Before season four of Battlestar Galactica began, and we could start to dwell on the mystery of how Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) came back and what is going to happen with Baltar (James Callis) and the stunning reveal of four of the Final Five Cylons, Ronald D. Moore and his creative team went back in time.
They created and produced Razor that chronicled what happened aboard the Battlestar Pegasus under Cain (Michelle Forbes) during the events of the first season and a half of the series. It was broadcast on 24 November, 2007, and an unrated cut was released on 4 December, 2007. It not only helped fill some time before season four started in April 2008, it also gave a fascinating backstory.
Written by Michael Taylor, the film opens with a catch-up of the Pegasus arc on the series, and also introduces us to Kendra Shaw (Stephany Jacobsen), who served aboard the Pegasus. It also begins with Apollo’s (Jamie Bamber) assignment as Pegasus’ new commander.
We follow Shaw’s journey through her time on Caprica, her assignment to the Pegasus, and what happens to her there. We also see where the Six (Tricia Helfer), who ends up a prisoner, came from.
Forbes absolutely shines as Cain here, filling out the character that she brought so vividly to life in the series. We get to see how brutal she is, but also that she has a sense of humour and isn’t the tyrant that we maybe thought she was.
The film shows us what we only heard about in the original miniseries: the attack on the Colonies and the shipyards, as well as the destruction of the other battlestars. The Galactica was saddled with a civilian fleet, the Pegasus was alone, and the themes of military rule are explored.
They are going to war. And everything we heard about Cain’s command style is shown to be true: brutal and unquestionable.
Shaw proves herself not only to Cain but to Apollo, but she’s haunted, hurt, and driven.
The series ties some narrative threads together as well as giving us a glimpse at the past Cylon conflict and some encounters with some classic-looking Raiders and Centurions.
We even get a flashback to the first Cylon war, in which Adama (a younger version played by Nico Cortez) fought, and the designs we see are much more in line with the original series, which is a nice nod. This feels like a test run for what would come after Galactica, and the show Caprica: Blood & Chrome.
This plays more as a war film, and it’s brutal, jarring, and incredibly intense. It illustrates the cost of war. It also adds some wrinkles around Starbuck going into the fourth season. During a raid on a Cylon ship, the hybrid connected to it warns Shaw about Starbuck and her ‘destiny.’
Some of the visual effects aren’t great, but on the whole, this film is absolutely gob-smackingly good. It explores the narrative threads suggested in the series when they first encounter Pegasus, and also gives us a long-overdue look at the Adama kicking ass in the first war. Not to mention the beginning of the Cylons’ work in creating hybrids.
A large part of it hinges on Jacobsen’s performance as Shaw, and we can follow her narrative arc as she is shaped into the person she becomes under Cain, and what that does to her. She is Cain’s Legacy, good and bad.
There are explorations of themes, predominantly the effect of war and the military on humanity. It also sets up some great visual storytelling by reimagining ships and designs from the original series into instruments of the first Cylon war.
This is not a happy film. It’s dark, brutal, and horrifying, and it is Galactica through and through. It’s a fantastic watch. Now let’s dive into the final season of Battlestar Galactica!
