Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (with Collectible Cylon) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought all of the seasons separately as they first came out, and I highly recommend watching the entire television series through to the end. The five stars are for the series, NOT for the atrocious marketing.
While looking for the last piece of the series (see the end of the review), I came across some great deals (in terms of price), but was dismayed to see just how confusing things have become on Amazon. This review below is meant to help you wade through the mess in the marketplace, purchase the series, and enjoy it. I originally posted it for the combined Seasons 4.0 and 4.5 set, but someone kindly suggested I post it elsewhere as well. I hope you find it helpful.
DVD CONFUSION
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The show is incredible. However, the whole DVD thing has been a disaster. They released it in the worst way possible (see below), Amazon compounded the problem by lumping together reviews for DIFFERENT PRODUCTS, and the DVD manufacturers seem to be changing the contents of some products. I cannot imagine how someone who is not deeply familiar with it is supposed to purchase this wonderful show. Certainly, they would hesitate to give it as a gift! Let's hope this solves your problem.
In one sentence, I can say that here is what you want to get: Seasons 1, 2.0, 2.5, 3, 4.0, 4.5, and The Plan. I have links to them below. If you get these, then you will be sure to have it all.
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-Season One was released as (Battlestar Galactica - Season One) altogether with the pilot in one box.
-Season Two was released as Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10) and Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5 (Episodes 11-20) in two boxes. You can now purchase them together as Battlestar Galactica (2004): Seasons 2.0 & 2.5
-Season Three was released together in one box as Battlestar Galactica - Season Three.
-Season Four was released as Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.0 and Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 with the Razor episode. Those are now available together as Battlestar Galactica (2004): Season 4.0 & 4.5. Occasionally I come across things like "Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 - Limited Edition Gift Set (2009)." It seems like a lot of money for one part of the full season, but you get some dog tags with it, so if you are into collecting memorabilia, you might want to consider it.
-The Plan was released on its own as Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
========================================OPTIONS FOR PURCHASING THEM ALL TOGETHER: BAD TO GOOD
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-Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (with COLLECTIBLE CYLON). Not recommended. I do not own this, but according to the reviews, it is packaged poorly WITHOUT AN EPISODE LIST. That seems like a horrible idea for four seasons of a tv show. Apparently, it contains the same DVDs as the ones sold separately (explained above).
-Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (the one in the GRAY BOX). Recommended. I do not own this. Good reviews of it so far. Packaging problems were fixed.
-Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (with COLLECTIBLE CYLON) [BLU-RAY] or the gray box [BLU-RAY] set. Recommended. I do not own this. Seems to include some extras, but not significant. It also has an episode list, according to the reviews. It might be worth buying if you wanted to get everything together.
BOTTOM LINE:
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As far as I can tell from the reviews, I think there are two choices:
(1) Buy either Blu-Ray set or the DVD set in the gray box.
(2) Purchase everything separately (make sure to get all of the stuff mentioned above).
NOTE:
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-The "Face of the Enemy" webisodes (episodes shown only online) have not been made available for purchase in any of the sets as far as I can tell. What a shame!
-Also, if anyone sees any mistakes in this review, please tell me and I will edit it. Frustratingly, the manufacturers seem to be changing the contents of some sets, so it is possible that my information has become outdated.

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Now you can relive every action-packed moment of the epic story that Entertainment Weekly proclaims "Riveting"! Rejoin the fight to save the human race as a small but determined fleet quests for the fabled planet Earth while being hunted by their nemesis, the robot cylons. Presented uninterrupted, experience the phenomenon from beginning to end!

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Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.0 (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)I would describe the first half of this season as occasionally mind-blowing, always gripping. It wasn't perfect, certainly, but it was pretty close. Each of this season's episodes was consistently good, compared to some of the weaker stand-alone episodes in the second half of seasons 2 and 3. BSG has made a successful and compelling transformation from a black/white, us vs. them SciFi/action series into a morality tale about peaceful coexistence, and every step of the way has been executed brilliantly. I'm eagerly awaiting the finale, though I would have welcomed additional seasons.
Also, I'm going to join the other reviewers asking people to stop posting 1-star reviews based on something completely unrelated to the quality of the show or something about the DVD set itself. Complain about the price, or the fact that it's split in half again (though the latter is due more to the writer's strike than anything), but don't come here to complain about problems downloading episodes. Over half of the 1-star reviews have nothing to do with the show or the DVDs.

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Item Name: Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.0; Studio:Universal Studios

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Battlestar Galactica: Seasons 2.0 & 2.5 (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Warning! Spoilers ahead!
Buying all of this incredible series on DVD is a more confusing undertaking than it ought to be. Grouping both halves of Season Two into this single package definitely simplifies things somewhat. The set also comes with a friendlier price than when each half was sold separately.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA after three seasons has established a critical reputation unprecedented in the history of TV Sci-fi. A host of mainstream reviewers and publications have named it not merely the best Sci-fi series on TV, but the best series of any genre. And we are not talking low-profile critics and publications. At one time or another TV Guide, Ken Tucker, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Matt Roush, the Chicago Tribune, Maureen Ryan, the San Francisco Chronicle, Entertainment Weekly, and a host of others have praised the show as the best on TV. It was only one of two shows to make the American Film Institute's list of the Ten Best Shows on TV two years in a row. To top it all off, in 2006 it won a prestigious Peabody Award. And all this for a Sci-fi series!
But there has never before been Sci-fi like this. Normally Sci-fi TV is associated with escapist entertainment, clever perhaps at its best, but never truly challenging. A few series have previously challenged this, in particular FIREFLY and FARSCAPE, but all other series to some degree kept looking over their shoulders at imagined teen viewers, determined never to get either very dark or very outrageous. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was the first Sci-fi series targeted more at intelligent grown ups than young male teens (even if those "teens" were in their thirties or forties). BSG went dark and stayed dark, became grittier and grittier, and had a cast of characters who were sometimes heroic but where more often simply messed up.
Narratively BSG will, in the end, contain more or less a single narrative. It is best to think of the show, like LOST, as a long novel that contains individual chapters. Arcs overlap from season to season and year to year. For instance, in the Miniseries we are introduced to a Cylon sleeper agent known as Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and in the first episode of Season One a Cylon who is identical to her who is another Sharon (usually referred to merely as "Sharon" though later as "Athena"). Over the course of the three seasons we gradually see these two Cylons basically trade places. Season One focuses more on Boomer, but in Season Two and Three the focus is almost exclusively on the other Sharon. But their stories are not contained neatly in this or that season. Similarly, we learn in Season One that the Cylons believe that Starbuck is "special," that she "has a destiny." In Season Two that is expanded upon a bit, but it comes to full fruition in Season Three. It is, therefore, a tad meaningless to say something like, "Season One is the best season of BSG" or "No, Season Two (or Three) is!" All the seasons hang together. In the end it will be one long story.
While insisting that BSG must be judged as a whole, Season Two is nonetheless remarkable in its own right. Not that every episode is golden. In a recent interview BSG creator Ron Moore revealed that over the first three seasons the network had often insisted on stand alone episodes that they hoped would attract new viewers who are otherwise intimidated by the complexity of the overall story. As a result, the writers were forced each season to insert some episodes that didn't really carry the story forward and were something of a drag on the series as a whole. The first half of Season Two was not plagued by this problem. In fact, few of the first ten episodes can truly be considered stand-alone. "Final Cut" and "The Flight of the Phoenix" are stand alones, but both of these are utterly remarkably episodes. But in the second half of the season the series hits something of a dead spot. "Black Market" is widely regarded (even by Ron Moore) as perhaps the weakest episode in the entire series, but it is followed by other episodes that are considered below par, including "Scar" and "Sacrifice." Luckily, the stand alone "Downloaded" is one of the season highlights and the two-part finale "Lay Down Your Burdens" even better.
The first seven episodes of Season Two really continue major events of Season One. These include the fallout from the attempted assassination of Adama in the Season One finale, what happens after Starbuck arrives on Caprica, her and Helo's meeting members of the resistance movement on Caprica, the determination of Roslin and Lee to lead whoever will follow them to Kobol, what happens to Boomer after everyone realizes she is a Cylon, and the reaction to the arrival of Helo's Sharon and what she does to keep herself alive. "Final Cut" and "The Flight of the Phoenix" are stand-alone episodes, but "Pegasus" introduces the battlestar of that name and its commander Admiral Cain. I would, however, caution viewers not to watch the version of "Pegasus" that appears on the 2.0 disc, but instead to watch the Extended Version on in the 2.5 set. It adds a lot to the story.
The second half of Season Two, with the exception of the amazing Pegasus trilogy of episodes, doesn't carry the story forward as much as the previous season and a half had. No doubt the network's desire for stand-alone episodes played a role here. There were, however, a number of plot developments, many of them centered on what to do about Sharon's pregnancy (indeed, what to do with Sharon in general). The latter part of the season deals with Baltar's challenge of Roslin for the presidency in the upcoming election. But I would hasten to add that even at its weakest, BSG remains riveting entertainment. I will admit that I usually skip "Black Market" and "Scar" when I rewatch Season Two, but I don't skip anything else.
I want to close by stating that BSG is actually a series that might be better suited for fans of other quality TV shows more than those viewers who normally watch nothing but Sci-fi. There is certainly nothing wrong with watching only shows of a particular genre, but my own experience in talking with others, making recommendations to others, getting their feedback, and spending considerable time on various BSG boards that this show appeals more to people who focus less on genre and more on quality. If your favorite shows of the past decade include such shows as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER, THE WEST WING, ANGEL, LOST, THE WIRE, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, THE GILMORE GIRLS, and VERONICA MARS, you are almost certain to love this show. Not all fans of the Star Trek or Stargate franchises, on the other hand, always do. This series breaks down and reconstructs what we expect of a Sci-fi series.

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Sci-fi's hottest TV series returns as Battlestar Galactica 2.0 blasts onto DVD in Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. As the epic second season begins, the fight to save humanity rages on - even as civil war looms within the fleet between the followers of President Roslin and Commander Adama. Relive all the intensity and excitement aboard the Galactica with a supernova of explosive bonus features, including deleted scenes and podcasts. It's a heart-pounding adventure you can't afford to miss!Rejoin Sci-Fi's most action-packed TV series as Battlestar Galactica 2.5 flies on to DVD in Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Featuring an extended version of the cliffhanger episode "Pegasus," this continuation of the epic second season follows the ongoing battle of President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) in their heart-pounding crusade to save humanity from the deadly robot Cylons. Packed with special features, including deleted scenes, podcasts and Producer David Eick's video blog, Battlestar Galactica 2.5 is an explosive thrill-ride that's not to be missed!

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