Review of "Battlestar Galactica - Season One" by

To the delight of fans of pop culture science fiction, the Sci-Fi Channel resurrected the 1970's television series Battlestar Galactica for the digital age. With this box set, you can start at the beginning when the 12 colonies of are almost destroyed by a hundred-year war with the Cylong Empire. Cylons are a race of cyborgs that were created by humans, only to have them rebel against their creators. After a prolonged period of truce during which humans had no contact with the Cylons, they have come back to complete their mission to destroy mankind. And now they're tough to spot because then can look just like us. Mary McDonald plays President Roslin and Edward James Olmos is Commander Adama. President Roslin took over when she was on a space ship that had escaped during the onslaught. The surviving humans now take off on a mission to find the mythical 13th Colony - Earth.

The drama that made the original popular is even more interesting here, and the increased budget for both special effects and casting has certainly paid dividends. Olmos is much more credible as a soldier than Lorne (Ben Cartwright) Greene could ever dream of being. There are several other satisfying twists on the original series, not the least of which is the sex change for the hotshot Viper pilot Starbuck. Dirk Benedict was handsome and charming, but newcomer Katee Sackhoff gives a surprisingly believable personna combining a young woman's sensibilities with the swagger of a Top Gun pilot. And for true titillation, there's just no match for the wicked Cylon temptress Number Six played by Tricia Helfer who is forever trying seduce the traitor Baltar, who is a renowned scientist in this incarnation of the tale, via telepathic illusions.

There are 13 episodes from Season 1 in this set. You also get the four hour television miniseries that started it all, plus other extras. Fans will be delighted to see this set with it’s behind the scenes peek and other bonus pieces.