Battlestar Galactica: The Movie (1978)

 Yes, in the wake of the immense success of 'Star Wars', many tried to cash in on the science fiction craze and a genre that was lambasted for years suddenly becamse the next big thing. But writing 'Battlestar Galactica' off as merely a clone of George Lucas' vision, would be doing this series (and film) a massive disservice. This easily stands on its own as an excellent show and even this film (which is basically the pilot/first episodes cut together to form a film) still works after all these years, even if some of the discosoundtrack has dated somewhat.

Of the Twelve Colonies of Man, every planet sent a representative aboard a battleship called a Battlestar to finally sign a peace treaty with the Cylons, metal usurpers. But not all is well, as a human conspirator called Baltar has betrayed the humans and in a massive ambush, most of the colonies are  wiped out. The Battlestar Galactica is the only military vessel that survived the onslaught and their leader Adama, haches a plan to gather all the survivors in every spaceship they can find and set out for a new home: a mythical planet called Earth. Along the way, the threat of the Cylons looms and even among the humans themselves, strife and the oppression of the lower classes still finds its way. 

When the fleet wants to stop by a planet named Carillon in order to replenish water and fuel, they discover something resembling a resort, where apparently no one ever loses at gambling. A couple of soldiers from the Galactica smell trouble, and indeed: all is not well with this place... 

First off, if science fiction is not really your thing, chances are you might want to pass this up. Yet, give it a chance, because there is quite a lot to be enjoyed here. The script is pretty tight and the characters stand out as being likable and distinguishable. Richard Hatch as Apollo is the noble warrior, Dirk Benedict is the cocky and suave fighter Starbuck and Lorne Greene shines as commander Adama. But also the smaller roles work well and people like Jane Seymour and a young Noah Hathaway (Atreyu, if that rings a bell) do not disappoint. 

Moreover, the story manages to grab your attention. Heck, any film that starts off with the near annihilation of the human race is out to grab your attention. Even 'Battlestar Galactica' does not shy away from this apocalyptic scenario and also draws your attention to things like corruption, racism and greed. Classic themes, to be sure, but they don't sugarcoat it too much, which is still refreshing. Also, for what is pretty much a television series, what's on the screen still looks impressive for the most part. Many people that also worked on 'Star Wars' have lent their skills to this and it shows. The spaceships look great and the space battles, though not enormously spectacular, still look good. 

What also will remain indelibly imprinted upon the brain, is the classic look of the Cylons. Yes, you can tell the costumes are a bit clunky and that the actors within (usually basketball players, as they needed people with imposing statures) had trouble seeing through the visor, but their shiny silver and metallic look, with that red laser moving to and fro and then that vocoder voice... It's classic and despite a few shortcomings, still manages to inspire awe and fear. And I haven't even mentioned the voice of Patrick Macnee as the Cylon's Imperious Leader! 

Yes, you can tell this is cobbled together from the series, but that doesn't really matter: it was meant to get you interested in the series and it definitely succeeds in that respect, just because it is a lot better made than you might expect. Yes, the reboot/reworked series of the early 2000s is also very good and is a lot more serious, whereas this does have the occasional lighter and goofier tone, but still: it's nice to discover this is still very watchable, even 40 years after it was first conceived. 

If you like a little scifi, this is a tough one to pass up. So maybe give it a spin, why don't you? 

And if you can answer: "By your command.", you get bonus cred.