"Battlestar Galactica" (2003) TV mini-series

Director:

Michael Rymer

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (earlier teleplay)
Ronald D. Moore (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 December 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Never create what you can't control.

Plot:

A re-imagining of the original series in which a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Cylon | Planet | Survivor | Quest | Genocide

Cast

Edward James Olmos	...	Commander Adama
Mary McDonnell	...	Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff	...	Lt. Kara Thrace - Starbuck
Jamie Bamber	...	Capt. Lee Adama - Apollo
James Callis	...	Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer	...	Number Six
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Leoben Conoy
Grace Park	...	Lt. Sharon Valerii - Boomer
Michael Hogan	...	Col. Tigh
Matthew Bennett	...	Doral
Paul Campbell	...	Billy
Aaron Douglas	...	Crew Chief Tyrol
Barclay Hope	...	Transport Pilot
Lorena Gale	...	Elosha
Kandyse McClure	...	Dualla
Connor Widdows	...	Boxey
John Mann	...	CAG
Alessandro Juliani	...	Gaeta
Nicki Clyne	...	Cally
Michael Eklund	...	Prosna
Haili Page	...	Cami
Alonso Oyarzun	...	Socinus
Ty Olsson	...	Capt. Kelly
Ron Blecker	...	Launch Officer
Ryan Robbins	...	Armistice Officer
Tim Henry	...	Doctor
Kwesi Ameyaw	...	Liner Captain (as Dwesi Ameyaw)
Brenda McDonald	...	Old Woman
Suleka Mathew	...	Reporter
Erin Karpluk	...	Woman #1
Jenn Griffin	...	Woman #2
B.J. Harrison	...	Woman #3 (as BJ Harrison)
Moneca Delain	...	Blonde Woman
Zahf Paroo	...	Man #1
Robert Lewis	...	Man #2
Denzel Sinclaire	...	Man #3 (as Denzal Sinclaire)
Nadine Wright	...	Chantara
Michael Soltis	...	Chantara's Husband
Fred Keating	...	Jr. Reporter
Lymari Nadal	...	Giana
Biski Gugushe	...	Pilot #1
Nahanni Arntzen	...	Pilot #2
Nigel Vonas	...	Pilot #3 (as Nogel Vonas)
Ryan Nelson	...	Pilot #4
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Trevor Beeby	...	Doomed Pilot (uncredited)
Richard Busch	...	(uncredited)
Paralee Cook	...	Warrant Officer (uncredited)
Georgia Hacche	...	(uncredited)
Mike Mitchell	...	Desperate Man (uncredited)
Mark Redsky	...	Caprica Man #1 (uncredited)
Brady Schlecker	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Rymer

Writing credits
Glen A. Larson		(earlier teleplay)
Ronald D. Moore		(written by) and
Glen A. Larson		(written by) (as Christopher Eric James)

Produced by
David Eick	....	executive producer
Harvey Frand	....	producer
Michael R. Joyce	....	consulting producer
Glen A. Larson	....	consulting producer
Ronald D. Moore	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Richard Gibbs

Cinematography by
Joel Ransom

Film Editing by
Dany Cooper

Casting by
Heike Brandstatter
Eric Dawson
Carol Kritzer
Coreen Mayrs
Robert J. Ulrich

Production Design by
Richard Hudolin

Art Direction by
Doug McLean

Set Decoration by
Shirley Inget

Costume Design by
Deborah Everton

Makeup Department
Hayley Miller	....	assistant makeup artist
Bill Terezakis	....	special makeup effects design

Production Management
Craig Forrest	....	unit manager
Ron French	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Dashkewytch	....	first assistant director
Sara Irvine	....	third assistant director
Brad Jubenville	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Dominique Arcadio	....	art researcher
David Asmodeus	....	props buyer
Sandra Baier	....	assistant properties
Nancy Anna Brown	....	set designer
John Burke	....	set designer
Eric Chu	....	concept designer
Joelle Ciona	....	set designer
Chris Claridge	....	construction coordinator
Jennifer Donaldson	....	set designer
Osheen Harruthoonyan	....	set dresser
Ray Lai	....	illustrator
Richard Carl Livingston	....	concept artist
Michael Love	....	assistant property master
Max Matsuoka	....	first assistant property master
Colin Meacham	....	on-set dresser
Ken Rabhel	....	additional art director
Paitoon Ratanasirintrawoot	....	concept artist
Margot Ready	....	assistant art director
Dan Sissons	....	property master
Gary Young	....	prop builder

Sound Department
Vince Balunas	....	sound editor
Chris Boyett	....	adr editor
Chris Boyett	....	sound editor
Murray Brown	....	sound
Jeff K. Brunello	....	sound editor (as Jeff Brunello)
Daniel Colman	....	sound designer
Daniel Colman	....	sound editor
Wendy Czajkowsky	....	adr mixer: Vancouver
Sean Keegan	....	foley mixer
Jack Levy	....	supervising sound editor
Doug Madick	....	foley artist
Roderick Matte	....	boom operator
Frank Nolan	....	adr supervisor
Richard Partlow	....	foley artist (as Rick Partlow)
Dennis Petersen	....	sound recordist
Paulette Victor-Lifton	....	sound facility supervisor

Special Effects by
Douglas W. Beard	....	special effects technician
Terry Sonderhoff	....	special effects coordinator
Robert Yeager	....	special effects assistant
Kenneth Thomson Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Sean Apple	....	digital compositor
William L. Arance	....	3D modeler
Joel Ashman	....	digital compositor: Zoic Studios
Robert J. Baldwin	....	digital artist (as Rob Baldwin)
Justin Ball	....	senior systems engineer: Zoic Studios
Raoul Bolognini	....	visual effects coordinator
Rob Bonchune	....	computer graphics artist
Corey Bramall	....	digital artist
Kristen Branan	....	visual effects producer
Jamie Clark	....	digital artist
Jarrod Davis	....	digital artist
Patti Gannon	....	lead visual effects compositor
Aram Granger	....	digital artist
Gary Hutzel	....	miniature cinematographer
Gary Hutzel	....	visual effects supervisor
Chris John Jones	....	creative director: Zoic Studios
Christopher Jones	....	lead visual effects compositor
Gabriel Köerner	....	digital artist
Errol Lanier	....	digital artist
Paul Maples	....	previsualization artist
Steven Meyer	....	digital compositor
Terry Naas	....	digital artist
Fabio Passaro	....	digital artist
Jose Perez	....	visual effects
Kevin Quattro	....	digital artist
Jeffery Quinn	....	effects production assistant
Mark Rasmussen	....	design supervisor: Enigma Studios Inc
Jon Rosenthal	....	digital artist
Mark Shimer	....	visual effects animator
Emile Edwin Smith	....	digital effects supervisor
Mark Spatny	....	visual effects producer: Modern VideoFilm
Lee Stringer	....	CG supervisor
Kyle Toucher	....	digital artist
Jesse Toves	....	digital artist
Scott Wheeler	....	digital effects artist
Nina Yoon	....	paint/roto artist

Stunts
Lauro Chartrand	....	stunt performer
Janina Dall	....	stunts
Crystal Dalman	....	stunt double (unconfirmed)
Monique Ganderton	....	stunt double
Mike Mitchell	....	stunt coordinator
Aleks Paunovic	....	boxing coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Chiasson	....	dolly grip
Curt Griebel	....	key grip
Simon Hall	....	video playback operator
Jeffrey M. Hoffman	....	camera operator
Prem Marimuthu	....	electrician
Ryan McMaster	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Scott Mitchell	....	best boy
Scott Mitchell	....	rigging electrician
Saubrie Mohamed	....	rigging best boy
Joe Waistell	....	additional first assistant camera
Christian Stevens	....	camera trainee (uncredited)

Casting Department
Corbin Bronson	....	casting associate
James Forsyth	....	extras casting
Rita Foung	....	casting associate
Sibby Kirchgessner	....	casting associate
James Moore	....	casting assistant
Jill Warner	....	casting intern

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Cori Burchell	....	assistant costume designer
Shane Deschamps	....	set costume supervisor
Nicole Gorsuch	....	costume supervisor
Scott Maple	....	costume consultant: classic "Cylon" costumes
Katherine Wigzell	....	truck costumer

Editorial Department
Jason Dale	....	first assistant editor
Luben Izov	....	first assistant editor
Sondra Watanabe	....	second editor

Music Department
Jordan Corngold	....	music editor
Robert Fernandez	....	orchestral engineer
Steve Kaplan	....	score mixer
Bear McCreary	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
John K. Alexander	....	assistant location manager
Craig Anderl	....	assistant: director
Carol Bailey	....	first assistant accountant
Ron Blecker	....	technical advisor: military
Laurie Boyle	....	production accountant
Charles Crossin	....	extras wrangler
Maril Davis	....	assistant: Ronald D. Moore
Tee Fargo	....	lead stand-in
Carol Green-Lundy	....	second script supervisor
Jennifer Harland	....	background coordinator
Carol Marks-George	....	unit publicist
Shaun Mckay	....	payroll accountant
Bonny Northcott	....	scout
Nicole Oguchi	....	assistant production coordinator
Cara Rogers	....	production coordinator
Peter Ruttan	....	playback designer
Tisha Simpkins	....	key production assistant
Kent Sponagle	....	location manager
Ryan Steacy	....	armorer
Scott Steyns	....	playback coordinator
Camryn Thomas	....	assistant: Ronald D. Moore
Elizabeth Weinstein	....	photo double (uncredited)

Production Companies

• R&D TV
• Sky TV
• USA Cable Entertainment

Distributors

• Sci-Fi Channel, The (2003) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• AXN (2009) (Hungary) (TV) (as AXN Sci-Fi) (re-release)
• Chum Television (2004) (Canada) (TV)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (2005) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Sky One (2004) (UK) (TV)
• TV2 (2006) (Hungary) (TV)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Veronica (2005) (Netherlands) (TV)

Special Effects

• Modern VideoFilm
• Zoic Studios (visual effects)

Other Companies

• AnEFX  sound editorial services
• Modern VideoFilm  post-production facilities
• Northwest Sinfonia  orchestra
• Tivoli Catering  catering
• Todd-AO Soundelux  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (USA) (long title)

Runtime:

USA:180 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14A (DVD/video rating) | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12 | USA:TV-14 (part 1) | USA:TV-PG (part 2) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Bloedel Floral Conservatory, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

R&D TV

Trivia:

Ryan Robbins, who plays the officer on Armistice Station (identified as Colonel Wakefield in the novelization), is seen with age-enhancing makeup in his sole onscreen scene. This was because the original version of the opening teaser would have featured his character visiting Armistice Station several times over 40 years, each time appearing progressively older. However, all scenes but the final one were cut after filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: Adama takes his glasses off twice when first contacting Apollo on Colonial One.

Quotes:

[a hallucinatory Number Six has shown Baltar an odd device on the DRADIS display console in the Galactica's CIC]
Baltar: You're not helping.
Number Six: I'm sorry. How can I help?
Baltar: Well, for a start you can tell me what that is.
Number Six: Honestly, I don't know.
Baltar: Well, it hasn't exploded.
Number Six: Yet.
[Baltar gives her a shocked look]
Number Six: I'm just guessing.
Baltar: I have to warn them.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Go God Go (#10.12)" (2006)

Some People Just Do Not Understand

I've read a lot of your comments, and it amazes me how some people seem to think that the function of this mini-series (and hopefully series) is to cater to the whims of the fans of the original series. Sorry, that's not it.

The die-hard types -- the "fans" (and I am one, of BSG, BSG2003, Trek, B5, etc.) -- are never going to be more than a small fraction of the viewership of any television program. It must appeal to a broader audience, or it is DOOMED.

Ronald D. Moore -- in my opinion, one of the better writer-producers in sci-fi today -- took a concept that pleased just about nobody but the fans and reproduced it in a manner that made it interesting and watchable to a modern audience. And if you step outside of your "I want Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, and Dirk Benedict" temper tantrums, you will find it interesting and watchable as well.

As for some of the main cast members -- like the Adamas pere et fils -- being stiff and inhuman...my friends, welcome to career military officer types. I would bet you're the same people who complained about Commander Jeffrey Sinclair in the first season of Babylon 5 as well. These are TRUE TO LIFE heroes, not the Saturday morning cartoon comic book heroes.

As for remolding Starbuck (does she drink a lot of coffee? ;-) and Boomer into women... well, I had my doubts at first, but I thought they did a magnificent job. As for the Cylons looking like humans now... well, only some of them do. And, to be perfectly honest, it makes a lot of sense for them to be able to blend in with their enemies. Anyone who has knowledge of terrorists in the Middle East knows that the reason they can get in to major civilian population centers and cause hideously evil damage and destruction is because THEY BLEND IN. Use some logic, people!

Much like when going to see a movie based on one of Tom Clancy's novels, I didn't go into this expecting to see the original. I went into it expecting to see something new and interesting with some similarities at the plot level. And I was not disappointed.

Since ENTERPRISE seems to be killing the Trek franchise -- and I admit, I enjoy ENTERPRISE a lot of the time, but a lot of people don't, and I can see why -- I am in high hopes a series based on BSG2003 can revitalize hope for on-going TV science fiction. I don't see why it shouldn't as long as people stop thinking they're going to get Lorne Greene. They're getting Edward James Olmos, one of the most brilliant actors in Hollywood, coming BACK to TV after a successful movie career... and how often does THAT happen?!?