"Battlestar Galactica" (2003) TV mini-series

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 | Survivor | Planet | Quest | Fighter Pilot

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:

A Viper from the 1978 series is clearly visible in a long shot of the landing bay during the decommissioning ceremony (to the left of the screen near the LandRam).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The Colonials have a polytheistic religion and throughout the series say "Oh my Gods," yet Adama says "Oh my God" when he sees his old Vioer and the CAG says it when the Cylon nukes are approaching.

Quotes:

Baltar: So now you're telling me, um, now you're telling me you're a machine?
Number Six: I'm a woman.
Baltar: You're a machine. You're a synthetic woman, a robot.
Number Six: I've said it three times now.
Baltar: Well, forgive me, I'm having the tiniest little bit of trouble believing that because the last time anybody saw the Cylons they looked more like walking chrome toasters.
Number Six: Those models are still around. They have their uses.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Fantastic Easter Special (#11.5)" (2007)

Sci-Fi takes another step forward

I expected very little of this Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, for I adored the original so much, but to my pleasant surprise this production is excellent. It doesn't fall back on genre-typical styles of film-making as we have seen repeatedly in Star Trek or other television dramas. The editing is wonderful, the directing is above par, and the acting is quite convincing. I am especially pleased with the performance of Mary McDonnell as the president of the colonies. Her portrayal is that of an ordinary human being thrust into power by extraordinary circumstances. She doesn't overplay her strength and she doesn't fall back on 'exaggerated feminine emotionality' as so many female leaders seem to do in other shows. The quality of her performance is also seen in the other actors, who are allowed the screen time to show us their personalities, rather than simply deliver trite one-liners.

CG-wise, Battlestar Galactica was beyond excellent. Lighting in space is harsh and I was pleased to see that the producers didn't soften it just to make the ships look more romantic. External scenes were used to tell the story and not gratuitously. I was left wanting more every time.

Excellent show.