Saga of a Star World
Encyclopedia
"Saga of a Star World" is the pilot
for the American science fiction
television series
of Battlestar Galactica
which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson
. A re-edit of the episode was released theatrically as Battlestar Galactica in Canada, Australia and some countries in Europe and Latin America before the television series aired in the U.S., in order to help recoup its high production costs. Later, in May 1979, the feature-film edit was also released in the U.S. (see below)
race of Cylons
, who seek to exterminate all of humanity.
The Cylons have unexpectedly sued for peace, through the diplomatic agency of a human, Count Baltar
. The human leaders and the commanders of their military fleet are all too pleased by the Cylon offer of peace, which ends so many years of warfare. The powerful "Battlestars" are assembled for armistice talks with Humanity's age-old robotic enemy. But it's all a deception – Baltar has betrayed humanity for personal gain, and the Cylons have no intention of making peace. Commander Adama, of the battlestar Galactica, suspects that the Cylons are planning a trap.
Adama is the only battlestar commander who's suspicious of the Cylons' motives. He orders a recon patrol, consisting of his two best pilots: his eldest son, Apollo, and Lt. Starbuck. Adama's younger son, Zac, convinces Starbuck to let him go in his place. The patrol discovers a vast Cylon armada waiting in ambush behind a moon named Cimtar, but the Cylons jam their communications. Cylon fighters pursue the two Vipers, and Zac's fighter is hit. This forces Apollo to leave him behind, so that the fleet can be warned. Zac's Viper is destroyed by the Cylons just before he reaches the fleet.
Baltar manipulates President Adar into prohibiting the launch of fighters as the Cylons close in on the fleet. Frustrated, Adama orders the Galactica's Viper squadrons be placed on full alert, with their fighters ready to launch. As the Cylons attack, the Galactica is able to launch its fighters first, while the other battlestars are caught off-guard. The Atlantia, with President Adar aboard, is destroyed. Galactica alone survives the Cylon assault. Apollo informs Adama that the Cylons were accompanied by refueling tankers. Adama realizes that this would allow the fighters to operate far from their base ships (known as "basestars"). The Cylon capital ships must be operating somewhere, since they aren't attacking their main fleet. He orders the Galactica to withdraw and protect the planet Caprica. But they are too late – they find the planet devastated. The Cylon fleet had launched massive assaults on all the Colonies.
With the Colonies in ruins, Adama collects as many survivors as possible, and orders every intact civilian ship to take survivors and follow the Galactica. They hope that the Galactica can protect this ragtag fleet long enough to find the legendary thirteenth human colony. It is called Earth
, but the location of this lost colony is known only to the last lord of Kobol
, the planet which was the original home of Man, but which was abandoned thousands of years earlier, when the Thirteen Tribes migrated to the stars.
Helping Adama in the quest for Earth are his son, Captain Apollo, commander of the Galactica's strike wing; Lieutenant Starbuck, the Galactica's best fighter pilot and Apollo's best friend; Lieutenant Boomer; and Colonel Tigh, Adama's second-in-command. The Cylon Imperious Leader, determined that no human at all shall survive, orders Baltar's execution, but he is spared at the last moment in order to help the Cylons hunt down the human fleet (as depicted in the TV series version of the film). In the feature film, Baltar is executed by beheading after the Imperious Leader explains to Baltar that he has missed the entire point of the war. All humans must be destroyed. He thanks Baltar for his assistance in wiping out most of the human race, and then orders a Cylon Centurion to kill him on the spot.
After initially escaping the Cylons across a massive starfield called the Nova of Madagon (referred to as such due to its extremely dangerous, hot environment, and Cylon mines), the Galactica and its "ragtag fugitive fleet" find brief respite on the resort
planet of Carillon, where they hope to find food and fuel for their journey. As much of the fleet's food supplies were contaminated by pluton bombs during the Cylon attack, the fleet is in desperate straits, and must find a food source soon or face starvation, and Carillon has plenty.
It quickly becomes apparent that there is more to Carillon than meets the eye. The fact that Carillon has more than enough food and fuel for the fleet's needs makes Adama wary. It is also apparently the largest tylium (fighter fuel) mining facility in that part of the galaxy, but nobody has ever heard of the place. Adama questions where the Ovions are getting their food, and what the connection is between the resort on the surface and the underground mining operations. Starbuck is pleased that he is winning so much at the gaming tables, but begins to suspect that something is wrong, because the gamblers never lose their money. Colonel Tigh mentions to Adama that "some of our people are getting downright obese," because of all the food to which the Ovions have access. Carillon seems like the answer to the prayers of a people who have just experienced the destruction of their entire civilization. Sire Uri, Adama's nemesis on the Council of the Twelve, has authorized visitor passes to half the population of the fleet for the purpose of visiting the Carillon resort. Adama grows increasingly suspicious, and does some research on the Carillon outpost. He discovers that Baltar was responsible for performing the initial Carillon survey, and reported that tylium was too minimal for mining. He immediately smells a Cylon trap.
Meanwhile, the Council of the Twelve led by Sire Uri, believing the Cylons have been left far behind, propose that the humans pause to celebrate their escape and dismantle their military and weapons to prove to the Cylons that humans are no longer a threat to them. The Council arranges a banquet on Carillon, and orders all fighter pilots to attend. The Cylons, believing that all of the pilots are at the banquet, launch a fighter attack against the Galactica in orbit. But Adama has long suspected a trap, and arranges for support crew to impersonate the real pilots at the banquet. The Galactica's Vipers are launched a few at a time so as not to attract Council attention, and stay on the planet's surface until Adama is ready to spring his trap. Once the Cylon fighter contingent is fully engaged with the Galactica, Adama recalls all his Vipers from the surface of Carillon. This takes the Cylons (and the Galactica bridge crew) completely by surprise.
Indeed, the Ovions, Carillon's indigenous insectoid inhabitants, are in league with the Cylons, and the resort on the surface is a trap. The Ovions use humans as food for their young in nesting areas deep underground. Apollo and Starbuck investigate the disappearance of some of their comrades, and discover the conspiracy. Starbuck suspects that the Ovions are supplying the Cylons with tylium for their military, and suggests to set fire to it with his laser pistol in order to blow the planet apart, and deprive the Cylons of a major source of fighter fuel. Before he can do this, however, a firefight with the Cylons erupts, and both Colonial and Cylon laser blasts set fire to the volatile tylium deposits.
During the fight, Apollo realizes the Cylon fighters couldn't have come so far without a basestar. He and Starbuck go hunting, and find a Cylon basestar hidden on the far side of Carillon. In defiance of Commander Adama's recall order, they decide to attempt to destroy it, in order to enable the refugee fleet to elude pursuit. They use fake radio chatter to fool the basestar into thinking it's under attack by multiple Viper squadrons. The basestar descends into Carillon's atmosphere to avoid detection, and is destroyed when the planet finally erupts in a massive tylium explosion.
Despite their victory, however, the humans realize their enemies will still be pursuing them.
decided to release the film in cinemas in order to recoup some of the high production costs with producers believing the series "could be a fine shot at a corner of the Star Wars market." In July 1978, two months before its U.S. television debut, the film was released in Canada, Australia, and some countries in Europe and Latin America. The release was a success following an aggressive marketing campaign from Universal and influenced the decision to release the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
pilot in cinemas a year later. Later episodes of the regular Battlestar Galactica series were also re-edited and released in cinemas internationally.
Although there are many minor differences between the broadcast pilot and the cinema release, the most notable is the fact that, in the film version, Baltar is executed by the Cylons, whereas, in the television version, he is held for public execution before later being shown mercy by the Cylons, and going on to be a major character in the TV series. The cinema release also made use of Universal's Sensurround
process, the last American film to use it.
The television version was first broadcast in the U.S. on September 17, 1978. This original three-hour broadcast was interrupted for more than an hour to televise the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords
between Israel
's Menachem Begin and Egypt
's Anwar Sadat, overseen by President
Jimmy Carter
. Following the coverage, ABC
resumed the broadcast, right where it was interrupted. In later years, this version has often been split into three episodes, each an hour long, for syndication.
In May 1979, following the broadcast of the final episode of the regular series, the film version was released in some U.S. cinemas.
In 1980, the pilot was edited again and syndicated as part of a series of re-edited Battlestar Galactica telemovies.
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for the American science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson
Glen Albert Larson is an American television producer and writer best known as the creator of Battlestar Galactica, The Fall Guy, Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider.-Career:...
. A re-edit of the episode was released theatrically as Battlestar Galactica in Canada, Australia and some countries in Europe and Latin America before the television series aired in the U.S., in order to help recoup its high production costs. Later, in May 1979, the feature-film edit was also released in the U.S. (see below)
Synopsis
Battlestar Galactica is set in a distant star system, in an age described as "the seventh millennium of time." Twelve colonies of humans, living on different worlds, have been fighting a 1,000 year war against the roboticRobotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
race of Cylons
Cylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
, who seek to exterminate all of humanity.
The Cylons have unexpectedly sued for peace, through the diplomatic agency of a human, Count Baltar
Count Baltar
In the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, Count Baltar was a leading antagonist character who betrayed the human race to its enemy, the robot race of Cylons...
. The human leaders and the commanders of their military fleet are all too pleased by the Cylon offer of peace, which ends so many years of warfare. The powerful "Battlestars" are assembled for armistice talks with Humanity's age-old robotic enemy. But it's all a deception – Baltar has betrayed humanity for personal gain, and the Cylons have no intention of making peace. Commander Adama, of the battlestar Galactica, suspects that the Cylons are planning a trap.
Adama is the only battlestar commander who's suspicious of the Cylons' motives. He orders a recon patrol, consisting of his two best pilots: his eldest son, Apollo, and Lt. Starbuck. Adama's younger son, Zac, convinces Starbuck to let him go in his place. The patrol discovers a vast Cylon armada waiting in ambush behind a moon named Cimtar, but the Cylons jam their communications. Cylon fighters pursue the two Vipers, and Zac's fighter is hit. This forces Apollo to leave him behind, so that the fleet can be warned. Zac's Viper is destroyed by the Cylons just before he reaches the fleet.
Baltar manipulates President Adar into prohibiting the launch of fighters as the Cylons close in on the fleet. Frustrated, Adama orders the Galactica's Viper squadrons be placed on full alert, with their fighters ready to launch. As the Cylons attack, the Galactica is able to launch its fighters first, while the other battlestars are caught off-guard. The Atlantia, with President Adar aboard, is destroyed. Galactica alone survives the Cylon assault. Apollo informs Adama that the Cylons were accompanied by refueling tankers. Adama realizes that this would allow the fighters to operate far from their base ships (known as "basestars"). The Cylon capital ships must be operating somewhere, since they aren't attacking their main fleet. He orders the Galactica to withdraw and protect the planet Caprica. But they are too late – they find the planet devastated. The Cylon fleet had launched massive assaults on all the Colonies.
With the Colonies in ruins, Adama collects as many survivors as possible, and orders every intact civilian ship to take survivors and follow the Galactica. They hope that the Galactica can protect this ragtag fleet long enough to find the legendary thirteenth human colony. It is called Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, but the location of this lost colony is known only to the last lord of Kobol
Kobol
Kobol is the name of a planet in the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe.Within the context of both Battlestar Galactica stories, Kobol is the birthplace and original home of humanity, from which the civilization departed and formed the Twelve Colonies on other worlds...
, the planet which was the original home of Man, but which was abandoned thousands of years earlier, when the Thirteen Tribes migrated to the stars.
Helping Adama in the quest for Earth are his son, Captain Apollo, commander of the Galactica's strike wing; Lieutenant Starbuck, the Galactica's best fighter pilot and Apollo's best friend; Lieutenant Boomer; and Colonel Tigh, Adama's second-in-command. The Cylon Imperious Leader, determined that no human at all shall survive, orders Baltar's execution, but he is spared at the last moment in order to help the Cylons hunt down the human fleet (as depicted in the TV series version of the film). In the feature film, Baltar is executed by beheading after the Imperious Leader explains to Baltar that he has missed the entire point of the war. All humans must be destroyed. He thanks Baltar for his assistance in wiping out most of the human race, and then orders a Cylon Centurion to kill him on the spot.
After initially escaping the Cylons across a massive starfield called the Nova of Madagon (referred to as such due to its extremely dangerous, hot environment, and Cylon mines), the Galactica and its "ragtag fugitive fleet" find brief respite on the resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
planet of Carillon, where they hope to find food and fuel for their journey. As much of the fleet's food supplies were contaminated by pluton bombs during the Cylon attack, the fleet is in desperate straits, and must find a food source soon or face starvation, and Carillon has plenty.
It quickly becomes apparent that there is more to Carillon than meets the eye. The fact that Carillon has more than enough food and fuel for the fleet's needs makes Adama wary. It is also apparently the largest tylium (fighter fuel) mining facility in that part of the galaxy, but nobody has ever heard of the place. Adama questions where the Ovions are getting their food, and what the connection is between the resort on the surface and the underground mining operations. Starbuck is pleased that he is winning so much at the gaming tables, but begins to suspect that something is wrong, because the gamblers never lose their money. Colonel Tigh mentions to Adama that "some of our people are getting downright obese," because of all the food to which the Ovions have access. Carillon seems like the answer to the prayers of a people who have just experienced the destruction of their entire civilization. Sire Uri, Adama's nemesis on the Council of the Twelve, has authorized visitor passes to half the population of the fleet for the purpose of visiting the Carillon resort. Adama grows increasingly suspicious, and does some research on the Carillon outpost. He discovers that Baltar was responsible for performing the initial Carillon survey, and reported that tylium was too minimal for mining. He immediately smells a Cylon trap.
Meanwhile, the Council of the Twelve led by Sire Uri, believing the Cylons have been left far behind, propose that the humans pause to celebrate their escape and dismantle their military and weapons to prove to the Cylons that humans are no longer a threat to them. The Council arranges a banquet on Carillon, and orders all fighter pilots to attend. The Cylons, believing that all of the pilots are at the banquet, launch a fighter attack against the Galactica in orbit. But Adama has long suspected a trap, and arranges for support crew to impersonate the real pilots at the banquet. The Galactica's Vipers are launched a few at a time so as not to attract Council attention, and stay on the planet's surface until Adama is ready to spring his trap. Once the Cylon fighter contingent is fully engaged with the Galactica, Adama recalls all his Vipers from the surface of Carillon. This takes the Cylons (and the Galactica bridge crew) completely by surprise.
Indeed, the Ovions, Carillon's indigenous insectoid inhabitants, are in league with the Cylons, and the resort on the surface is a trap. The Ovions use humans as food for their young in nesting areas deep underground. Apollo and Starbuck investigate the disappearance of some of their comrades, and discover the conspiracy. Starbuck suspects that the Ovions are supplying the Cylons with tylium for their military, and suggests to set fire to it with his laser pistol in order to blow the planet apart, and deprive the Cylons of a major source of fighter fuel. Before he can do this, however, a firefight with the Cylons erupts, and both Colonial and Cylon laser blasts set fire to the volatile tylium deposits.
During the fight, Apollo realizes the Cylon fighters couldn't have come so far without a basestar. He and Starbuck go hunting, and find a Cylon basestar hidden on the far side of Carillon. In defiance of Commander Adama's recall order, they decide to attempt to destroy it, in order to enable the refugee fleet to elude pursuit. They use fake radio chatter to fool the basestar into thinking it's under attack by multiple Viper squadrons. The basestar descends into Carillon's atmosphere to avoid detection, and is destroyed when the planet finally erupts in a massive tylium explosion.
Despite their victory, however, the humans realize their enemies will still be pursuing them.
Different versions
There have been various versions of the pilot broadcast or released theatrically. Although produced for television, originally as part of a planned series of telemovies and eventually as a television series, Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
decided to release the film in cinemas in order to recoup some of the high production costs with producers believing the series "could be a fine shot at a corner of the Star Wars market." In July 1978, two months before its U.S. television debut, the film was released in Canada, Australia, and some countries in Europe and Latin America. The release was a success following an aggressive marketing campaign from Universal and influenced the decision to release the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
pilot in cinemas a year later. Later episodes of the regular Battlestar Galactica series were also re-edited and released in cinemas internationally.
Although there are many minor differences between the broadcast pilot and the cinema release, the most notable is the fact that, in the film version, Baltar is executed by the Cylons, whereas, in the television version, he is held for public execution before later being shown mercy by the Cylons, and going on to be a major character in the TV series. The cinema release also made use of Universal's Sensurround
Sensurround
Sensurround is the trademark name for a process developed in the 1970s by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings...
process, the last American film to use it.
The television version was first broadcast in the U.S. on September 17, 1978. This original three-hour broadcast was interrupted for more than an hour to televise the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States...
between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Menachem Begin and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
's Anwar Sadat, overseen by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. Following the coverage, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
resumed the broadcast, right where it was interrupted. In later years, this version has often been split into three episodes, each an hour long, for syndication.
In May 1979, following the broadcast of the final episode of the regular series, the film version was released in some U.S. cinemas.
In 1980, the pilot was edited again and syndicated as part of a series of re-edited Battlestar Galactica telemovies.
DVD releases
Both the cinema version and the television version have been released on DVD. The television version was released as part of "The Complete Epic Series" boxset containing all episodes of the series. The film version was released in 2006.Other media
- A photonovelFumettiFumetti is an Italian word which refers to all comics. In English, the term refers specifically to photonovels or photographic comics, a genre of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. Italians call these fotoromanzi...
of the film was released in 1979, and is considered a highly-prized collector's item. While much of this demand was due to each image on each page being taken directly from the actual 35mm film cells, compounding the value was the scarcity of intact copies; the glossy paper used for the print stock did not adhere well to the spine glue, and after several reads the binding tended to fall apart. This was further compounded as the glue became brittle with age. - Stu Phillips' soundtrack to the pilot, as performed by the Los Angeles PhilharmonicLos Angeles PhilharmonicThe Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
has been released on various occasions in the past, including a re-recorded LP, released in 1978 by MCA RecordsMCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
around the time of the film's TV debut. This was followed by a dedicated CD in the boxset entitled The Stu Phillips Anthology - Battlestar Galactica containing the original film tracks for the first time. In 1999, it was also re-recorded by the Royal Scottish National OrchestraRoyal Scottish National OrchestraThe Royal Scottish National Orchestra is Scotland's national symphony orchestra. Based in Glasgow, the 89-member professional orchestra also regularly performs in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, and abroad. Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company has performed full-time since 1950,...
, conducted by Phillips himself, and issued on CD. It was issued again in February, 2011, by Intrada RecordsIntrada RecordsIntrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
featuring the complete score as recorded for the film by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. - A paperback novelization of the film was published in 1978.
- The story was adapted into comic book form by Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, first in a magazine format, then later in both tabloid format and as a trade paperback. - An audio drama version was created by editing the film's mono sound and adding narration voiced by Lorne Greene and released on MCA Records in 1979 under the title "The Saga of Battlestar Galactica", Catalog #3078. The vinyl version features a gatefold sleeve with liner notes. It runs approx. 50 minutes.
2003 television version
- The plot of Part I formed the primary plot of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica miniseriesBattlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series...
, in which the Twelve Colonies are destroyed, and the survivors set out for Earth. - The reimagined series episode "The PassageThe Passage (Battlestar Galactica)"The Passage" is the tenth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. It aired on December 8, 2006.- Plot :...
" is loosely based on the plot of Part II, in which the fleet must navigate through a radiation belt.
2013 film version
Director Brian Singer has stated that the planned feature film will be based on this part of the 1978 television series but will not be a direct adaptation. The specific differences have yet to be revealed between the 1978 television and 2013 film versions of this story.External links
- Saga of a Star World at the Battlestar Wiki
- Storyboard of "Saga" at galactica.tv