20th Century Fox complained in court that Universal Studios had stolen a total of 34 ideas from “Star Wars” for “Battlestar Galactica” (the lawsuit was dismissed). A TV(!) series seemed so dangerous compared to what was then the highest-grossing film of all time. Sci-fi television wasn’t good in 1978 – but Glen A. Larson’s story of a spaceship odyssey of lonely people seeking a new home on a planet called Earth and being hunted by robots was good. Better than cinema: “Star Crash” was a joke, “Star Trek – the film” was deadly boring.
The film, cut together from several episodes and now available in 4k, illustrates the quality: production by “Star Wars” effects wizard John Dykstra; Strong supporting roles with Jane Seymour and Ray Milland; Android dog Boxey cuter than R2-D2; Dirk Benedict’s pilot Starbuck a likeable poor man’s Han Solo; and with Stu Phillips a composer who would orchestrate the entire 80s childhood: “Magnum”, “A-Team”, “Knight Rider”, “A Gun for All Occasions”, “Trio with Four Fists”.
In 1978, the world was heading toward a new peak in the Cold War, and Soviet media criticized alleged story parallels to the disarmament treaties with the United States, with the evil Cylons representing treaty-breaking Russians. The Cylon Knights look great, and robots generally seem more ruthless than, for example, “Star Wars” stormtroopers, whose armor has paddy people in them. They also use atomic bombs. “Battlestar Galactica” was pure Robocalypse.
And the decision to set almost the entire series, which runs for two seasons with interruptions, exclusively in the darkness of space (even the few planets are almost only visited at night) is bold. The 2004 series reboot may be more cleverly plotted – but the 1978 version is more radical (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)