Customer Rating:  
Summary: Great! could have been better...
Comment: The very prospect of adding shedding new light onto the story of the pegasus excited me so I looked forward to watching it. The story I feel could have been a little better, but the acting and special effects were top notch as always. A must for any fan of the series!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Australian XO for Pegasus ... Kendra Shaw
Comment:
The story of RAZOR has already been well detailed by other reviewers here so I will keep my review to pure analysis of the episode assuming that people reading this are already fans of the BSG series.
In Razor we get the missing back story of the Pegasus told in parallel time lines - Past with Admiral Caine and present with Lee Adama. The bridge between these two times lines, apart from the Pegasus crew under Caine, is one Kendra Shaw played by Australian actress Stephanie Jacobsen. It should be said from the outset that most North Americans will not recognize her accent and think it is English ... it is not, it is a standard neutral Australian accent.
It was great to hear a familiar Aussie accent within the BSG story line and Jacobsen as Kendra Shaw proves herself to be every bit as tough and resourceful as Kara Thrace ( Starbuck ). In one scene when William Adama and Lee are watching Kendra Shaw drill a team of marines for weapons training Adama Snr comments "I'd like to sell tickets to that dance" when it is revealed that Starbuck and Shaw don't get along. We get the distinct impression that something inside Kendra Shaw is quite broken, perhaps even more broken than Starbucks emotional past. This sets us up for the past events of the Pegasus under Caine which begin to unfold.
Kendra Shaw is the legacy and product of Admiral Caine, during Razor we witness the back story explaining what makes Admiral Caine the woman she is, as well as what drives her ultimate Raison D'etre. The results of her hard nosed and single bloody mindedness culminate with devastating consequences on two occasions during RAZOR's back story as well as revealing her motivation behind the treatment under interrogation of the Cylon No6. In one scene we see Caine playing with a folding knife keepsake where she states to Kendra Shaw ... "When you can be this, as long as you have to be ... then you become a razor".
The story of Razor in a metaphorical sense explores the theme that in a war of survival of the human race people are often required to do things and act in ways that are contrary to our morality and common code of normal behaviour. That to win against machines human beings are often required to set their emotional life aside and become nothing more than a weapon ... a razor. The dilemma in all this however is that nobody can survive being a Razor indefinitely without having it exact a heavy toll. Everybody is emotionally scarred, nobody is left unscathed - this is the paradox of our humanity. We even realize as the seasons roll on that the Cylons themselves are not free from the heavy burden of human feelings and emotions, this seems to be their very own Achilles heel.
In the modern day we see Lee Adama being given command of the Pegasus where we initially find Kendra Shaw working the kitchens having been previously busted back to nothing for repeated insubordination after Admiral Caine's murder at the hands of the Cylons. Lee Adama realizes that he needs a strong personality who represents the past life of the Pegasus crew and after some verbal jousting assigns Shaw as his new Executive Officer.
As the episode gathers pace Adama Snr transfers over the Pegasus to oversee a mission to discover the nature of a strange hybrid fleet of Cylons which takes us into a third back story involving William Adama and the first Cylon War. It is this back story that really impressed me as a BSG fan from the orignal series in the late 70's ... I grew up with the original Galactica and the entire sequence with young Adama quite frankly rocked! There were many cool references to old school Cylons ( Toasters ) and the old school Cylon Raiders and Vipers. There is one particular scene in this sequence where the rookie Adama takes on two Cylon Raiders resulting in an incredible free falling fight scene.
To spell anything else out would get into spoilers but while I loved this addition to the series there were a couple of moments that I found a tad weak - sadly I will not be able to reveal them here for the sake of those who have yet to watch Razor but rest assured they aren't big enough to drop this rating from 5 stars. RAZOR is superb and we need more BSG!
I wish they would make more prequels and back stories for BSG ... the guy that plays the young Adama could easily lead up a series based on the first Cylon Wars ... SO SAY WE ALL!
Customer Rating:
Summary: BSG Razor Beauty
Comment: Battlestar Galactica is the best tv series of the 21. century. This edition is beautiful, i keep the cover opened at the top of my bookshelf.
It has a beautiful papercover above the normal dvd cover. The film has good sound and picture too. About the bonus features: Deleted scenes - some not really interesting minutes
The Look of BSG : Ron Moore talks about the ship and its similarity to second world war's aircraft ships, cool. My favourite episode so far - The main characters talk about their favourite episode , interesting.
Minisodes - Husker and the cylon hybrid , well, most of it is already in the film but thanks. Commentary with Ron Moore and Michael Taylor - I miss the english subtitle to the audiocommentary because I dont speak/understand english perfectly and I need that. Sneak Peek to season 4 , Season 4 trailer . The making of BSG Razor - It is on the surprise second disc. It has funny moments with the actors , really good to see it. Okay the second disk was a gift but it is a bit unusual to put a 20 minutes video to a 4,4gb disk.
You can see my pictures of the dvd edition here:
http://indafoto.hu/spockcooper/bsg_razor_dvd
Customer Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2! Another great addition to the Battlestar stable
Comment: "Battlestar Galactica - Razor"
Picking up when Leigh Adama takes control of the Pegasus: Leigh (Jamie Bamber) needs a new XO but wants to choose one from the original crew, someone who will help to carry Admiral Cain's legacy. After reviewing the files of the officers Apollo lands on Officer Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen). After Kendra's introduction, her perspective of the events that took place on Pegasus prior to meeting up with the Galactica are interwoven with a tale taking place in the present which is connected with something that happened to Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) in the past. Present and past adventure ensues...
The description of "Razor" may leave you thinking this is a convoluted telling but the stories are actually cleverly interwoven and well told. We see on Pegasus the way things may have unfolded on Galactica if Adoma had been without his moral sounding board of Leigh and President Roslin. A much darker turn of event took place on Pegasus which was spoken of in the regular series but the blanks are filled in here.
The Good: All the same things you enjoy in the regular on going series from most of your favorite characters to surprisingly good effects for space battle scenes and interesting directing which is always present and gives the show its unique look. The new character is interesting and we get to watch her quick evolution. This was shot between seasons 3 and 4 and adds another question mark to one of the main characters for you to ponder as you watch season 4.
The Bad: Nothing memorable
Overall: If you are a fan of the show you have to pick this up. It helps fill in the blanks about Pegasus and other events surrounding some other historical events.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Exciting, Riveting and more Cain!
Comment: Sigh. It's been a long time since a new episode of my two favorite sci-fi shows aired a new episode and still months more until "Battlestar Galactica" and "Lost" are back on television. Fortunately, I get to have my "Battlestar Galactica" fix again with the release of "Battlestar Galactica Razor: Unrated Extended Edition".
I've been watching the remake of "Battlestar Galactica" since it first premiered on Sci-Fi channel and have been really engrossed in each episode's storyline. Very well-written (although I do question the direction of the latter of Season 3), one of the interesting storylines was the introduction of Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes).
At the end of Season 2, we watch as the crew of the Battlestar Galactica and the crew of Battlestar Pegasus come head to head. You wondered why Admiral Cain was hard edge and you were stuck in your seat wondering if the two battlestar's and their crew would go head to head and destroy each other.
"Battlestar Galactica Razor" provides the backstory of what took place on the Battlestar Pegasus after New Caprica was nuked by the Cylons. How Admiral Cain runs her ship and what happens if you are disloyal to her.
She's totally opposite of Admiral Adama, thus the title "razor". She's hard edge, stone cold, she'll cut you like a knife and she's unstable.
Under Cain, we are introduced to Officer Kendra Shaw (played by Stephanie Jacobsen - who is Portugese, Chinese and Norwegian btw...), as we watch as she joins the Pegasus and in the beginning is already taking hell from Admiral Cain for showing up late.
But we get to see the transformation of Kendra Shaw. A proper and rule-abiding officer and then how being under Admiral Cain has turned her to a razor and also a junkie.
"Battlestar Galactica Razor" is jam-packed with drama, action and a well-written storyline as viewers get the back story of why Admiral Cain became what she is but definitely some interesting revelations that helps set things up for season 4 (the final season of "Battlestar Galatica").
Although I missed the televised version of Razor, I can imagine that the unrated extended edition featured on DVD lies within the violence of the film. For example, in one scene, Admiral Cain's second in command gets shot point blank in the head and blood is splattered all over the command area. Something you don't see in the normal edition of the series.
I also enjoyed how the film has three parts to it. More like three time lines.
The first time line revolves around Kendra Shaw (played by Stephanie Jacobsen), as you watch her as she becomes an officer on the Pegasus under Admiral Cain and having to do things that may seem very morally wrong to viewers but in a way, as you think about it, Admiral Cain's decisions is what kept the crew of the Pegasus alive.
This includes Shaw and security crew of the Pegasus shooting and killing innocent civilians who thought the Pegasus were there to save them and you also see what happens when you become disloyal to Cain.
The second time line features Shaw under Apollo's command of the Pegasus (taking place after the death of Cain) and the third timeline revolves around Adama when he was much younger and a pilot during the first Cylon war.
What's interesting is that we get to see the original Cylon (yes, the one from the "Battlestar Galactica" that aired nearly three decades ago. Adama discovers a warehouse where cylons are experimenting on humans and you get to learn about the hybrids that the Cylons are creating.
All in all, I like the balance and how everything was tied together. I expected as much from the current Battlestar Galactica cast but I was really impressed with the work of the newbies on the show, specifically Stephanie Jacobsen.
I've never seen Stephanie Jacobsen's work before and also among the first times I have seen an Asian woman sporting a thick English accent and Jacobsen's role as Kendra Shaw who has been transformed to somewhat of a razor is convincing and you learn how she became nearly like Admiral Cain but at the same time, what made her different from Cain and trying to make amends for the things that transpired while working under Cain.
The other major cast members make their appearance in the film and I expected nothing less from those actors such as Olmos, Bamber, Sackhoff, McDonnel, Helfer, etc. Each of the Galactica originals did a great job but I was really impressed by Michelle Forbes and that she returned back in uniform to play Admiral Cain again.
The character is so cold and unstable that to see how tyrannical she was as the head of Battlestar Pegasus was shocking but at the same time, you can see her reasoning and why her crew never really fought it. A different perspective from what we have been used to seeing on the television series.
As for the DVD, the DVD is jam packed with a lot of bonus material. Deleted scenes, a featurette titled "The Look of Battlestar Galactica", a featurette titled "My Favorite Episode So Far" with the crew discussing their favorite episodes from the first three seasons, a sneak peak of season 4, a trailer of season 4, commentary on the unrated extended edition with executive producer Ronald D. Moore and Writer Michael Taylor, as well as webisodes featuring Oscar Adama when he fought in the first Cylon War.
If you are a fan who has been watching the series and enjoying the storyline, you're going to dig "Battlestar Galactica Razor".
Not only is it well-written and well-acted, but you get answers of why Admiral Cain is the way she is and what led to her downfall. But most of all is the surprise ending that leads into Season 4 regarding Starbuck. Wow!
I think that people not familiar with the show, watching it for the first time will still enjoy the series but there's a lot of backstory (especially when they recap the series) of what has happened during seasons 2.0 and 2.5, that perhaps they may not enjoy it as much as one who is already enjoying the television series.
But nevertheless, it's an awesome film that I really enjoyed and as for the DVD, it's jam packed with special features, you really can't go wrong.
I will say that I highly recommend the "Best Buy" edition if you are planning to purchase the DVD. I think it sucks that the DVD that is going on sale is missing this featurette because it's the only interview with Forbes and Jacobsen and if you don't buy the "Best Buy" version, you won't seem them in the special features on other releases from different stores.
All in all, if you enjoy series (especially if you are collecting the series on DVD), you owe it to yourself to buy this DVD!
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