Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica

For any of you sci-fi TV fans out there :D. Especially if you watch the show :D

-American military sci-fi fiction series, part of the Battlestar Galactica series
-Developed by Ronald D. Moore as a revamped version of the 1978 series, which was created by Glen A. Larson
-The series first aired as a 3 hour miniseries in Dec. 2003 on the Sci-Fi Channel and ran for 4 seasons, ending on March 20, 2009

-The show features Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos.
-The basic story of the show is set in a distant star system, where humans live on a series of planets called the Twelve Colonies. In the past, they were at war with a cybernetic version of themselves called Cylons. With the help of a human named Gaius Baltar, the Cylons launch a sudden sneak attack on the Colonies, devastating the populations. The ones aboard civilian ships survived, the only military ship that survived is the Battlestar Galactica ship. That ship is under management by Commander William "Bill" Adama(Olmos), and President Laura Roslin(McDonnell). They take the small crew of the Galactica and lead it's fleet of survivors to a refuge known as Earth.

Did you Know?
-In his cabin, Commander Adama has a shaving mirror made by IKEA
-The original version had Viper weapons firing red lasers and the Cylons firing blue lasers. This one has both ships firing actual bullets
-The rank structure for the Battlestar Galactica goes like this:
  -Admiral
  -Commander
  -Colonel
  -Major
  -Captain
  -Lieutenant
  -Lt. Jr. grade
  -Ensign
  -Enlisted: Master Chief Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer Galactica. This closely resembles the ranking system of the Marines. This also reflects the fact that there are Marines on board this ship.
-In the beginning of season 3, Jamie Bamber did actually gain the weight for the role. Instead a body double was used for some of the close up shots of his rounded stomach and Bamber wore a jowl forming brace in his mouth.
-To give her better understanding of a rape victim, Tricia Helfer watched the film Two Women to prepare for her role as Gina, the captive Cylon
-The name 'Adama', the last name of William, Lee and Zak, means "ground" or "Earth"
-In order to look like Lee Adama's father, Edward James Olmos, whose eye color is normally brown,  had to wear contact lenses with blue irises so he could look more like Bamber, who has blue eyes
-Kerry Norton, who plays the character Layne Ishay(Doc Cottle's medical assistant) is the real life wife of Jamie Bamber(Lee "Apollo" Adama). When Bamber had to put on an incredibly accurate American accent, Norton was able to use her own British accent for the character

History
-Unlike most sci-fi shows, this show has no aliens, the bad guys are man made robots. The survivors are led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama.
-The stories deal with the apocalyptic fallout and the war with the humans robotic selves and also show the concept of hate, violence, and religion with the idea of a "God" whose angelic agents help out on behalf of the main characters.
-The final episodes show a character named Kara Thrace leading the surviving humans and Cylons to a new planet, which is said to be Earth, where the colonists land in Africa. Adama names the new planet Earth as a tribute to the "real" Earth of legend. The idea of Earth they had was a devastated wasteland that was uninhabitable by nuclear fallout.

Characters

Edward James Olmos: Commander William Adama
-Commanding officer of the Battlestar Galactica

If you look close at his eyes, they are blue. The reason for that is because William Adama is the father of the character Lee Adama. Since Jamie Bamber has blue eyes, Olmos had to wear special contacts with blue irises to match Bamber's blue eyes. Normally Olmos' eyes are a deep brown

Mary McDonnell: President Laura Roslin
-Senior survivor of the former colonial government, was the Secretary of Education before the colonies were destroyed

Katee Sackhoff: Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
- Galactica Viper pilot

Jamie Bamber: Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama
-Son of William Adama

James Callis: Dr. Gaius Baltar
-Intelligent Caprican scientist

Tricia Helfer: #6, a Cylon

Grace Park: #8, a Cylon, aka a Galactica Raptor pilot

References to modern society
-This show is considered to be a look at the war on terror, with religious fundamentalists(Cylons), sleeper cells, prison torture scandals, etc
-The show has also handled the issue of terrorist sleeper cells with stories involving the fear of Cylon suicide attacks

Episodes

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Freejack

All time favorite sci-fi movie EVER!

Hey James, this should answer that question of yours. Yeah, Freejack is the sci-fi movie with Mick Jagger in it. He plays a mercenary named Victor Vacendak.

Sorry to be so pathetic, I just happen to love this movie, one of my fave sci-fi movies and normally I don't watch sci-fi movies, so it's a rarity for me to like sci-fi like this. 

Freejack

-Made in 1992

-Directed by Geoff Murphy

-Stars Emilio Estevez, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Mick Jagger

-When released in the US, it got mainly bad reviews

-Was adapted from the 1959 sci-fi novel Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley

-Aside from the concept of a modern man being sent into the future where anything is up for sale and there is the presence of a 'spiritual switchboard' in which souls are trapped, this movie bears little to no resemblance to the novel, where it was discovered that there was scientific proof of the afterlife altering the society's views on life

Did You Know?

-During the time this movie was being filmed, Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall were married. And in the movie, there is a scene that shows Mick and Jerry almost together. When Jerry's reporter character is interviewing Alex in a nightclub, Mick's character Vacendak is watching intently on the TV, watching someone who in real life at the time was his wife acting. 

Plot

-In the year 2009, the multi millionaires can acquire immortality by hiring "bonejackers", basically mercenaries who use extensive time travel equipment technology, to grab people from the past just before their deaths. Those who escape the bonejackers are deemed "freejacks", and are considered to be the lowest rung on the human social ladder. The film is set in a dismal dystopic future where health problems plague practically everyone, from poor physical health from drug use, and environmental pollution, making them useless as replacements. 

-Alex Furlong(Emilio Estevez) is a professional race car driver who is just about to die in a 1991 car crash, right in front of his fiancee Julie Redlund(Rene Russo) and his agent Brad(David Johansen), when suddenly, out of the blue, a time machine grabs him from the cockpit of his car just as he crashes and into 21st century Bronx, New York, which looks like a deserted wasteland. When Furlong's captors- led by a hardened but honorable mercenary named Victor Vacendak(Mick Jagger)- are ambushed by a hit squad. Furlong is able to escape and is confused by what is going on. When he tries to find Julie, he finds she is no longer at her 1991 address. He takes shelter at a local church, where he is found by a sympathetic nun  who is armed with a shotgun(Amanda Plummer). She explains to him what happened. She also provides him with clothing, food and a small handgun.

-Alex is able to track down his former agent Brad to ask him for help, but he sells out Alex for the reward and is killed in the process. He tracks down Julie, who he finds out works for a company called McCandless Inc. She calls security on him, thinking he is not the Alex she knows. Vacendak shows up, and that's when she realizes that Alex is who he says he is. She goes to Ian McCandless(Anthony Hopkins) himself to ask for help in getting Furlong out of New York, McCandless promises to help. Unfortunately, the escape is a trap- Vacendak and his squad try to once again get Alex, but he manages to escape them and holds Vacendak at gunpoint. Alex demands to know who wants him so badly. Vacendak finally surrenders and tells him that the person who wants his body is none other than Ian McCandless, Julie's boss. Because Alex saved his life before, Vacendak gives him a chance to run, and Julie steals one of Vacendak's armored tanks to get away. 

-Furlong and Julie are able to escape VacendakMcCandless Corporation cops, but they also have to deal with private guards of McCandless' corporate X.O Mr. Michellete(Jonathan Banks), who is desperately after McCandless' job. He was the one who was behind Alex's first initial escape.  Alex then pretends to hold Julie hostage and makes a deal with Michelette to arrange a meeting with him. He hopes they don't know about the couple's past relationship, but it turns out that Michelette has already seen the footage of Julie's pain and grief after Furlong's death after his 1991 accident. Julie is immediately fired on the spot, thinking he will get the top position as top executive. Alex and Julie escape the meeting, only to be caught in a gunfight between the guards and Vacendak's mercenaries. 

-The elevator they take ends up taking them to the top floor of the building, where there is a spiritual switchboard where McCandless' mind is. A virtual reality hologram of McCandless explains why he wanted Furlong's body: so he could show his love for Julie. Apologizing, he offers Alex the chance to run the company while pretending to be him. But Vacendak arrives, McCandless reveals he was stalling. Alex, forced into performing the mind transplant, declares "You don't need a new body, you need a new soul, and your machine can't give you that!" Just when the transfer begins, Michelette stumbles in, wounded from fighting with Vacendak's men. In all the chaos, Julie grabs a soldier's gun and shoots the crystal performing the transplant. The crystal shatters, rendering the transplant inconclusive since no one knows if McCandless has control on the computers. The scientists present conclude that McCandless will have to identify himself. Michelette agrees, revealing that only McCandless would know his own personal I.D. code, something Alex would obviously not know. Vacendak receives a handheld computer which shows McCandless' code- he instructs "Alex" to tell him what it is.

-Alex responds by saying the code slowly and clearly, and Vacendak asks him to continue. Michelette concludes that that transfer took and tries to kill Alex,  but Vacendak guns him down along with his men. Furlong asks Julie to change into something more beautiful. Soon, Furlong and Julie take one of McCandless' cars for a drive. They are stopped by Vacendak and his team as the car leaves the estate. Vacendak reveals that the transfer was not complete, and that it was still Alex, but Ian McCandless could not drive, and Alex did not get the code right, so Victor lied for him. He simply waited for Alex to make a mistake and he did: McCandless doesn't know how to drive. Vacendak tells Julie, flashing a smile "You'll have to coach him better than that" and after withdrawing his men, the 2 drive away. 

Cast

Actor	Character
Emilio Estevez	Alex Furlong
Mick Jagger	Victor Vacendak
Rene Russo	Julie Redlund
Anthony Hopkins	Ian McCandless
Jonathan Banks	Mark Michelette
David Johansen	Brad
Grand L. Bush	Boone
John Shea	Morgan
Frankie Faison	Homeless man
Esai Morales	Ripper
Jerry Hall	Newswoman
Amanda Plummer	Nun
Jeff Scordino	Camera Man

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