Space Above and Beyond... Any Takers?

[Data Holmes]

If they rebooted it, perhaps they could finally decide if they wanted to make a show about fighter pilots or infantry grunts. Not as characters 'temping as both.

S:AAB is what you get when you have writers who REALLY want to write military drama but know nothing about the subject (nor do they care to find out about it).

They were Marine Cavalry, they fought mounted or dismounted.

 

[The Comedian]

Agreed with the rough start - in fact, I stopped watching after a few eps when it was first run. Then I checked in later, and discovered it had become the best military sci fi show EVAH!

Here's me in my hammerhead from Alfred Wong's kit at Starship Modeler:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/hammerhead1.html

Nice job - you do that?

 

[FPAlpha]

How much more badass can you get than this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfBndSv8qaE

Good stuff...good stuff...

Amen!

This scene was beyond awesome and part of the reason why i love S:AAB.

The show had many flaws.. acting was very uneven and plot holes galore (just the almost legendary fighter pilot vs.infantry duty debate for example ) but it had also many strong moments and episodes.

Another show with great potential that was cut short before it could really unfold.

 

[anti-matter]

One of the great almost poetic like series of all time for me. At the end when they were canceled you'll see AMF at the end of the credit...

...that's soldier talk for 'adios motherfucker' slang for an endearing good bye. I always loved that show even when they made it difficult to follow.

It got so difficult I never saw the end missed the last couple of episodes. Always curious how it ended.

As fate would have it I was bound to a bunch of comrades playing in the OIF/OEF conference and found the show on disc for $35. Played it nightly for a month or so and it turned out to be a huge morale booster.

It never clicked what compelled me to love this show until the very end when I saw that AMF...aha they understand.

 

[firehawk12]

I still love the music from this. Shirley Walker was great.

 

[Star Wolf]

If they rebooted it, perhaps they could finally decide if they wanted to make a show about fighter pilots or infantry grunts. Not as characters 'temping as both.

S:AAB is what you get when you have writers who REALLY want to write military drama but know nothing about the subject (nor do they care to find out about it).

They were Marine Cavalry, they fought mounted or dismounted.

Hollywood had long ago bought into the ideal that all Marines by the simple fact they were a Marine made someone one of the best commandos in the world. Marine aviators from the Blacksheep Squadron to Gene Hackman in Uncommon Valor to James Brolin in Wings of Gold played with that silly ideal on film. But the the warriors on BSG, especially the classic version did it too.

 

[Data Holmes]

If they rebooted it, perhaps they could finally decide if they wanted to make a show about fighter pilots or infantry grunts. Not as characters 'temping as both.

S:AAB is what you get when you have writers who REALLY want to write military drama but know nothing about the subject (nor do they care to find out about it).

They were Marine Cavalry, they fought mounted or dismounted.

Hollywood had long ago bought into the ideal that all Marines by the simple fact they were a Marine made someone one of the best commandos in the world. Marine aviators from the Blacksheep Squadron to Gene Hackman in Uncommon Valor to James Brolin in Wings of Gold played with that silly ideal on film. But the the warriors on BSG, especially the classic version did it too.

Every marine is a rifleman.


I was never bothered by the pilot/grunt duality, this is space and the future, some things will change.

 

[Titus Andronicus]

Ah yes, one of my favorite shows growing up. It's a shame we never got to see the final cliffhanger resolved. It seemed that Earth was finally on its way to winning the war- or was it?

Also liked the use of modern day uniforms in the show; I felt more of a connection with the characters because of that. Just the fact that the show had flags, uniforms, etc. that we could relate to gave the show a unique flavor.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

...S:AAB is what you get when you have writers who REALLY want to write military drama but know nothing about the subject (nor do they care to find out about it).

I believe that "Meal, Rejected by Enemy" gives some indication that they did have some insite into the goings on within Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.

 

[Star Wolf]

...S:AAB is what you get when you have writers who REALLY want to write military drama but know nothing about the subject (nor do they care to find out about it).

I believe that "Meal, Rejected by Enemy" gives some indication that they did have some insite into the goings on within Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.

I guess the problem is that producers act like aviators are easy to produce so when they want a grunt story they have that valuable and limited resource thrown into the line as an infantry squad made up of all officers. Maybe on Bataan when all the planes are gone it makes sense but it doesn't fit with the circumstances shown on air.

 

[Sykonee]

Thing I remember most about this show was the episode where that one guy's gun-ho little brother gets killed in combat at the end. Pretty typical war story, but the thing that makes it so memorable for me is the commercial that immediately followed that scene: an Army "Be All That You Can Be" advertisement.

Yes, after watching a young soldier get brutally killed in war, with dreams of being all that he could be, I SO want to join the Army now.

 

[captcalhoun]

i love that show.

 

[DevilEyes]

Thing I remember most about this show was the episode where that one guy's gun-ho little brother gets killed in combat at the end. Pretty typical war story, but the thing that makes it so memorable for me is the commercial that immediately followed that scene: an Army "Be All That You Can Be" advertisement.

Yes, after watching a young soldier get brutally killed in war, with dreams of being all that he could be, I SO want to join the Army now.

As inappropriate commercial placement go, nothing beats this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEDjAFi7oJ4
(spoiler for BSG 4.11 "Sometimes A Great Notion")

 

[Sykonee]

As inappropriate commercial placement go, nothing beats this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEDjAFi7oJ4
(spoiler for BSG 4.11 "Sometimes A Great Notion")

Great. Now I can't watch it.

 

[Forbin]

I checked it out. Seemed very dated. It would be a good candidate for a reboot.

They did - only it was called Battlestar Galactica

Nice job - you do that?

Yup. 'Twas a model kit.

 

[Forbin]

I don't know how anyone can think the writers didn't know military or bother to research it when the show was so chock-full of real-world military references. The CO reading an actual letter home from a WWII Kamikaze pilot before a mission had me in chills.

 

[Star Wolf]

I don't know how anyone can think the writers didn't know military or bother to research it when the show was so chock-full of real-world military references. The CO reading an actual letter home from a WWII Kamikaze pilot before a mission had me in chills.

It wasn't that aspect. It was having stories were because your fighter pilot wore USMC instead of USN or USAF that your pilot suddenly became a LT in a PFC rifleman role.

 

[Peter the Younger]

If they rebooted it, perhaps they could finally decide if they wanted to make a show about fighter pilots or infantry grunts. Not as characters 'temping as both.

S:AAB is what you get when you have writers who REALLY want to write military drama but know nothing about the subject (nor do they care to find out about it).

That was what really drove me nuts, and ultimately turned me off the show. It wasn't just switching from infantry to fighter jocks, either: remember the pilot episode? They spent boot camp (for like eight weeks) in simulators, trained by a gunnery sergeant to be pilots (R. Lee Ermy is awesome, but still) then became commissioned officers. W.T.F.? OCS is one thing, but that was ridiculous.

The thing is, the showrunners did know better, but their lame excuse was "well, we wanted to tell both sorts of stories." Then break up the cast into two groups, who are posted to the same carrier, and switch off who gets the focus from week to week. They could have used the rivalry between aviators and ground pounders for some nice drama. But instead of working out a believable setup, they just did whatever this week's plot required. Totally killed my SoD.

 

[captcalhoun]

@ that BSG clip

Spoiler: clip

WE NEED A MEDIC HERE!

dude, she's blown her brains out. no medic's gonna save her!

 

[Admiral_Young]

I loved Space Above and Beyond! I didn't watch it during its original run...actually watched it during Space's first year on the air as it was one of the stations first shows. I was pissed when I learned it had been cancelled and ended with a cliffhanger.