Battlestar Fodder

"Battlestar Galactica" 2.0 DVD - Worth It?

by Shannon Nolley, Sci-Fi Fodder Editor

The Season 2 DVD for the sci-fi favorite series "Battlestar Galactica" was released today. Anyone even slightly familiar with the show might find this release to be curious - only half of the Season 2 episodes have aired. So, what's on the DVD you ask? Well, half of Season 2, of course.

The next question then is: Why buy this DVD when another release of the entire season will undoubtedly follow? Before you answer that, consider that the DVD contains deleted scenes and episode commentary by Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore. Wait - still don't answer. Consider also that the deleted scenes are available for free on the SciFi Channel's website, the commentary is available for free download as individual episode files or as Podcasts, and the episodes can be purchased individually for $1.99 from Apple's iTunes site. The list price for the 10 episode DVD set is $49.98 (Amazon is selling it for $34.99). Purchasing the 10 episodes from Apple is $19.90 ($0.09 discount for purchasing them all instead of individually).

A video/audio-phile might argue that the picture and sound quality of the DVDs will be hands-down better than the video files downloadable from iTunes. Of course, that's up for debate. Obviously, having all of the features in one nice, neat package is enticing. Worth $34.99, though? That's less clear.

The real "rub" here is the fact that it's only the first half of the season. Another set with the second half of the season is expected under a "2.1" release (or some similar denomination). After that, a set that includes the entire season will follow. The blatant attempt by Universal to separate fans from their money under multiple releases is an undeserved jab to a devoted group who only wants high quality material from a show they have made successful.

Initially, fans were excited about this release because during his PodCast for the show, Moore discussed an extended episode of "Pegasus" (the half-season finale) that would be included on the DVD. However, the extended episode is not on this release. According to the message boards, the extended episode will be on the release for the second half of the season. Will this special episode also be on the release for the full season? Who knows. Maybe not, so avid fans will have to buy multiple sets to get all the material.

Ah well. I'm one of those folks who hates to buy the first release of a DVD because a "special" or "superbit" or "platinum" or "mega-super-wonderful-so-much-better-than-the-last-release" edition is always sure to follow. Patience is a virtue, though. (Not one I normally possess.) If you've got to have it, you could do much worse than owning this set. The show is consistently entertaining and among the best on television these days. It's so good, in fact, check back with TV Fodder and Sci-Fi Fodder after the season resumes on January 6th - we'll be starting a Battlestar Blog to discuss the new episodes!

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Posted by Shannon on December 20, 2005 11:30 AM
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