Ray Wyman Jr (Heavypen)

If you are a fan of the novels and you come expecting a ditto rendition of the novels, you will be disappointed. If you love new stories from old ones; if you love differences and variations on themes - then you will absolutely love the rendition that Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth have given us. No spoilers - but if you read the novel, remember what Paul Atreides said about looking into the future: one path, but more than one way to deliver us to the end. And having said that, this is one of the central reasons you do not have to be a fan of the novels to understand Villeneuve's vision for the story. The spice shall flow!

This series is not an accurate representation of Asimov's original Foundation novels, but it is a very entertaining and visually wonderful to watch. More important, although there are big differences between novel and show, the lessons are extremely important. "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." One star off because nothing is perfect.

We have expectations when it comes to docu-dramas—especially one about such a profound historical event as this. We expect the drama to be detrimental to truthful storytelling, distortions that hold our attention and make us sit through every episode with mounting excitation. Chernobyl didn't need that. Some events in the timeline were fudged a bit to compress the story. There is also criticism about the use of English rather than Russian (with subtitles). But none of these elements impacted the story more than the REAL drama that is folded into this story. Key points are truthful and accurate enough to scare the daylights out of everyone watching. And the scariest part is realizing that the real story is about real people who struggled to understand the magnitude of the disaster, then struggled to grapple with how to reign it in. The drama helps us soak up the horror that any one of us would feel had it been our watch in the control room. The truth is, we are thankful for only a glimpse. Any better look could be deadly.

Some people say that this is the best sci-fi television production of all time. I find no fault in that description. But I do find fault in the limitation: just sci-fi? I think BSG - THIS BSG - is one of the top 10 dramatic shows ever put on the air. Right to the very bitter end. To think that the concept didn't start that way. The original BSG is a poor cartoon by comparison. When I think of other shows, I think of "favorite episodes." BSG doesn't have that. Indeed, the opening pilot show is amazing to watch. Several other noteworthy episodes stand out for skillfully choreographed battle scenes, special effects, fantastic acting, fabulous dialog. Bear McCreary's soundtrack is a celebration of drama - with artful instrumentation, and wonderfully composed themes are a joy to listen to on their own. But here's the thing... BSG is not to be admired for one or two features. So few television productions ever attempt such epic storytelling. And for a good reason. It's challenging to reach such emotional depth. Maintaining complex character development and attention to continuity is costly. Cast and crew must be fully invested and wholly engaged. In my opinion, this production - from start to finish - accomplishes a fantastic feat of entertainment all the way to its breathtaking conclusion. If you have a bucket list of shows to watch, Battlestar Galactica - THIS version - should be on your list.