57 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ever try something new and everything works out just fine?, August 27, 2007
I fear change. I shy away from bleeding edge technology. I stay safe. There was no way I was going to install some commercial program that stays resident and runs in the background on my computer. (After all, it was probably written by cylons.)
But then 'they' got me. What a dirty trick: BSG3 would be released in England next month, but not in the US for the indefinite future. If I wanted to watch BSG (which is the greatest program on television, bar none), I would have to risk installing 'Unbox.' As an avowed conspiracy theorist, you know what I thought about that.
Grudgingly, I downloaded the Unbox Player and installed it. I had to turn the computer on and off a few more times than expected; but that's par for the course on most installations. Then I decided to splurge. I spent $1.99 to check out an episode. Seemed a safe risk for the money, and the software installation had gone so quickly I was left with time on my hands to monkey around with this 'Unbox' thing some more. So I logged in, spent my $1.99 and prayed. Just as I started to exhale, a little notice popped up in the bottom right-hand corner. Aha! I knew things were going too well. I peered at the little message window and it read, "Your video is now ready for viewing." Huh? This must be a trick. I opened the Videos section of the Unbox player, and there was BSG, begging to be played. So I just hit the button and prayed.
The Gods of Kobol answered. I spent the next hour watching my favorite cylons play havoc with their tormented human pets. Nothing makes me happier. As other reviewers have noted, BSG3 spends more time on character psychology, etc., etc. But it is still blessed with a sufficient amount of random violence, special effects, and surprising concepts to guarantee your satisfaction.
Needless to say, I downloaded the entire season, plugged in the S-video cable (everything looks better on a large screen), and stayed up late for a few nights.
The only downside of this 'Unbox' thing is that you need a megadrive to accomodate the video files unless you want to spend a lot of time shuttling videos to "backup" media, an experiment I will leave for another day. Thank you for reading my adventure. I wish you the same luck that I enjoyed.
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49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great pilot, better series, bad DVD, July 22, 2005
The 2003 3-hour (minus commercials, that is) pilot/miniseries update of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was a very well-done, very good pilot. I say that because pilots generally aren't as good as the series they lead up to, they merely lay the groundwork you need for the show, and GALACTICA is no exception. While it is very good on its own, it lags at times, loses its focus every once in a while, and it is obvious that it is a pilot for a TV series.
Thankfully, we got that TV series.
It is nothing short of amazing. Far surpassing the already-great pilot, it is the best show on TV at the moment.
This miniseries DVD, however, is crap.
I say that not because the picture or audio quality is bad (they aren't), or the extras are lacking (they are), but because in the upcoming Season 1 set, they include this exact disc, plus all the extras on this one on a separate disc in that set. This entire $22 set is pointless to buy if you buy Season 1.
There is a catch, though, that lets me say that this disc does need to exist.
If you buy Season 1 from Best Buy before September 30th, it is the UK set modified for Region 1, so it DOES NOT have this disc anywhere in it. THE ONLY REASON YOU NEED THIS DISC IS IF YOU ARE BUYING THE UK VERSION FROM BEST BUY. The only reason you need the UK version is because it has alternate opening music, the music used for Season 2 in America.
But, I want to say this: DO NOT BUY THE BEST BUY VERSION JUST BECAUSE YOU OWN THIS. The Best Buy version has NONE of the features on it, like commentary, making-of, sketches and art, that the official US version will. The Best Buy version, available from July 26 through September 20, has only deleted scenes, and unless this has been changed from the UK version, not even chapter stops. On September 20, the official American version (with different cover art even) will be released with the deleted scenes AND all the other features, plus an extra disc for the pilot/miniseries.
So unless you plan on getting the Region 1 UK version of Season 1 with the alternate opening music (the one that is used now in Season 2), you don't need this disc. I own it, but I will be getting the US version that includes it, and selling my miniseries disc on eBay.
Just a fair warning.
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