Click here to visit the new home of AOLTV!

Hot on HuffPost TV:

See More Stories
EDITION: U.S.
CA Canada US United States UK United Kingdom
Powered by i.TV
May 19, 2013

Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 - DVD review

by Brad Trechak, posted Jul 19th 2009 11:04AM

Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5One of the best parts of this job is the advance copies we get of television DVD sets. In short: Holy frak! The final set of Battlestar Galactica episodes is awesome.

Minor spoilers follow...

There are those who liked the ending and those that didn't. I didn't like the lack of explanation of Kara's return from the dead and found the finale generally anti-climactic. But the series set a high standard and, overall, it's a minor complaint. In most ways, the series is perfect and far better than most of us deserve.

I'll give them this: the people who make the show know their audience ... that audience being nerds. Nerds like information. Hence, the DVD set is full of extras and special features. These include deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and extended versions of episodes, including the three-part finale, "Daybreak." And every episode (let me repeat that:: every episode) has podcast commentary by Ronald Moore.

For the benefit of those who buy only Season 4.5 but not the others (for Gods' sake, why?), there is the rapid-paced featurette -- "What the Frak is Going on with Battlestar Galactica?" -- which details the first three and a half seasons.

Other extras include vlogs by David Eick, and there's even an extra by Bear McCreary about composing music for an episode. Edward James Olmos (a.k.a. Admiral Adama) provides commentary for the episode he directed. Honestly, I'm not sure if a person can get through all the extras in his or her lifetime. Okay, maybe they can, but it would take years.

All of the final nine episodes (the last of which is divided into three parts) are available on the DVDs, naturally. The video quality of the discs is average, but the sheer number of extras makes up for it.

If you're a Battlestar Galactica fan, there is no excuse for not picking this up. In fact, the only excuse you'd have is because you plan to own the beautifully-boxed complete series on Blu ray. So say we all.

Link Squad

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

6 Comments

Filter by:
Robert

Something I did not understand about season 4.5. In the first episode, they landed on earth but it was nuclear scorched/uninhabitable, therefore, they moved on. In the final episode, they went back to a sundrenched pre-modern man earth and moved in. Was this the same place and if so, how?

October 02 2009 at 9:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Patrick R

I only recently watched the series in its entirety and I have to say I'm surprised at the amount of animosity shown towards the finale. I thought everything that happened was both logical and suitable for the show's themes.

Kara's return didn't need an explanation; that's the whole point. For 4 seasons, characters have agonized and debated over the existence of a God and wondered if they have a purpose. Kara was the living proof that there are things in the world that exist beyond the characters' understandings -- that, yes, maybe there is a God (or Gods) and it's not all just talk.

July 20 2009 at 9:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DarthPaul

"none of these characters could change the outcome of the story"

the ship sank

July 20 2009 at 2:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
m.

I am very much looking forward to this!....can't wait to buy this one..oh, and I loved the ending, wasn't bothered by it at all.

July 19 2009 at 4:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

I was rather hoping they would wait until The Plan had come out and included that in the set like they've did for Razor. Oh well, I'll just get both.

July 19 2009 at 3:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
L'Emmerdeur

Unless, of course you don't really want to own this because you, as a rabid fan, hated the finale. And what better way to hate the finale and practice your masochism than buy and extended version of Godbreak?

Brad, I'm actually glad there are people out there who enjoyed, or at least can ignore, the way they closed things up. I, for one, hated Caprica, not because it was that bad, but because my brain kept reminding me that every word and every action taking place had no meaning, as none of these characters could change the outcome of the story. With some god or God running everything of a cliff, why try to steer? Just do like the colonials do, drown yourself in booze and drugs and sex and filth until you die.

Owning this would, for folks like me, be an exercise in self-hatred.

I have already pre-ordered the S4 soundtrack, though. That stuff just kept getting better every season.

July 19 2009 at 1:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

Follow Us

TV Squad Hot Topics

From Our Partners