Synopsis: The first Cylon war has been raging for 10 years and a young Ensign William Adama joins the fleet. He’s disappointed not to be assigned to a fighter but to a freighter. His co-pilot, Lt. Coker Fasjovic, isn’t too keen on having a rookie flying his aircraft as he has only a short time before he again becomes a civilian. Their cargo is a civilian scientist, Dr. Becca Kelly, but they no sooner leave than she has new orders for them and a new destination. She is less than forthcoming about just what her secret mission is but Adama is keen, particularly as it involves going into Cylon controlled space. Nothing is as it seems however.

My review:

First of all, you might know there is only one reason why I initially watched this film. One of the stars is Sebastian Spence, but unfortunately he will only be a small part of this review as his part is woefully small (though powerful). I will be reviewing the film in its entirety, and I will review his part towards the end.

Permit me to first say that I was pleased to get this movie on bluray–it absolutely made all the difference in viewing it. The special effects in this film certainly rival what one sees on the movie screens these days. This is a step-up from other movies I have seen from the Sci-Fy channel.  For that I tip my hat to them, and it certainly drew me into the story more.

Luke Pasqualino as William Adama

Ben Cotton as Coker Fasjovik

These are the two who figure into the storyline the most. I was familiar with Ben Cotton but not Luke Pasqualino. I have seen Ben Cotton in other Hallmark films (and he had a small part in First Wave in an episode I have yet to see). I will say that as the older co-pilot to the hot head rookie William, he was perfect. In fact, I felt that Ben was far better in his role than Luke. I would attribute that to experience more than anything. Or maybe I could identify with the older character since I am older–who knows? Regardless, both did appear to work well together, and they carried the balance of the action and storyline.

As Dr. Becca Kelly, Lili Bordán also played her role fairly well.  She is yet another unfamiliar actress to me, and the chemistry between her character and Luke’s leads me to the first content advisory. There is a pretty steamy intimate scene between those two.  Also note that there is plenty of real and pseudo-profanity in this film. The real profanity wasn’t an overly large problem, but the fake profanity was quite entertaining at times. Certainly all would know what word was intended, but I must admit hearing these very masculine characters use a word other than what would typically have been uttered was quite humorous at times.

For the most part, this movie was typical science fiction fare with above average technical aspects. I am still a fledgling science fiction fan, so although I was not overly ecstatic about this film, it is probably an above average one as far as these films go. I would have preferred a much more involving story, but this is also intended for the small screen as opposed to the big screen. And my memories of Battlestar Galactica are from the 1970’s–the original series. This is completely different from that period of television history.

Of course, Sebastian was my reason for watching this film. And I’m certainly not complaining about his performance. As he plays the “old” Lt. Jim Kirby who was presumed dead, he is fantastic as always. For the time he is on the screen, he illuminates it as he always does. As his character discovered what has happened with his family during the time he has been gone, it certainly made for some emotional moments.

I often find myself complaining about why they do not give him bigger roles, and this is one time I expected him to come back and was disappointed when he didn’t. He does get some “fight” time in the film, and I can understand why his character makes the decision to head for home. But why on earth could they not tie up that “loose end” of the story? It’s not like he has not made any films for this network before.However, to Sebastian’s credit, he makes his role memorable and exceptional as always. In my opinion, he is of a select group of actors that can shine on the screen no matter how large or small his part is. He always immerses himself completely in his roles, and this one is no exception. Yes, I am biased when it comes to him, but even if I weren’t, I would be able to see his amazing ability.

For me, this is not one of my favorite films, but that is a personal opinion. The special effects certainly brings this to a new level, and sci-fi aficionados will probably find that this film is exactly what they want from this genre.

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