Wednesday, September 20, 1978
daily nebraskan
page 17
'Battlestar Galactica' is definite rip-off, but it entertains
By Pete Mason
It has been argued that the movie
industry thrives because of television, not
in spite of it. Television tends to borrow a
particular movie theme and repeat it about
forty times.
It's a little like beating a snake to death.
If you club the snake enough times, it
ceases to resemble a snake. The argument
concludes that the real creativity comes
from the movie industry and television
simply copies, and copies and copies. . .
Television's most recent snake is the
science fiction craze. In the wake of inter
stellar successes like Star Wars and Close
Encounteres of the Third Kind, the
networks have drawn up grand battle plans
to cash in on the genre.
The first skirmish began Sunday night
with ABC's Battlestar Galactica, certainly
one of the great rip-offs of all time. Battle
star is an example of grand larceny on a
cosmic scale. Anyone who thinks its
resemblance to Star Wars is purely coin
cedental has been living in a convent. If
you believe it 1 have this land in Florida
and a large bridge in New York to sell to
you at once-in-a-lifetime, cut-rate prices.
But not bad
However, the fact that Battlestar is a
spectacular work of thievery is the worst 1
can say about the show. Any displeasure I
may have felt concerning the show's
origins were dispelled during the first
dogfight.
Special effects wizard John Dykstra of
Star Wars fame has outdone himself this
time. As in Star Wars, the special effects
take the first-place ribbon-they're spec
tacular. They should be. The network
reports that it has spent over $7 million for
the first seven hours alone.
As for the script, bland is the best word
I can use. The dialogue is mostly pedest
rian, sometimes comic, and sometimes
unintentionally hilarious. Somehow,
though, it doesn't really matter. The plot is
a pretty grand one.
Bible paralleled
The biblical parallels arc striking. The
first scene shows the 12 chiefs of the 12
tribes of mankind sitting about a table with
chalices raised, reminiscent of a last supper.
Adama (Lome Greene), commander of
the giant ship, Galactica, is cast in the role
of a futuristic Moses, leading his people out
of Egypt to find the promised land. In this
case, the Egyptians are a race of self-perpetuating
robot warriors called Cylons and
the promised land is a mysterious planet
thought to be the birthplace of mankind
and called, you guessed it, Earth. This little
twist should appeal to Eric Von Daniken
fans who believe that the seeds of space
travel were sown here eons ago.
TV review
There is even a marvelous Judas-like
villain, played by John Colicos, who sells
out his race for power and is in turn
betrayed by the Cylons who think fair play
is a peculiar alien concept not worthy of
study.
Basic humanity
There are some lovely touches which
seem to reinforce the idea that no matter
how advanced the human race becomes
certain basic traits still will survive. When
the Cylons destroy Galactica's home base,
the planet Caprica, Commander Adama
orders all survivors to grab whatever mode
of transport they can and rendezvous with
the battlestar. A ragtag convoy of ships is
then seen leaving the planet's surface; huge
rusted-out hulks, small sleek pleasure craft
and one freighter-like ship with the words,
"Colonial Movers-We Move Anywhere",
printed boldly on tits side.
My favorite character on the Galactica is
a winsome hooker named Casseopeia. After
giving Starbuck (Han Solo look-alike Dirk
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Benedict) a freebie, she catches him
making eyes at Adama's daughter Athena.
"Next time it's office rates for you,
Buster," she says.
Sci-fi popular
It's hard to make predictions where
television is concerned. But it would seem
that the time is right for sci-fi to finally
grab the ratings. Hie networks are betting
that science fiction shows are the westerns
of the future. There are at least ten more
sci-fi offerings on the drawing boards,
either as regular shows or movie-length
specials.
It would seem to be a safe bet consider
ing the enormous success of the most
recent space flicks. It is quite possible that
before long, sci-fi shows will be as pre
valent as the now-extinct westerns of 15
years ago.
I can think of worse things to take over
the tube. The cop shows and jigglies for
instance. Starbuck has a favorite word. It's
"felgergarb" like in, "Boy, you really know
how to cut through the felgerbarb." If
there's such a thing as palatable felgerbarb,
it might be nice to see some more of it, as
long as the pile doesn't get too big.
Award competition
open to composers (3jiftfi&&
A total of $15,000 is available to young composers in
the 27th annual BMI Awards to Student Composers
competition sponsored by Broadcast Music Inc., a per
forming rights licensing organization.
Established in 1951 in cooperation with music educa
tors and composers, the BMI Awards project annually
gives cash prizes to encourage the creation of concert
music by Western Hemisphere student composers and to
aid them in financing their musical education. Prizes
ranging from $300 to $2,500 will be awarded at the
discreation of the judges. To date, 231 students, ranging
in age from 8 to 25, have received BMI Awards.
The 1978-79 BMI Awards competition is open to
student composers who are citizens or permanent
residents of the Western Hemisphere and are enrolled
in accredited secondary schools, colleges and conserva
tories, or engaged in private study with recognized and
established teachers anywhere in the world.
Entrants must be under 26 years of age by December
31,1978.
No limitations are established as to instrumentation,
sylistic considerations, or length of works submitted.
Students may enter no more than one composition, which
need not have been composed during the year of entry.
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