So I started with this show...

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

First I'm a big fan of RDM and his work on Trek.

And I liked the fact that this show has some deep themes.

But man, these shows... sucked!

I hated the camera work. Let's zoom in, not keep the camera steady, and zoom in some more at random intervals.

See, JJ did some similar "energetic" camera work on his Trek film, but at least his performers embued their roles with enough life to match the enegey of the camera. Two of the most reputed actors, Olmos and McDonnell, seem lifeless and stagnant, giving line readings that never change. I know he's the stoic captain, but when he checks up on Starbuck to see how she's making out fixing the raider, and when he announces that there's a potential threat on board, his tone is the same in both instances. Ther eis no difference. Every line he delivers is wooden and exactly the same. I like Olmos but I think tha Scott Glenn would have been a better choice, because Glenn portrayed a similar style of captain in Hunt for Red October, yet the actor sis some subtle things in that performance that let us know there was a human behind the character even if the captain and his command style was deliberately dispassionate.

Often five or six dramatic things will be brought up in two minutes of screen-time, then they will be all shelved for much later episodes.

THE CGI space scenes look like bad video games and lack the excitement and visceral energy of the old show.

Starbuck writing her name in duct tape on a raider so they'd recognize her... how ludicrous can you get?

[Tosk]

Anything you did like?

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I like that they kept the design of teh fighters. But I miss the old sound effects of like the afterburners and the lasers.

Sure the old show was cheesy, but the models were just cool, and more dynamic.

Oh and the Caprica scenes were cheesy.. it's always two Cylon robots in their animation budget. I miss the old cylons where they could have armies of them, with cool voices and sound effects!

[Robert D. Robot]

Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote:

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Sure the old show was cheesy

Well, yes.

I liked the Original show, but I enjoyed it much more when I was a kid. To me, it does still hold up, but only in the heart of the kid in me.

I don't quite understand your criticism of the animation budget and special effects 'choices' of nBSG when making a comparison to the Original. In the Original, how many times was the same shot(s) used of the gloved hand on the fighter's joystick? (Stargate even spoofed it in the episode "300") How about the Cyclon raiders coming towards the viewer and -for some reason- smoothly dropping down some invisible stair step? The only time Galactica does something dynamic is the stock footage where she is shown from behind banking hard to the left. Even as a kid, I tired of the (undoubtedly necessary) overuse of stock footage.

In nBSG there were so many cool and BEAUTIFUL shots of Galactica moving though space (like when she gently moves up & rolls a bit before she jumps). How about the Cylon fighters poring out of the Base Stars like swarms of angry ants pouring out of a damaged at hill? I thought these effects were awesome.

I do kind of wish that we had heard some of the kick-ass toasters speaking in that electronic voice, and I thought the CGI of them was not always convincing, but -on the other hand-whenever we saw the the Cyclons of the original series in any fight scene, the illusion was lost. At that point, I saw guys walking around in a costume with bad metallic "skirts".

I am fond of the Original series, but as an adult that has seen special effect continually improve over the last three decades, I enjoy nBSG much more. And the stories & plot lines are now more engaging.

[DalekJim]

NuBSG is one of the best science-fiction shows of all-time. Until the second half of S4, which it really is best to ignore.

Caprica is fucking awesome. But the fans hated it because "WHERE ARE ALL THE SPACE BATTLES?" so instead we got Blood & Yawn.

[Robert Maxwell]

Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote:

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I like that they kept the design of teh fighters. But I miss the old sound effects of like the afterburners and the lasers.

Sure the old show was cheesy, but the models were just cool, and more dynamic.

Oh and the Caprica scenes were cheesy.. it's always two Cylon robots in their animation budget. I miss the old cylons where they could have armies of them, with cool voices and sound effects!

Sounds like you would've been happier just watching the original show. I suggest you go do that.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Comparing the reused shots and how often used them in the original is not fair for two reasons:

1.) almost every shot of the E-D in TNG was filmed for the pilot. Shots were reused all the time, and no one disses the show for that.
2) Reused, over and over or not, the shots were more visceral and exciting!

[Robert Maxwell]

Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote:

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2) Reused, over and over or not, the shots were more visceral and exciting!

Compared to the reimagined series? You have to be joking.

[DalekJim]

My biggest problem with 2004+ BSG is the clunky, simplistic monotheism which is used to handwave the entire show and remove it of consequence.

[Deckerd]

It had consequence. The fact that most of the human race was wiped out was consequential. You can criticise the first two seasons for finicky things but not the gravity of the situation. The whole "God did it" didn't really pick up until they had already run out of ideas at the end of the second season.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

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Compared to the reimagined series? You have to be joking.

Yes... I loved the red and blue lasers, ships banking with the afterburners going, and flying through explosions. All the greebles on the larger ships. It felt big.

The new show looks like elaborate Windows screensavers

[Robert Maxwell]

Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote:

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Yes... I loved the red and blue lasers, ships banking with the afterburners going, and flying through explosions. All the greebles on the larger ships. It felt big.

The new show looks like elaborate Windows screensavers

I don't think the problem is with the show, then, but the viewer.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I put both shows in stereo surround, and I just found all the original visuals and sound effects more exciting. The stuff looks solid... like actually something i can touch. The CGI in the nuBSG seems less solid, and (a few scenes aside) is often less exciting.

I don't need you to trash me.

[Robert Maxwell]

You're claiming that special effects created 30 years ago are better than effects created within the past decade.

It's not a statement that can be taken seriously.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Of course it can.

Look at how much better the old Star Wars films looked than the new ones.

And whterh or not an old special effect looked better doesn't take away form the fact that they were more innovative. Look at all the techniques they used to make Superman fly.,

By the way, the shot in the original Superman film where he flies up to save Lis form the helicopter .. it's awesome, it has a lot of energy, and there's quick edit there to hide the flaws but it adds to energy of the shot.

Yes, the old SFX are in some ways better. If nothing else, they are more dynamic and visceral..