This film retells the events of the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica but with one crucial difference; it is told from the Cylon perspective. As such it contains crucial plot points that anybody watching the original series wouldn't discover till a few seasons in... that is the main reason not to watch this before finishing the series. The other is that it will seem very rushed; events that took place over an episode or more may be covered in a few minutes and much of the plot advancement is skipped altogether. Similarly no time is spent explaining who characters are.
The story starts as two Cylon 'Number One' models are about to be executed; each of them has very different views about what should have been done to humanity. We then jump back to just before the attack on the colonies. The events that follow are shown from the perspectives of various key Cylon characters, some of whom believe themselves to be human. It becomes clear that it was expected that the attack would completely exterminate humanity; the Cylons certainly didn't expect to have to exist within human society as they do and it is clear that some of them are developing unexpected feelings.
I rather enjoyed this; probably because it is quite a while since I've watched the series so it provided many reminders of great episodes... perhaps because a fair amount of the material was reused. Seeing the events from the Cylon point of view was interesting as was seeing how living amongst people for an extended period showed that they weren't as different from their creators as they would like o believe. The acting was solid; most notable from Dean Stockwell who was great as Number One, AKA Brother Cavell; he dominated every scene he was in. I didn't expect any surprises but the story managed to provide some. These including a genuinely shocking moment where a child is killed. Not all surprises were good; there was some gratuitous nudity which appeared to be there just because the makers were free from restrictions which applied in the broadcast series... I have nothing against nudity in film/TV but it shouldn't be quite as gratuitous! Overall this isn't a must see but BSG fans wanting to see the characters again should enjoy it.
The story starts as two Cylon 'Number One' models are about to be executed; each of them has very different views about what should have been done to humanity. We then jump back to just before the attack on the colonies. The events that follow are shown from the perspectives of various key Cylon characters, some of whom believe themselves to be human. It becomes clear that it was expected that the attack would completely exterminate humanity; the Cylons certainly didn't expect to have to exist within human society as they do and it is clear that some of them are developing unexpected feelings.
I rather enjoyed this; probably because it is quite a while since I've watched the series so it provided many reminders of great episodes... perhaps because a fair amount of the material was reused. Seeing the events from the Cylon point of view was interesting as was seeing how living amongst people for an extended period showed that they weren't as different from their creators as they would like o believe. The acting was solid; most notable from Dean Stockwell who was great as Number One, AKA Brother Cavell; he dominated every scene he was in. I didn't expect any surprises but the story managed to provide some. These including a genuinely shocking moment where a child is killed. Not all surprises were good; there was some gratuitous nudity which appeared to be there just because the makers were free from restrictions which applied in the broadcast series... I have nothing against nudity in film/TV but it shouldn't be quite as gratuitous! Overall this isn't a must see but BSG fans wanting to see the characters again should enjoy it.