Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica

1978
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica

7.2 | TV-PG | en | Drama

When the 12 Colonies of Man are wiped out by a cybernetic race called the Cylons, Commander Adama and the crew of the battlestar Galactica lead a ragtag fleet of human survivors in search of a "mythical planet" called Earth.

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Seasons & Episodes

1
EP1  Saga of a Star World
Sep. 17,1978
Saga of a Star World

The Cylon Empire tricks the Twelve Colonies into believing they are striving for peace. Then they ambush the unprepared colonies and destroy the military's Battlestar fleet. One surviving Battlestar, the Galactica, under the command of Commander Adama, gathers the remaining humans and leads them in the search for the legendary 13th colony called Earth.

EP2  Lost Planet of the Gods (1)
Sep. 24,1978
Lost Planet of the Gods (1)

Apollo and Starbuck discover a void in space. Commander Adama is convinced that this void will lead them to the planet Kobol, and orders they go through.

EP3  Lost Planet of the Gods (2)
Oct. 01,1978
Lost Planet of the Gods (2)

While Commander Adama leads the rag-tag fleet of ships to the planet Kobol, where he hopes to find clues of Earth's location, the Viper pilots contract a disease, making it necessary for the women to take on fighter patrol duties. But the traitor Baltar leads the Cylons in an attack on the Galactica.

EP4  The Lost Warrior
Oct. 08,1978
The Lost Warrior

Apollo is marooned on a Western Frontier-like planet, where he meets a woman and her son ... and a damaged Cylon, known as Red Eye, who has become a notorious gunslinger.

EP5  The Long Patrol
Oct. 15,1978
The Long Patrol

Starbuck is assigned to test a new ultra-fast, but unarmed, Viper with a talking computer named CORA; but when he meets a bootlegger, who steals the Viper, Starbuck finds himself arrested by the Galactic Police of a prison planet.

EP6  The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (1)
Oct. 22,1978
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (1)

Baltar attempts to lure Galactica into range of a gigantic pulsar cannon. Adama becomes aware of the trap and sends in a team of commandos to destroy it.

EP7  The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (2)
Oct. 29,1978
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (2)

Apollo and Starbuck lead a group of convicts on a possible suicide mission to destroy the cannon, which is located on an icy planet.

EP8  The Magnificent Warriors
Nov. 12,1978
The Magnificent Warriors

When a Cylon attack destroys most of the fleet's food supply, the Galactica must trade equipment for grain on a rural planet plagued by the Borays, a group of pig-like marauders.

EP9  The Young Lords
Nov. 19,1978
The Young Lords

Starbuck crashes on the planet Trillion, where the Cylons have destroyed all the humans except for a band of children, who have become warriors to save their enslaved father.

EP10  The Living Legend (1)
Nov. 26,1978
The Living Legend (1)

While on patrol, Apollo and Starbuck encounter the supposedly lost Battlestar Pegasus, commanded by the living legend, Commander Cain.

EP11  The Living Legend (2)
Dec. 03,1978
The Living Legend (2)

The brash Commander Cain insists that the Galactica join in on a frontal attack on the Cylons -- an attack that Adama believes would be a suicide mission.

EP12  Fire in Space
Dec. 17,1978
Fire in Space

A Cylon kamikaze attack leaves the Galactica burning in space, with no way to extinguish the blaze that has trapped Boomer, Athena, and Boxey except a dangerous spacewalk by Apollo and Starbuck.

EP13  War of the Gods (1)
Jan. 14,1979
War of the Gods (1)

While the fleet is plagued by glowing lights that constantly fly past them too fast to be followed, Apollo, Starbuck, and Sheba find the remains of a shipwreck, with a mysterious and seemingly all-powerful being named Count Iblis, who helps them capture Baltar.

EP14  War of the Gods (2)
Jan. 21,1979
War of the Gods (2)

While the fleet is plagued by glowing lights that constantly fly past them too fast to be followed, Apollo, Starbuck, and Sheba find the remains of a shipwreck, with a mysterious and seemingly all-powerful being named Count Iblis, who helps them capture Baltar.

EP15  The Man with Nine Lives
Jan. 28,1979
The Man with Nine Lives

An old con man known as Chameleon meets Starbuck and convinces him that he may be Starbuck's father, to gain Starbuck's help in evading a trio of bloodthirsty Borellians who are after him in revenge for another con.

EP16  Murder on the Rising Star
Feb. 18,1979
Murder on the Rising Star

When Starbuck's rival in the popular sporting event is found murders, all the evidence points to Starbuck; and Apollo is about the only person who believes in Starbuck's innocence.

EP17  Greetings from Earth
Feb. 25,1979
Greetings from Earth

When Apollo and Starbuck find a primitive sleeper ship carrying a man, a woman, and four children, speculation spreads in the fleet that the people are from Earth.

EP18  Baltar's Escape
Mar. 11,1979
Baltar's Escape

When Baltar plans his escape with the help of the three Borellians and the Eastern Alliance Enforcers, members of the Council of Twelve are taken hostage, and Adama must give in to the escapees' demands.

EP19  Experiment in Terra
Mar. 18,1979
Experiment in Terra

Apollo and Starbuck follow the escaped Eastern Alliance ship back to Terra, where they help the Terrans overcome a nuclear holocaust, with the help of the race of white lights that had earlier helped them defeat Count Iblis.

EP20  Take the Celestra
Apr. 01,1979
Take the Celestra

Starbuck runs in to his long-lost love, Aurora, who is involved with a group trying to free the passenger ship Celestra from its supposedly dictatorial captain.

EP21  The Hand of God
Apr. 29,1979
The Hand of God

Rather than continue fleeing from their enemies, the crew of the Galactica commences an all-out attack on a Cylon base.

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7.2 | TV-PG | en | Drama , Sci-Fi | More Info
Released: 1978-09-17 | Released Producted By: Glen A. Larson Productions , Universal Television Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
info

When the 12 Colonies of Man are wiped out by a cybernetic race called the Cylons, Commander Adama and the crew of the battlestar Galactica lead a ragtag fleet of human survivors in search of a "mythical planet" called Earth.

Genre

Drama , Sci-Fi

Watch Online

Battlestar Galactica (1978) is currently not available on any services.

Cast

Lorne Greene , Dirk Benedict , Richard Hatch , Maren Jensen , Herbert Jefferson Jr. , Terry Carter

Director

Gary Armstrong

Producted By

Glen A. Larson Productions , Universal Television

Battlestar Galactica Videos and Images

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  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew
Gary Armstrong
Gary Armstrong

Assistant Camera

Douglas Knapp
Douglas Knapp

Camera Operator

Jean-Pierre Dorléac
Jean-Pierre Dorléac

Costume Design

Scott H. Eddo
Scott H. Eddo

Key Makeup Artist

Michael J. Schwartz
Michael J. Schwartz

Electrician

Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson

Executive Producer

Stu Phillips
Stu Phillips

Original Music Composer

Battlestar Galactica Audience Reviews

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
History Observer Note:- 8/10 is considering it was 1978. Today, more like a 7.Fast paced sci-fi drama with tongue in cheek character typing and scripting that plays out beautifully well in a serious manner. In your face religious references and future technology produce a cunning backdrop and environment.Family friendly with good moments for laughing.Even the wife started watching it after she got over that it was sci fi (she hates sci-fi - even Star Wars).If someone was to say that this is supposed to be competition for the Target Audience of Star Trek I would disagree. This series has more appeal than what I've seen of Star Trek (old and new).Note:- To those who want to watch BsG, this 1978 series is the most common and best - with the spin offs being very poor in many ways (except for the 2004 're-imagined' seasons which are actually user rated into the top 100 TV shows on IMDb).
theoneheart The special effects and characters in the pilot episode were enjoyable. The premise was well beyond belief. We're supposed to believe that in a time of war the wise men of an advanced human race leave all their colonies and battle stars unprotected in the hopes of peace. The USA couldn't achieve that level of defenselessness with months of focused suicidal preparation. After most of their leaders and people are annihilated, the newly elected council advises disarming and placing the people at the mercy of a ruthless regime. The stupidity of these people defies human nature. Hopefully, the following episodes allow the viewer to suspend disbelief.
Atreyu_II Who, having grown up at the time, can ever forget the good old days, when TV shows like this were the ultimate scream of fashion?I wasn't even born in the 70's, but I still remember very well that in the early 90's TV often aired TV series like this, which now looking back were made before my time but as a child I didn't know that fact nor do I cared.'Battlestar Galactica' was created by Glen A. Larson, who also created 'Knight Rider', another TV series from my childhood.Now, looking at it through an adult's perspective, it is lesser great than it was in the days of innocence, but still 'Battlestar Gallactica' shines in nostalgia. Although some episodes were better than others and they always had their flaws, the show really gives that feeling of nostalgia. If not perfect, at least it is authentic. It is from a time when things were real, when things had a special magic. The opening, for example, is fantastic, with those spectacular images of space and space wars. The opening music too is absolutely wonderful, and that opening quote is memorable: «There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who even now fight to survive somewhere beyond the heavens.»Like I said, it's by no means a perfect TV show. But the action scenes and their delicious sounds, the special effects, the space backgrounds... ahhh.... it's all so authentic and perfect (as it should be), without any of the excessive action and explosive noise seen these days.It starred Lorne Greene as Commander Adama, Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo and Dirk Benedict as Lt. Starbuck, all of them great. Most of these episodes also had Noah Hathaway in a minor role as Boxey, Apollo's little son. Boxey is the cute little tyke. Him and his Muffit. This was a few years before he "became" Atreyu. Too bad Boxey doesn't have a bigger role. Inevitably, this TV series resembles '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars'. It was even accused of plagiarism when 'Star Wars' itself heavily drank ideas from an early 70's film called 'Silent Running'.
The_Other_Snowman I've recently had the chance to watch this show on a thing called the Retro Television Network, a channel whose line-up consists mostly of short-lived Glen Larson programs and other assorted junk from the Seventies and Eighties. For a while I only knew of "Battlestar Galactica" from the original pilot movie, and I could only guess how much worse the actual show was.And it really is awful. It was made in 1978, but that's no excuse: "Star Trek" was ten years earlier, and the heyday of "Doctor Who" was just a few years before "Galactica" came on. The special effects are just fine, even if they quickly become tedious and repetitive, cursed with irritating sound effects. So there must be something else that makes this series as terrible as it is.Maybe it's the actors? Lorne Green plays Adama as a warm, fatherly patriarch whose first instinct in any situation is to start shooting, because he's so wise he knows exactly who is good and who is evil. Moral ambiguity was apparently not known of in the USA back then. Richard Hatch plays heroic Apollo as an overgrown boyscout who always seems seconds away from dispensing public service announcements. It's amazing that Hatch took on a dynamic role in the remake. Dirk Benedict, star of "The A-team", chomps on his cigar, seduces the ladies, and as the loutish Starbuck generally gives men a bad name. Tigh and Boomer, the black sidekicks, just do generic sidekick stuff. Lord Baltar, played by John Colicos (who was the first Klingon on "Star Trek") tries to be evil, but comes off weak and sniveling. There might also be some women in the cast, but it's hard to tell.Or maybe it's the writing? In one episode, Apollo crash-lands on a planet and becomes the star in a remake of the western classic "Shane", and has a shootout with a Cylon who for some reason is wearing a cowboy hat. In another episode, Starbuck crash-lands on a different planet and runs into a gang of small blond children, who he teaches to be soldiers. In the 1970's it was apparently okay to give children guns and teach them to kill. Another episode rehashes "The Guns of Navarone". Plots typically involve some threat from the menacing (but useless) Cylon baddies, a feeble attempt at pacifism by the Quorum of Twelve (take that, democracy!), and repeated efforts by our heroes to convince everyone that killing and shooting stuff is the only option. There will then be a battle consisting of stock footage from the pilot movie.But wait, there's more: The music, in generic Seventies style, is bombastic and obnoxiously martial; the villains are appallingly clumsy and hopeless; there's an annoying little boy and his robot dog-monkey; there's a game called Triad in which grown men compete in their undies; there are cloying attempts at sentimentality and family-feelings that are straight out of Sesame Street. Most characters are flat and childish. The few women have very minor parts, and even those in uniform wear high heels and faint periodically. Everyday terms are replaced for no reason: "year" becomes "yahren", for example, and we are also treated to centons, microns (not to be confused with real microns, aka micrometers), and other stupid words. There's a sort of jingoistic, hawkish patriotism at work that was outdated even in 1978.After this show was canceled, Glen Larson went on to make such classics as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "Knight Rider", and "Manimal", clogging US airwaves with rubbish until vanishing sometime in the late Eighties. Will he return to save television?