The Plan Interviews

Saturday Music

Saturday in San Pedro, California, at the Warner Grand Theatre the music of Stu Philips will be performed by the Golden State Pops Orchestra, in honor of Stu's 80th birthday. Bear McCreary will be there to world premiere a new BSG composition, that former BSG FX artist Mojo got to experience at the rehearsal the other night:

As Bear mentioned in his blog, he’s written a completely new piece of music that combines elements from both the original series and reimagined version to create an ”ultimate Battlestar theme.” I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this, maybe a mish-mash of stuff we’ve heard before – but what Bear has done is far more than cut and paste – he’s created a BSG masterpiece.

It begins with his moving rendition of the ”Colonial Anthem” as heard in the second season episode “Final Cut,” (which gives me goosebumps every time I hear it), but then morphs into a swirling, mysterious and intense version of “Exploration” ( including the There Are Those Who Believe music). This version retains the familiar middle eastern flavor of the original, but amps it up to the level of Led Zeppelin’s ”Kashmir.” I don’t want to spoil where it goes from there, but suffice it to say that Bear has somehow managed to distill the entire series of Battlestar Galactica into one epic, violent, mysterious, melencholy and bittersweet piece of music.

Yes, I’m serious. All the emotion you felt while watching four years of Galactica are encapsulated in his new composition and the only time it’s every going to be played is this Saturday night by the Golden State Pops Orchestra (with members of Bear’s band) in San Pedro. You really have got to be there.

Buy your tickets here, for this exciting sci-fi music event to celebrate the work of Stu Philips.

Also, check out on Mojo's blog a CGI FX shot of a classic original BSG camera move showing the Galactica's launch pod.

And Bear McCreary reports that he's once again performing at the fourth and final Johnny “Vatos” Tribute to Halloween and Oingo Boingo, Thursday, October 29th at 8:00 PM The Grove of Anaheim.

The Plan: Reviewed

Following up on the post below, reviews are coming in for Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits gives the film a B+ and highly recommends the Blu-Ray release. Ron Henriques for The Latino Review notes:

We were never actually told the details of the Cylons' ultimate plan to annihilate humanity when the series began. The made a dramatic reappearance after vanishing for forty years and with the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, nearly wiped out the human race. Now with this new film all is revealed. The story opens 281 days after the destruction of the colonies during the season one episode 'Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II' where Brother John Cavil (Dean Stockwell) has just been exposed as a Cylon by another model of himself. This is the story of two Cavil's: Fleet Cavil, who has infiltrated the surviving fleet as a minister, hoping to break it from the inside and Caprica Cavil, who gets involved with a group of resistance fighters led by Sam Anders (Michael Trucco) and begins to question whether the Cylon attack was justified. Flashing back two days before the attack we finally get to see the destruction in full detail (thanks in part to an increased visual effects budget).

Yet Battlestar Galactica is not about visual effects, but rather character and story. Graduating from supporting player to central character, Dean Stockwell puts in some brilliant work playing not one, but two versions of the same model. When revealed to be one of the final five in season four, Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) described him as a spoiled child, yet he is something far worse. Cavil yearns for mankind's destruction because they created the Cylons and though they are near perfect machines they are still limited. The final five are their creators as well yet no matter what they do as long as man survives they will love them more. We get to see exactly what each of the five were doing when the bombs dropped and how Cavil infiltrated the fleet and was responsible for many of the dilemmas throughout season one.

...If you are a fan of this series, both the blu-ray and dvd are highly recommended. This film will no doubt be edited down for length (and a surprising amount of sex and nudity) when it is broadcast next year so if you decide to wait, you may find yourself missing out.

Other reviews from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Eric Goldman for IGN, Chris Chiarella for Big Picture Sound, Kenneth Brown for Blu-ray.com, and Scott Chitwood for Coming Soon.net.

Check out stills from The Plan, here and here.

Win a copy of The Plan.

Also, you can win Dinner with the Admiral, just sign up at UGO for a chance to dine with Edward James Olmos.

Last Blast Till Caprica

I just saw BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN, and truly enjoyed it.

There will be much more to say after the DVD and BluRay hit stores on October 27, but for now let me leave it at this: Anyone who ever felt intrigued by Cavil, Boomer, all the various *real* Sixes, and the other "minor" cylon models, will find plenty to enjoy in this film. Anders gets a surprising amount of screentime. There is a very enlightening moment with Leoben. As I hoped, we get a few memorable doses of this new Six. The Cavils -- and really, the cylons in general -- get the coda I always thought they deserved. It was big frakkin' fun to see great moments from seasons one and two woven in. Gods I didn't realize how much I missed you, BSG.


The whole film is cleverly reverse-engineered to keep asking that first question from the miniseries: "Are You Alive? Prove it."

ETA: warning - readers are posting spoilers in the comments on this post.

Sponsor Katee and Tricia

This weekend Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer are participating in AIDS Walk Los Angeles, Sunday October 18th.