BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (TV SERIES): THE PLAN-MOVIE EPISODE - DVD review

"Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" is an over glorified clip show. There are a few new scenes introduced into the feature length production and some nudity, gore and cursing that help "The Plan" earn a harsher rating than what the television episodes garnered. Directed by star Edward James Olmos and written by writer/producer Jane Espenson, "The Plan" is the brainchild of those who have worked long and hard on the "Battlestar Galactica" television show and both Olmos and Espenson are well versed in the new Galactica canon. However, watching "The Plan" left me feeling as if this were nothing more than a way of getting a few dollars extra out of the expensive franchise that helped build the Sci-Fi channel into the Syfy Channel we know and love today. It wasn't as if "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" was a waste of time, but only the diehards will truly appreciate what it has to offer.

The story behind "The Plan" has more jumps than a Cylon Base Ship and moves between the time prior to the attack on the Twelve Colonies and ends with events that happened during the Season Two finale "Lay Down Your Burdens." The primary purpose of "The Plan" is to shed a little more insight into the reason for the failed cease fire that was announced at the end of the second year of the show and a second model of Number One (Dean Stockwell) is introduced with the Caprica freedom fighters led by Sam Anders (Michael Trucco) and this particular copy of Number One wears a hat and believes the invasion of the colonies was a mistake as he begins to see the importance of humanity and falls prey to the power of love. A second version of Number Four (Rick Worthy) is shown on Galactica and this Cylon too cares for humans.

Dean Stockwell takes front and center as the primary actor of "The Plan" as he portrays two completely different versions of Number One. He is Brother Cavil on the Galactica and works to orchestrate a plan that will discredit Dr. Baltar (James Callis) and his machine that can test if a person is human or Cylon, he helps push Boomer (Grace Park) into trying to crippled the Galactica and kill Admiral Adama (Olmos) in what transpired in the season two episode "Kobol's Last Gleaming" and makes a joke about the bad attire worn by Number Five (Matthew Bennett). He sleeps with a dark haired version of Number Six (Tricia Helfer) and offers some explanation of how the Number Six models were used on Galactica. This particular Number One kills a young boy and has nothing but contempt for humanity. This is the Number One featured prominently in the show's ending during Season 4.5.

The second Number One works with Sam Anders on Caprica as they try to destroy the Cylon Centurion occupational force. He is the brother of the Galactica-based Number One and takes on the role of a religious man in Anders' rebellion. He assists Anders in their raids against the Cylon aggressors and works with his own copy of Number Four. Eventually, Anders meets Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) and they fall in love. The Caprica-based version of Number Four cannot understand the feelings that Anders and Starbuck have for each other, but the copy of John Cavil is able to see the emotions of humanity and although he has both Starbuck and Anders in a rifle scope near the end of "The Plan," he is unable to pull the trigger and this relationship has him question to Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies and ask for a cease fire.

A number of other episodes from "Battlestar Galactica's" first and second seasons are included in "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" and aside from President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and the Cylon Number Three (Lucy Lawless), most major players from these two years are shown in some capacity during "The Plan." It was interesting to see many of these characters looking younger from when the show first began and I can understand why it would have been difficult to match some new scenes for some actors with how they looked six or seven years ago when production began on the show. Most of the new scenes revolve around the Number Ones portrayed by Stockwell. Others are by the Number Fours portrayed by Worthy.

I suppose the big question is whether or not this mostly rehashed "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" truly adds anything worthwhile to the overall BSG Universe. Yes, it does. However, only the die-hard fans that have sat through the roughly five seasons of the show are going to get what there is to be had out of it. A few minor mysteries are resolved, but the show's finale tied up most major ends. A couple questions linger such as Anastasia Dualla's reason for suicide, but the minds behind "The Plan" decided to spend much of their time trying to show sympathetic Cylons and show many of the show's season one and two occurrences from an entirely different point of view. As I stated earlier, "The Plan" is an over glorified clip show and the new narrative is hardly enough to truly warrant a stand alone film.

Would I watch "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" again? Probably not. I would rather spend my time getting more acquainted with the actual seasons than revisit something that didn't impress me. "The Plan" is meant for fans and can hardly keep the attention of somebody that doesn't know a lot about the show. I was anticipating more action from the Cylon occupation and was not truly rewarded. There were a few brief gunfights and some explosions, but aside from the footage of the initial bombing of the Twelve Colonies, "The Plan" kept tame. Most of the film was about the lessons of love and human emotions and how one ‘brother' learned to appreciate human life, while the other continued to view it as a disease although he spent time engaging in very human activities. "The Plan" is an alternate narrative for a story already told and without anything overly fresh, it was a dull rehash that felt far too long and jumped around too much to be truly entertaining.

Video:

The series "Battlestar Galactica" looks pretty good and considering much of this is culled from the same materials, "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" is a decent looking film. Now, it isn't going to woo anybody like a top-notch Hollywood production, but the fact of the matter is that the 1.78:1 framed film is still on the better side of average with good detail and solid coloring. BSG has always been filmed to look a little depressing and rough, but the red dress worn by Tricia Helfner can turn heads for more than her impressive figure. The Vipers look great as they fly through space and the metallic Cylon Centurions are shiny in a very good way. About the only complaint I have is how the explosions in the show tend to break up and look more like a mess of plasma than pyrotechnics, but this is likely due to the special effects being low-balled than the video transfer not keeping up with the movement. We live in a digital world and this digitally created film moves nicely to DVD.

Audio:

The explosions and musings over love arrive to the viewer through a good sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 multi-channel surround mix that again falls on the better side of average. While being a sci-fi series, the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" has been more of a drama than an all-out action affair and compared to other big sci-fi franchises, it could be called light on action. What action is contained in "The Plan" is exciting to the ears and comes from numerous directions and gives the subwoofer a little light work. I enjoyed the exploding shipping container on Caprica and that was the highlight in sound of the movie. The initial bombardment of Caprica sounded good as well. This is a talk-heavy title and "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" benefits from always clear dialogue. Spanish, French and English SDH subtitles are included.

Extras:

A number of special features are included with the DVD release of "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan." The disc begins with trailers for the complete series release of "Battlestar Galactica" on DVD and a teaser for the upcoming series "Caprica" as well as few other promo items. Most of the items are stand-alone, but the Commentary with Director/Actor Edward James Olmos and Executive Producer/Writer Jane Espenson is included. This is actually a pretty good commentary and a lot of that has to do with Olmos. He does a great job of talking about his experiences, thoughts on the show and his character and providing insight. Espenson brings some nice tidbits as well, but the definite reason to listen to this commentary track is to hear what Olmos has to say. Fans who pony out the money for this disc should definitely listen to the commentary track.

The standalones consist of four featurettes and some Deleted Scenes (13:58). Beginning with the removed material, these add more information to the new story told and includes plenty of time with the Triangle team as over half of the seven major scenes look at Sam Anders and his freedom fighters. The last scene shows a Number Six and a Number Eight on Caprica in what is the best scene. From Admiral to Director: Edward James Olmos & The Plan (6:48) is a few brief moments with Admiral Adama as he talks about leaving the show and why he wanted to do "The Plan." The Cylons of The Plan (6:52) has Olmos discuss the new ‘plan' that was not shown during the series run and has the actors who portrayed the Cylons and other crew members talk about the failed plan. The Cylon Attack (4:04) looks at the big attack sequences in the film and Visual Effects: The Magic Behind The Plan (19:03) is the only major featurette and looks at the special effects of the show and the film.

Closing:

I found myself disappointed with "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" because I was not expecting a clip show that had enough new scenes shot to provide fans and viewers with an alternate narrative for numerous events from the first two series that tried to make the primary Cylon villain from the series finale a little more of a darker side after he stabbed his ‘friend' to death. I've seen a number of spin off films from successful television shows and the taste left in my mouth is that "The Plan" was created to make some money while the franchise is still fresh in the minds of its fans. It is a poor effort considering the rich saga it follows. They really could have done a better job. The DVD itself is technically solid with a good looking and sounding transfer. The bonus features are limited, but the commentary track is worth a listen. In the end, I found myself having wanted something more substantial and fresh.