Because we are dedicated to honest customer opinions Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 (DVD), we have also included Amazon's customer reviews for this item (of which 5 are displayed below). Amazon customers have given Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 an average rating of 3.0/5.
Top Amazon Review
Decent, but marred by pacing troubles. First off, since I was one of the first to note it, yes it is annoying that this is only half of Season 4 (10 episodes + the Razor TV movie) and that it was being sold for only a few pounds cheaper than the full 20-episode sets of Seasons 2-3. However, given the discount prices it is now available at and the fact that Season 1 (13 episodes) also suffers from this, it's probably not worth getting too upset about it. I suspect the DVD company really wanted episode 410, 'Revelations', as a cliffhanger given its impact and it has to be said it is quite effective. Also, the DVD company has confirmed there will be no 'complete' Season 4 set. The last 10 episodes (and the Plan TV movie) will be released as a seperate set, probably called 'Season 5' or 'BSG: The Final Episodes' as they are being marketed for television.
That out the way, Season 4 starts with dealing with the fall-out from the S3 finale. Four regular characters discover they are Cylons, Starbuck has reappeared despite last being seen in a Viper exploding above a gas giant and the fleet, having undergone a mysterious power failure, is under attack by a colossal Cylon fleet. The opening episode gives us the most impressive space battle yet as the fleet sustains heavy losses as it tries to escape. It's not too much of a spoiler to reveal it does escape, but the victory is marred by discontent over Starbuck's return and her claim that she has been to Earth. Adama decides to trust her and gives her a ship and crew to see if they can locate the planet, but Starbuck's orders do not prove popular and soon she has a mutiny on her hands...
Meanwhile, the Cylons are in turmoil with the revelation that the mysterious 'Final Five' models are in the human fleet, and it isn't long before the gulf between the models begun by events on New Caprica explodes into a fractious civil war. Back in the fleet the four Cylons try to work out what is going on whilst concealing their identities, and Apollo begins a new career in the fleet's political system. Baltar finds himself the leader of a new cult fascinated by the Cylon's belief in one true god, and Roslin, dealing with the return of her cancer, is confronted by the prospect of her own mortality.
Season 4 raises a lot of interesting issues and the story does move forward in an intriguing manner. However, the fact that what were supposed to be two full 20-episode seasons have been compressed into one is painfully obvious at times: Apollo's meteoric rise through the political ranks in just a few episodes and weeks of time in the series would have made more sense spread across a whole season and maybe a year of narrative time, and the Cylon Civil War happens mostly off-screen due to time and budgetary constraints. All of this really hits home in Episode 8, Sine Qua Non, which is possibly the most confused, bemusing and borderline nonsensical episode the series has ever done, moving characters into the positions they are needed in for plot purposes by having them behave totally out of character (Adama especially).
However, once that painful act is accomplished, the final two episodes of the half-season return the series to a form it hasn't enjoyed since early Season 3. The controversial alliance between the humans and one of the Cylon factions raises a number of very interesting questions about the nature of both humanity and the Cylons, whilst the attack on the Hub is nothing short of breathtaking. But it is the mid-season finale, 'Revelations', which impresses the most. The best episode since the 'Exodus' two-parter, it moves quickly but doesn't feel rushed and is packed with moments of stunning acting (Eddie Olmos as Adama and Michael Hogan as Tigh give us the most dramatically intense scene of the series to date, whilst Jamie Bamber delivers his best performance as Lee is put in a really difficult position). The final two minutes or so of the episode represent one of the most talked-about moments of television in the last year, and will ensure that everyone comes back for the second half of the season, regardless of how much they charge for it on DVD.
BSG: Season 4 is not the series at its best, but it does undertake a lot of necessary plot movements to set things up for the show's grand conclusion, and the episode 'Revelations' justifies the price of the set by itself. Recommended. Also remember that the final episodes of BSG begin airing on 16 Jan 2009 in the USA and 20 Jan 2009 in the UK.
Customer Review 1
A kick in teath?. Initially a kick in teeth for if your like me who shelled out for Razor and then to discover only half a season. However gone are the week filler episodes that do not contribute to the main story arch. What you have here is 10 very high quality episodes (plus razor).
Customer Review 2
You may be a bit disappointed.. If like me you found the previous series compelling (have to watch the next episode straight after the last), you may be disappointed with this. The story is good, it is visually impressive and you have to watch to see how things progress. However, it is slow (even boring) in parts, as if it has been stretched out to fill a season. Worth buying, but not as good as previous seasons.
Customer Review 3
Calling this Season 4 is completely misleading to the consumer. Being an avid fan of the current series I waited with anticipation the arrival in my Christmas Box of 'Season 4'.
On going through the set I noted with disgust that the first DVD was actually Razor re packaged (seen that already), leaving a wafer thin Season 4. Yes there was an unfortunate writers strike but still Universal have profited from the fans with this one. It should have been clearly stated what this box set of Season 4 was going to contain, better still they should have delayed the release completely.
Customer Review 4
Magnificent. BSG was already a brilliant show and after the mind blowing climax of Season 3 it was going to take a lot of effort to deliver the goods. Well they did. The episodes feel much more like part of one concurrent story than previous seasons and the various threads are developed little by little in a way that interacts fantastically, leading to some top draw (and believable) character development and one of the most beautiful, if heartbreaking, climaxes to a season ever. Thank goodness it is not the end of the series though, however great the ending was.
There are one or two episodes that are not quite as good as the rest, though nothing as poor as the more notorious bad episodes of the series, and it is true some minor characters do not play as much of a role as they used too, but this is unavoidable given the number of episodes left and the amount of main character development and plot remaining. It should be stressed that this does not detract from the greatness of the season and it never feels cluttered.
All in all I thought this was possibly the best season yet, intended as the first part of the last season it contains the culmination, or approaches the culmination at least, of multitudes of plots and we are seeing some payoff from four years of patient character buildup while still adding to the core mystery of the show and pulling off some wonderful shocks and twists along the way. A must buy for any fan.
