Battlestar Galactica Complete Series Blu-ray release confirmed
By Richard Lawler 
posted Apr 15th 2009 1:47PM
posted Apr 15th 2009 1:47PM
Waiting for Battlestar Galactica to come home properly has been the source of heartbreak more than once so far, but the upcoming Caprica DVD appears to confirm rumors we'll be seeing a full series Blu-ray set sooner rather than later. Internet rumors have pegged the date as July 28, and on the prequel's DVD release a promo is included referencing the complete series coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray high def, so get your pennies together, while it will certainly be expensive this should be the one that's worth buying -- if they didn't get rid of the technology for disc packaging yet.
Hopefully it LOOKS GOOD, unlike the HD DVD release, which looked like ass most of the time. I'm normally not one for grain reduction, but reduce a bit of the grain! Grain that looks fine at 1080i is shockingly bad at 1080p!
I will still buy it.
Frackin AYE!!!
This is a BUY!!
So say we all!
Before the whole planet jumps up and down, just remember what Stand DVD releases of this show look like, and what the HD broadcasts of this show looks like. The DVD releases are overcompressed garbage, and the HD broadcasts look craptastic too compared to other NBC/Universal HD broadcasts.
Hopefully they will give the show a proper Blu-Ray treatment, but I am seriously concerned over the video and audio quality of this release, moreso than perhaps any other TV series.
No kidding. I'll be waiting for the reviews before putting money down.
I remember the craptastic HD-DVD release... the pilot was almost unwatchable due to the "grain" and the audio timing issues were inexcusable.
I'm surprised they aren't gonna release it in half season increments in order to maximize profits.
I'm sure there will be speciel editions for each of the next 20 years though.
Too bad the first two seasons looked just awful in HD. The makeup and sets especially look cheap cheap cheap.
Only one season was ever released in HD, so I'm betting you're just parroting what you've read on the internet, and haven't seen it for yourself. Am I right?
Can't wait to see Lorne Greene in HD! :-D
Way too many people seem to equate HD only with things like live sports events. BSG was not shot on HD video.
People seem to forget that filmmakers for YEARS have had the ability to tailor the "look" of their work. Sometimes, they WANT to have a very grainy look.
My guess would be that this is EXACTLY what is going on with BSG... they WANT it dark and grainy. They WANT really dark shadows (black crush anyone) and to emphasis the look even further, tons of grain at times.
Face it, this is about that rag-tag collection of remains of the human race... and it ain't pretty.
Actually, it was shot with HD digital cameras (the TV series at least... the miniseries was shot on film).
They added the grain on purpose. I think I read somewhere that the director used camera settings to get the grain so the originals are all grainy and this is why they couldn't apply a consistent level of grain from shot to shot in post-production. Oh well.
I'm with riverside on this one. Brings to mind BG's contemporary cousin, "The Shield," which also wasn't shot in HD but had (I think) a deliberately grainy look that suited the show's tone, If it ever gets transferred to Blu-ray, I expect it to retain that effect. Intense lead characters like Adama, Sol Tigh, and Vic Mackey practically demand film grain anyway, but most people look to Blu-ray for pristine images, e.g., "inky" blacks, very little mosquito noise, no crushing or banding, etc.
Equally important is the packaging, which by most accounts was abysmal on HD DVD. Based on that alone, I've passed up buying the box set numerous times, even when it dropped to 10 bucks. I highly doubt they'll make that mistake again; scathing reviews can have positive effects.
I knew about the packaging issues but bought the Season 1 HD DVD set when it hit $15 or $18. Mine was not damaged but it's still kind of a pain to use and while it was cute that they cut off the corners like all the paper and cards in BSG, I don't think it was worth all the trouble it caused and I'd be quite suprised if they repeated it.
Also, I'm pretty sure it came with a little slip of paper basically saying that the grain was intentional and that it looks the way the creators wanted it to look.
Yeah, I bought the first season on HD-DVD....
I was lucky enough to see the last three hours (2 Eps) at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin on a Sony 4k projection system. It upscaled beautifully, the detail was incredible. Do the math: on a 40' screen each pixel was 1/8" from 25' away. There were no artifacts or weird colors. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a BD release of the series.
http://blog.originalalamo.com/2009/03/26/battlestar-galactica-redux-at-village/
echoing Riverside_guy, who is entirely correct, Battlestar producers really pushed the limits of the graininess allowed for television - it certainly wouldn't have been allowed on a larger network channel. Best show ever. So say we all.
Grain wouldn't have been allowed? Are you kidding? Link, please?
uhhh . .. yes, BSG was shot in HD. At least, that what mr. moore says in the his podcasts.
I think the graininess was for effect, to reflect the grit of the storyline but from what I remember, the space/CG sequences were sharp....
Correct.
SO SAY WE ALL!!! It's about God's damn time!!!! I've been waiting for this for years!
I'm still waiting on the Blu-Ray release of TNG... ='(