By GustavoLeao / 11:17, 24 October 2009 / General Star Trek

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BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN (2009)

Released by NBC/Universal Home Entertainment

Reviewed for TrekWeb.com by Bill Williams

1 BD-50 disc / Running time: 112 minutes

MSRP $39.99

ISBN # 025392032592

Date of release: October 27, 2009

Introduction:

"The Cylons were created by man. They evolved... they rebelled... they look and feel human. Some are programmed to think they ARE human. There are many copies. And they have a plan."

Through a three-hour miniseries, four seasons of episodes, and a spin-off movie, viewers were haunted and intrigued by this mysterious mantra that opened every segment of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Though it had numerous variations, one thing that always left viewers wanting was that final statement, "And they have a plan." We thought we knew, based on what we'd been given: the total and systematic destruction of humanity. But just what was the Cylons' plan? Was it indeed the destruction of mankind and the Twelve Colonies... or was it something more? Now that final question can be answered in THE PLAN, releasing directly to DVD and Blu-ray from Universal Home Entertainment. Directed by Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), THE PLAN reveals just what the Cylons were up to while presenting a few new wrinkles to the saga as we know it.

Set just before the events of the 2003 miniseries and spanning the saga toward the second season finale "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2", THE PLAN focuses on two Cylon leaders, models based on John Cavil (Dean Stockwell) working separately, and their determination to finish the task. On the Galactica, Cavil intends to sow discord among the colonies' survivors by utilizing the Sixes (Tricia Helfer, in multiple roles), Leoben Connoy (Callum Keith Rennie), and Aaron Doral (Matthew Bennett) in locating one of the Number Eights, aka Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park), reactivating her Cylon subroutine, and causing havoc in the fleet. On a nuclear-torn Caprica we see Samuel Anders (Michael Trucco) transforming his pyramid sports team into a resistance force, while the other Cavil conspires with Simon (Rick Worthy) to sow discord among the planet-bound survivors. But there's one thing that one of the Cavils never anticipates, something that will affect all Cylons in time.

THE PLAN is awesomely and visually stunning. We see in brutal detail the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, more than we could have imagined in the miniseries - this is definitely no picnic, this is nuclear war the scale of Mount Vesuvius multiplied to the Nth degree. And it fills in details that left fans wondering and wanting more. We learn more about what motivates the Cavils, both on Caprica and in the fleet, to fight for their agendas. We see Simon fleshed out more than in his initial appearance in "The Farm", both in the fleet and on Caprica. For that matter Cavil, Boomer, Six, Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), and Leoben become more believable and understandable in their missions. And it's hard for me to go into it further except to say that if you already know the progression of the first two seasons, you know how this turns out. There are, however, some interesting twists that make THE PLAN interesting. And of course it's also interesting knowing how the series turns out for all of the Cylons involved, including the "Final Five".

But where THE PLAN succeeds in fleshing out many of the Cylon characters' motivations, the narrative leaves a little something to be desired. When you understand the placement of these chapters within the overall framework of the first two seasons, it expands upon the overall GALACTICA narrative altogether. As a separate movie, it lacks some cohesion to it. Had it been told in flashback form, dividing between past and present, a la RAZOR, it would have better worked in my opinion.

The DVD Presentation:

NBC/Universal Home Entertainment has released THE PLAN on DVD and Blu-ray in a single-disc release that looks and sounds absolutely incredible! For the purpose of this review I will analyze the Blu-ray edition.

THE PLAN is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format, consistent with the presentations of all the previous episodes, and in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound. The visuals are beautiful and crisp, colors are incredibly vibrant, and the sound quality makes me wish that it were presented in 7.1 sound. The film is divided into 20 chapters, and optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles are also included.

The pop-up menu options are the same as with the complete series box set, allowing you ease in accessing the main menu and the various options during the program. On the main menu there is also an interesting pop-up option that allows you information on the latest Universal Blu-ray releases - this option can be turned on and off at your leisure.

The Extras:

Along with the film itself, the disc also contains several pretty nice extras of its own. Leading off is a full-length audio commentary with writer Jane Espenson and director/star Edward James Olmos, who both comment that this film has the best visual effects of anything seen on GALACTICA. They both praise the late Harvey Frand (whom we sadly lost earlier this year) for his hard work, and Dean Stockwell for carrying the difficult burden of playing two versions of the same character throughout the entire film. They discuss the set-up of the various shots, its relevance to what came before, as well as the challenge of doing new versions of earlier shots seen throughout the series and paying attention to specific detail in matching new shots with the old. And Olmos reveals that he had taken over the directorial reins after Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) was unable to direct the film. Espenson reveals how Olmos cut the various pre-disaster scenes together to give the sequence its distinctive approach, and when you view the extended scenes to the final edited versions, you'll see that Olmos' choice of appropriately heightening the tension by inter-cutting among the different scenes was right. The commentary track is insightful throughout, and you get to understand the approaches Olmos, Espenson, and company brought to THE PLAN.

Next up are the remainder of the behind-the-scenes features, all presented in HD and Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, that explore THE PLAN in further detail. First up is "From Admiral to Director" (6:48), which traces Olmos' journey in bringing THE PLAN to life. He talks about the sadness of the cast and crew leaving after the series' end and their excitement and joy in reuniting for THE PLAN. He also discusses the social relevance of the stories BSG presented and his excitement in bringing his creative juices to life behind the camera. There's also a very nice clip featuring Harvey Frand crediting Olmos' vision for and passion to the series. Rick Worthy, Dean Stockwell, Grace Park, and Tricia Helfer all have high praise for Olmos' dedication to GALACTICA and his knowledge of the series in aiding him through the plan. There's also a running gag involving Olmos and sunflower seeds. Like his character of Admiral Adama, he's a natural born leader in front of and behind the camera, and there's a bittersweet moment with Olmos and crew on the last day of shooting.

We then go into "The Cylons of ‘THE PLAN'" (6:51), which looks at the different Cylon characters seen in the film and how they carry their portrayals over from the series into this new spin-off movie. Olmos and Jane Espenson describe how they took the entire series and dumped it into Stockwell's lap to dominate the film both on the Galactica and on Caprica. Stockwell shares how his character Cavil's hatred of humanity is pure and simple, while Park and Helfer describe Cavil as someone with a master plan that's split off in two different directions. Rick Worthy describes the development of Simon as a different Cylon, one who is more dedicated to his family than to his mission.

Next is "The Cylon Attack" (4:03), which focuses on shooting a particular action sequence from the film. We see the establishment of the set in British Columbia of the first standoff between the resistance and the Cylons on Caprica. Michael Trucco describes the action of the sequence, and we get several takes of one key moment behind-the-scenes of a particular shot. Olmos describes the complexities of getting every bit of action for the sequence filmed before the end of sunset, and we get to see multiple camera angles of various explosions as well.

The fourth and final feature on the disc, "Visual Effects: The Magic Behind ‘THE PLAN'" (19:03), is the longest of the four behind-the-scenes segments. This one is really good because we get to see what goes into the development of the stunningly realistic visual effects that go not only into this film but also what was seen in each of the episodes. And to think that they did all this each week on a television budget! Visual effects producer Mike Gibson and supervisor Gary Hutzel talked about how at first there were very few visual effects mentioned in the script, but once the production got underway they gave their all in developing the intense development of effects not just of the various space shots but also of the graphic nuclear explosions of the Cylons' attack on the colonies. Espenson and Olmos describe how they wanted to convey the intensity of the attack on a scale not previously conveyed in the series. Editor Andrew Seklir describes how Olmos wanted to have his cut of the film completed before the visual effects work began, and how flexibility helped develop the series and THE PLAN even more toward its final presentation. It's a long overdue tribute to the visual effects and CGI artists who continually brought these stunning effects to life over the past six years.

Also included are 14 minutes of deleted and extended scenes trimmed from the film, all presented in anamorphic widescreen format and Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. These bits and pieces reveal further character development and dialog superfluous to the overall narrative, but still they're nice to have on the disc. Scenes include the complete extended opening sequence on Caprica involving Sam Anders and his pyramid team, the complete extended dialog involving Cavil and Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) in the Picon bar, cut moments involving Sam exploring the nuclear ravaged ruins on Caprica, deleted scenes involving Boomer and Cavil on the Galactica, Cavil misleading the survivors on Caprica, and more. Rounding out the disc are trailers at the head of the disc for numerous Universal Blu-ray products. What makes it interesting is that every time you cue up the disc, different trailers appear. Thankfully, you can skip through the trailers to get to the main menu.

In addition, BD-Live features include a "My Scenes" feature, D-Box, a BD-Live BATTLESTAR GALACTICA interactive trivia game (with six levels of trivia questions - I started out as a lieutenant and made it all the way up to admiral!), and additional trailers to other NBC/Universal Blu-ray products, including THE PLAN. While features like these are great, I hope that NBC/Universal takes advantage of the potential BD-Live capabilities and presents more exclusive online features down the road a la the BD-Live features on CBS/Paramount's STAR TREK Blu-ray sets, including more behind-the-scenes features and interviews (or even "The Face of the Enemy", which I'll address later). There's also a handy guide for using BD-Live, registration, and accessing the Blu-ray features via PS3, as well as a print guide on the benefits of U-Control, BD-Live, and My Scenes.

But are we through yet? Not quite. There's one more little feature that turns out to be a hidden Easter egg in the bonus features menu. It‘s only 23 seconds long and presented in anamorphic widescreen format, but this one's pretty interesting. Without giving too much away, let me just say that for all of you old-school BSG fans from back in the day, you'll like this little bonus feature!

Cylon Caveats and Colonial Concerns:

Do I have a little nit to pick with THE PLAN? It wouldn't be a review if I did. Once again, the ten-part web series "The Face of the Enemy" has been neglected from seeing a Blu-ray or DVD release. Weeks ago I contacted Gord Lacey over at TVShowsonDVD.com to inquire about the whereabouts of "The Face of the Enemy", and unfortunately the word I got back was not good at all. If NBC/Universal has seen fit to release just about everything on disc where this version of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is concerned, why not release this story as well on DVD or Blu-ray or even as a BD-Live feature? This loss is, sad to say, substantial.

Also, it was initially reported that this disc would contain a 90-minute edited version that would be shown on television. Later reports revealed that the edited version had yet to be scheduled for telecast (as of this writing, the edited version still has not been announced on SyFy's broadcast schedule, but it‘s apparent that it‘ll be some time in 2010). When it airs, it'll certainly be interesting to compare both versions and see what footage gets cut from the broadcast  - obviously, all the nudity and heavy sex will have to be trimmed for broadcast purposes. I just wish that the broadcast version had also been included on the disc a la RAZOR and the other extended episodes for comparison's sake.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, I have to recommend THE PLAN as a good follow-up to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. As a separate individual film, it doesn't function like it was teased. As a supplement to the first two seasons, it holds up pretty well. At least we come off with a better understanding of what's going on. With a beautiful presentation on Blu-ray, along with a nice cache of supplements, it makes for a worthy addition to the previous box set release. Now if NBC/Universal would only give us "The Face of the Enemy" on DVD or Blu-ray or as a special BD-Live feature, then I think a lot of people will be quite happy indeed in finally owning the complete series at last.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Also available from NBC/Universal Home Entertainment:

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN (on DVD)

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE COMPLETE SERIES (on Blu-ray and DVD)

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: SEASON 4.5 (on Blu-ray and DVD)