Machinima has released the first two episodes of the Battlestar Galactica prequel.
The long-promised BSG prequel precedes the adventures of the young Bill Adama that we were introduced to in Razor Flashback. Where Razor was a dense, dark, low-budget web series, Blood & Chrome looks has production values which rival the original series, really outlining the idea that the humans’ technology was more sophisticated before the Cylon attack at the beginning of the series.
The synopsis for the full story is thus:
The story takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robotic Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a young, talented fighter pilot, William Adama (Luke Pasqualino), finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful Battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly find himself at odds with Coker (Ben Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 47 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.
The first two episodes were released simultaneously on Machinima Prime this weekend. You can watch them over there, or just check them out here:
The first thing to note is that this very much feels like the BSG universe we know from the main show, rather than the one we know from the more heavy-handed and slower Caprica, despite being a sort of cross-section of the worlds. This is the part of the back-story that is most interesting.
Not all of the characters are entirely likable, but that’s part of the charm of Battlestar Galactica, and knowing who Adama one day becomes helps us get to like him a lot better, and despite the rough edges on pretty much everyone, the parts are mostly well performed.
The real shine of the series, however, comes in on the visuals, which fall on par with the Battlestar Galactica series in both style and quality. The hand-held-but-not-shaky camera style is here, and the dark silence of space with hints of hulking things is in abundance.
Blood & Chrome is the prequel we deserve, and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of it as it arrives.
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome will continue on Machinima Prime into next year. It will then be shown in its entirety on Syfy as an ‘original feature film’ in the spring. The Unrated Edition Blu-ray combo pack will hit shelves on February 19, 2013.
