Post by Erik Rupp on May 7, 2011 9:36:44 GMT -5
The reimagined Battlestar Galactica became something of a cable phenomenon for the Sci Fi Channel. It was a legitimate hit. It had a huge group of loyal fans, and with good reason - it was a great show.
When the Sci Fi Channel cancelled the series they were soundly criticized for that decision (fortunately, they gave the producers enough advance notice so that they could wrap up the continuing storyline with a BIG final show). Universal knew there were fans who wanted more of the story, and so beyond the Caprica spin-off they decided to make a straight to video movie to capitalize on the demand.
Unfortunately, unlike the previous Battlestar Galactica movie (Razor), The Plan turned out to be something of a dud. Relatively speaking.
Where Razor was epic, The Plan comes across like an extended group of upcoming episode previews edited together with the, "Previously on Battlestar Galacica," wrap ups padded with some deleted scenes.
The Plan is a bit disjointed. It jumps around and lacks a good story flow. It works if you've seen the entire series, but if you haven't? Forget it.
The premise of this movie is to show most of the story from the perspective of the Cylons (mechanical human beings who are out to wipe out humanity). It's a solid premise, but the execution of that premise is the monkey wrench gumming up the works. Instead of being revelatory, The Plan seems more like a gap filler - filling in some very small holes in the story that was originally presented in the series. Those holes were so small as to be mostly unnoticed, even by the most dedicated fans.
The presence of Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) and Lee 'Apollo' Adama (Jamie Bamber) is solely missing. A few scenes using footage from the series are edited in to the movie, but otherwise the two of them are left out of the story. (Actually, Lee doesn't even have any lines used in this movie, only Kara's scenes are shown with enough length for some of her lines to be used.) And even though the show focuses on the Cylons, Lucy Lawless, who played a key Cylon isn't in the movie, either.
Ultimately, the movie just seems like odds and ends edited together to show an encapsulated version of the overall Battlestar Galactica story from the Cylons point of view.
Worse still, the ending isn't much of an ending. The movie just kind of... stops, and the credits roll.
Now all of this isn't to say that The Plan is a total disaster, because it isn't. It's just a huge disappointment to see such a flawed stand alone movie after such a great series. The Plan is a decent way to spend a couple hours for fans of the series - as long as they know what they're in for before putting the DVD or Blu Ray in the player.
The lead in this one is really Dean Stockwell, who played his character with a venom that really showed the extent of the resentment that some Cylons had towards humans. The fans aren't going to see Lee Adama or Kara Thrace or even much of Admiral William Adama. It's mostly Stockwell, along with Tricia Helfer (#6), Grace 'Boomer' Park, and Michael 'Sam Anders' Trucco. They're all good actors and they do their jobs well. That still doesn't quite make up for the actors & characters who are M.I.A. in the movie.
Even the special effects seem just a tad less special this time out. Some shots look fantastic, while others are obviously CGI.
So is The Plan worth watching? Yes, for fans of the series - the ones who have seen the whole thing, it is. It's not bad. It's just... mediocre. It's flawed.
It would be nice if they did one more movie - a really good one - to make up for this. Much like Babylon 5's The Lost Tales, it would be a shame for a less worthy straight to DVD movie to be the final original movie or episode.
As for the Blu Ray, it looks great. It's crisp, clear, with good detail - and even the intentionally grainy shots look a little less distracting than they did during the series' original run. It's a solid Blu Ray release loaded with some good extras.
Worth buying? Yes - for fans of the series it is.
Movie - 3/5
Blu Ray 4.5/5