Battlestar Galactica: Razor [Blu-ray] |  | Director: Felix Enriquez Alcala
Actors: Edward James Olmos, Mary Mcdonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis
Studio: Universal
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  236 reviews
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
ASIN: B001993Y2M
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Battlestar Galactica: Razor was an oasis for BSG fans--when the double-length episode aired in November 2007, it was the only new material broadcast during the 12-month gap between seasons 3 and 4. But although it sets up some events in season 4, chronologically Razor is a prequel taking place within season 2, when Galactica had unexpectedly met up with a fellow Battlestar, Pegasus. The central character is new, Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen), who becomes the XO after Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) takes command of the Pegasus. Shaw's promotion is controversial among Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and others because Shaw learned the trade under the previous commander of the Pegasus, Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes), who lived by her own wartime rules. The central conflict in Razor involves the Pegasus trying to rescue a Raptor crew from the Cylons. During the mission Shaw flashes back to 10 months earlier, and her experiences in the immediate aftermath of the Cylons' wipeout of Caprica influence how she handles this mission and its implications of a new Cylon-human hybrid. Razor is a riveting adventure, full of the top writing, great acting, and dark end-of-humanity vision that makes Battlestar Galactica the best show on television (that is, when it's actually on). Fans will also enjoy the appearance of old-school Cylons, and the revelation that Gaius is not the only one who fell for the wiles of Number 6 (Tricia Helfer).
The unrated and extended DVD runs 103 minutes, about 16 minutes longer than the Sci-Fi Channel broadcast. There's a brief bit of extra gore from Admiral Cain, and young William "Husker" Adama's (Nico Cortez, nicely channeling Edward James Olmos) mission in the last days of the first Cylon war is now 10 minutes instead of 5, including a spectacular aerial battle. In another new sequence, at the moment when Cain tells Shaw "Sometimes we have to leave people behind so that we can go on," there's a flashback to Cain's experiences in the first Cylon war. Among the bonus features is the complete 19-minute minisode version of Husker's Cylon encounter (previously viewable on Sci-Fi Channel's website) and two deleted scenes. Featurettes include "The Look of Battlestar Galactica" and "My Favorite Episode So Far" ("33" gets a lot of mentions from the cast and crew), and there are a trailer and 2.5-minute "sneak peek" at season 4 (mostly interviewing people who don't know what's going to happen, though Tricia Helfer mentions a new version of herself). In a commentary track for the extended edition, executive producer Ronald D. Moore and writer Michael Taylor discuss how the episode came together (they refer to Razor as episodes as 1-2 of season 4) amid some serious restructuring and bits of trivia, such as how they cast Stephanie Jacobsen in the pivotal role even though she had never watched the show. --David Horiuchi
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| Customer Reviews: Read 231 more reviews...
An extended episode, not a true movie. June 21, 2009
A. Edward Azad (Brooklyn, NY)
I was pretty skeptical about "Razor's" new featured character, Kendra Shaw. Though she is by no means the 'narrator' of this story, most of "Razor" consists of her flashbacks and thus is dedicated to her. I wondered: Why do we need a brand new character with whom we have no attachment to? Isn't this going to push Adama and Lee to the sidelines and make their own stories contrived? (answer: Yep.) How do they expect me to buy this skinny bombshell as a hardened commando? Since BSG is a relatively quick-moving show, you have a number of characters who seem interesting but are written out of the show before we get to mine their full potential.
Kendra is one such character. Introduced as a protege of the late Admiral Cain, she's basically a darker version of Starbuck (Cain even gives her a redundant repeat of the "never flinch" speech), specializing in icy glares and sweating profusely. You thought Starbuck was perspiring a lot at the end of "Resurrection Ship"? She's got nothing on Shaw, who spends the better part of "Razor" sweating buckets while wreathed in shadow and shooting guns in slow motion.
Anyway, I still like her. This is mostly owed to Stephanie Jacobsen's steely-eyed portrayal, not to mention her ambiguous ethnicity (Jacobsen looks Asian, but has a posh Aussie accent). She's very talented; it's too bad, like Michelle Forbes, that she didn't stick around longer.
The plot is nothing impressive; it's an excuse to see classic-era Cylons. Not exactly something I clamoring to see, but it's alright. (Personally, I don't think we see enough of the normal Centurions as it is.) We witness the early, ugly stages of 'humanoid' Cylon creation -- a cool plot thread which was jettisoned in the dull, convoluted Season 4 -- and meet young Adama as he engages in a midair duel with a Cylon. It's mostly fanservice for the sake of fanservice.
My favorite parts of Razor, however, are all about the women: Cain, Shaw, and Starbuck. Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes) is, of course, one of the greatest characters in sci-fi history, nevermind BSG. Though Shaw doesn't seem to have a tangible arc (outside of repenting for Cain's deeds, of which she had little control over), her interactions with Starbuck end up redeeming both characters.
 could be great spin-off May 19, 2009
J. Johnson
with great writers assigned to this project, it could be a great spin-off to continue the saga, and explain life of the peagaus
Wonderful show April 19, 2009
J. Worthen (Rolla, MO)
If your a BSG fan, you will love this DVD, Razor is a wonderful 2 hour episode of the BSG series.
 Unclear narrative April 4, 2009
tell it like it is (UK)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Forbes as admiral Cain was superb and she puts in another great performance here.
Some of the main events we already knew about but these are executed well (no pun intended)but it would have worked better being incorporated into the pegasus story in season 2. The story works pretty well despite lots of flashbacks. There are good performances from the kendra Shaw character. This suffers a bit from the weakness of the rehash mania like the star wars series, 3 films made as prequels which don't tell you very much which you already didn't know. babylon 5 "in the beginning" did the same thing.
This film has very little of the religious bunk which for me spoils the series as a whole. You get the wondeful stark, harsh reality for a few episodes then the cringeworthy rapturous rubbish which Adama (an atheist) has to go along with and sadly us with it. I hope they begin to rationalise these "mystical"concepts much better otherwise this will be the major point where the series fails badly.
As a film this is entertaining and does give a few new strands for us to ponder over. I really did not particularly enjoy the old cylon bits very much, i think the show should distance itself from the kitsch original as much as possible. I really hated the original series it was truly horrendous SF, and badly executed. The effects are excellent particularly the attack on the shipyards near the beginning.
I think the script writers became too self conscious about the story. The main Pegasus stuff we already knew about and the rest seems like a tack on from "other" stories which should have been done seperately really. This really didn't need the Pegasus story but should have been done from the elder Adama's viewpoint from his past to his resolvement of this older cylon problem in the present. Even so this is very watchable despite my reservations.
i love this movie - and kendra shaw (stephanie jacobsen) April 2, 2009
maldoror26 (Glendale, AZ United States)
this movie is just as good as any battlestar galactica episode.i am so glad they made it.kendra shaw is one of my favorite characters of all time.after seeing this i would watch anything with stephanie jacobsen in it.from beginning to end this movie doesn't stop being awesome for a minute.i did buy it seperately before season 4.0 came out, but it was worth it for the slipcase fold out cover you get with it.it is really cool.if you love it to i recommend the razor action figures, they are highly detailed and come with lots of cool accessories.battlestar galactica is the best show of all time!!! i hope caprica is great too.
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