Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009 Video) User Reviews (59)

Uncomfortably like a high school reunion

[A_Different_Drummer · 6/10 · 4 April 2015]

Where the people you meet are important to you only because they were already important to you Which pretty much sets it apart from the other movie versions of BSG each of which managed to both carry the story and at the same time be a self-standing movie for newbies.

The pace is slow. A fly crawling up a drape makes better progress.

If you watch the whole thing (and many will not) you will be haunted by the notion that the producers saw this as an easy payday and a chance to reuse footage from earlier episodes.

Maybe. Maybe not.

The rating I gave tells the tale. Dean Stockwell gives the performance of his life. There is a scene at the 1:40 mark involving Stockwell, a small boy, an apple and a knife. It is mesmerizing Which is more than I can say of the movie

The Cylon view of events

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 13 January 2020]

This film retells the events of the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica but with one crucial difference; it is told from the Cylon perspective. As such it contains crucial plot points that anybody watching the original series wouldn't discover till a few seasons in... that is the main reason not to watch this before finishing the series. The other is that it will seem very rushed; events that took place over an episode or more may be covered in a few minutes and much of the plot advancement is skipped altogether. Similarly no time is spent explaining who characters are.

The story starts as two Cylon 'Number One' models are about to be executed; each of them has very different views about what should have been done to humanity. We then jump back to just before the attack on the colonies. The events that follow are shown from the perspectives of various key Cylon characters, some of whom believe themselves to be human. It becomes clear that it was expected that the attack would completely exterminate humanity; the Cylons certainly didn't expect to have to exist within human society as they do and it is clear that some of them are developing unexpected feelings.

I rather enjoyed this; probably because it is quite a while since I've watched the series so it provided many reminders of great episodes... perhaps because a fair amount of the material was reused. Seeing the events from the Cylon point of view was interesting as was seeing how living amongst people for an extended period showed that they weren't as different from their creators as they would like o believe. The acting was solid; most notable from Dean Stockwell who was great as Number One, AKA Brother Cavell; he dominated every scene he was in. I didn't expect any surprises but the story managed to provide some. These including a genuinely shocking moment where a child is killed. Not all surprises were good; there was some gratuitous nudity which appeared to be there just because the makers were free from restrictions which applied in the broadcast series... I have nothing against nudity in film/TV but it shouldn't be quite as gratuitous! Overall this isn't a must see but BSG fans wanting to see the characters again should enjoy it.

Insulting to Fans and a Poor Piece of Work in General

[killblue · 6/10 · 27 December 2009]

I had mixed feelings about the concept of The Plan before I saw it: Olmos spoke a lot about The Plan at a panel at '09 Wizard World Convention in Philadelphia. He was very excited about the project and led us to believe that we would be presented an intimate look at an extended Cylon plot that ran concurrently with the series as a whole.

He did not deliver.

First, the movie is at least 40% Archive Footage (taken from Season 1 and Season 2). The scenes are woven in as helpful "reminders". These "reminders" help connect events from the show to their extended explanations in "The Plan". Truthfully, the archive footage is abrupt and unnecessary. Fans would easily be able to connect "The Plan"'s events.

The story of this movie lacks the provocative and thought-inspiring nature that BSG is so respected for. The writing is poor and the events play out in rather unspectacular way.

The only thing that saves this movie is the strong performances by Dean Cain, Tricia Helfer, and Callum Keith Rennie. Though the writing is not up to normal standards, these actors' mastery over their characters is readily apparent in this flimsy companion piece.

Overall, watch "The Plan", it's not very long and has a few interesting moments (spread far out in the film). More importantly, if you're interested in Brother Cavil, this is a great way to get some perspective on the bitter Cylon "leader." You need to disconnect your brain a little bit at some points (like seeing 7 Cylons hiding in plain sight on Galactica), and if you can, you can enjoy the bits of BSG-goodness hidden in the film.

A Recap from the Cylon Perspective

[ceosion · 7/10 · 20 October 2009]

As a quick response to some of the other comments, I have to wonder if a select few of those authors actually paid attention to the series and/or this movie. While there are definite open ends when the series ended, at least one of the authors above asked questions that were most certainly answered. (e.g. "Why did the Final Five create the humanoid Cylons?" We have that answer, give during the series. *SERIES SPOILER* It was a bargain to try and end the cycle - the Final Five reached the colonies right in the midst of the Cylon revolt. They traveled to the twelve colonies to warn them about the cycle of destruction, but it had already begun. In an attempt to salvage what was left, the Final Five convinced the centurions to leave the colonies and in return, they would provide the humanoid Cylons along with advancement to their technology, i.e. resurrection.) Any way, back on point: another reviewer put it well to say that this movie contains very little *new* plot devices. For the most part, it reuses all of the plot devices from the series, but tells them from the Cylon perspective. While I would have appreciated some more detail into the model 7 (a.k.a. Daniel) along with Kara Trace's mysterious character and the Baltar/Caprica-Six Angels, I think this movie does a fantastic job of adding to the re-imagined BSG canon. We all knew that Cavil played a significant role from his discussions with Ellen in the final episodes of the series, but this movie definitely gives him the spot light, allowing the audience to see his personalities. The Plan does a good job at filling in some minor plot holes like "what was happening with Boomer in season 1 when she kept blacking out" and it was interesting to see the orchestrating that the different Cylons performed to achieve the result of the series. The Plan starts after the Final Five had been placed on Earth, and details a bit about how they lived before the fall, and how they got onto Galactica, which was largely a missing link prior to this movie.

In my opinion, I always jump on the skeptic wagon when I begin to watch a movie or TV show that is reusing material from earlier production. I'm careful to assess the movie and how much of it is simply recycled. I was pleased with The Plan, because while it does reuse material from the series and deleted scenes, I feel they do so in a significant way and not too much. Many scenes that they did pull from the series, they included the removed portions and shot new extended versions of those scenes to fill in any continuation holes. There are shots of the Final Five saying "this has happened before" (an eerie recall to their true identities before they awoke) which are new, considering Ronald D. Moore admitted to not having selected them until later in the series.

Overall, I give this a 7 / 10 because it could have done more. There are still other questions The Plan doesn't address, but I guess that is partially why Edward James Olmos said "this probably isn't the last BSG."

Doesn't really add anything other than telling the same stories in a slightly different way

[bob the moo · 21 February 2010]

I joined Battlestar Galactica the series after it was all finished with, and watched it through DVD's, which I find is the best way to watch series where possible. I enjoyed it all the way through but was never a raving fan of the show to the point where I could not accept any faults or criticism. Anyway, I was not really looking forward to this TVM simply because I only half-heard about it and never saw the adverts or hype that professed it to be something important or worth seeing. Although I was not told this I still did hope that the film would be worth watching but the truth is that it cannot get over the problem that it hasn't got anything new to say.

It is a shame because had this been built into the show then perhaps it would have worked better, but by coming after the series has concluded one does have to take this film as a standalone. As such it has the themes of the show, the events of the show and the narratives and the only difference is that we have some new material which acts as framing to allow a new angle to be put on the events. I say angle rather than perspective because "perspective" suggests that there is some insight or opinion to be gained from the different telling whereas angle just suggests the same thing from a different view point and that is what the film is. Watching it is a bit irritating because the new material is sporadically interesting but it never lasts long and it is not strong enough to "be" the film and as a result the film remains about the threads that we have already seen – and these are not different enough due to the new angle to be particularly worth seeing.

The cast do what they did originally (in some cases exactly the same since many are only in old footage) but I did think that Stockwell did well in his additional scenes. Other than that though there is not much else to say – the film doesn't add much and for those who have seen the series (and if you haven't why are you watching this?) the vast majority of it will be just the same material from a slightly different angle, with the new material being the same themes from a different angle. Built into the series (like Razor) then maybe this could have washed (big maybe) but as a standalone film after the fact it just feels like an accountant has done the maths and tried to work out how to keep getting the revenues that BSG brought in before it finished.

great start, disappointing middle and end

[dario_van_kuschn · 6/10 · 23 October 2009]

The attack on the Colonies was great and the movie started with locations we have never seen and characters we didn't know that much about. Helen in a bar, Tory in a car, Anders in pyramid camp. But then the movie started relying on footage from the miniseries and first season and The Plan went downhill. They set up all these things and then they just forget all about them.

The interesting thing about this movie is that they really didn't show us ANYTHING groundbreaking, revealing or surprising. I expect to see the story of the Olympic Carrier, more of Helen on the hospital ship, and definitely more of Tory! They show her surviving a nuke blast and that's about it. How did she get on Galactica? Why wasn't Cavill with her like he was with the rest of the Final Five? Hell, even that promised revelation of how Shelley Godfree (spelling?) got off the ship was total BS. So she went out of the air lock. Yawn. Really didn't see that coming... And they try to explain her disappearance by making up yet another Six model, the which I call Slut Six. But what's her story then? How did she get on and off Galactica? What happened to her? This was supposed to be about the Cylons yet I don't know anything about the Cylons! My biggest problem with this movie was all the reused footage. I mean, I get why they used some of it. To establish where and when in the story we are. To show us which moments were influenced by what. But half the movie? They recycle half the movie?! I thought Edward James Olmos would do a better job directing. They could have at least shown us more about the Resistance and Anders. How did their group become so big, for example? And I remember when Anders showed up on the show he told Kara they liberated a school and used it as their HQ. Well show us that action for frak's sake! Before Kara left them Sam told her they would look for more farms and destroy them. Well show us that! Why are you showing me scenes from The Farm that I already watched twice before? Instead of a movie that was supposed to fill in the gaps and give us a different viewpoint we get two or three Cavill copies stepping in and out of old reused scenes from the show. When they said it would be the war from their side, I expected more stuff inside their world. Where were the baseships, heavy raiders, the Colony, resurrection ships and stuff like that? Why didn't they show us more of the world we've seen in the episode Downloaded? THAT was a story from the Cylon POV. Not this.

Basically, there were only two things I liked. The beginning and the very end. I loved the twist where Cavill stabbed the child. One would expect that a child would turn him over to being more human, not Kara and Sam hugging in the forest. So that was sort of fun. And the shots of the two of them floating through the fleet was awesome.

The motivation of the cylons, why they attacked and why they stopped.

[hagnor · 9/10 · 25 October 2009]

This movie is an excellent addition to the series. In fact it only covers the events of the first 2 seasons, but now seen from the cylon perspective. It must be said though that it is quite mandatory that you saw at least those 2 seasons, otherwise you won't have a clue what it is all about.

Now the spoilers :

The movie is a combination of 2 stories, 2 perspectives, and a whole range of subplots as we've come to expect and love in the Battlestar series. The first perspective is from a brother Cavil model (the priest), on board of Galactica who runs the anti-human movement. The other perspective is from another brother Cavil, on the planet Caprica, where he infiltrates the resistance. Both brother Cavils are in essence exactly the same, but it are their different experiences that set them apart. Initially they both hate all humans (and act very much like spoiled children), but gradually things happen that make it change. One becomes better, the other becomes worse.

It is all very subtle, and only in the final conversation is everything said in more detail (though still subtle). However the full motivation behind the cylon attack on the colonies, and their sudden change of heart later (proposing the truce), is all there - some other comments here unfortunately fail to spot it and bash the whole movie as a result. The skinjobs attacked out of frustration with their limited human form and the obvious lack of acceptance as human, which caused them to hate their creators. "As long as a human lives there can be no place for cylons". Coupled with that they are also jealous of the real humans, because the cylons can never be anything else than machines. There are more reasons, but like I said it is all very subtle. It helps to think of the cylons as children without much life experience. The change of heart comes from the experiences of the individual skinjobs placed among the humans. To put it cheesy : they learn what it means to love, and that conquers all hatred. E.g. Boomer could not kill Adama because she loved him (which seemed like a plot hole at the time : if you wanted to kill Adama, just put the second bullet in his head instead of his chest. This plot hole is now "filled"). Even the stubborn Cavil who is left on the planet learns the meaning of it.

So all in all, a very good movie, that should be watched together with the series.

What a pointless movie

[siderite · 6/10 · 15 November 2009]

I had trouble following the thread of the film, and I've watched all BSG episodes religiously, so there is no chance in hell anyone else than a BSG fan could want to watch it. But then again it didn't provide any answers, just a feel good humanization of the cylon skinjobs, which felt stretched anyway.

Bottom line: a futile exercise, especially after we've seen the horrible ending of the series.

If this would have been released before the end of the fourth season, it would have made some sense, but like this... it was just a waste of time.

A great companion piece to the series

[megatom5 · 9/10 · 19 October 2009]

First of all let me get one thing straight, this is in no way an original Battlestar Galatica story. Razor had a story that centered around a new character and told a somewhat self-contained story. This is almost the complete opposite; no relevant new characters, no truly new plot lines. This film is essentially a side story of the original two seasons. It deals with the attack on the colonies and the subsequent invasion and pursuit of Galactica from the point of view of the Cylons; not just the original 8 models but also the final five.

The main character is actually Brother Cavil, in two different forms one on Caprica and one on-board Galatica. We see that Cavil plays a crucial role in orchestrating the Cylon events on the Galactica, while his Caprica counterpart takes the role of a distant observer to the struggling band of survivors on Caprica.

What I really liked about this movie is that it kind of ties everything together. It retreads the old plot lines of the first two seasons, but knowing the revelations to take place it puts everything in a different light. It also explores the intense cruelty and duality of Cavil. Additionally, some of the plot lines that were never quite clear, begin to make sense. (How did Leobin know so much about Kara? Where Valeri's actions intentional?) There are three issue that I can foresee someone having with this. The first being, that some might feel it being a retcon of the first two seasons to connects the events of the fourth. While this might be somewhat true, I don't think it takes anything away from them, and if you liked the fourth season it adds something significant to it. The second issue is that it is a retread. We already know exactly what happens to all these characters. But I don't think that the compelling part of this is what happens so much as why it happens, and what feelings and emotions are fueling the Cylons. The third is that there are basically no space battles to be seen here. There is a great opening sequence where we get a much more in depth look at the destruction of the colonies, but for a show called Battlestar Galatica we might expect some space jockey action.

I am not a prude but I must say that after seeing the unrated DVD, there is a bit of gratuitous nudity. Not that I had a problem with it, so to say, but it felt a little out of place, like it was trying to be a little shocking. Maybe it was just trying to give us a taste of what the show would have been like on HBO, i dunno just felt a little tacked on.

Overall this is a great companion piece to the series, does not feel entirely necessary but at the same time doesn't feel like it didn't need to be in the first place.

Only for completists

[michaellaing71 · 6/10 · 11 August 2011]

Whilst 'The Plan' well made and not terrible, we find out a couple of new things but the idea and story isn't nearly as good as it should be. The script fails to ignite and there is understandably a lot of reused footage. The acting is good, especially from Dean Stockwell who really holds the story together. The special effects are good but there are no big battles, the score is subtle most of the time, occasionally the camera is a bit to unsteady but that is just a personal thing. Editing is OK, not really exciting. I didn't hate any part of it but it didn't excite me at all either. A bit disappointing really.

Really I would say that this film is for Battlestar Gallactica completists. Hopefully Battlestar will do a film explaining all the stuff they didn't bother to explain about Star Buck but somehow I doubt that will happen.

Didn't work for me

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 18 July 2012]

As someone who enjoys Battlestar Galactica a good deal, I wanted to like The Plan. But other than the decent looking sets and costumes and the better than average acting I didn't care overall for the movie. The writing is not as clever and often doesn't flow very naturally, while the story is not only dull with a lot of it being clumsily incorporated stock footage and overlong filler but with the fact that I didn't get anything new from it I just didn't see the point. The characters are not as interesting either, in fact I found their personalities bland and underdeveloped on the whole.

Overall, not absolutely terrible but pointless and nothing interesting or new. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Cylons are humanoids and among humans become more and more human

[xenolupa · 8/10 · 28 March 2010]

Why the cylons tried to kill all humans is gradually made clear in this movie. Why it failed as well. The original plan was replaced by a new plan and at the end by another one.

Why kill them all? Because the humans made the first (metal) cylons and they made them wrong and therefore the new (flesh) cylons are bad as well.

Why did it fail? Because the cylons were to cocky and thought they could kill them all easily. But some humans are smarter that he cylons expected them to be. And a lot other humans were just plain lucky.

The original plan: kill all humans. The new plan: kill all that are left over. The last one: try to occupy our own bits of the universe.

I like this movie because it connects with several strange bits in the series. The cylons are machines, but they are advanced machines, with advanced and complex brains, they have emotions, longings, moods. And as with any advanced brain, it thinks for itself, it learns, it views opposing sides of any issue. Many of the cylons that live along humans see that the differences are very small. That the way the cylons love and hate and think and plan are not very different from the human way.

I think this movie shows the importance of the matter of perspective. When you're a machine that is designed to live among humans, and actually live for quite a while among humans, you will become more and more human and less and less machine.

The promise that many answers would be answered in this movie is not proved, many are not answered at all. I wanted to see discussions in the cylon worlds about why and how to kill all humans. I wanted to see the cylon worlds, period. I wanted to see meetings of all cylon types. I wanted to see how the flesh cylons were made. I hope that is done in a future movie.

This movie is a nice story. Don't watch it with too high expectations. Don't believe the promises, watch and think for your own. Enjoy the stock footage, enjoy the acting, the special & visual effects, the fights, and enjoy Dean Stockwell. And hope for another movie.

For fans of the series ONLY!!

[masakiuma · 7/10 · 23 June 2010]

The synopsis given by "official" sources says that this movie reveals the Cylons' Plans from before the attack on the colonies up through the end of Season 2.

This review will be extremely short, as talking about much of it at all would be spoiling both the movie and the series.

The movie basically follows 'Number 1,' both the one on Caprica and the one in the fleet, and how they change throughout the course of the series. Unfortunately, it only covers up through season 2, so this so called "Plan" was boiled down to simply kill all humans. Nothing the audience of BSG didn't already know, right? The movie was okay, but it ended up feeling like a long string of deleted scenes from the series. If you have seen the whole series, then it is a must-see, even if there is nothing new.

Taken as a standalone movie, it is easily a 1/10. However, there is NO WAY someone who has not seen the entire series of BSG should even consider watching this. It doesn't introduce anything new really, but it is a decent addition/companion to the series that all hardcore fans need to see.

Disappointing

[mike-ryan455 · 4/10 · 19 October 2009]

I hate to say it, but the Galactica stable are really losing their touch.

The story is half stock footage from the series and half filler. OK, we learn some details like HOW Ellen Tigh got out alive - but we knew she did. We see some trivia, like who Caprica Six met just before the raid, but who cares? We see some familiar Cylons in unfamiliar and unexpected places, generally risking throwing off continuity.

We don't see the things I really wanted to know. I wanted to see the Cylon worlds. I wanted to see WHY the Cylons chose to attack, and why now. I want to see WHY they chose to infiltrate Earth, and why that way. I want to learn the Cylon choices and motivations and psychology.

Oddly, the costume designer was shown in the credits before the writer. I guess the writing is less important than the consulting producer and other illusory titles. Jane Epperson wrote this one, as well as being the executive producer. Ron Moore wasn't in the critical credits. Where was he? Perhaps if he'd spent more time on this than Virtuality he'd have gotten one good product.

While the visuals were good, what I feel is the now increasingly tired end of a series. How long will they keep scraping the bottom? I guess as long as they think they can make money at it.

A lukewarm recap of the series.

[lewiskendell · 6/10 · 11 June 2010]

If The Plan is the last of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica that we'll ever see, does it complete the series in a bang, or a whimper?

I'd say somewhere between the two. Where Razor was a fun side-story that added some welcome, but unessential details to the Battlestar Galactica cannon, The Plan is really nothing more than a retelling of the majority of the story, from the Cylon's point of view. Specifically, the points of view of two Cavil's and two Simon's.

We get a few answers during the movie that explain some minor, niggling questions, and those were pretty cool. But everything else is either just a review of events that were driven by the Cavil's, outside of our knowledge, a few scenes that more fully integrate the Final Five into the earlier parts of the series, or a look at the experiences that the two Simon's had with the humans that they were close to. 

One's and Four's are among my least favorite Cylon models, so I can't say that I was exactly thrilled that they were the focus of the majority of the story. But I did feel like I knew more about the Cylons and the mythology of the series after I watched it, so it was worthwhile for me. I'm not going to complain about any new BSG, and getting to see some of my favorite characters one last time was worth the price of admission, by itself.   

Just look at it as a long recap episode with some never before seen footage, and you won't be disappointed. Razor was better, but The Plan serves its purpose somewhat well, and its a bittersweet final entry for anyone who's a fan of one of the best TV shows in years.

OK, I suppose

[keiron-w · 7/10 · 9 December 2009]

Warning: If you haven't seen the whole BSG series, then BSG - The Plan won't make any sense at all. It'll just look like a bunch of deleted scenes cobbled together. If you have seen the BSG series, then it will fill in some blanks along the BSG storyline, only from a Cylon perspective. Some of the special effects weren't that convincing, particularly the initial nuclear attack. I always thought nuclear blasts leveled everything around them but left whatever was precisely below them at ground zero mostly intact. (just like Hiroshima) Oh, yeah ... the DVD easter egg is in the Bonus menu, go to "Cylons of The Plan" and right arrow.

Resurrection ship. The beginning is the end. Ouroboros

[kular7 · 8/10 · 22 October 2009]

After a very disappointing final episode of the series that answered and revealed naught, the plan finally digs deeper into the motivations and questions that a created construct has about it's creator and what it means to develop into an evolved human prototype. From my estimation the plan is both the beginning and the definitive ending of this exotic and brutally honest space opera. It brings full circle the entire series. The fact that it is pieced together like an elaborate jigsaw puzzle is apropos in my mind.

The eternal recurrence, that this has all happened before, this is a complex morality tale that both satisfies and justifies many unanswered questions that I had, it places its brand upon the entire series and I can now breath a sigh of relief that this was truly one of the best dramas in television. No longer a hurried, convenient open exit, the end is now the beginning and so we must continue to wonder and to speculate on what the idea of humanity really means.

A mixed bag, more informative than fulfilling.

[WarriorAlien · 7/10 · 28 October 2009]

I'm a more lenient Battlestar fan than most. I for one loved the final season and I might as well be labeled a freak for enjoying "Daybreak" as much as I do--which is, to say, a lot--but I like what I like. That said, The Plan bordered on disappointment, but thankfully did not cross that unfortunate barrier.

I could be blunt and call it a glorified clip show but that doesn't do it much justice. While Jane Espenson and Edward James Olmos have focused too much on needless exposition, featuring clips that any BSG completionist would be already familiar with, the story elements they have included are beyond satisfying. I was confused to see the Cylon's overturn the year-long truce at the end of the 2nd season and the explanation offered here not only ties up a loose end but gives great insight as to the mindset of everybody's favourite genocidal maniac, John Cavi--if only one particular copy.

When the titular plan is finally revealed--not even a half an hour into the proceedings--it comes as no surprise to anyone who's watched the first two seasons. But, to her credit, Espenson does better by the emphasizing the complications in such a strategy, as emphasized by Rick Worthy's performance as a Simon copy hidden within the fleet. I always felt that the Simon model was underplayed during the series proper, and here it's nice to see some complexity introduced to the character--again, even if it's only with one copy.

The Plan is definitely a completionist's item, rather than something to appreciate in and of itself. But where it doesn't stumble it satisfies.

Psychology of a Cylon

[jmholt87 · 9/10 · 1 November 2009]

While I agree with some of the other commenters that The Plan in some ways does not hold up two well in terms of plot. While it does, as it claims to do, answer quite a number of open ended questions form the show, the majority of those questions are relatively unimportant or are things that the audience could deduce on its own(for example, it isn't a big revelation that in the Miniseries when Baltar's Six turns around and says "its about time, I wondered when you'd get here" she is talking to a Cavil, it could easily be assumed, even without watching the rest of the show, that she is talking to one of the other Cylons.) However, as a psychological study of the Cylons, their personalities, motivations, and why they are trying to destroy humanity The Plan is utterly fantastic. While the movie centers around two of the Cavils and gives quite a bit of insight into their determination to destroy humanity the psychologies of two Simons, the Leoben who torments Starbuck, Boomer while she is a sleeper agent, Several Six's, Anders, and to some degree Tyrol as well, is dealt with extremely well. While the 'plan' of the Cylons really is quite simple you get quite a bit more incite into the Cylons themselves as a result, and why they continually fail to destroy humanity.

The acting here is superb, all around, although special mention must be given to Dean Stockwell for his brilliant portrayal of the two Cavil's on which the plot hinges. The visuals, as always with this series, are also fantastic as is Edward James Olmos's direction.

While this piece is not necessary to the understanding of Battlestar Galactica the psychological aspects that this movie introduces gives the show, especially some of the events in the first two seasons(although it is relevant to later events as well) a lot more depth to them and it serves as a good companion to the series and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series.

Pointless but not all bad

[grantss · 6/10 · 20 December 2023]

A movie that parallels the series Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), showing the attack on the 12 Colonies of Cobol, the aftermath and the human fleet's odyssey from the Cylon perspective. In particular we see it from the point of view of the humanoid Cylons, especially Brother Cavil / Number One.

A movie that's neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Battlestar Galactica series but rather shows key events in the series from a Cylon-perspective. It adds nothing to the story so is quite pointless, other than a means for the producers to squeeze some more dollars out of the Battlestar Galactica brand. Being from a Cylon perspective it's not that engaging and it's not filling any gaps in the storyline you were wondering about. Did we really need to know who caused the explosion that destroyed Galactica's water supply, say? No.

It's behind-the-scenes Cylon goings-on that nobody cares about.

This said, the graphics are great, better than the series, and there are some interesting sub-plots and themes. The fact that many of the Cylons gain a conscience and can't go through with their missions is particularly interesting. The fact that most of the flashbacks are from the best part of the series - Seasons 1 and 2 - also beings back fond memories.

Sorry but this was WAY below par

[tl12 · 3/10 · 2 February 2010]

I was a great fan of the series and bought the DVD's as soon as they were available.

This, however, was a real let down. It was almost more like a budget saving "clip show" than a movie. There was nothing new, no revelations, no finally uncovered PLAN. It was just a rehash of everything you knew before.

It was nice to see Edward James Olmos direct again and there were some new scenes (heavily mixed with clips).

I'm certain there are some great movies that could be made based on the series. Unfortunately this was not one of them.

Brilliant

[imdb-559-821362 · 10/10 · 19 October 2009]

In a way, I envy those who have never watched Battlestar Gallactica (BSG) but decided to see this one. Me, who have followed the show through out the years, now feel the sudden urge to watch them again.

With every story ever told, having more then one side to it, so does the BSG one. All though you might not agree with their view on things, it is interesting to see it.

Now being a fan, I found a lot of "aha" moments through out the film, moments a viewer, new to the story might not see at all.

If you have seen anything from the BSG show, even if it is just a short clip or stray episode and found it interesting, watching this movie will sure be time well spent.

There is no plan.

[txdragonxt · 3/10 · 25 October 2009]

Everything "The Plan" tells us about Battlestar Galactica we already knew from the show.

The old plan: Kill all humans.

Some people survived.

The new plan: Kill those humans.

Meanwhile, various cylon individuals feel that "love" is very powerful, and decide to sympathize with the humans. The main Cavil says, "Screw that," and goes off to try and kill more people, but that comes to no surprise.

What did we expect out of this movie, anyway? There are a couple "plans" that I can think of that could use some extra explaining.

Why did the number 1's decide to reintroduce the Final 5 back into human society before the attack on the colonies? This movie does nothing to talk about how the Final 5 fit into Cavil's so-called plan.

What about the Simon's trying to find a way for cylons to give birth? No details on that plan.

What divine right did God give the cylons? Who knows.

Which deep, social and culturally relevant topics is James Edward Olmos addressing? Not sure.

Even as an avid fan of BSG, I'm not sure why this movie is rated so high by other people. The story was not gripping, insightful, or even entirely original (like Razor). Instead, it was disconnected, droll, and underwhelming.

Excellent.....If you've seen the complete series...

[hiigarasjet · 10/10 · 9 January 2010]

Let me open this review with simply....FRAK-TAKULAR But this review will probably get bombed with negativity...

It's a good 107 minutes worth of interesting back story that was never covered in the series. The Plan shows us the cylon point of view from just before the attacks on the colonies up until toward the end of the second season of battlestar galactica...

I will stay clear of giving too much away...it's filled with dark humor and sexual humor but it's all in good fun. Most hardcore BSG fans out there will either cringe or swoon over this movie I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was just an extension of Battlestar Galactica!...I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen the full series...!

Everyone wants to find something to complain about from board posts and negative reviews..I give this 10 stars with the advice of, "Ignore all reviews and go in watch it without any expectations"

So get some pop corn and your favorite cylon plush toy and sit back and enjoy!

Thorough Reexamination of Battlestar Galactica

[huntleyrussell-565-35819 · 10/10 · 30 October 2009]

The cylons were created by man. They rebelled and evolved to appear human and even think as humans. These robotic machines in the universe of Battlestar Galactica destroyed an entire civilization of fictional humans in a quest to right the wrongs of their creators' sins. The moral question of justice has always been a backdrop of Battlestar, but The Plan really brings it to the forefront. What reasoning is there for genocide and mass destruction? What moral imperative drives devastating loss of life? Such are the massive questions the show endeavors to resolve, or at least, question. The Plan examines what it means to be human.

In the Battlestar universe, the cylons have always had a plan. We just never got to see or understand it as viewers. The Plan examines pinnacle moments during the Battlestar show and present clips of the events with supplemental scenes to further extrapolate details about the characters. The destruction of the colonies is witnessed first hand by several members of the Final Five cylons who provided the technology for human emulation, one of the critical innovations the cylons made to infiltrate humanity once and for all. Sweeping shots of glistening cities are replaced with apocalyptic images of mindless destruction through waves of nuclear air strikes. The effects are mesmerizing on a visual and intellectual level, as the viewer is left to ponder the massive outcome of military damage to defenseless civilian targets. The emotional impact is overwhelming.

The cylon plan for human genocide derives from the conniving plans of Cavil, labeled One as a cylon model. Dean Stockwell provides a provocative characterization of a somewhat schizophrenic character. He "chews the scenery" a bit as the evil mastermind, but Stockwell emanates his decisions with such moral clarity, such disdain for opposing sides, that he fills the megalomaniac shoes very well. The performance is simultaneously campy and brilliant in his provoking mannerisms. Mixing the personal with the theatrical, he conveys a sensational villain with insistent motives that question our understanding of human morality.

Few of the revelations give any provocative insight into the original plots of BSG, but the impact of the reexamination triggers a strong nostalgic and inquisitive response. Boomer's actions as a sleeper agent are thoroughly scrutinized. The additional scenes extrapolate while leaving some questions open to interpretation and imagination. The fun part of The Plan is reconsidering all of the original conflicts of the Battlestar universe and reinterpreting them, either through the on screen situations or through our own imaginations. The movie encourages the imagination to question the original story-lines, a profound achievement for a movie presented through a format akin to a clip show. It is a "re-imagining" of the clip show and of Battlestar Galactica as a whole, and the result is thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking.

The DVD is chock full of extras, from extended deleted scenes with accompanying soundtrack to special extras which offer insight into the BSG creative process. The special effects team has a feature offering some understanding into the complex creative enterprise of realizing the detailed and realistic visual effects of the series. Edward James Olmos has a feature describing his transition to director and what the process means to him. The extra content enhances the understanding of the creative process and provides additional story lines through the deleted scenes, making for a cornucopia of juicy material.

Most of all, The Plan provides a means of observing our moral universe and the underlying philosophical principles of our existence. Battlestar Galactica has always focused on moral conflicts, and this most recent movie expounds upon Ronald D. Moore's vision as well as human morality. It is a triumph of creative television and moral exploration.

Highs: Exemplary special effects nicely complement a compelling storyline; Dean Stockwell's scenery-chewing brilliance; poetic direction by Olmos; casual confidence of Espenson's dialogue; exciting DVD extras; innovative re-imagining of the clip show.

Lows: Somewhat campy; Cylon evil-ness reduced occasionally to comic slapstick (see Six's wig switch in the middle of the movie).

The Verdict: A, Haunting, nostalgic presentation of the war between man and cylon.