DVD : Battlestar Galactica: Razor [2007]

Rating: - Should have just been regular episodes
This is surprisingly gory and left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

The crew of the Pegasus are morally bankrupt and Kane is an awful leader. That she doesn't hold herself accountable for compromising the safety of her own crew and is willing to expend everyone else to satisfy her own personal demons just about says it all. Kane has no shred of humanity in her and unfortunately this film seems to be about her indoctrination of Kendra Shaw into a similar style of madwoman.

Is it me or does BSG revel in creating these ammoral women types?

Filming as usual excellent, some useful plot fill ins but silly military actions and more mystical hokum. Unfortunately, if you are into the whole series as I am you do need this.

---

Rating: - rush release. thankfully. with extras.
This is a tv movie that ties into the tv series battlestar galactica, the remake of the 1970's show. if you've not seen this then don't start with this, get the first few seasons to begin with, because I really don't think the uninitated could pick it up from this.

But if you are up to speed on the show:

the movie runs for ninety five minutes [approx] and is set during season two of the show, after apollo becomes commander of the pegasus. it centres round a character hitherto unseen called kendra shaw, an officer on the ship. And through flashbacks, she recalls her time on the vessel, which started on the day when the new cylon war began, and how admiral cain, the ship's first commander, did whatever they had to do so the ship could survive.

when not flashing back, we also get the pegasus on a mission that turns out to be more deadly than imagined. and commander adama has a flashback to the first cylon war. and in flashbacks, cain has one to her past as well.

confused? if you're up to speed on the show, you will get the hang of this.

It doesn't tell us quite as much about cain as you might have expected, but this is a strong piece of work. shaw is a memorable character, and there are some stunning actions scenes, and a few interesting developments that will doubtless come back to effect the fourth season.

And unlike season three box set, we do get a few more extras this time:

a commentary by two of the writers.

two deleted scenes.

a trailer for the fourth season.

a sneak peek at the fourth season. do not watch this till you've seen razor, and even then be aware there are possible spoilers in it.

and seven three minute long 'webisodes' originally broadcast on the sci fi channels website, showing what happened to the young adama on the last day of the original cylon war. there's no direct access to each so you have to watch them in order, and episodes three to six and half of seven are actually incorporated into razor. but the ones that aren't are worth a look.

there is also a set up option on the main menu. access this to bring up a couple of sound options and subtitles that can be turned on or off. english is the only available language for these.

a good movie, and well worth watching if you're a fan. in a decent package

---

Rating: - Well worth every penny !
It was very interesting to see how Admiral Cain ended up the way she did as what the cylons did clearly messed her up . Michelle Forbes does certainly play the part far differently to how Lloyd Bridges did in the 1978-79 series . It is a perfect joining up exercise between series 3 & the final one - but one must have seen the previous three seasons to know what is happening & why . On a comic note it was funny seeing the old fashioned looking cylons & quite harrowing to see both civilians being shot and Frankenstein style experiments being carried out . It is pretty 'adult ' in the sense lesbianism is clearly hinted at - so the FHM reading market is going to feel well looked after . All in all a very powerful piece of sci-fi drama that effectively tackles contemporary themes . The casting is as ever impeccable while the special effects are first rate . I will miss this series when season four ends - but it is winding down and it is best to go out on a high . Razor makes one very curious about season four as we get lots of enticing hints about what lies ahead . So £10.98 is a very fair price for getting Razor on DVD from Amazon.co.uk .

---

Rating: - Excellent diversion before the main event of Season 4
I really love the whole BG thing, so this is hard to write without some bias. In fairness, I guess, the film is much more of an action sci-fi thriller than you might expect from the space soap opera of the main series. It's like the Star Trek films, which sacrifice some of the story arc and subtle commentary in favour of big explosions and fx. But it fits nicely into the overall story, it builds the anticipation for Series 4, and there are some good extras, so what more could you want?

As you can gather from other reviews, you get Cain's back story, Pegasus back story, lovely retro Cylons, and some bits of build up (mainly from the hybrid) about what happens to the 7, the 4, the 1 and Kara next series. Just what you need in between series. Only word of caution - if this is your first look at the new BG, you probably won't have a clue what's going on! You really do need to have the first three series under your belt first.

---

Rating: - Good for existing fans, not necessarily essential
This review is for the UK region 2 version.

First off the Razor episode itself. If you are an established viewer of the series the main character will be new to you, her name is Kendra Shaw; a rookie officer who starts to serve aboard the Battlestar Pegasus only moments before the devastating attack against the human race by the Cylons. A few of the other characters will be familiar to anybody who has watched season two, especially Admiral Helena Cain played by Michelle Forbes, her X.O Fisk and an enigmatic I.T. lady who we've seen many times before. Most of the time we are seeing things from Kendra's point of view, like most BSG characters (and real people) she has her flaws but is also quite likeable. A few of the events that occur under Cain's command aren't as shocking as they might have been as we've already heard about them from a not entirely reliable source, although actually seeing what DID happen is as dramatic as it needs to be.

Running alongside this plot thread is a 'present' story (although all of this episode is set before the end of season two) of Lee Adama's first mission as commander of the Pegasus, again involving Kendra, now more battle hardened after serving under Cain. This involves a few of the regular Galactica characters and includes back-story that we haven't previously heard about and the appearance of the old school Cylons from the original series. There are also flashbacks to the first war mostly centered around a certain young Viper pilot.

The episode runs to just under 1 Hour 40 minutes, I assume all this 2 Hour talk included overly frequent commercial breaks. Effects work is great as ever and if you're a fan I'd be very surprised if you didn't enjoy Razor, I certainly did. The reason I say this may not be essential is because there doesn't seem to be much that is vital to the actual series apart from one comment made towards the end, from what I understand Razor was meant to be a stand alone but I'm not sure I could recommend it to newcomers.

Extras:
A couple of deleted scenes (about 3 mins).
A sneak peek at season 4, the main cast and excutive producers give soundbites without really revealing much (about 2.5 mins).
Season 4 Trailer, ooooh (about 30secs)
7 'Minisodes', flashbacks to the first war, most of which are in the feature anyway (just under 20 mins)
Not listed on the back of the DVD box but ON the disc: Informative and interesting audio commentary with Co head-honcho: Ronald D. Moore and the writer of Razor: Michael Taylor. Made specially for the DVD and not a podcast.

I am such a geek.