USA 2007 101m Directed by: Félix Enríquez Alcalá. Starring: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett, Michael Trucco, Alessandro Juliani, Kandyse McClure. Music by: Bear McCreary.
As the Cylons prepare to launch a genocidal attack on the Twelve Colonies, Major Kendra Shaw arrives on the Battleship Pegasus reporting for duty. In the aftermath of the devastating attack, Major Shaw is trained by Admiral Helena Cain to employ suicidal fighting tactics and commit atrocious war crimes against her own people. Any sense of hesitation or doubt is methodically stripped away from Major Shaw, rendering her a living weapon driven by murderous instinct. But such a weapon can ultimately do as much damage as it does good, and it isn't long before this severe form of warfare takes a heavy psychological tool on the tormented Major Shaw.
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Having just watched this, and then read some of the comments that have been posted, I suspect that there are a few subtleties that have been overlooked.
While most people who have commented on this special episode have recognised the use of flashbacks to "flesh out" things we already know have occurred, the development of the back story of the "Old Cylons" did (I feel) link in with a great deal of what has been hinted at regarding the development of the Cylons, particularly their human-like forms; the ability to "see" the future; and their religion (and may I say, rather than feeling "force fed" by writers, the whole concept of machines developing a religious belief system just like my own scares the heck out of me! Do the Cylons really believe what they are saying? Is it something they collectively discovered; or did a leader get delusions somewhere and infect them all with a psychosis? Worst of all though, is the question "if the Cylons have a belief system like mine, while the humans have a "multi-god" view, then which side should I really be on?". But I digress!)
My point is that this issue of (some) Cylons having the belief that they can see the future "because it has all happened before" has been floating around for a long time now. Also I think many people may have missed the hint from this particular episode that the "old" Cylons appear to be the link between Earth and everyone else (in the original series, ooh, ooh, spoilers from 30 years ago follow - frak me! the Cylons actually made it to Earth - though I can't recall what the outcome was, as by then they had been reduced to parodies of their former menacing selves). It also showed that the Cylons have an aspect of their past that they aren't so proud of either, and the revelation of their treatment of humans made an interesting counter-point to what we saw happening with Pegasus (in both cases, the events are set on vessels "outside" of the mainstream fleet; and in both cases it is hoped that the events can be left on the respective vessels when they are eventually destroyed).
So, I don't have a problem at all with the whole "old Cylons" sub-plot, and I very much suspect that this will become very important in Series 4. And in regards to Adama not revealing his previous experience to anyone before, perhaps he didn't understand enough of what he saw to be able to say anything (especially since he would have been pre-occupied with rescuing the other survivors).
Anyway, how about we all wait for Series 4 and see where it takes us, then see if "Razor" fits in with it or not?
Oh, but I can't leave without commenting on one thing - whose idea was it to have the main character speak with an Aussie accent? Yes, I know, she is an Aussie, but that's not the point - Jamie Bamber is as English as Prince Charles, but he can do an American accent, so why do I have to listen to someone who sounds like I do? (I mean, Baltar has an English accent because he's a villain, and at least when Lucy Lawless was in it, she did her "Kiwi" accent, which has a minute trace of class about it! Yep, I can just hear those emails already!!!)
So, to finish up - there was a lot of story to cover in "Razor", and while quite a bit of it had already been covered, this presented a new context to it all and was all the more thought provoking for it. I don't agree that any of the production efforts were below normal (I thought the special effects were brilliant - but may be others have forgotten that Cylon spaceships can't really fly around - and land it - city environments. And although I'm supposedly "grown up" at age 45, don't get me started on how creepy the Centurions are - them and the new Cybermen are the stars of my worst nightmares!)
If you've read this far, thanks for staying with me! For anyone associated with making BSG, thanks for keeping me so entertained for the past few years - and giving me plenty to think about! Oh, and if you plan on sending the Cylons to Australia, please start with Sydney, then Canberra....
Review by Ross A. Dunn from the Internet Movie Database.