I finally got a chance to pick up a copy of Battlestar Galactica: Razor this week. I've been a huge fan of Sci-Fi's dramatic opus of a show for some time now, hailing it as one of the best on television, so needless to say I was pretty excited for this straight to DVD movie. I've been hankering me some Battlestar since the spectacular season 3 finale many moons ago. I pop in the DVD, couch myself and get into sci-fi mode. As I sit patiently waiting for sexy Cylons and badass space combat a preview that my DVD player would not allow me to skip comes up for an American Pie straight to DVD movie. I'm not quite sure how many of these pathetic spin offs they've made, but please, for the love of god, stop it already. Three American Pie movies were enough, I don't give a shit if Stifler's little brother goes to band camp, glues his dick to a tree and then discovers he's a talented flautist, or whatever happens in American Pie: Band Camp. What pisses me off even more than the fact that these movies are still being produced is that someone thought it'd be a good idea to advertise it to me before Battlestar Galactica.

Battlestar Galactica is an adult drama that grapples with themes of religion, tough wartime decisions, and the survival of humanity. I'm not even going to attempt to dissect the themes of the latest American Pie iteration. I thought marketing has taken the next step in our society. When I watch TV the commercials are directed at me and are therefore generally enjoyable on top of serving their purpose. If I watch an episode of The Daily Show I get video game commercials, trailers for movies I'm excited for and a quirky Jack in the Box or Burger King commercial. Sometimes the system fails, but for good reason. For example, if I'm watching Top Chef; most people watching Top Chef are middle aged women so I get a bunch of shampoo and face cleanser commercials I don't care about with a hilarious Geico commercial thrown in there if I'm lucky. This lapse in the system is logical, so I find it perfectly acceptable. This American Pie / Battlestar coupling fiasco however, is not. The only possible connection I can fathom is that both American Pie: Beta House and Battlestar Galactica: Razor are straight to DVD movies and both have colons in their titles, neither being adequate reasons for why I was forced through the 3 minute trailer.

Post American Pie angst Razor really delivered. It's basically a 2-hour episode of Battlestar that tells 3 different stories from 3 different times. One such story takes us into the cockpit of a young Bill Adama on a secret mission to find the first truly sentient Cylon who many of the current Cylons revere as a god. Adama's efforts echo throughout the other stories and they all converge in one fantastic ending. Many of my friends have only seen up to season 2 of Battlestar because Sci-Fi has yet to release season 3 on DVD. I don't really know what their waiting for, season 4 will begin in a few short months, and if they want good ratings they should catch as many people up as they can. I'd say to all those out there who have only seen through season 2 that you could most certainly watch Razor without ruining anything for yourselves. I really couldn't be more excited for season 4, especially since all I have to look forward to on TV is Battlestar, half a season of Lost and enough reality TV to make my eyes bleed thanks to the writers strike.


I keep seeing all these sweet commercials on the Internet and even in theaters for Lost, but I've heard from some pretty reputable sources that they only finished 8 episodes. They've got me all hyped up and then they're going to cut me off cold turkey. I'm sure I won't be the only one upset. TV watchers, movie enthusiasts, I say we go on strike! Stop watching TV and movies until the big wigs pay the writers the extra cash they want. They think they can ignore their talent, but they can't ignore their customers. I know it seems hard, how could we give up on TV? Get your lazy ass outside, you could probably use it, I know I certainly could. If you're lucky enough to have a Nintendo Wii you could just play that and simulate being outside. Otherwise just peel through that DVD collection you already own. The next installment of Rick's Rants will be a very special 2007 year in review, so every one get excited! Let me know with a comment what you guys think about Battlestar Galactica, Lost, the writer's strike or whatever you feel like writing about. Until next time...

- Rich