Battlestar Galactica The Complete Series with Collectible Cylon

Great series, not so great packaging
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Of course I knew what I was buying when I got this complete collection. However, the packaging for the Blu-ray discs isn’t very good. The way the discs fit into the boxes makes it possible for the discs to be easily scratched.

I completely loved watching the series, and feel it holds up as one of the best programs in the last ten years. I was a bit annoyed that the producer’s commentary started every season, but I by-passed it because it wasn’t interesting.

Horrible release, return program just a band-aid for the mess of this release
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Okay is everyone knows that the disc holders in this set are horrible, so there is no need in repeating what many others have said, so i won’t, but the exchange program is really a joke, they want you to send them the entire flap from the first season.Here’s my problem with that,,,if they don’t trust customers enough to let them get replacements online with the barcode, or something else that would prove we bought the set, then i don’t trust them.What if the flap gets lost in the mail, or at the replacement center, i mean we are talking about people who allowed such a shoddy release in the first place,then we are left with a set that we could never sell if we chose to do so at some point in the future.Now to the disc themselves, some are perfect,,,SOME, i say because about 60 percent of the discs are deep grooved scratched, or sat in a hot warehouse someplace so that the black from the cardboard sleeve has melted onto the disc, had to scrape it off with a fingernail, which , of course meant more scratched discs , What Universal should do is make us whole, if they don’t want to do a mail in program , allow us to exchange them in the stores like they do with drug recalls.Yes, i know this is Universal, and yes i know they are notorious for being cheap, i.e. all the two sided discs they produce, but really, can’t they just be professional and do it right?

BSG The Complete Series
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This review is for the new and improved packaging.

This is a repackage of the Battlestar Glaactica Complete series. The older set had complaints about discs being scratched by the sleeves. This new and improved set does not have that problem. They are in plastic holders and I have not noticed a problem yet. There is no cylon figure included, but the plan is included this time. Face of the enemy webisodes are still missing, but I heard this is due to licensing disagreements. Caprica is not included either, but that’s it’s own show.

Personally, I like this box better. My own complete opinion here – the older box reminded me of the 1970′s battlestar – more cheesy childish looking – that box is suited for a shelf in some kid’s room with his action figures, unfixed bed and clothes all over the floor. This box shows the characters in black and white, is much more mature looking and more suited for this show. This box belongs on a shelf in Adama’s quarters next to his books. I prefer to have this on my shelf rather than the other set.

Episode lists and synopsis are included – this helps in keeping track of which disc to put in to show which episode. One issue that I dislike is the habit of having extended episodes fleshed out on separate discs. For instance, the boxing episode on season 3 – on one disc has the original airing, and the next disc has the extended version that has additional 25 minutes. If you were watching it sequentially without reading the episode list beforehand, you would end up seeing the shorter version and then have to rewatch to see the extended scene. Yes, this is a minor issue, but it can be annoying.

The custom menus and disc structure is very nice though – I like how the menu can be brought up while a episode is playing in the background, rather than other shows where the menu pauses the show and comes up – pulling you out of immersion. Features like bookmarks and the progress bar when you pause and unpause is awesome. There are tons of extras, commentary, bd live stuff, they really go all out on the extras, which is a definate plus. I even like the screensaver when you leave the show on pause for awhile. I’m not that knowledgeable in bluray authroing, but with the awesome menus and controls this disc has – why can’t they make chapters out of the extended episodes in a way that if you run a episode, you can click the normal version aid it would just skip over the extended scenes, but if you click extended, then it plays all chapters? Surely that would save disc space which can be used to push up the show’s bitrate higher?

The show has a grain effect to it – this is part of the art form that is battlestar galactica. Dark and Gritty, just like the box art. Theres multiple warnings before some of the episodes indicating this, and on every episode of the first discs of season 1-4, theres commentary of Ronald D. Moore explaining this too. It would be great if he talked about it on the first episode of each season, but on every ep on the first discs of each season is a bit much.. With all that said – the 1080p quality is still better than the dvd version, the audio is better and the extras rock.

The show itself is awesome. I have been following it since the miniseries in 2003, and have watched it through to the end. I am going through it again now that I have it on Bluray. This show is dark, gritty, dramatic and not cheesy at all.

Who cares about the packaging.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great great show. The packaging is silly, but its much cheaper than the better-packaged version, so who cares. Buy a sleeve-book to hold the disks and throw away the box if it disturbs you that much.

Package not so bad
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been looking at this for a while now and finally got it when the price came down. I was worried about the packaging but it really isn’t that bad. The disk fit a little snug into the box but the cardboard isn’t going to scratch the disk. All blu-ray disk have extra hard coatings to prevent scratches. Thruogh May you can have the new packaging sent to you for free if you want.

The shows are great, the presentation is horrible.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
As others have said, the episodes themselves are absolutely fantastic. No questions. Six of out five stars, they’re that good. Box is horrible – I put them in a DVD case anyway, no biggie. The cylon toy is worthless – I don’t care. The disks don’t have episode labels – you can print a list.

My complaints: The episode menu was designed to show four episodes. A few disks have five, and I found it hard to see the little arrow pointing at a screen for a single fifth episode. I finally realized I had skipped a few episodes when the “Last time…” recap showed stuff I hadn’t seen. Now I know to look, and it’s not as big a deal.

I wish they didn’t show a sequence of scenes from the current episode in the opening credits. Shut your eyes when the drums kick in in the music if you don’t like spoilers.

What I hate more than anything… I bought the entire set. I don’t need the lame welcome by the producer every time I hit play for any episode that is on the first disk of any season. I watch one episode a day, and that stupid things plays well over a dozen times. Why? Why make that even spin up a second time? Acknowledge we bought the whole thing and only queue it up for the very first episode of the series. Seriously. I gave it four on that alone.

Packing makes me wish I never bought the series….
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Ok, so even I was wondering HOW BAD could packaging be when I saw how many people complained over it but it’s BAD. Cheap crappy cardboard inlets for your DVD’s so they all pretty much fall out and go all over the place….

Not to mention this doesn’t include the mini-series.

My advice to everyone is to stay away and just buy them individually.

Galactica
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A series I missed in its original production on TV, and which I am glad I revisited in this DVD package.