Here is my content (Review) that I've submitted to IMDB through my account. It is currently pending submission, but I have no doubts that it will be declined. So here is my review contents until it is approved by IMDB for publication.
The Caprica episode (S01E01) is well done as a pilot. Really, this episode is the exact same content as the DVD pilot release. That having been said, episode 01 gives a very substantive background of the very popular "Battlestar Galactica" series (both the original and the 2007 remake). It significantly applies most to the 2007 series. As is the trending plots of sci-fi of late, this series explores "Virtual" life or environment. On top of this, we are given much background on the Adama family line as well as their relationship with the unrevealed (in the Battlestar Galactica series) creator of the Cylons. To the most part, this first episode revolves around the popular topic of "Virtual" life and (as is expected) early life of the colonies, and the birth of the Cylons.
Over all, I rather enjoyed this episode. Although, it was not new material for myself or anyone that has already seen the DVD release of the Caprica pilot, the series seems very promising. As is the case with many pilots, episode 01 leaves us with a cliff-hanger so to ensure a follow by an audience (sci-fi community). I'm definitely going to keep watching for resolve as well as development.
When I realized that #Avatar (Twitter lingo) was one week away from release, I went straight aways to Megaplextheaters (SLC) online to purchase my ticket. I have to say, I didn't realize I was going to sign up for the Thursday mid-night showing. I'm rather glad I did. Usually, whenever a really good movie is released, I like to attend opening night. This is how I make a determination on a movie's over-all viewer experience. If a movie that is highly anticipated meets the expectation of the audience, there almost always will be a huge viewer involvement. The Star Wars trilogy (both of them) is a perfect example. No one can forget standing in line over night (errr... so I hear anyway) for a ticket. Standing in line just to show off your light-saber and your Darth Maul costume (that was my favorite by the way). But the best part was being inside the theater to feel the excitement in the air. Every time there was a kick or laser fire or any action sequence, the crowd roared. If it was a funny scene, the crowd laughed almost hysterically. These are the tell-tail signs I was looking for while watching Avatar. Sadly, there was very little audience involvement in both the action or humor scenes. My first impression: It's over hyped and the reviews will not go well.
The Plot:
Who are we kidding. All one has to do, is watch the movie trailers (Online in HD @ Apple® Trailers) and the entire plot is unfolded for you. If this is what's going to make the movie for you, then you might want to wait to watch it at a matinee showing. But definitely worth more than the dollar showing a few months later. Much of the movie reminds me of several other animated movies. I saw a bit of Disney's "Pocahontas" and the entire "mother earth" theme, DreamWork's "Prince of Egypt" and the "Moses" theme, Peyo's "Smurfs" (1981, not the 2011) - for the blue characters, and even James Cameron's "Aliens". This last one due to the alien features of the creatures. One can even see a body-armor robotic suit, very similar to the one Sigourney Weaver wore in Aliens. Imagine that. Sigourney Weaver in an alien themed movie with "loaders", fan-driven air crafts, rescue mission, etc. Truth be told, only Sigourney can get away with that. Does anyone remember the "Aliens" sequence where Sigourney is in full body armor robotic "loader", where she comes to save the day yelling out, "Get away from her you B!T@H" Something to that effect you'll see. All that's missing, from Aliens, is Sigourney running around in her underwear. Wait, does she run around in her under wear in Avatar? Dunno. Q: Aliens? or Avatar?
In the movie itself, all plots and sub-plots are very predictable and obvious. Each development or obstacle in the movie, comes along with it, a very transparent resolve. In fact, you can pretty much put the whole thing together just by reading the IMDB summary and viewing the trailers (exactly what I said at the beginning of the "Plot" summary).
However, do we really watch a movie solely for the anticipation of a plot development or to see a sudden reversal in role or theme? Well, I suppose the answer is yes. But, if you're a big FX enthusiast, or a gamer who loves his video rendering, then you'll enjoy, if nothing else, the visual experience in and of itself.
Visual experience:
I didn't watch the 3D version of it, so I can't speak for it. In the regular showing, the colors and textures are bright and vibrant (sounds very generic and cliche, but there it is). Actually the mix of computer generated textures and actual physical textures, are remarkably seamless, and make for a good marriage. I'm including some screen shots here (no spoilers, there all screen shots from the trailer/teaser). Feel free to click on them for the much larger version.
Action:
You are going to love the action and the hand to hand combat and all conflict scenes. I was very impressed by those scenes. If you're anything like me, you'll go to the theater and watch Avatar for the action as well as the for the visual experience. It's a really good adrenalin rush! I don't want to say too much more on this. You're just going to have to experience it yourself. If this is what will make the movie for you, then you're in for a treat.
My Rating:
Visual experience: 9/10
Action: 9/10
Story/plot development: 6/10 (not very original)
However, my personal take on it is this:
I'm watching it again tomorrow at the matinee show. Well worth it for me.
For me it was the heart-pounding experience, despite the obvious plot developments. The visual affects and all of the fight sequences that grabbed the "Military" or "Marine" in me. To a less degree, It was also the "Avatar" nature of it. Social media hubs or cyber-living has given us the idea of a virtual self. "A rebirth" to borrow the phrase from "Avatar".
Go and watch it, and figure out if you like it.
Oh, I almost forgot. If you're a "Lost" (of ABC) fan, you'll be excited to see "Anna Lucia Cortez" (Michelle Rodriguez). The same actress that plays Trudy Chacon in the movie.
Our much awaited BSG movie has released, and audiences everywhere must be excited. I must warn you though, that this review contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so if you have not seen this movie yet, please go no further.
I was anxious and excited at receiving my promotional BluRay preview copy. I'll start off first with saying that BSG fans everywhere will not be disappointed. The movie addressed many unresolved questions. It also met every expectation I had for an endeavor of this nature. The first movie based from Battlestar Galactica, was of course, "Razor". Yet another BSG movie that I was very satisfied with.
Our opening scene:
10 months after the attack on the Colonies. Two human form cylons, John Cavil (played by Dean Stockwell), are being escorted to an air lock to be jettison off the Galactica. A familiar scene for all of us who saw the episode where Starbuck re-unites Caprica's survivors with the rest of the fleet, including a second Cavil. Before they can be thrown out the air-lock, one speaks to the other. There final words before being jettison (we don't see thiis), "We failed... our greatest error... killing the humans...." This is where we go back "10 months earlier". Here we are thrown into a ressurrection ship with the "Final 5" in stasis, or a resurrection tub-thingy. This is where our "Plan" begins. In part, I don't want to give away the actual "Plan", cylon Cavil and Cavil want to teach their parents a lesson and send them to the colonies to experience a mortal existance. In this, their children (human form cylons) will have humbled their parents. Once again, I am not revealing the "Plan", at least not completely. I told you there would be major spoilers.
Suddenly we're back to the colonies, observing the final 5 in their every day lives. In at least one SyFy released preview (Comic Con 2009) it is revealed that Cavil is traveling with Ellen, and takes her to an infirmary headed towards an outgoing vessel. No one can forget the memorable moment when Ellen is returned to her husband, Colonel Ty. Commander Adama, President Rosalind and Lee Adama are suddenly suspicious she might be a cylon. I mean, come on. All these months without so much as a peep that she is out and about any of the colonial vessels until that moment. Her story: She was saved by someone, taken to a hospital, and then he left. The small holes in this story are filled in for us. This is nothing new. SyFy told us as much in their Comic Con 2009 trailer.
Being a movie, and not an *HDTV (I will always reference TV as HDTV here since all of my reviews are for 720p shows), we see partial nudity, mostly female above the waist, and some male below the waist. Sex and booze. LOL. We get some of that here and there. More so than we'd see on television.
The actual events of the invasion on the colonies are spelled out for us, colony by colony. The locations and activities of the final 5 during the attack is shown to us, making for good back ground information. Along with this, we are shown the strategic locations of several different cylon models during the attack on the colonies. My gods. They're everywhere, it seems. Even in locations we thought were cylon free. Interesting to see, and puts certain things into perspective. I'll let you figure that out for yourselves when you get around to watching it, if you haven't already. Remember, I have a link to my "non-spoiler" blog entry for this movie.
For us guys, and some girls I'm sure, the parts that make this movie worth watching is the graphic battles, explosions, cities burning as well as the human spirit rising above this devastation. Just as we all would expect, there is a lot of this; orbital bombardment, nuclear explosions with their mushroom clouds. Also, Something that we see/hear more of, is the voice of the hybrid, enigmatically narrating; At least in the beginning.
"All this has happened before." Who can forget these words from the BSG episodes, and "Razor" the movie. I'm adding this line here, because I like it, and can't seem to fit it in anywhere else in this entry.
In order for this movie to make sense, and tie into the Battlestar 2004 series, we have to revisit many of the scenes from the series itself. Not so many that it doesn't make for an original and independent movie. It certainly is not a cut-and-paste of the mini-series with just a couple of added scenes here and there.
One of the biggest mysteries we expect to be unraveled is a question from season 1 episode 1: "33 minutes" I think one of the Galactica crew members says, "Why 33 minutes? Why not 30, or 35?" This is never really explained, however SyFy's Comic Con 2009 trailer hints that there will be an explanation.
While trying to explain the "33 minutes" cylon attack, Cavil speaks to a moribund Ellen and calls her his mother. Speaking of "father" Sam, Mother "Tori", father"Saul" et. al. and partially explaining "The Plan". Interestingly, Ellen appears to understand all of this at some level, although she is still very disoriented from having been caught in an explosion earlier in the show.
An underlying thread that we constantly see, is a cylon nation that is much more fragile than we have been lead to believe. At each campaign, each battle each stand off, we are shown how close to defeat the cylons actually are. We see the other side of things as experienced by the cylons. Some are conflicted, others close to leaving their brothers and sisters and attempting to live a human existence. As we know, Cavil is the only model who knows who the final 5 are. Because of this, only he knows the complete "Plan". The other models are still trying to piece together this plan of Cavil's.
We see a human side to many individual cylon models hidden through out the colonial fleet. In fact, some are not willing to follow through Cavil's orders of sabotage, kamikaze runs or any acts that might otherwise cripple the fleet. An unexpected twist really. It's during these moments, that we see a more vulnerable human side of our toaster friends. Even Cavil, of all people... errrrr... I mean cylons, shows us a human side for just a small moment. It's a moment where he sacrifices his own food ration to feed an unwanted child. Actually, he continues to bond with this child, up until the point that he kills him. I believe this to be a symbolic token for Cavil in finally ridding himself of any human resemblence.
Throught the movie, we see the true lack of cohesion within the cylon nation, and the efforts of one model (the number 1 AKA Cavil) constantly manipulating all the other models to his "plan". A plan that seems obvious, but continues to get more and more complicated as we go on.
Don't get me wrong. We know through SyFy that the "Plan" is about viewing the Battlestar Galactica story through the eyes of the cylons, and the inevitable choices Cavil and the rest make in an attempt to complete their genocide of the human race. This is a given. But the key elements of this plan, are in constant flux.
In the end, we're right back where we started, 281 days after the desctruction of the colonies, and aboard the Galactica. Cavil and Cavil rejoined at the air lock.
All in all, I was quite satisfied. There were several new scenes with some of the characters. However, the characters we don't see in new scenes, and to much disappointment, are the characters of Lee Adama and of course the Deanna model. I understand that Lucy Lawless was ever only a special appearance, but Jamie Bamber as Apollo shuld've been there. Actually, I think there is only one scene with Jamie Bamber, and it is a re-visit from the original mini-series.
I recommend the movie. I think all Battlestar Galactica fans will be happy with this. There is after all, only so many un answered questions that can be addressed in 2 hours. So for those of us that like a good mystery, rest assured. We still have many questions that don't need to be answered. Too much information just kills a story line in my opinion.
I'm a simple person who enjoys his privacy, but loves to make friends. I enjoy learning and absorbing latest technologies and knowledge bases.
What I like most, is my Dog Jack; My friend, companion and family for the past 9yrs. Oh, and I can't forget... TRAVELING.
