Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Season four of the series was an up and down experience for numerous reasons. When it first aired on the SciFi Network (now Syfy), the 20 episodes were spread over 12 months, with a seven month hiatus between the first eleven and last nine, frustrating the audience. Furthermore, the scripts had a "been there, done that" aspect and I think the writers were filling time in order to get to the tidy conclusion.

Season four does have some great episodes that include "Guess What's Coming to Dinner," "Revelations," "Sometimes a Great Notion," and "No Exit." One of my favorite scenes in the entire series is in "Revelations" where Tigh (Michael Hogan) reveals his secret to Adama (Edward James Olmos). This emotional scene captures the essence of the series of being a story about people and relationships and not about technology.

Video Highlights

• VC-1/1080p encodes on a BD-50 discs
• Interior shots are very grainy with hazy detail
• Inconsistent black levels
• Obscured shadows

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtracks
• Excellent dynamics
• Clear and concise dialog
• Strong LFE when appropriate

Video quality within each episode is very inconsistent depending on the shooting location. Interior shots of Galactica and other spaceships have a documentary look to them but the encodes are faithful to the source.

Bonus Materials

• Unaired Extended Episodes
• Audio commentaries
• David Eick's video blogs
• The Journey documentary
• The Cylons: The Twelve featurette
• The Journey Ends: The Arrival
• The Look of Battlestar Galactica
• My Favorite Episode So Far
• Minisodes
• Evolution of a Cue score featurette
• A Look Back
• The Musicians of "Daybreak"
• Season 4 sneak peek and trailer
• Caprica sneak peek
• The Untold Story Untold
• And The Have a Plan promo
• U-Control enabled

Even with its flaws, Battlestar Galactica is one of the best TV shows I've ever watched. The acting is top-notch, the special effects are very good (especially for a TV show), and the actors do a stupendous job of creating believable characters. Highly recommended.

Release Date: January 4, 2011
Studio: Universal

Season 4: 8/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 9/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Integra DTC-80.2 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PVA-PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics