Battlestar Galactica: Razor [2007]

RRP £15.99
Lowest New Price
£6.79

Suitable for 15 years and over

Universal Pictures Video

Release date: Wednesday 26th of December 2007

Starring:
Katee Sackhoff, Edward James Olmos, Jamie Bamber, Mary McDonnell,

Director(s):

Format: PAL,
Region code: 2
Running time: 103 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

RRP: £15.99
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The revival of Battlestar Galactica has proven not just to be a roaring success with viewers, but one of the most critically-acclaimed science-fiction series too. Battlestar Galactica: Razor's place is as an introduction to the events that take place in the fourth season of the show. Yet it's also a terrific feature-length TV movie in its own right.

The story of Battlestar Galactica: Razor actually focuses quite a lot on a different Battlestar, the Pegasus. Throughout the movie, we see it under the command of the love-to-hate Admiral Helena Cain, while we also follow Lieutenant Kendra Shaw under her tutelage, and Lee Adama's first mission in charge of the Pegasus.

Naturally too, Battlestar Galactica: Razor isn't shy of Cylons, as we see them in the infancy of their attack on humankind. And all of these ingredients make for some interesting back story to the main show, and a great one-off piece of entertainment too. It doesn't pull its punches when it comes to the action sequences, and there's some worthwhile character work in there too.

While clearly intended as an appetite-whetter for the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica, Razor nonetheless has enough in the tank to more than hold its own. It proves to be yet another example as to why Battlestar is the show that's been topping science fiction fans' favourites lists for some time. --Jon Foster

Solid addition to the series
Review date: 2008-07-27 Rating: 8 out of 10

Back in 2008, with the transmission of Battlestar Galactica's fourth season delayed and its full run interrupted by a nine-month-long break due to the Writer's Strike, the Sci-Fi Channel saw fit to deliver us an extra treat, namely a TV movie delving deeper into the show's backstory.

Razor takes place at the end of the second season, shortly after the events of the episode The Captain's Hand. Lee Adama is now commander of the battlestar Pegasus, but as an outsider he finds himself not entirely trusted by his new crew. Lee decides to appoint a former favourite of Admiral Cain's, Lt. Kendra Shaw, to the position of XO, in an attempt to 'build bridges' with his new subordinates. Interestingly, the plot doesn't dwell on this idea. We know the fate of the Pegasus and Lee's command of her from other episodes and seeing him do a 'winning the respect of the crew' plotline would have been redundant. Instead we see much of the story through Kendra's eyes. Lengthy flashbacks take us back to the day of the original Cylon attack on the Colonies and we see Kendra rising through the ranks and observing Cain's gradual moral erosion as the tensions of command take hold. A present day storyline, which is little more than a subplot, sees the Pegasus crew stumble across a bunch of obsolete Cylons from the First Cylon War and have to eliminate them.

Razor straddles two stools. On the one hand, it is a balls-to-the-wall action story with huge, epic CGI battle sequences and lots of emotional intensity which is designed to appeal to newcomers as well as established fans. On the other, it features a lot of fan-pleasing asides and references to the original series. This is a somewhat odd idea (going for newbies and hardcore fans at the same time) but just about works, with the new character of Kendra providing a worthwhile 'in' to this story and universe for new viewers but at the same time allowing established fans to see stuff they've wanted to see since the series began. Kudos for the writers for managing not to make a total hash of this.

The TV movie lives or dies on the performance of actress Stephanie Chaves-Jacobson as Kendra Shaw and thankfully she delivers a competent performance. She tended to mumble a fair bit, however, which resulted in much rewinding of scenes to make out what she was saying. The actress has a great rapport with Katee Sackhoff and Michelle Forbes, and in these scenes she is extremely good. The other actors are as trusty and reliable as ever, although some have very little screen-time (Athena and Tigh get a single scene each, President Roslin three short scenes and Dr. Baltar only briefly appears thanks to an extended scene only available on the DVD).

Overall, Razor (****) is an enjoyable slice of Battlestar Galactica. Some elements misfire a bit (the "By your command," moment, although amusing, totally breaks the fourth wall) and the resolution's dependence on yet more BSG mysticism is mildly exasperating, but overall the TV movie fulfils its remit of being both entertaining and restoring faith in the show after a patchy third year. I do think Razor works better if viewed chronologically (i.e., after The Captain's Hand in Season 2) than between Season 3 and 4 as originally aired, at which point it does feel a little more redundant.

The DVD edition is extended over the TV cut by some 15 minutes and features a lengthy flashback to the First Cylon War (complete with another huge battle sequence) as well as other new scenes, plus a writer and producer's commentary.

Reviews

Worth the time.
Review date: 2008-07-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

I'll keep this short and sweet. Much of the marketing gave people the wrong impression of this feature length. Many thought it was history of the Pegasus under the command of Admiral Cann many thought it was the missing pieces between command being handed down to Lee Adama and it's untimely destruction at the Battle for New Caprica.

Whatever you thought, what you want this be. Throw it out the window now. Expectations and preconceptions will only close your mind and heart to this magnificent piece of story telling.

Although the story follows the once innocent Kendra Shaw, Admiral Helena Cain (fantastically portrayed by the talented Michelle Forbes) has stolen the show with a character, who's ideals and principles would turn even the most moral viewers into Razors.

You don't even need to be a fan of the Battlestars series nor have a comprehensive knowledge of the universe to enjoy this. Due to the focus of the story everything unravels itself and is very much self-explanatory. It can and will draw in the most unlikely viewers.

And for those who are fans. Many questions will be answered, but many many more questions will be raised.

Worth the time.

Don't care that much for it.
Review date: 2008-07-15 Rating: 4 out of 10

Personally,I'm not a fan of this show.However,I do have my favourite characters.Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama.Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin,and Grace Park,as Sharon.My main gripe is that the writers always seem determined to show practically all of the male characters as totally and useless weaklings.Girl power is what they like here.The action is good,but of course,its the women that save the day.I didn't find this to my liking,but if you are a fan of extreme girl power saving blokes,and treating most of the men with utter comtempt,this is for you.Its not for me.

Good but not up to the usual standard of writing
Review date: 2008-06-23 Rating: 8 out of 10

As an established fan of the series I enjoyed Razor. It was great to have a little more back-story regarding the Pegasus, the first Cylon War and Admiral Cain. The old time Cylons and Cylon Raiders were a real treat to see and beautifully rendered. That said, the lead characters of Kendra Shaw and Admiral Cain are particularly unsympathetic and very hard to like- which makes this story a little hard to really engage with. I also thought that the story had holes and inconsistencies that I would not usually associate with BSG. It was somewhat bizarre that Admiral Adama would send a whole battlestar to search for a missing Raptor. It was even more odd that he would then chose to accompany it. It was inconsistent and out of character for him to selectively start overruling his son's commands- while at the same time telling him that it was `his call'. The whole raid on the base-star was then rather unconvincing in so far as they had no problem escaping through the fighter screen once they withdrew- indeed it seems not to have even been a factor. Minor quibbles maybe - and I feel like a real geek for even writing this- but BSG doesn't normally contain these sort of flaws. In summary, great for back-story, not so great for the actual drama and writing.

Superb
Review date: 2008-05-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

A must see for fans and an exciting flick for others - however I would recommend that you watch sequentially. Great piece of TV with cinema standard production values.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Katee Sackhoff
Edward James Olmos
Jamie Bamber
Mary McDonnell

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures Video
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures Video
EAN: 5050582532579
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-12-26
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 103 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Original Language)

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Battlestar Galactica: Razor [2007]

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