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[JohnIan101]

Past Tense


[An earlier version of this PT was originally posted on March 1st, 2012 on JoBlo's "DVD, Blu-Ray & Home Theater Discussion" forum.]

This week we found out what happened on Galactica's sister ship, Pegasus in "Battlestar Galactica: Razor".



"Battlestar Galactica: Razor - Unrated Extended Edition" was released on home video on December 4th, 2007.

It streeted against "24: Season Six", "The Last Man Of Earth" and "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End".

This release originally came with an embossed cardboard foil slipcover which mirrored the case's wraparound. The top is a flap, under it contains additional artwork featuring Rear Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes), Gina Inviere (Tricia Helfer), Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos), Captain Kara Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) and Major Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen). It also came with two inserts, both advertisements.

The first was an ad for six TV box sets; "Battlestar Galactica: Season One", "Sliders: The Third Season", "SeaQuest DSV: Season Two", "Quantum Leap: The Complete Fifth Season", "Galactica: 1980" and "Eureka: Season One". The other side of that insert is an ad for HD DVD showcasing "Battlestar Galactica: Season One" and "Heroes": Season 1".

The second was printed on cardstock and featured various BSG related merchandise (both sides) from dog tags, posters, action figures (not the Minimates toys) and a miniature Cylon Raider.

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The only exclusive came from Best Buy, a bonus disc - single featurette (20:04 minutes), widescreen.

This extra came inside a two disc case for $19.99 on street. And was exclusive to the DVD version only.

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Footnotes.

There was a cover contest for it. But I'll get into that in a moment.

This was the winner...



The contest was held by the Sci Fi Channel. Began on August 29th, 2007.

Can't quite recall the time frame, the length, but can say the winning picture was unveiled on September 14th, that year.

There were three possible to chose from, but one had a major geek error.



The number designation for Battlestar Pegasus shown above is 'Battlestar Group 75' (a.k.a. BSG 75).

That is incorrect - as this is Galactica's group. The winning cover was altered to reflect the correct ID, BSG 62 - nerds rejoiced.

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The DVD hit shelves, ten days after broadcast on November 24th, 2007.



This all happened before the basic cable channel was renamed SyFy; don't get me started.

"Razor" is included with the box set for "Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0" (streeted January 6th, 2009).

A subject of a future Past Tense.

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Just so you know, ALL the webisodes are on the DVD (Unrated) as well as season 4.0 set and on complete series box set. Don't believe what Wikipedia reports, it's complete.

There is an error on it though.

On the end credits for "Razor Flashback" is list Edward James Olmos as "Admiral Adama", at this point in the story; two days before the second war, he was still a Captain.

I have a complaint on casting... for the other prequel, "Blood & Chrome" (2013) they have Luke Pasqualino playing Young Adama. Nico Cortez from "Razor" did a much better job. And Pasqualino looked too young and didn't have the Olmos voice inflections.

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Rant.



This show has gone down in geekdom as one of the best sci-fi series ever made, easily on the top five. But I so remember fan rage over the major changes series show runner Ronald D. Moore made for the reboot mini-series/pilot. They were not happy before it aired (December 8th and 9th, 2003).

It became the highest rated program (until that point) on the Sci Fi Channel. Boom! It became a series.

Can't say it bothered me. Granted when I was a little kid when the original Galactica aired (1978 on ABC) I enjoyed it. Seeing it as an adult is cringe worthy. Cheap looking sets with hammy acting and so, so recycled effects. Plus poor teleplays. There was a great show in that mess and it took twenty-five years to get it right.

But I'll be honest. I do miss not having an updated (non-cute) Daggit. They're suppose to be this frightful robotic guard dog - not a large, comic relief teddy bear; clearly geared towards little kids. Man, Muffit.

Frack'n Muffit.



I do however miss Lucifer, the IL Series Cylon who had Christmas blinking lights within a clear pointed head (its mouth lit up when it spoke). And did not know until researching that the character was voiced by actor Jonathan Harris. For the longest time I thought it was Roddy McDowall as the voice.

The machine was the robot assistant to Count Baltar (John Colicos), assigned by the Cylon Imperious Leader.

There was even a 1979 Mattel action figure which now can go up to $70.00 (mint in package). Back in the day was less than three bucks.

The guy in the robot suit was dwarf, Felix Silla, better known as the guy in the suit, inside the ambuquad, Twiki (voiced by Mel Blanc) from "Buck Rogers In The 25th Century" (1979 on NBC). Which by the way would be so sway as the sci-fi franchise that Ron Moore could make anew.

Just keep the big ass, 1970s buttons and toggle switches doing the impossible.

Why a dwarf? In short (no pun intended) the robot character was a large puppet, person sized. The head moved, rotates. If a full sized person was inside - where would you hid the person's head? By having a dwarf inside you get more options for size and motions. I think that was a smart decision.

Anyhow, back on topic, did learn something. Before the 2007 writers' strike, which shut down Hollywood for fourteen weeks. There was a plan by Moore was to have a major reveal - Cylon Number One, John Cavil (Dean Stockwell) was in fact Lucifer, reborn. But never happened, a casualty of the shut down.

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One of the things that folks moan about is that Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) isn't in "Razor". Yes he is - with zero lines.

Upon discovering the old Cylon raider; Adama, Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan), Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park) are talking about the discovery; Baltar is in the background. I guess, this falls into the blink and miss it category, as if he's an extra.

Here's the time index on the Unrated Edition; 41:38 minutes.

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Rape.

As in rape-rape (on television).

This was the first time I became aware of a dark aspect of my fandom. The folks who were totally fine with it - claimed it was quiet justified.

'After all, she's not a real person.'



Granted I'm taking a step back - but it's relevant since we see the events taking shape in "Razor". Image above, Helfer as Six from the mini-series.

In the season three episode "Pegasus" (September 23rd, 2005; extended version on DVD and BD). We learn that one of the Model Sixs was captured by the Pegasus crew. The person, Gina Inviere (civilian network administrator) was tortured and repeatedly raped by both security and officers with zero guilt.

I was reading the comments on the Ain't It Cool News thread for "Razor" where I ran into this... view.

Let me make this clear, I'm not White Knighting. Frack that mentality, you're just trying to land tail. This is about basic morality. Some lines should not be crossed.

Lets say they knew an attack was impending and Cain needed the info to prevent the disaster.

While it is terrible, in that crunch for time - I can see myself turning a blind eye to torture for the intel. Too much is at stake. And yes.

I am quite aware.

Information from torture isn't 100% reliable. But it's something to work with; better than doing squat and allowing the attack to happen. But that's the line.

Right there.

Rape should not even be on the table or even considered as 'entertainment' on enemy combatants. That is beyond wrong. You've just jump back in time a couple of centuries into owning slaves and such property, the whims of the Masters and Overseers.

So many fans, not an isolated person - found the actions acceptable and had trouble understanding why others felt it was wrong.

Not joking.

WTF? I do not believe these were trolls.

*deep sigh*

Evil comes in many forms, including those who believe themselves righteous.

Wanna know something odd; I can't find it - that post on Aintitcoolnews, I've done numerous searches - nothing, like it never happened.

Well, that's that.

Sorry to end on a downer.

Next week will have Denzel Washington doing what he does best, saving the day. Come back here on March 10th, 2016 for a look back.