Caprica - The new series

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
So I picked up the pilot episode/movie... whatever you want to call it, and after watching it I've got to say, I'm excited.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=14&id=57977

Now it's a bit difficult to judge as all we have is a feature length pilot episode, but I thought it was very strong. Solid and compelling story. I really enjoyed it. Casting is wonderful. After 15 minutes of watching you really get hooked.

A little bit spoilerish (but you can still read if you haven't seen it) after this point.

It doesn't rely on Battlestar Galactica, although it does obviously hint to it. We see a young 11 year old William Adama (though the focus is on his father), we see a cult like religion "the army of one" that is monotheistic, and of course we see the birth of the cylons, and the first naming of a cylon.

However that's where the similarities to BSG end. It's not shot handheld, it's not taking place in space, it's not political and it's not focused around action. It really is a drama with sci-fi elements to it. It also seems to be a very moral driven story, based around religion and ethics.

Should be very interesting. I'm excited to see where this leads.

The show will begin in 2010.
 
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The only thing I don't like about it, based on what I know without watching, is that the Cylons should have taken longer to turn evil. By that mythology it happened almost right away.

Hopefully I'll see it sometime soon, but I'm not going to get a copy right now. Sounds like something I'd be into.
 
This was pretty darn good! Honest to goodness science fiction with interesting characters and an intriguing setup for a series. It didn't blow my socks off but it was consistently good and compelling. Ron Moore is finally bringing sci-fi TV into the 21st century with this, dealing with ideas and themes authors have been writing about in books for 15 years now. It ended right when I had gotten fully invested, which is what a good pilot should do. Esai Morales makes a perfect blood relative to Bill Adama and Eric Stoltz is solid. Actually the acting across the board was really good.
 
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Casalen said:
The only thing I don't like about it, based on what I know without watching, is that the Cylons should have taken longer to turn evil. By that mythology it happened almost right away.
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By what mythology? I'm a bit lost.

I'm assuming once you see this you'll see things differently. It's not like cylons just turn evil simply like that. It's about the cylon creation on an ethical/moral standard and how religion plays a big part in everything (it's most probably the catalyst of the uprising), more so than BSG. Not sure if they cylons will simply 'turn evil', but they will realize the opression they face even before their creation.


Batutta, completely agree, the acting is so solid all around the table. Can't wait for this. The ending kinda creeped me out even though I saw it coming.
 
It took a while for me to get into it, but I did eventually and was hooked. They did a good job of simplifying a potentially complicated idea. I thought the religious angle was underdone yet overemphasized. Why did she suddenly turn to that religion? (Did she do it because she was into the guy? That would be funny -- the entire human race almost extinguishes itself because of teenage hormones!) I guess we'll find out...
 
pmark23 said:
It took a while for me to get into it, but I did eventually and was hooked. They did a good job of simplifying a potentially complicated idea. I thought the religious angle was underdone yet overemphasized. Why did she suddenly turn to that religion? (Did she do it because she was into the guy? That would be funny -- the entire human race almost extinguishes itself because of teenage hormones!) I guess we'll find out...
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Yeah I'm sure there's more to the religion and the reasons why they joined up. They left a lot out.
 
I really liked Caprica. Actually, I'm relieved as to how good it was. Battlestar Galactica is my favorite TV series, and I'd even go as far to say that it surpasses most other sci-fi of its type like Star Trek, The Matrix, and Star Wars (both trilogies). Caprica was only 90 minutes and didn't have the same kind of punch that the Galactica miniseries had, but it was a really good pilot episode. I wish that it was three hours like the Galactica miniseries was.


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Overall, it felt right, like it fit in the Battlestar universe whilst carving out its own style as well. I felt like Joseph Adama was Bill Adama's father, although it was kinda odd seeing a little kid version of Bill Adama. Now I need to see little tyke versions of Col. Tigh and Laura Roslin. That would be something else. Eric Stoltz as Daniel Greystone was interesting. Definitely some shades of season one and two Gaius Baltar in him in terms of his reliance of logic and science over spirituality. All of the other actors did a fine job. No problems there. Too bad they killed the Cigarette Smoking Man already. Also, did anyone notice the super-thick lensed Tyrell glasses he was wearing? A little Blade Runner allusion maybe?

Storywise, it hooked me in. It is still too early to really judge a lot of this stuff off of just the pilot, but so far there were a few things that nagged me a little. The whole resurrection thing seemed under explained. Later, when Daniel downloads Virtual Zoe into the Cylon body prototype, why download the only copy? Seems illogical that there wouldn't be a backup. The mafia allusions to the Tauron crime syndicate was just a little much. Not the end of the world, but seemed a little silly for them to be so blatantly like Italian mobsters. I like the use of knives and the tattoo stuff for them though. Also, when Daniel goes into the V Club with Zoe's friend, the girl seemed to suddenly age quite a bit while in virtual space. I'm sure it could have been deliberate, but it was kinda jarring. Back in the real world she seemed way younger and timid, while she seemed much more confident in the virtual world. It just felt more like a continuity problem to me.

The cinematography was different yet similar. The color palettes felt close to Battlestar's while the smoother camera work and lack of grain in the image was appropriate for the more peaceful and somewhat naive time period the series takes place in. I say naive because they don't know what they are creating with the Cylons. All seems pretty good. They even have robot house servants.

The music was also really good in that it had some connections to the BSG score but also created its own turf. I even heard a little bit of the Bill Adama and Laura Roslin theme for a second. Other pieces of the score were reminiscent of the Opera House Theme from BSG. Towards the end they brought in some of the tribal and military drum elements that was so iconic in BSG. I guess the music was actually done by Bear McCreary, who brilliantly did the BSG score. As far as I've read he will be the composer for the entirety of Caprica, so that is really good news.

Effects were extremely well done as well, especially considering that they probably didn't have a huge budget. There were only a couple shots that felt blatantly CGI and that stood out from the live action a bit. There were also some shots that I really couldn't tell if it was digital or practical, but it seemed like it had to be digital due to the camera movement. The effects in BSG are probably the best special effects I've seen for a TV series, but the ones in Caprica might even be better. Either way, pretty remarkable for a TV series.

Overall, plenty of potential for a series. If they keep up the same level of quality that this pilot had, Caprica is going to be good. I'm fraking excited.

And if this is really successful, then eventually they can bring on a First Cylon War series or miniseries as a follow up to Caprica and bridge to BSG. Bring back the Viper ace Bill "Husker" Adama from the BSG: Razor flashbacks.
 
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Anybody watching the regular series? Enjoyed the pilot, but while the series is certainly watchable I'm not sure if I'm loving it yet. A lot of interesting elements here, and it feels more like pure, hard sci-fi than any series I've seen on TV, but it hasn't sunk its hooks into me quite yet. BSG had stronger characters I think. And the production design is a little dodgy at times. Like they have these advanced, sleek looking virtual reality holo-bands, but the TV cameras are these bulky monstrosities that make camcorders from the 80's look dainty. Odd. But I'm giving it a few more episodes.
 
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Sad Max said:
pmark23 said:
Another thing I noticed: This was a thematic ripoff of Zardoz(!).
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Wasn't planning to see it, until I saw this...
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"The gun is good. The penis is evil."

Hey Sad Max, think you could convince James Cameron to produce a 3D Zardoz remake?

Batutta said:
Anybody watching the regular series? Enjoyed the pilot, but while the series is certainly watchable I'm not sure if I'm loving it yet. A lot of interesting elements here, and it feels more like pure, hard sci-fi than any series I've seen on TV, but it hasn't sunk its hooks into me quite yet. BSG had stronger characters I think. And the production design is a little dodgy at times. Like they have these advanced, sleek looking virtual reality holo-bands, but the TV cameras are these bulky monstrosities that make camcorders from the 80's look dainty. Odd. But I'm giving it a few more episodes.
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Yeah, some strange combos of high tech with low tech. Some of it I dig though, like the fedoras for instance.

One thing that immediately stood out in Caprica was how they really went whole hog with the title sequence. BSG's title sequence was kinda cheapo, as it was just footage edited together from the miniseries.
 
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Nektonic said:
One thing that immediately stood out in Caprica was how they really went whole hog with the title sequence. BSG's title sequence was kinda cheapo, as it was just footage edited together from the miniseries.
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Yet I prefer the BSG opening wayyy more.


Only saw the second episode, and bought the pilot when it came out a while back. It's okay. It's still missing something. Like it needs flavour, add some spices... or throw in some space combat. :)
 
My wife and I really enjoyed the pilot, but felt the episode after that was slow and boring... we'll stick it out...
 
I've been watching it, the 2nd and 3rd seemed slow, but I found the 4th one very interesting. I too am digging the retro wardrobe design. I think its got a lot of potential, gonna stick it out for a bit. not like there's a lot to choose from on the tube these days.

way less "Frak", I'm enjoying that. I didn't need to hear that word 12 times an episode on BSG...
 
BLahey said:
way less "Frak", I'm enjoying that. I didn't need to hear that word 12 times an episode on BSG...
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Except for when Amanda Graystone asks Daniel if he'd like a "good frak". That one had me and my brother nearly dying of unintentional laughter.
 
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