"The Battlestars
formed the backbone of the human defense
against the Cylons during the last 500
yahren of the Great War. They are deep
space craft, assembled in planetary
orbit. Unable to land, they depend on
shuttles for contact with planetary
surfaces. Their maximum range before
refueling is 500 light-yahren, although
evasive maneuvers, especially high
speeds and use of weapons can shorten
the range considerably. A Battlestar's
major armament consists of four to eight
squadrons of Vipers, one pilot fighters
of fantastic speed and attack power (See
Vipers)."
One
year after George Lucas set the world on
fire with Star
Wars,
writer/producer Glen Larson helped fill
the new and voracious appetite of millions
of newly formed sci-fi nut-balls like
myself with the weekly TV series Battlestar
Galactica.
Actually, it was an old script that was
deemed too expensive until Universal saw
how much money 20th Century Fox was making
and gave Larson the green-light. The show
basically boiled down to Wagon
Train
in outer space, but it had fast ships,
turbo thrusters, running laser battles,
roguish heroes and some of the coolest
robotic villains ever conceived.
Lord
Lucas wasn't real happy with this and
sued, saying they were stealing his ideas
-- which was a load of bull. Well, they
did steal one of his effects men. John
Dykstra helped revolutionize the
spaceships and miniature special effects
for Star
Wars.
After helping with Battlestar
Galactica,
though, he was banished from ILM forever.
Since Galactica
was one the most expensive network shows
ever produce, it was only inevitable that
corners would be cut, effect-shots reused
ad-nauseum and scripts that looked awfully
familiar and got really preachy towards
the end. The show officially "jumped
the shark" after the treacherous
Baltar capitulated, meaning no more Cylons.
At
the time I didn't care. I loved the show
-- I don't know, maybe the Cylon's
scanning eye and drone put the
hypno-whammy on me. Nah, I tuned in weekly
of my own free will. And I was one of
those genetic freaks who wanted to be
Apollo instead of Starbuck whenever we
reenacted the show on the playground, but
most of the time I wound up stuck being
Jolly. And how come I always had to be
Jolly?!? One thing we all agreed on,
though, was Galactica
1980
sucked ass.
If
you are a fan of the show I'll highly
recommend this relic from those halcyon
days. Don't let the picture of the author,
Bruce Kraus -- in his own Galactica
gear, claiming to be a historian from the
planet Tauron, and that he got this record
from the Galactica
library itself, scare you off. The entries
are adequate, if not disappointingly brief
in most cases. Hardcore Galactica-files
will probably be disappointed as the book
barely breaks thirty pages.
Still,
it's all we got, and it's all broken down
for you: Humans, aliens, ships, planets,
technical and religious jargon, and it
tells you more than you probably ever
wanted or needed to know.
Ever
wondered where the Cylons came from? It's
all here. Don't know the difference
between a Boray and a Ovion? Want to know
more about CORA, the Colonial Viper's
navigational system? Check. Heck you can
even find out how they Force Nitron
Field-Farm on the Agro ships with all the
excess felgercarb lying around because in
space, no one can hear you flush.
Alas,
there is no explanation for the faulty
programming that causes the Cylons to
constantly veer their Raiders into the
same Viper firing pattern and explode, or
why the Cylons always attack whenever
Starbuck is about to win a big pot of
cubits at the Pyramid table.
At
first glance it appears to be a hastily
thrown together compendium to cash in on
the shows waning success. Close scrutiny
isn't required to see that several photos
are inserted upside down. But it more than
makes up for that with the sheer volume of
photos included. The book is also marred
with some blaring typos and several
contradictions in the exact same
paragraph.
I
only say these things as a warning to
those who try to track this down to not
expect too much (or pay too much!)
but it's still a fun read for all my
fellow Galactica
fans. I bought mine back in 1979. It's
battered, ear marked, worn and doodled on,
but after all these years I still cherish
it and break it out whenever the Sci-Fi
Channel unleashes an all day Galactica
marathon. A nice memento and a touchstone
to my younger days.
Galactica
fans. I bought mine back in 1979. It's
battered, ear marked, worn and doodled on,
but after all these years I still cherish
it and break it out whenever the Sci-Fi
Channel unleashes an all day Galactica
marathon. A nice memento and a touchstone
to my younger days.
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