Television/Movie Review
7 Comments | Add a Comment

1


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Razor

By: Robert T. Trate
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The theater went dark, yes the theater, cheers and clapping commenced. Then it happened. ‘Battlestar Galactica’ came back and it was bigger than ever before. The Scifi Channel, Zune, Xbox 360, and Mass Effect (a new Xbox 360 game) brought the rag tag fleet to the big screen just short of two weeks before its television premiere (Saturday November 24th). Many long months had passed since season three had ended. Could ‘Battlestar Galactica: Razor’ live up to its hype? 
 
The story begins with a few moments on the Battlestar Pegasus, where Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen) has just been assigned. She is on the way to her rack when the Cylons attack. Kendra is then birthed into a world of violence and darkness with Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes) slapping the life into her. Life on the Pegasus is far different than life on the Galactica. ‘Battlestar Galactica: Razor’ tells the complete story of what happened after the Cylons attacked. During the course of the second season we saw what had become of the Pegasus crew. Admiral Cain ruled with a firm hand and her orders were never questioned, but why? ‘Razor’ answers those questions as the story is told through Kendra Shaw. Kendra’s time under Cain’s command and her rise through the ranks parallels her time under Lee Adama’s (Jamie Bamber) command, where she has become the new Executive Officer. 
 
Michael Taylor’s script bounces back and fourth nicely between Cain’s “survival” tactics and Lee’s mission to save a Raptor crew that has gone missing. There is a subplot that is only lightly touched upon in this version (the TV and the advanced screening cut) that deals with the last days of the first Cylon War and William Adama’s (Edward James Olmos) frieghtening and at the time unexplainable discovery (check them out Razor Flashbacks). However, it ties into the story and it is the payoff for ‘Razor’ and tease for the final season. One has to wonder why the full version of ‘Battlestar Galactica: Razor’ will only come out on DVD?   
 
Adding characters in flashbacks or additional side stories has of late been new character genocide.   ‘Lost’ last season suffered from fan backlash when Paulo and Nikki were casually introduced. The ‘Heroes’ spin off had some fans screaming that NBC was cashing in on an already bloated show. Where ‘Razor’ differs is that fans are screaming for more ‘Battlestar Galactica’. Ever since the last moments of season three and the final season’s completion looming due to the writers strike, fans will take what they can get.   This isn’t filler though. This is every good as the show and a perfect addition to the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ mythos.
 
Kendra Shaw fits perfectly into the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ family. She is flawed, torn, and totally at odds with herself and the world around her. Upon hearing about ‘Razor’ I immediately thought of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire; figuring that Ronald Moore and David Eick were cashing in on their dark side characters and giving the fans something else to buy. Instead they tie it perfectly to their over all story about Humanity and their children, the Cylons. There are many familiar faces in ‘Razor’ and a few new ones as well. It dives into the psyche of Admiral Cain and reveals that maybe she wasn’t so hard after all and there might have been a time in her life when she loved something more that just surviving. Kendra Shaw will become a character that will be much talked about and gain popularity as season four begins. The prophecy she heard will come to light and finally the tale about mankind’s search for Earth will have closure.
 
Whether you saw it on the big screen, see it on the Scifi Channel or wait see it on DVD (out December 4th) ‘Razor’ never pulls any punches and delivers what most TV this season has been lacking; stories about humanity, duty, faith and Cylons.

Related Products
Comments/Responses
1
metalwater • Nov 13, 2007, 12:02am •
Interesting.

Deadgunslinger • Nov 13, 2007, 12:25am •
Having just watched Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD and aquiring the role-playing game, I cannot wait for more BSG. I'm glad to hear Razor doesn't disappoint.

SONYMANswallows • Nov 13, 2007, 12:33am •
I really hope there is more planned and that this last season is really just the last season of this initial storyline. It would be wrong for both the creators and sci-fi to let it end. This needs to be the Law & Order of sci-fi productions. And I doubt Katee Sackhoff is planning to lean on Bionic Woman for a long period of time.

ponyboy76 • Nov 13, 2007, 04:23am •
I actually caught this on Friday. I also thought that it was really good. Very compelling and it fit well into the overall BSG storyline. It was also really cool to see the old Cylon Centurions.
Razor answered a lot of questions I had about Cain and why she was such a heartless bitch. I knew she pretty much deserved what she got based on the Pegasus episodes but it didn`t really explain alot, but Razor gave good reasons why she hated the Cylons, one in particular. It made her vendetta much more personal. I also really enjoyed how they showed the stark differences between Cain and Adama and what each one was willing to do to accomplish a mission. Although, I`m not sure if I agree with Adama when he says that the only reason why he didn't act like her and make those same decisions was because of the people around him, mainly Lee. He doesn`t seem like the type, but who knows. Cain made some really screwed up decisions that may have saved her crew for awhile but ultimately destroyed them and her.

gauleyboy420 • Nov 13, 2007, 11:31am •
GODDAMN, I wish I could've went to see this in Seatle. I had tickets to WEEN last night, so No BSG fo me until Dec.

Diomedea • Nov 15, 2007, 08:18am •
I wish this was a full 120 minute feature length movie: the additional 30 minutes could've afforded additional time to give the characters more depth, namely Cain and Kendra that was also shared with the flashbacks themselves. I just think that the point that both Cain snapped was too rapid for me. I got the impression that Cain was not a "human" who snapped out of the pressure to avenge and survive, but someone who was going to snap sooner or later...a walking time bomb of sorts. This in turn made it hard for me to empathize with Kendra.

But in the end run, Razor was good. And I can't wait till Season 4

jedi4sshield • Nov 30, 2007, 01:09pm •
Honestly I found Adama's Story more interesting than the Pegasus. It was nice to see that the Admiral was a bad ass but I thought Adama fighting the Cylons in the two minute episodes seen between Flash Gordon were more exciting than the Whole Pegasus Episode. I actually fell asleep near the end. Yeah they were cruel and evil but where do you go from there! On another Note, Nico Cortez cast as young Adama was nothing short of brilliant. Mannerism and even the analytical speech was amazing. Plus the fact that that they sort of tapped into the original series in a sense made it all the more enjoyable. I'd rather watch Adama's days of battle than anything that might be current or ongoing with Razor!!! Believe it!

1
Login to post a comment!