The Movie
The wildly popular reboot of Battlestar Galactica yielded two standalone telefilms apart from the weekly one-hour episodes; the curious (and arguably unnecessary) series coda, The Plan, and Razor, which served as a sort of bridge between the third and fourth seasons.
The story focuses on Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes) and one particular young woman under her command (Stephanie Jacobsen, whom we'd never seen before or since) who is on her way to becoming a "razor," essentially a pure, efficient warrior untainted by emotion. She has both witnessed and perpetrated atrocities in the name of The Pegasus, which puts her at odds with the touchier-feelier crew of The Galactica.
The repeated flashback structure ties Razor into the canon of the weekly show, and one subplot even gives us a couple of thrilling glimpses of the final day of the first Cylon war, complete with old-school Raiders and Centurions! The revelations big and small offer new perspective on familiar characters and events.
For the record, this edition of Razor--which offers both broadcast and extended versions via seamless branching--appears to be identical to the disc that was included in the Battlestar Galactica The Complete Series boxed set released in 2009.
The Picture
Like every episode of Battlestar Galactica, Razor was shot on HD video, as executive producer/developer Ronald D. Moore tells us in his on-camera intro. (His comments are Blu-ray-specific, but he's talking about the series in general.) The 1.78:1 image here is slightly soft, sometimes more than slightly noisy, and blacks are mushier than I've been seeing lately. The elaborate computer-generated special effects are fraught with nuance however, and in general I'd call this above-average for TV on Blu-ray.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 however is better than I remembered, with solid bass for all the military action, including some meaty explosions. There are hard, discrete surrounds combined with a more general rear-channel presence for barking public address systems along with a wide spread of the excellent musical score. Creepy, creative effects also accompany some of the darker scenes. Really well-done for a small-screen production.
The Extras
Moore joins writer Michael Taylor for an audio commentary that is available on the extended cut only. There are also three-and-a half minutes of unchaptered deleted scenes, in addition to 19-and-a-half minutes of "Minisodes" that also feel like lost scenes from the first Cylon war, although much of the footage comes right out of the long cut. We're given a sneak peek at Season Four of the series, as well as featurettes about the look of the show and the creators' favorite episodes up until that point. All of these are in standard definition, harkening back to the DVD release.
Universal's U-Control provides two layers of Bonus View features, "The Oracle" pop-up interactive character/ship info and the "Battlestar Actual" glossary of unusual terminology. The disc also supports BD-Live, accessing both the Battlestar Galactica Trivia Challenge and Battlestar Galactica: Ultimate Battle Card Strategy Challenge game online.
Final Thoughts
While not an indispensable chapter of Battlestar Galactica lore, this made-for-SyFy (or was it "Sci-Fi Channel" back then?) movie will surely appeal the show's many hardcore fans. It's never looked or sounded better, so if you haven't picked it up already, this single-disc package is a handy way to add Razor to your collection.
Product Details
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