Customer Reviews

Caprica: Season 1.5

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Since this product was announced there have been numerous reviews posted here that have nothing, NOTHING, to do with the actual DVD set. While I share in the general anger at SyFy for having canceled Caprica, I thought it best to actually wait until the DVD set arrived before making any judgment and limit that to what was offered. Now, after having watched all three DVDs in the set (down one from the four-set Season 1.0), it's time to open this can o' worms and put out my opinion.

Caprica Season 1.5 includes all nine of the final episodes, those aired in October of this year and the remaining five that SyFy has chosen to air in toto on 5 January, coinciding with ABC's broadcast of "V". Like the first set, these episodes were well written, well executed, and brilliantly acted by the amazing ensemble cast brought into the project. Additionally, there were many more "Easter eggs" for BSG fans, including the origins of "toaster," "skin job," and which of Admiral Adama's parents had the farm with the fox problem mentioned in BSG Season four. These episodes also delved further into Tauron culture and the origins of the Adama family itself in "The Dirteaters," arguably the best episode of the series.

However, there were problems. Aside from the fifteen-second scene in a so-far unaired episode where someone in the props department forgot to cover the British Columbia license plate on a nearby parked car, there were far fewer video blogs and deleted scenes compared to the first set. This either means video blogs weren't produced and the episodes weren't hacked up too much in editing or Universal wanted to get this product out as quickly as possible and overlooked perhaps some more interesting stuff about Caprica. Maybe all of that was covered in the first set, I don't know. I just felt that there could have been more included in this current set; after all, it cost the same as the first.

Still, after watching them I have to agree with many viewers here and on Facebook that the last five episodes were Caprica's best. The final episode, "Apotheosis," ended with what could be seen as both a wrap-up of the series and a teaser for what was supposed to come. If only SyFy had stuck to its science-fiction roots and not gone after the redneck viewer with incessant "ghost-hunting" and "professional wrestling" programs we may have seen Caprica come into its own. Alas, corporate myopia kills another arguably great show.

There are protest taking place with the delivery of apples to the network heads who apparently have no minds. Caprica is a great show concerning the evolution of how we arrive in the world of Battle Star Galactica which was a big success. The sets are amazing as the 12 colonies get explored along with the feud between Caprica and Turron. How will man use artificial intelligence in robotics and virtual reality? For some Earthlings of today this may seem very unlikely, but in the near future we will be asking ourselves what ethics and usage do we apply to these upcoming sciences.

You will seldom find a better acted series. My favorite actor on the show is Eric Stolz, but also Alessandra Torresani and Lucy Rand (from Kyle XY) are outstanding. The rest of the cast are also outstanding, the characters are well developed including a limited role for James Marsters (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel).

Caprica does make you think about the conflicts of religion, cyber terrorism and culture. Caprica does make us think about poly relationships, sexual fantasy, life after death through transference to the virtual world and/or the cybernetic world. Perhaps too few of the human race are ready to think in more than two dimensions. If you are a person who has an advanced mind set I encourage you to add your review, to contact SyFy, to contact NBC/Universal to save Caprica. If you a person who is tired of mindless tv programming I encourage you to step up to shows such as Caprica. Open your mind and dare to imagine the future.

The storylines keep getting better but Syfy, like many networks, won't believe in a show long enough to build an audience. I'm dissapointed that it's been cancelled, but I intend on buying the box sets anyway because I think the cast, creators, and anyone else that worked on the show should be recognized for the great work they have done.

Another great show gone to early! Appearently the move to Tuesday was the final nail in the coffin. Up against ratings juggernaut "Dancing with the stars", and "Glee", that's a good way to kill off a show. Now we have another amazing show up for destruction on Tuesday and that's "Stargate: Universe". Exactly Who are the idiots that made the decision to move these once great shows to Tuesday?

Appearently there's no room for serious sci-fi/drama on television. I don't understand this. Is it our lack of patients to wait for a story to fully develop? Are we so sucked-in to short term gratification that we just can't wait for an issue to be resolved outside of a single episode? Now I dont know if I should invest my time in another serious sci-fi/drama on the SYFY channel because the execs themselves clearly aren't committed to making it work anymore. I fully expect SGU to end its run this year with no hope for season 3. It's a shame. SGU is a spectacular show, as well, especially when you watch it on DVD/Blu-Ray and you see it all together. WOW! It's really the best way to see these kinds of shows.

So long "Caprica". It was a nice ride but we're probably gonna get more lame-ass wrestling and campy shows like "Eureka" and "Warehouse 13"(I like both by the way but still campy). Can we place our hopes on "Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome"? They'll probably put that on Sunday nights against "Desperate Housewives". SyFy executives make me sick and so do all of you people who gave up on greatness. Frak U!

Caprica did a good job creating the origins of BSG.

Secrets were revealed (Zoe was BOTH the first Cylon AND the first "skin job"!) and mysteries were deepened (Cylons obsession with God was created by the female Trinity of Zoe, Lacy and Clarise?). Of course, while telling the backstory, Caprica raised many new questions that it didn't have time to resolve, so future BSG series will hopefully explore them.

I'm sorry that we're not getting four or five seasons of Caprica like BSG, but I'm glad we got what we got. Thanks to everyone involved for creating such a challenging, though-provoking series.

Caprica held the hope of addressing some important questions raised in BSG on the broad and deep subject of TransHumanism and the inevitable conflicts that arise between parents and their creations. Was the Cylon war a mother-father-daughter conflict gone viral? Does a younger generation possess the genetic mandate that the older generation be terminated at some point? And what happens when the parents refuse that mandate? Would successful life extension technology adopted by an older generation trigger parenticide in the younger in order to insure their own survival? Does an immortalized race need to become reproductively sterile in order to insure their own immortality? Or again, would the younger generations seek their destruction? What then, is the ultimate destiny of immortals? To return to the beginning??? Who then, is/are the Creator(s)? So many questions...

The viewer is cautioned against investing too much interest in Caprica, a most excellent science fiction saga at many levels, as it is only a **partial work** aborted after its first, formative year due to that malfunctioning and mismanaged incubator called the SyFy Channel, which seems to be in the business of debasing genuine works of science fiction to the level of "product" out of the greed for advertising dollars.

Had a 1950's era SyFy Channel commissioned J.R.R. Tolkien to create The Lord of the Rings, then today the world would possess merely the first tantalizing chapter or two, leaving the remaining larger epic, and the profound commentary of the human condition within, abandoned and thus unknown for all time. Such is the fate of Caprica, which coincidentally followed a similar fate to J. Michael Straczynski's "Crusade" series at the hands of TNT.

Hopefully Caprica's producers and writers, who have earned our eternal gratitude - Ronald Moore, David Eick and Remi Aubuchon - may continue their work under a production and broadcast network dedicated to attracting, holding and growing a genuine science fiction audience community. And hopefully some avenue will open up for Caprica's million plus followers to support, promote, finance and reward this important work. Thanks to all who got it this far!! :)

This was a fine drama, and should have been around longer, but there was very little action so some sci fi fans dropped the ball by not watching this show.
This was a thinking persons show from the gitgo and although even I was wishing for a little more action this show was well done enough to keep me watching.
The last episode should have been two hours long for certain but it does show what would have been the shows progression and battlestar gallacticas early mythology in quick detail. Losing this one is just a shame but at least you can see all the shows on dvd. Not on blu ray though unfortunately.

After watching the rest of Season 1, Caprica 1.5, I'm baffled as to why BSG fans did not follow this show as diligantly as the Reimagined series that successfully ran 4 seasons. The story that Caprica 1.0 and 1.5 tell is absolutely fascinating. Not only does the viewer learn more about colonial society, we get to actually see some of the other colonies! Tauron for one, and the fascinating Gemenon for another. The reveal of information about the diverse colonial cultures would be reason enough alone to watch the series, but I'll add that the acting is terrific. Conflict, the primary driver for plot, is effectively used throughout each episode on both 1.0 and 1.5, but it really ramps up in Caprica 1.5. From Zoey's self-discovery on what it means to be or not be human, to Joseph Adama's descent into the "family business" to Daniel and Amanda's rocky relationship, each actor gives repeat riveting performances. While I do look forward to future BSG series and DVD sets with anticipation, I wish Caprica had more DVD sets to come as good as this one.

This show is one of the greatest things on television in the past few years. It is a Sci-Fi show, but it is fascinating and I believe it will appeal to non Sci-Fi fans as well. The story of Caprica is brilliant focusing on the events that lead to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Please not that this is the second half of the season as season 1.0 is the first episodes of the show. This is one of my favorite shows of have ever seen, and I watch a lot of TV, and it was canceled well before it should have. I desperately hope it will be saved by Syfy or picked up by another channel because it really deserves to tell its story. Great gift for any fan of great storytelling that makes you think. A very intelligent television series. 5/5.

What a shame. This show had tremendous potential. Set on Caprica before the events of Battlestar Galactica, it fills in the back story of how the cylons came to be. And in the process it dealt with the concepts of morality, religion and free will. Its presented a vivid picture of a dystopian future where technology enables and amplifies humanity's darkest impulses.

The cast is first rate with Eric Stoltz as Daniel Greystone and Esai Morales and Joseph Adama. The story unfolds as a story arc starting with their paths crossing when Joseph Adama's wife and daughter are killed in a terrorist attack by the Soldiers Of The One, a monotheistic cult bent on destroy the old world order. What follows afterward is a chain of events in which the main characters unwittingly set the stage for the rise of the cylons and for the eventual rebellion against their human masters.

The series overall is very good but there some issues that contributed to its cancellation. In the previous episodes, the overall story line takes a little too much time to develop. There really isn't a sense of movement and takes on too much of of teen-age soap opera elements. The characters never seem to connect with the audience. None of them are that sympathetic. I had a hard time cheering for any of them. It makes you wonder if humanity had it coming.

Fortunately this crop of episodes more than makes up for it. The show really started to have life. You began to see all of the pieces start to fall into place and you could connect the dots to see where it was leading with a few surprises along the way. And then the show was canceled.

Why did the show fail? The blame has to lie with the network. The first half of the season was aired early in 2010 with a 5 month hiatus until the next half was aired which really disrupted the pacing. That directly contributed to its loss of viewership. If you watch the first and second halves together, the show presents a much more cohesive story arc. SyFy really didn't do much to promote the return of the show in the Fall either.

I wonder if SyFy was really committed to the show anyway. The producers had to lobby hard just to get the show green lit. They didn't even give them a full season to start with at first. The final five episodes on the DVD were not even aired in the US. They are the best in this set. After watching the last episode, I got the sense that the producers and writers knew they were very short leash and were probably not going to be renewed. It had feel of a series finale.

This was one of the most shortsighted decisions by a network in a misguided attempt to re-brand its image. The producers should look for another network to pick the show up and their upcoming Blood And Chrome BSG story. Bye bye SyFy.