Department
Hayley Miller	....	assistant makeup artist
Bill Terezakis	....	special makeup effects design

Production Management
Craig Forrest	....	unit manager
Ron French	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Dashkewytch	....	first assistant director
Sara Irvine	....	third assistant director
Brad Jubenville	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Dominique Arcadio	....	art researcher
David Asmodeus	....	props buyer
Sandra Baier	....	assistant properties
Nancy Anna Brown	....	set designer
John Burke	....	set designer
Eric Chu	....	concept designer
Joelle Ciona	....	set designer
Chris Claridge	....	construction coordinator
Jennifer Donaldson	....	set designer
Osheen Harruthoonyan	....	set dresser
Ray Lai	....	illustrator
Richard Carl Livingston	....	concept artist
Michael Love	....	assistant property master
Max Matsuoka	....	first assistant property master
Colin Meacham	....	on-set dresser
Ken Rabhel	....	additional art director
Paitoon Ratanasirintrawoot	....	concept artist
Margot Ready	....	assistant art director
Dan Sissons	....	property master
Gary Young	....	prop builder

Sound Department
Vince Balunas	....	sound editor
Chris Boyett	....	adr editor
Chris Boyett	....	sound editor
Murray Brown	....	sound
Jeff K. Brunello	....	sound editor (as Jeff Brunello)
Daniel Colman	....	sound designer
Daniel Colman	....	sound editor
Wendy Czajkowsky	....	adr mixer: Vancouver
Sean Keegan	....	foley mixer
Jack Levy	....	supervising sound editor
Doug Madick	....	foley artist
Roderick Matte	....	boom operator
Frank Nolan	....	adr supervisor
Richard Partlow	....	foley artist (as Rick Partlow)
Dennis Petersen	....	sound recordist
Paulette Victor-Lifton	....	sound facility supervisor

Special Effects by
Douglas W. Beard	....	special effects technician
Terry Sonderhoff	....	special effects coordinator
Robert Yeager	....	special effects assistant
Kenneth Thomson Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Sean Apple	....	digital compositor
William L. Arance	....	3D modeler
Joel Ashman	....	digital compositor: Zoic Studios
Robert J. Baldwin	....	digital artist (as Rob Baldwin)
Justin Ball	....	senior systems engineer: Zoic Studios
Raoul Bolognini	....	visual effects coordinator
Rob Bonchune	....	computer graphics artist
Corey Bramall	....	digital artist
Kristen Branan	....	visual effects producer
Jamie Clark	....	digital artist
Jarrod Davis	....	digital artist
Patti Gannon	....	lead visual effects compositor
Aram Granger	....	digital artist
Gary Hutzel	....	miniature cinematographer
Gary Hutzel	....	visual effects supervisor
Chris John Jones	....	creative director: Zoic Studios
Christopher Jones	....	lead visual effects compositor
Gabriel Köerner	....	digital artist
Errol Lanier	....	digital artist
Paul Maples	....	previsualization artist
Steven Meyer	....	digital compositor
Terry Naas	....	digital artist
Fabio Passaro	....	digital artist
Jose Perez	....	visual effects
Kevin Quattro	....	digital artist
Jeffery Quinn	....	effects production assistant
Mark Rasmussen	....	design supervisor: Enigma Studios Inc
Jon Rosenthal	....	digital artist
Mark Shimer	....	visual effects animator
Emile Edwin Smith	....	digital effects supervisor
Mark Spatny	....	visual effects producer: Modern VideoFilm
Lee Stringer	....	CG supervisor
Kyle Toucher	....	digital artist
Jesse Toves	....	digital artist
Scott Wheeler	....	digital effects artist
Nina Yoon	....	paint/roto artist

Stunts
Lauro Chartrand	....	stunt performer
Janina Dall	....	stunts
Crystal Dalman	....	stunt double (unconfirmed)
Monique Ganderton	....	stunt double
Mike Mitchell	....	stunt coordinator
Aleks Paunovic	....	boxing coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Chiasson	....	dolly grip
Curt Griebel	....	key grip
Simon Hall	....	video playback operator
Jeffrey M. Hoffman	....	camera operator
Prem Marimuthu	....	electrician
Ryan McMaster	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Scott Mitchell	....	best boy
Scott Mitchell	....	rigging electrician
Saubrie Mohamed	....	rigging best boy
Joe Waistell	....	additional first assistant camera
Christian Stevens	....	camera trainee (uncredited)

Casting Department
Corbin Bronson	....	casting associate
James Forsyth	....	extras casting
Rita Foung	....	casting associate
Sibby Kirchgessner	....	casting associate
James Moore	....	casting assistant
Jill Warner	....	casting intern

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Cori Burchell	....	assistant costume designer
Shane Deschamps	....	set costume supervisor
Nicole Gorsuch	....	costume supervisor
Scott Maple	....	costume consultant: classic "Cylon" costumes
Katherine Wigzell	....	truck costumer

Editorial Department
Jason Dale	....	first assistant editor
Luben Izov	....	first assistant editor
Sondra Watanabe	....	second editor

Music Department
Jordan Corngold	....	music editor
Robert Fernandez	....	orchestral engineer
Steve Kaplan	....	score mixer
Bear McCreary	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
John K. Alexander	....	assistant location manager
Craig Anderl	....	assistant: director
Carol Bailey	....	first assistant accountant
Ron Blecker	....	technical advisor: military
Laurie Boyle	....	production accountant
Charles Crossin	....	extras wrangler
Maril Davis	....	assistant: Ronald D. Moore
Tee Fargo	....	lead stand-in
Carol Green-Lundy	....	second script supervisor
Jennifer Harland	....	background coordinator
Carol Marks-George	....	unit publicist
Shaun Mckay	....	payroll accountant
Bonny Northcott	....	scout
Nicole Oguchi	....	assistant production coordinator
Cara Rogers	....	production coordinator
Peter Ruttan	....	playback designer
Tisha Simpkins	....	key production assistant
Kent Sponagle	....	location manager
Ryan Steacy	....	armorer
Scott Steyns	....	playback coordinator
Camryn Thomas	....	assistant: Ronald D. Moore
Elizabeth Weinstein	....	photo double (uncredited)

Production Companies

• R&D TV
• Sky TV
• USA Cable Entertainment

Distributors

• Sci-Fi Channel, The (2003) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• AXN (2009) (Hungary) (TV) (as AXN Sci-Fi) (re-release)
• Chum Television (2004) (Canada) (TV)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (2005) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Sky One (2004) (UK) (TV)
• TV2 (2006) (Hungary) (TV)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Veronica (2005) (Netherlands) (TV)

Special Effects

• Modern VideoFilm
• Zoic Studios (visual effects)

Other Companies

• AnEFX  sound editorial services
• Modern VideoFilm  post-production facilities
• Northwest Sinfonia  orchestra
• Tivoli Catering  catering
• Todd-AO Soundelux  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (USA) (long title)
Battlestar Galactica (Germany) [de]
Battlestar Galactica (France) [fr]
Csillagközi romboló (Hungary) [hu]
Galactica - Astronave de Combate (Brazil) (DVD title) [pt]
O Retorno de Galactica (Brazil) (cable TV title) [pt]
Taisteluplaneetta Galactica (Finland) [fi]
Thorikto Galactica (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

USA:180 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14A (DVD/video rating) | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12 | USA:TV-14 (part 1) | USA:TV-PG (part 2) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Bloedel Floral Conservatory, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

R&D TV

Trivia:

During the first Viper/Cylon engagement, the lead pilot calls for his wingman, "Jolly". Jolly was one of the pilots on the original "Battlestar Galactica" (1978).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In part 2, when the fleet is preparing to leave the storm at Ragnar station, Col. Tigh is heard giving orders to lay down covering fire, but his mouth isn't moving while he speaks into the radio.

Quotes:

[his decommissioning speech]
Adama: The Cylon War is long over, yet we must not forget the reasons why so many sacrificed so much in the cause of freedom. The cost of wearing the uniform can be high, but...
[very long pause]
Adama: sometimes it's too high. You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question "Why?" Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed and spite, jealousy, and we still visit all of our sins upon our children...

Movie Connections:

References "Firefly" (2002)

Some of the anti-BSG2003 complaints are just crazy

Besides saying that I really liked the re-imagining of Galactica, I just wanted to point out the madness in one of the recurring complaints I've noticed among fans *and* nay-sayers of BSG2003. I read a lot of people saying "the new one doesn't have the humour of the original" or "it takes itself so seriously, the characters are too serious," or things to that effect.

I'm just wondering... how funny do you expect a nuclear holocaust to be?? I mean, writers of fiction are hoping that you can suspend your disbelief and try for a moment to imagine that what you are seeing is real, or could be real. So imagine for a moment, if you can, that you live in NYC and you just heard on the news that H-bombs have started falling from the sky in LA, and they're coming down in waves, west-to-east, and humanity is being utterly wiped out. Millions of people-- men, women and children, perhaps members of your own family, are dying in terror. Are you *really* going to be cracking jokes? Imagine that the human race is quickly being massacred, only a few hundred are managing to escape-- a tiny fraction of what civilization was, and you aren't sure if you're going to survive into tomorrow. Just how much humour is going to be in the air, mixing with the fallout and all? Even before the bombs start falling, all of the "overly serious" characters seem to me to have pretty good reasons... Adama's ship is being turned into a museum, effectively ending a major chapter in his military career (which is his life), Apollo's having to face his father, whom he blames for his brother's death, Teague is a drunk (they're not often the cheeriest people), Lauren's just been diagnosed with terminal cancer... you expect these people to be making with the ha-ha?

The character I did find funniest was Starbuck. Be it because she was a little 'crazy' or because she had the least on her shoulders (besides her boyfriend dying 2 years ago because of a decision she made... hm, may explain the 'crazy' a little, y'think?) to spoil her mood, and what do people say about Starbuck? "She was too crazy." There really *is* no pleasing some people.

Arguing that the characters in a story that depicts the extermination of said characters' species are "too serious" is... well, it only shows that you either can't do what the writers would like you to do-- and imagine yourself as a part of this world-- or that you can, but you're a suicidal sociopath.

I thought the miniseries was excellent; the re-worked premise made for a more textured story, the characters actually had some depth this time around, and were well-played by actors who obviously tried to 'get' some of the nuances of their characters and could take a serious situation (however imaginary) seriously. And I loved the special effects, too.

So with all due respect, the puritans who prefer the shallow, campy 70's series with its recycled fx footage, its 2-dimensional characters and it's plot that provides little context or background, can stick their complaints in their old pipes and smoke 'em.