Reviews

SAGA OF A STARWORLD: The movie-length series pilot was great, with space battle action, we see for the first and only time the full fleet of Battlestars as they were, lots of Cylons, the traitorous Count Baltar (John Colicos), the planet Carolon and the creepy Ovions. This episode gets an A.

LOST PLANET OF THE GODS Part 1 and 2: A good two-parter, and I liked how the Galactica found and entered that black void in space, and eventually found the planet Kobol, where all human life supposedly originated. That whole premise sort of had some awe and wonder to it. Adama's (Lorne Greene) research on the ancient exodus from Kobol, and the way the Galactica exited the void and found Kobol, both seemed to have put the famous star on opposite sides of the void, which confused me a little. And there was nothing on the surface of Kobol that indicated that the ancient people had any space flight technology to leave Kobol, which was also a little confusing. A.

THE LOST WARRIOR: I liked this episode, with Apollo (Richard Hatch), stranded on a planet due to his viper running out of fuel, and finding himself pitted against a Cylon (called Red Eye by the planet locals) who was also stranded on the planet, but with memory loss, and now being commanded by a local gangster-type on the planet. The thing about this episode that didn't make sense is the locals not recognizing Red Eye as a Cylon before Apollo arrived, considering that these people originated from the Colonies as well, and the husband of one of the women was a Colonial Warrior. B+.

THE LONG PATROL: Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) is assigned to go down to a planet (the reason for which I don't think was very well explained in the episode) in a suped-up, but unarmed viper. I thought the episode was a little bland, but it has some amusing Starbuck moments. C+.

THE GUN ON ICE PLANET ZERO Part 1 and 2: This episode has some good action in it, but it's never been one of my favorites. And the repeated use of visual effects stock footage was particularly annoying in this episode, like that same image of the laser from the ice gun shooting across the fleet. C+.

THE MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS: The team has to go down to a planet to barter for some food seeds after two of the agro-ships are destroyed by a Cylon attack. Bland episode. C.

THE YOUNG LORDS: Another stranded viper pilot episode, this time it's Starbuck, and he has to help several children free their father from the Cylons, who have occupied the planet. Another bland episode, but it does have a lot of Cylons (they're always cool to look at) and Spector, another IL series Cylon that Lucifer is jealous of. Baltar is also in this episode. C+.

THE LIVING LEGEND Part 1 and 2: A powerhouse episode, that has the Galactica discovering that not all the other Battlestars were destroyed, as they find the Pegasus with Commander Kane (Lloyd Bridges) in command. Lots of Cylons, lots of space (and planet) battles, a Battlestar taking on two Baseships. A+.

FIRE IN SPACE: If I want to watch "The Towering Inferno," I'll watch "The Towering Inferno." The worst "Galactica" episode in my opinion. A generous C-.

WAR OF THE GODS Part 1 and 2: Another excellent episode. But when Count Isblis (Patrick Macnee) says to Baltar that in order for his (Isblis') voice to be that of the Imperious Leader, it would've had to have been transcribed into machine leader a thousand yahrens ago. Isblis would have to be a thousand yahrens old. But I think that is exactly what happened. A.

THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES: A decent episode and a good look at life within the fleet. B-.

MURDER ON THE RISING STAR: Another decent episode, a whodunit, and another good look at life within the fleet. B-.

GREETINGS FROM EARTH: I think this episode is very underrated by fans. I thought it had a very good story. But, design-wise, Hector and Vector are the worst-looking robots I've ever seen. A-.

BALTAR'S ESCAPE: This episode has Baltar, along with the Nomen from MAN WITH NINE LIVES and Eastern Alliance Enforcers from GREETINGS FROM EARTH, planning an escape from the prison barge, and from the fleet. Good within-the-fleet action episode. B+.

EXPERIMENT IN TERRA: Disappointing follow-up episode to GREETINGS FROM EARTH. Not much action, but the Ship of Lights from WAR OF THE GODS returns. But I wish the GREETINGS FROM EARTH/Terra arc could've been explored better in this series. C.

TAKE THE CELESTRA: Another underrated episode in my opinion, and another good within-the-fleet action episode like BALTAR'S ESCAPE. B+.

THE HAND OF GOD: The final episode of TOS has the Cylons finally returning, and the Galactica plans to take on a Baseship. Another good action episode. A-.

I just wanted to comment on "The Tholian Web" being one of the best episodes of the entire Star Trek original series, as far as visual effects. For 1968, the visuals in this episode are pretty interesting, from the Defiant phasing in and out, to the Tholian ship and their energy web, to the Tholian commander himself, who was also created through a visual effect, not an actor. And in "The Tholian Web," as well as the rest of the third season, there are much better visual effects camera shots of the Enterprise exterior, than in the first two seasons. And finally, these exterior shots even helped years ago when I was building my model kit of the Enterprise, as far as painting and decal references. Good visual treat, in addition to the episode's story.

1977's "Rollercoaster" is one of my all-time favorite movies. My uncle took me to see it in New York City when I was a little kid, back in 77. Seeing this movie for the first time in the theater was really a suspenseful experience. The suspense is fueled by the extortionist/terrorist character played by Timothy Bottoms, and we're made aware of what he's capable of at the beginning of the film when he, with the use of an explosive, causes a terrible roller-coaster crash that kills several people. This scene heightens our fear of him, at least I feared him throughout the rest of the movie, and I was hoping he wouldn't cause anymore crashes. But Director James Goldstone obviously exploited this, as he tortured the viewer with suspense, as, throughout the film, he never makes it clear about what Bottoms is going to do, through cuts of Bottoms reaching into his pocket for "something," or camera POVs looking like a roller-coaster train might be derailing, suspenseful music, and other means.

Bottoms' character's goal is to extort money from the amusement park owners, under threat of causing more havoc. Safety inspector Harry Caulder (George Segal) and FBI agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark) are called in to try to catch Bottoms before he does anymore harm, leading to a cat and mouse chase that brings them to several amusement parks across America, as they go through the initial motions of cooperating with Bottoms' demands, while waiting for their chance to grab him. Caulder is the main character here, and he's the type that hates red tape. The movie is given some personality by dipping a little into Caulder's personal life -- he's divorced, trying to quit smoking, has a daughter, and a new girlfriend played by the late Susan Strasberg.

But finally, this exciting film climaxes at Magic Mountain near Los Angeles, where the final showdown between Bottoms, Segal and Widmark play out with great suspense, involving the new, at the time, Revolution metal looping coaster. To this day, as an adult, I still have an abnormal fear of rollercoasters because of this movie. And I remember going to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania about two months after seeing this film in 1977, and I remember how scared I was on the coasters there because of this film. Highly recommended movie. Mike R.