Actors: Luke Pasqualino, Ben Cotton, Lili Bordan, Mike Dopud, John Pyper-Ferguson
Directors: Jonas Pate
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Release Date: February 19, 2013
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2.5 out of 5 stars
When it comes to “Battlestar Galactica” you are eitehr a hardcore fan or nothing. There is really no in-between here. This all-new chapter is a prequel to the 2004 “Battlestar Galactica” series. Since the failed attempt at the spin-off prequel with the short-lived “Caprica”, fans are now giving the chance to get more out of this franchise. Syfy is behind this and delivered this show in web-series format airing it over weeks on Machinima.com in a 10-part series. After the enormous success of “Mortal Kombat Legacy”, they were trying to grab that success. For a web series, this packs some killer visual effects and amazing CGI work. Did I mention the visual effects on this show are EPIC! Seriously? How did they do this on a web-series budget? They initially pitched this as a pilot of a new series but they decided against it, but at least we get this new two-hour movie. I am sure we have not seen the end of this franchise for sure. So if you enjoy “Battlestar”, are you going to dig “Blood & Chrome”…you bet your FRAKING ass! I WANT FRAKING MORE!!!
Official Premise: An all-new chapter in the Battlestar Galactica saga, Blood & Chrome takes place in the midst 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, The Borgias), finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Though Adama quickly finds himself at odds with his co-pilot, the battle-weary officer Coker (Ben Cotton, Alcatraz), the two men must set their differences aside when a routine escort mission with an enigmatic passenger (Lili Bordán, Silent Witness) turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.
So why would you want this Blu-ray release instead of just watching it on Machinima.com or Syfy? Well, that is simple it is for the never-before-seen Unrated Edition cut. The unrated cut adds about 10 additional minutes to the show and is worth checking out for the new footage. Universal is behind this release and they are delivering the goods with a sharp two-Disc combo Pack with Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet. The 1080p looks much better than it does online. Even though the show has a web-series scale, the quality and production scale is very high. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track is banging with the non-stop action and the ships will literally fly right past your head! The special features are usually a big draw for a web-series to Blu-ray but lacking a bit here. There are 13 deleted scenes included, seven which are exclusive to Blu-ray only. Lastly there is “Blood & Chrome: Visual Effects”, which looks into how this series looks as good as it does. I was hoping for a little more here in terms of featurettes but overall it is still worth the purchase.
