I was and still am a huge Battlestar Galactica fan. I thought the show was incredibly well-written and looked beautiful. It was truly quality television well worth my time investment every week. When it was announced that BSG (what REAL fans of the show call it) was going to have a spin-off prequel named Caprica launched, there was no doubt in my mind that my household would be a captive audience from the beginning.
Caprica takes place 58 years before BSG and revolves around “two powerful families – the Graystones and the Adamas – [who] find their destinies irrevocably intertwined after a devastating explosion. As both houses struggle with the line where humanity ends and artificial intelligence – the Cylon race – begins, they’ll face off in a battlefield of corporate conspiracy, murder, sexual politics and family backbiting.
Caprica is an interesting show. It takes place in two worlds somehow intertwined. You’ve got reality and then there’s the virtual realm in which people can escape and live out their fantasies. Apparently people who are dead in the real world can survive and live on in this virtual world – at least their consciousness or soul can. It all gets a bit confusing at times, but still remains mysteriously entertaining.
Another reason Caprica is so captivating is that you get to see the events that make up the history and catalysts of what happens in Galactica. We get to see what drives Cylon creator Daniel Graystone to make the first infamous robot. William Adama’s past is exposed and wide open for us to explore his family and what ends up shaping him into the man he becomes. These two characters and their families are just the foundations of the show. There are several other characters that make this series work so well. You’ve got religious zealots, terrorists, scheming corporate CEOs, and others that also cause soap opera-like drama and make the show so addicting.
The cinematography and special effects for Caprica are top-notch. The way the cameramen show the world from the perspective of the Zoe Graystone / Cylon is extremely well-executed. The futuristic cities of Caprica are very convincing and look authentic, thus never pulling you out of the show or distracting you from being able to enjoy it. The movements of the Cylon look perfectly realistic. The authentic backgrounds and actual live actors also blend entirely together with the CGI landscapes and Cylon.
Caprica is an engaging look at the chronicle of events that lead up to the Cylon War and the people that cause them to happen. Just like it’s predecessor, it blends politics, science fiction, current events, and religion all together to create a complex world and storyline that keeps you coming back week after week. You would be hard-pressed to find better television anywhere.
The DVD box set for Caprica 1.0 features both the unrated / extended pilot episode and the rated version that aired on television. All eight of the first half of Season One are included as well. The special features of the set include 48 Deleted Scenes; 13 Video Blogs; Pilot: Unrated, Extended Edition Commentary with Director Jeffrey Reiner and Executive Producer/Writer Ronald D. Moore and Executive Producer David Eick; “Reins of a Waterfall” Commentary with Co-Creator/Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore; Podcasts; Behind-the-Scenes featurettes including The Caprica Dynasty, The Look of Caprica, and Creating a World; “Gravedancing” Commentary with Executive Producer Jane Espenson; and more.
The technical specifications include Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) ; Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround; English Audio; English SDH, French, and Spanish Subtitles; and the running time is 8 hours and 54 minutes.
Caprica 1.0 has four discs and is only available in a regular DVD format.
