Movies - Battlestar Galactica

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	Movies - Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction film, produced in 1978 by Glen Larson and starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. It was the pilot for the television series that was cancelled after one season. It was reimagined in 2003 by the Sci-Fi Channel with Edward James Olmos stepping into Lorne Greene's role of Commander Adama. A weekly series on Sci-Fi followed in January 2005. (See Battlestar Galactica (2003) for more.)

The series title is sometimes formatted with a colon, as Battlestar: Galactica, however it is more commonly formatted without.

Synopsis

Battlestar Galactica is set in a distant part of the galaxy in an age described as "the seventh millennium of time." Twelve colonies (planets) of humans have been fighting a thousand-year war against the android race of Cylons, who seek to exterminate all of humanity.

The Cylons unexpectedly sue for peace, through the diplomatic channel of human councilor Count Baltar. The human leaders and commanders of the military fleets are lulled into complacency by the Cylon's offer of peace. All of the human military vessels, including the twelve carrier vessels called "battlestars", are supposed to meet at the armistice talks for the final actions sealing the peace. This is a trick: Baltar has betrayed humanity for personal power and glory, and the Cylons have no true plans for peace.

Adama, commander of the Battlestar Galactica, had been suspicious of the Cylons' motives. He ordered a regular patrol consisting of his two best pilots; Adama's eldest son, Apollo, and another pilot. Adama's son Zac convinced the second pilot to let him go in his stead. This patrol discovers many squadrons of Cylon fighter craft in hiding just as they are discovered by the Cylons. The Cylons jam communications of the patrol most of the way back to the Galactica. Zac's fighter is hit, reducing his speed, forcing Apollo to leave him behind so that the fleet can be warned. Zac is killed by the Cylons just short of the fleet before Apollo can return to help him.

Despite the orders of the President for restraint, Adama is able to prepare the Galactica before the Cylon fighter fleet attacks, but all of the remaining battlestars are unprepared. The result is that almost the entire fleet is caught off guard and annihilated. During the battle, Apollo tells Adama that the fighter fleet was found with tankers. Adama realized that they had done this to extend the range of the fighters from the Cylon carrier ships, basestars. He orders the Galactica to withdraw in order to protect its home planet, Caprica, but he is too late; upon arriving home he finds the devastation that the basestars have left. Adama soon learns that all twelve colonies have met the same fate. And after devastating the colonies of man, the basestars were sent to finish off the battlestars at the "armistice talks".

With the colonial civilization in ruins, and the Cylons likely to continue their extermination of humanity, Adama sends out a call for every craft that can make it to space to flee the Cylons. The hope is that the Galactica can protect this fleet long enough to find a legendary thirteenth human colony, known only as Earth which could have sufficient technology to be able to defeat the Cylons. Legends and myths say that this colony is known only to the last lord of Kobol, the planet abandoned thousands of years earlier during humanity's mass exodus to explore the galaxy.

Helping Adama in the quest for Earth are Colonel Tigh, the second in command of the Galactica, as well as a squadron of viper (fighter) pilots led by Apollo (Adama's remaining son), Starbuck, and Boomer. The Cylon Imperious Leader, disdainful of harboring even a temporarily useful traitor, orders Baltar's execution. In the theatrical version, Baltar was beheaded. But in the telecast version, the execution is halted just short of Baltar's neck so that he could be executed in a public ceremony; later, he is spared in order to help the Cylons hunt down the remaining humans.

The Galactica and her "ragtag fleet of fugitive vessels" find brief respite on the resort planet of Carillon. But the Ovions, Carillon's indigenous, insectoid inhabitants, are to delay the human fleet while the Cylons gather forces to destroy them. The Ovions take advantage of the situation and have been kidnapping and consuming crew and passengers of the refugee fleet. Apollo and Starbuck are investigating the disappearance of some of their comrades when they discover the conspiracy. After rescuing some of their imprisoned comrades, Apollo and Starbuck, in a firefight with Cylons, set fire to the subterranean tylium mines on the planet.

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Movies - Battlestar Galactica

Synopsis

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