Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2007) (TV)

Director:

Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Writers:

Ronald D. Moore (developer)
Michael Taylor (written by)

Release Date:

24 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A two-hour Battlestar Galactica special that tells the story of the Battlestar Pegasus several months prior to it finding the Galactica. |

Plot Keywords:

Man In Uniform | Cylon | Woman In Uniform | Lesbian Kiss | Lesbian

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Edward James Olmos	...	Admiral William Adama
Mary McDonnell	...	President Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff	...	Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
Jamie Bamber	...	Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama
James Callis	...	Dr. Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer	...	Number Six / Gina Inviere
Grace Park	...	Lt. Sharon Valerii
Michael Hogan	...	Colonel Saul Tigh
Aaron Douglas	...	Chief Galen Tyrol (credit only)
Tahmoh Penikett	...	Lt. Karl 'Helo' Agathon (credit only)
Alessandro Juliani	...	Lt. Felix Gaeta (credit only)
Michael Trucco	...	Samuel Anders (credit only)
Kandyse McClure	...	Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla (credit only)
Michelle Forbes	...	Admiral Helena Cain
Graham Beckel	...	Colonel Jack Fisk
Stephanie Jacobsen	...	Kendra Shaw
Nico Cortez	...	Young Adama
Matthew Bennett	...	Aaron Doral (credit only)
Steve Bacic	...	Colonel Jurgen Belzen
Brad Dryborough	...	Lt. Hoshi
Eileen Pedde	...	Sgt. Mathias
Fulvio Cecere	...	Lt. Alastair Thorne
Vincent Gale	...	Peter Laird
Campbell Lane	...	Hybrid
Kyra Scott	...	Young Helena Cain
Chandra Berg	...	Little Lucy Cain
Peter Flemming	...	Helena's Father
Shaker Paleja	...	Medic Hudson
Andrew Dunbar	...	Marine DaSilva
Jacob Blair	...	Squad Leader Banzai
Peter Bryant	...	Frank Bruno
Chris Bradford	...	Ops Officer
Tyson Stanley	...	Young Marine
Trevor Roberts	...	Scylla Protestor #1
Cameron MacLeod	...	Scylla Protestor #2
Ingrid Tesch	...	Mother
Joey Pierce	...	Marine Riggs
Matt Drake	...	Son #1
Dustin Eriksen	...	Son #2
Stefan Arngrim	...	Male Captive
John Hainsworth	...	Man In Cage #1
Victor Ayala	...	Man In Cage #2
Deni DeLory	...	Woman In Cage
Emily Hirst	...	Child In Cage
Ben Cotton	...	Terrified Man
Stefanie von Pfetten	...	Cpt. Marcia 'Showboat' Case
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allison Warnyca	...	Jaycie McGavin (scenes deleted)
John Heard	...	Commander Barry Garner (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Félix Enríquez Alcalá		(as Felix Alcala)

Writing credits
Ronald D. Moore		(developer)
Michael Taylor		(written by)

Produced by
Michael Angeli	....	co-executive producer
David Eick	....	executive producer
Jane Espenson	....	co-executive producer
Harvey Frand	....	producer
Ron French	....	producer (as Ron E. French)
James Halpern	....	associate producer
Glen A. Larson	....	consulting producer
Paul M. Leonard	....	co-producer
Sian McArthur	....	associate producer
Ronald D. Moore	....	executive producer
Michael Rymer	....	producer
Andrew Seklir	....	associate producer
Michael Taylor	....	co-executive producer
Bradley Thompson	....	supervising producer
Mark Verheiden	....	co-executive producer
David Weddle	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Bear McCreary

Cinematography by
Stephen McNutt

Film Editing by
Tim Kinzy
Andrew Seklir

Production Design by
Richard Hudolin

Art Direction by
Doug McLean

Set Decoration by
Jonathan Lancaster		(decorator)

Costume Design by
Glenne Campbell

Makeup Department
Candice Stafford	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Wayne Rose	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ashley Bell	....	third assistant director
Marian Koprada	....	trainee assistant director
Wayne Rose	....	second unit director

Art Department
Clayton Allen	....	set dresser
Lisle Fehlauer	....	set dresser
Colin Meacham	....	on-set dresser
Peter Stratford	....	assistant art director
Maurice Woodworth	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Rick Bal	....	sound mixer
Daniel Colman	....	sound designer
Daniel Colman	....	supervising sound editor
Greg Hewett	....	boom operator
Ken Kobett	....	supervising sound re-recording mixer (as Kenneth Kobett)
Sam C. Lewis	....	adr recordist
Sam C. Lewis	....	supervising foley editor
Mike Olman	....	supervising sound re-recording mixer (as Michael Olman)
Naan Spiess	....	sound technician/ boom operator

Special Effects by
Andrew Chamberlayne	....	special effects coordinator
William D. Ryan	....	special effects co-coordinator

Visual Effects by
Anthony Alvaro	....	visual effects coordinator
Greg Behrens	....	visual effects coordinator
Teague Chrystie	....	digital effects artist
Michael Davidson	....	visual effects
Aurore De Blois	....	senior compositor
Aurore De Blois	....	senior digital compositor
Mark Dick Danger Devlin	....	digital compositor
Doug Drexler	....	visual effects CG supervisor
Pierre Drolet	....	lead modeler
Nicholas Elwell	....	visual effects assistant coordinator
Jon Greenhalgh	....	digital compositor: Universal Studios
Gary Hutzel	....	visual effects supervisor
Sean M. Jackson	....	digital effects artist
Michael Kaelin	....	digital compositor: Universal Studios
Jeremy Lang	....	head of information technology
Adam 'Mojo' Lebowitz	....	visual effects designer
Derek Ledbetter	....	digital compositor
Heather McAuliff	....	digital compositor
Steve J. McLeod	....	digital compositor
Fabio Passaro	....	modeler
Jeffery Quinn	....	effects production assistant
Lee Stringer	....	digital modeler
David Takemura	....	visual effects coordinator
Robert Tobin	....	render wrangler
Robert Tobin	....	visual effects production assistant
Kyle Toucher	....	visual effects shot designer
Kelly Whitfield	....	visual effects production assistant
Chris Wood	....	compositor
Ross Woo	....	visual effects coordinator

Stunts
Chandra Berg	....	stunt double
Guy Bews	....	stunts
Simon Burnett	....	stunts
Yves Cameron	....	stunts
Monique Ganderton	....	stunt double
Adrian Hein	....	stunt double
Stepka Li	....	stunt double
Stepka Li	....	stunt double: Stephanie Jacobsen
Brad Loree	....	stunts
Mike Mitchell	....	stunt coordinator
Rick Pearce	....	stunts
Heath Stevenson	....	stunts
Suzi Stingl	....	stunt double
Melissa R. Stubbs	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
John Drake	....	director of photography: second unit
Curt Griebel	....	key grip
Jeff Trebenski	....	gaffer

Animation Department
Timothy Albee	....	lead character animator (as Tim Albee)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Glenna Owen	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Eric Lea	....	visual effects editor
Ian Maddox	....	post-production coordinator
Bettina Zachariah	....	post-production assistant

Music Department
Steve Bartek	....	musician: guitars
Richard Gibbs	....	composer: theme music
Steve Kaplan	....	scoring engineer
Aaron Roethe	....	scoring coordinator
Martin St. Pierre	....	musician: erhu

Other crew
Laurie Boyle	....	production accountant
Ian Cairns	....	key production assistant
Seamus Kevin Fahey	....	staff writer (as Kevin Fahey)
Dr. Kevin R. Grazier	....	science advisor (as Kevin R. Grazier)
Glen A. Larson	....	original creator
Carol Marks-George	....	unit publicist
Ryan Mottesheard	....	script coordinator
Devin Senft	....	assistant location manager
Genevieve West	....	assistant production coordinator
Amy D'Alessandro	....	titles (uncredited)

Production Companies

• David Eick Productions
• R&D TV
• USA Cable Entertainment

Distributors

• National CineMedia (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sci-Fi Channel, The (2007) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• AnEFX  sound editing services
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• West Media Film and Post  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

Razor (USA) (short title)
Untitled Battlestar Galactica TV Special (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min (original television version) | 104 min (extended dvd edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14+ (TV rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R13 | UK:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver Film Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

David Eick Productions

Trivia:

Prior to the movie's television debut, the featurette series "Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks" (2007) was made available on the web. Most (but not all) of the content of the webisodes are integrated into the movie. The webisodes are also available for separate viewing as a bonus on the Razor DVD.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Recon Mission Starbuck's and Showboat's vipers continually change CGI design in each shot between the original viper 7 CGI design and the Design first scene in "Maelstorm", and end in the Flightpod shot as different designs to each other.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Admiral Helena Cain: Lieutenant Thorne, I want you to interrogate our Cylon prisoner, find out everything it knows, and since it's so adept at mimicking human feeling, I'm assuming that it's software is vulnerable to them as well, so... pain... degradation... fear... shame... I want you to really test it's limits. Be as creative as you feel the need to be.

Movie Connections:

References "The A-Team" (1983)

Edgy, but Doesn't Really Cut it

I liked this the first time around, but a repeat viewing reduced its interest considerably.

BSG has had to remain in a constant state of flux due to the high standards of innovation and intrigue that the show established for itself. This has, unfortunately, alienated some of its fans - as can be seen from the reactions to this two hour episode broadcast between seasons 3 and 4. What Razor does effectively is to give a lot of dense, somewhat heady back-story, told from the perspective of the troubled Pegasus XO Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen).

What it does not do very well is to integrate and expand on the characters and themes of the regular series.

Favorite characters are threatened by insane turns of events occurring near the end of season 3, and some fans are wondering whether the writing team has lost touch with their characters or there is something brilliant afoot that has yet to be revealed. Razor and Crossroads II are either harbingers of a wild ride in season 4 or of a disappointing but typically Sci-Fi channel finish to what was once a great show.

The Pegasus saga under three COs - Cain, Fisk and Lee Adama - is told in a series of flashbacks from the destruction of the colonies to a mission which took place after Lee Adama became the ship's commander. Cain's presence looms large as Kendra Shaw traces back most of what she considers to be important in her recent experience to Admiral Cain. Michelle Forbes and Steph Jacobsen are both great in this film. Jamie Bamber and Tricia Helfer also add considerably.

The script is a little less lucid than most episodes of BSG, and military clichés occasionally take the place of the show's normally brilliant dialog and excellent characterization. The cinematography is excellent - and it was especially fun to see the old Cylon ships and raiders making an appearance (though the real reasons they show up here are not fully explained - yet). Finally, the last few minutes of Razor alone makes it worth watching. But don't bother if you haven't already seen seasons 1-3.