Film/Television Review: Saga of a Star World (Battlestar Galactica, 1978)

Following George Lucas’ massive success with Star Wars, many studios in Hollywood and elsewhere tried to repeat it with their own science fiction spectacles. That included Universal, which had initially rejected George Lucas. In 1978 the studio gave the green light for an enormously expensive and ambitious project by screenwriter and producer Glen A. Larson that would later become known as the television series under the name Battlestar Galactica. Its pilot episode Saga of a Star World, then known as the most expensive in the history of television, was shown in cinema theatres around the world.

The film begins with an opening narration speculating about the possibility that the people of Earth might be just one branch of humanity, with others scattered around space and perhaps connected with Ancient Egypt, old civilisations and mythical lost continents. The plot shows one such branch of humanity organised into the Twelve Colonies, an advanced society which had been in a thousand-year war with the half-reptilian, half-robotic race of Cylons. Thanks to the diplomatic skills of Count Baltar (played by John Collicos) this is coming to an end, an armistice is signed and President Adar (played by Lew Ayres) is looking forward to a formal peace treaty. Adama (played by Lorne Greene), commander of the Colonial Fleet capital ship Galactica, is sceptical and proved right when it turns out that the peace negotiations were only a ruse made in order for the Cylons to stage a surprise attack that would wipe out almost all of humanity. Galactica gathers the survivors into a rag-tag fleet that will try to escape the Cylons and find a new home at a distant and mythical thirteenth colony called Earth.

At the premiere, critics weren’t favourable to Saga of a Star World and often described it as a “cheap” and uninspired copy of Star Wars. More relevant comparisons, however, are between this and the 2003 pilot episode of the re-imagined series. They clearly point to the 1978 version being much more light-hearted and family-oriented. This is most clearly manifested in the character of six-year-old boy Boxey (played by Noah Hathaway) and his mechanical pet “Muffit II”. Although there are some dark moments, the content dealing with genocide and protagonists losing loved ones is relatively quickly absorbed and the scriptwriters indulge in lighter moments involving the heroic deeds of Adama’s son, Captain Apollo (played by Richard Hatch), and the antics of his adventurous friend Lt. Starbuck (played by Dirk Benedict), who even has the luxury of developing a love triangle involving Apollo’s sister, Athena (played by Maren Jensen), and “socialator” Cassiopeia (played by Laurette Spang). An even lighter tone is achieved in the second part of the film, when the plot takes place on Carillon, some sort of pleasure planet where human tourists seem oblivious to the genocidal events in the rest of the universe and even more oblivious, towards unexpectedly high levels of friendliness by the native insect-like race of Ovians. The film, very much like other shows of the ABC network at the time that inspired the phrase “jiggle television”, employs mild eroticism and features a large number of scantily dressed women.

Despite these flaws and inconsistencies, Saga of a Star World functions as a surprisingly good television pilot and space opera in its own right. Special effects, supervised by John Dykstra, who worked on Star Wars, represent the highest standard of their age. The film is also elevated by a very good score by Stu Phillips, including a memorable opening theme. The acting is also good, including Lorne Greene, whose deep, comforting voice is quite convincing for a leader of desperate survivors, and Greene plays scenes featuring his grief and self-doubt well. John Collicos, a famed veteran of Star Trek, is delightfully entertaining in the role of the treacherous Baltar, despite his character being less complex than in the 2003 version. Although much simpler than its 2003 remake, Saga of a Star World might explain how the original short-lived Battlestar Galactica created and maintained a loyal fan base decades after its premature cancellation.

RATING: 7/10 (++)

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