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Studio:Universal Pictures UK

Amazon.co.uk Review

How do you follow a show of the scale, magnitude and ambition of Battlestar Galactica? The answer, as demonstrated with Caprica, is that you don’t. Instead, you go down the prequel route and instead explore what happened in the same world, just decades before the events we’ve already seen.

It’s a fairly bold move, too, given that Caprica is inevitably going to draw Battlestar comparisons within minutes of the credits rolling for the first time. And the show’s creators aren’t shy about it, either. The language and some of the imagery of Battlestar are tattooed right through this extended pilot episode of Caprica, and it ultimately does the show no harm whatsoever.

That said, it’s not long before it’s heading off on its own path, and the story soon focuses on two families. There’s Daniel Graystone--played by Eric Stoltz--and his wife and daughter, a family dripping in wealth and importance. Then there are the street-smart Adamas, led by Joseph, along with his wife, daughter and son.

It takes a tragic event that puts the Graystones and Adamas on a collision course, and Caprica begins to address this expertly. With typically high production values, the events and ramifications of the pilot episode alone soon lead to a cliffhanger that’ll leave most Battlestar fans drooling. But fortunately, Caprica works well without that foreknowledge too, and emerges as a confident, mature piece of science fiction. Long may it continue… --Jon Foster

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Reviews

- I think this is worth sticking with................

As an avid fan of BSG I was really excited about the prospect of this show to fill the void in my life left by the ending of BSG. So far this show has had very mixed reviews. OK so this show is not all beating drums & lazer cannons so far - but there is the promise of that still to come. This is very much an 'origin of the cylons' show which talks to the oft used sci-fi subject of the inception of AI & how the cylons became self aware. This, like BSG, is a character driven show - populated by many floored, complicated & intriguing characters indeed. Each of these characters is slightly more revealed in each episode. In my experience, once you are familiar with the various layers of the main characters, the plot becomes ever more engaging & this is my experience of this pilot. A great scene setter for a great looking show with a literally explosive beginning. I love it. If you like your Sci-Fi smart, intelligent, & with a slowly unfurling story, you will love this show.

- You won't be disappointed.

I love BSG and so was afraid that this wouldn't compare or that I would be disappointed. It was done in the classic BSG style. You start watching it and wonder what the heck is going on, and then suddenly everything falls in to place and you get the "lightbulb moment" the moment of revelation and it is FANTASTIC! It just left me excited and wanting more. Great dvd and well worth it if you love the BSG series. It really raises a lot of questions and I can not wait to watch the series of Caprica to find out what the answers are...

- Intelligent, thought-provoking drama

This pilot episode sets the scene nicely for the series, the first half of which has recently aired. Thankfully we once again have the superb music of Bear Macreary to set the moods and some intelligent writing that starts to ask questions about the blurring between AI and human intelligence. The quality of writing means that the main characters arrive well-rounded - but it may come as a surprise to many to see how their paths develop in the actual TV series.

For lovers of BSG, we can gain some insight into how the Cylon become both sentient and sapient - and most intriguing of all, how and why they came to believe in one true God. The moment near the end when the robotic creation 'speaks' is chilling as it is very prescient; all one can hear are the Centurions from the first Cylon War - which is just around the corner. There is some wonderful insight into the different cultures in the Colonies - especially the Taurons who are despised by Capricans as thugs and criminals. This illuminates some of the things said by Admiral Adama about his father Joseph, as well as by Romo who was his pupil. Mind you, I'm still waiting to see the famous lighter.....

And I challenge anyone to consider their response: 'what if I could allow you to interact again with a loved one who is dead - to see them alive, and feel and talk and laugh and cry with them; to have them as part of your life again?' To be able to go back and say and do some of the things one should have - even though you are interacting with a highly lifelike and sophisticated avatar... Where then are the boundaries between physical and mental realities? It makes you think...

This is an intelligent and thought-provoking drama and I for one can't wait for the completion of the TV series. Buy this DVD.

- THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Anyone who loved BSG will love this, it starts of very slow but with some very nice images of what life was like on the 12 colonies before the fall. We meet a very young Bill Adama, and his father, and the creator of the Centurion. The pilot takes us through the earlies days of the cylons development and hints at what is to come the Cylons uprising and the first Cylon war. But also why the Cylons seek to build human clones. Also we see how Bill Adama develops as a child and why he hates the Cylons so much.

My only concern is this, it starts slow and not very sci-fi like and may turn people away which will lead to the typical US network stragety of scrapping a show before it gets started, Firefly being a very good example. But should this show be allowed to develope i feel... i know the this will be as popular if not better the BSG was. The show still deals with todays issues like terrorism, and teenage issues but in a less dark way that BSG approached. For know anyway,

- Well worth watching

Caprica is the prequel to the Battlestar Galactica sci fi series. It is set on Caprica (the most advanced and powerful of the 12 colonies).

The pilot episode (2 hours long) spins a promising yarn as to how the seeds of the future Cylon/ Human conflict were sown and how the Cylon race came about and how it was started by the need to resurrect loved ones that were lost in a single act of terrorism. It also delves into the underlying ethnic and religious tensions -- Animosity towards Taurons and a fear of the one rather than the pantheon of existing gods -- on the twelve colonies a civilisation that is mesmerised by technology and living decadently at what like a confident/ arrogant peak.

All in all worth watching, and promises to be an interesting series.