Battlestar Galactica: The Battle of New Caprica | Battle Review/Analysis

Spacedock delves into one of the best depicted space battles ever put to screen. #battlestargalactica

THE SOJOURN - AN ORIGINAL SCI-FI AUDIO DRAMA:

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Battlezone II Music by Carey Chico

Spacedock does not hold ownership of the copyrighted materiel (Footage, Stills etc) taken from the various works of fiction covered in this series, and uses them within the boundaries of Fair Use for the purpose of Analysis, Discussion and Review.

[garyrobbins]

The despair as Galactica was about to breath its last, followed by the pounding of war drums as Pegasus roared in for the rescue. Thank you Ronald D. Moore & Bear McCreary.

[alexcamacho]

I can hear Daniel screaming from The Sojourn's channel...

[steveb]

Jumping into and out of the atmosphere with a capital ship. One of the balliest moves in science fiction!!

[tomleon]

If it isn't Dan's favourite battle again

[cmedtheuniverseofcmed]

It's funny that many people bash the writing for having Lee perform a maneuver that destroyed the Pegasus.

Behind the scenes, it was rumored or mentioned that the Pegasus (and its scenery) significantly increased the show's production costs. When Season 3 was approaching, it was decided to eliminate the Pegasus for budgetary reasons.

If that is true, they did a good job in giving the Pegasus a wonderful send-off.

[chiefs]

I firmly believed that I would never be more stunned by a moment in a space battle on television than when Captain Hiroshi rammed the Churchill into the Roanoke in "Severed Dreams" on "Babylon 5". That belief was absolutely shattered by the "Adama Maneuver".

[mb]

Adama: “You did it. You brought 'em home, Saul.”
Tigh: “Not all of them.”

Gets me every time.

[colormedubious]

8:58 - How the heck have I never noticed the Pan-Am Airlines logo on that Colonial ship before today? 🤣

[julius-stark]

"Well, this ought to be different." -- Hot Dog

[Dencrack]

the adama maneuver almost failed because the sheer size of adama's balls was making the battlestar fall much faster.

[CallsignYukiMizuki]

Everyone says how Lee throwing away the Pegasus was the worst crime ever, and yet people dont seem to realize that at this point, experienced crew and leadership is arguably an even greater resource. What would the Pegasus be if it was alone and without an experienced and competent crew?

People are resources too

[jonskowitz]

Could you imagine what being one of those Viper pilots must've been like? Jumping into a chaotic situation, fling over the sides, and having only seconds to get yourself oriented and organized enough to execute the ground strikes while also fighting for air superiority?! Baller!

[AndyHerbert]

It'd be interesting to analyze the Admiral Caine/Pegasus introduction arc. In particular, the final battle and how the focus wasn't whether or not the two ships will defeat the resurrection ship, but rather how the battle would still determine the outcome of the future of the fleet by the tensions and decisions Caine and Adama made throughout. Also the visualization of Lee Adama suffocating in space by floating/drowning in water is probably some of the best visual depictions of a feeling on TV.

[dereckguerra]

fun fact: in the miniseries they talk about syncing up FTL's on the Galactica's first jump, it implies that the Galactica has two FTL maybe a main and backup or maybe two that are used at the same time for efficiency. but with this little bit of knowledge is probably how the Galactica was able to jump right after completing its first jump

[rkaidia]

Well, I guess I'm rewatching Battlestar Galactica again for the next few weeks

[jeyfromnowhere]

This show is infinitely rewatchable. Possibly my favorite space setting ever.

[brettstowell]

The Pegasus could have more realistically been destroyed in the Battle of the Ionian Nebula defending the incapacitated civilian fleet from overwhelming cylon forces. IRL they needed the sound stage space for the basestar interiors.

[D.M.S.]

That ramming scene with that soundtrack though. Masterpiece!

[Sephiroth]

BUCKET

Now, I do think both Battlestars surviving would've been helpful, but I understand, from a story angle, the writers wanted to remove Pegasus from the narrative.

THAT SAID, they could've shown a little more to explain the status of the two ships- even if just in the background. There was supposed to be a line about how Galactica didn't QUITE calculate the jump back above New Caprica right, and they had to burn out of the upper atmosphere, (causing stress and giving the Cylons time to reposition), but it didn't make the final cut. Likewise, maybe a few screens in the back showing that Pegasus's FTL had been destroyed (or even one of the skinjobs stating that FTLs were priority targets)

But alas, the needs of the story/writers, and Lee's minimal experience as a capital ship commander in combat, brought Pyrrhus to this battle.

[TheAnakinn]

I absolutely love the "Adama Maneuver". It's a high risk, high reward maneuver that needs absolute faith by the admiral in his ship and its crew and I think that's the most amazing part. William Adama knows his ship and his crew to the point that he knows they can pull this off. Even so, they get caught by the overwhelming firepower of the Cylons until Lee Adama comes in guns blazing.

Sidenote: I just love how Lee gets fat during this story arc, showing how the body is affected by the mind.