Does 'Battlestar's 'Plan' come together?

The phenomenally great revival of Battlestar Galactica seemingly shut up shop earlier this year when the final episode confused the frack out of everyone drew to a close. Before the sets could be dismantled though, a prequel movie entitled 'The Plan' was assembled and after a long wait, is finally out on DVD in the US. With the promise of some plot revelations and toaster-tastic action, we grabbed hold of a copy to see if it's up to scratch. Read on for our slightly spoilerish verdict…

Delving back to the murky days before the devastating attack on Caprica, 'The Plan' adopts the Cylon perspective during the story. Masterfully interweaving snippets of archive footage from the early episodes with the freshly-filmed material, the prequel succeeds in embellishing and building upon the established legacy rather than detracting from it. Curiously though, the Final Cylon herself - Ellen Tigh - is surprisingly redundant in proceedings given her escalation in importance towards the end of the series.

Several sections do lag at times, most notably the romantic entanglements of Tyrol and Boomer, but the efforts of Dean Stockwell and Edward James Olmos do wonders to keep the enterprise afloat. Playing two copies of the devious Number One, Stockwell's mesmerizing presence as Brother Cavil looms large over the subterfuge instigated by the Cylons to thwart Galactica and its fleet. Just wait and see who or what he's been secretly shacking up in bed with! The Caprican copy worms his way into Anders's resistance group, whose efforts receive plenty of exposition, but the results are quite surprising and serve as a fascinating insight into the evolution of the Cylon mindset (or microchipset).

Olmos excels behind the cameras for a change, with Adama receiving minimal airtime. His taut and artistic direction elevates a script that could easily have looked mediocre in lesser hands, adding a spiritual mysticism to certain sequences - particularly in separate private moments featuring Cylons LeoBen and Simon. Away from the emotional content, the handling of the initial bombardment of Caprica is remarkably epic for a small screen production. The destruction is depicted so effectively that you can almost feel burning flesh-tinged smoke oozing out of the telly from the smouldering remains of the incinerated cities. In addition, a counter attack by Anders's rebellion on the Cylons is packed full of tension.

Above all, 'The Plan' makes you want to watch the original series from scratch again - armed with plenty of fresh knowledge about events that we'd previously endured. Boomer's attempted assassination of Adama, the botched suicide bombing by Number Five Doral and the woodland confrontation between the Cylons and the resistance fighters that mysteriously petered out - all of these key moments are approached from Cylon-centric angles. Fans of the captivating Number Six are also in for a treat, as Tricia Helfer's droolsome performance ensures viewers are wrapped around her little finger like the (mostly absent) Gaius Baltar himself.

'The Plan' comes together in the climactic scenes featuring the Cavil copies, embodying the gritty nature and philosophical musings that propelled Battlestar Galactica into its current standing as a contemporary classic. Keep those fracking fingers crossed that this is not the last spinoff film from the franchise, as there is plenty of scope to uncover the mysteries surrounding the likes of Baltar and Starbuck who are only represented by archive footage here. Then again, sometimes it's best to leave things ambiguous.


> What do you think of the prequel? Share your views