Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #423 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-10-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 519 minutes

Synopsis
Battlestar Galactica balances its striking special effects with character-driven drama and social commentary to create a show that's both entertaining and relevant. This critical favourite from Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation) re-imagines the cult series from the 1970s with a new cast and more impressive villains. It also eschews the sunny outlook of Star Trek in favor of a darker vision of space and humanity as it comments on issues such as terrorism and civil liberties. Androids called Cylons have massacred billions of people, leaving only a small group of survivors. Led by Oscar nominees Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, the human fleet searches for a mythical planet called Earth as they evade the Cylons.

Customer Reviews

Actually, this is the first half of season four.
Calling this season four is a misnomer. It's actually only the *first half* of season four. (Season four was derailed because of the writers' strike last year, and remaining half of the season - the last 10 or 11 episodes - will screen in early 2009.) I'd rate the actual content of the episodes as a solid five stars ... but I wouldn't buy this box set. I'll happily wait until 2009 and get the whole of season four in one package.

A little more information...after internet investigation
For those people (like me) who didn't realise this is half a season I have found out the following:

This is the first 10 episodes.
The last 10 episodes will be released in the UK under the title of 'Season 5' (hence the 'Season 4' title of this one).

This UK release will also include 'Razor' (although I can't find any confirmation of whether it will be the extended version of 'Razor'). It will also included deleted scenes and a sneak peak of the 2nd half of the season.

If, like me, you haven't bought Razor yet then this is still a good way of getting your BSG fix. Especially as I'm getting this as a birthday present.

Having now received this item:
This set contains:
The first 10 episodes of Season Four.
The EXTENDED VERSION of Razor (including commentary, deleted scenes and minisodes).
A sneak peek trailer of Season 5 (really 4.1) (which is not worth the disc space)
A whole bunch of deleted scenes from each episode.

Unlike others I was unable to buy Razor earlier - so the inclusion of the extended edition here is absolutely brilliant.
I also did NOT want to wait another year simply so have this season in a single box.
I'd rather watch these excellent 10 episodes NOW and wait for the final 10 until next year.

Fantastic season, but missing the within-fleet perspective
It's a shame that so many reviewers who claim to love BSG are giving it just one star, either because of it only lasting 10 episodes or because they have already bought Razor and are getting it twice. Their arguments fall apart when you consider that the RRP (and the price on Amazon) is well below that of previous series. Also, the first series was only 13 episodes long, so it's not the first time. As for it being "half a season", although Season 5 will only have ten episodes too, it is believed that many of these will be much longer than the standard running time - especially the finale - so overall, you'll get more.

With that put straight, what about the episodes themselves? Well, overall, this is a fantastic season with a fantastic twist at the end of it. Unfortunately it also contains BSG's worst episode ever, Sine Qua Non, which painfully consigns Richard Hatch to the sidelines with hardly a word of explanation (it's simply a poorly conceived way of getting Lee Adama into a key decision making position for the finale). The payoff we had been expecting of Tom Zarek has turned into nothing, and I'm not happy to see that. We also lose the in-fleet perspective this year, with the meeting of the representatives being all we see of them. Baltar's followers hardly number thousands, yet the missing thousands are very conspicuously absent. One or two civilian-specific episodes would have made this season perfect.

I can't give four and a half stars, but would rather give it five stars than four.