A new Battlestar Galactica TV movie is expected to go into production, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the end of summer… The movie, which is being written by fan favorite, Jane Espenson, will be directed by Admiral Adama, himself, Edward James Olmos.

Currently the cast includes Michael Trucco [Sam Anders], Aaron Douglas [Chief Galen Tyrol] and Dean Stockwell [Brother Cavil]. According to the Sci Fi channel press release, more casting news will follow “in the coming weeks.”

The movie opens before the events of the miniseries, with the story focusing on familiar characters including Cylon Model Number One, known as Cavil (Stockwell), Resistance Leader Sam T. Anders (Trucco) and Chief Galen Tyrol (Douglas).  It seems that the Cylons’ plan failed to account for one thing: survivors.  In the chaotic aftermath of the destruction, two powerful Cylon agents struggle with plots and priorities on the human ships that got away, while trying to deal with the resistance fighters who were left behind.

The as-yet-untitled movie will be released after the conclusion of the regular series, following the Razor model – first being broadcast by the Sci Fi Channel with a DVD release to follow shortly thereafter.

Stargate: Continuum is the first DTDVD stand-alone adventure of the SG-1 team and it’s a bit of a time traveling doozy! It begins with SG-1 and General Jack O‘Neill [Richard Dean Anderson] attending the extraction ceremony for the last Goa’uld still existing in a Goa’uld System Lord. The Goa’uld is Ba’al [Cliff Simon], or rather, the last clone of Ba’al, who warns them that they’ve made a terrible mistake. As the ceremony proceeds, Vala [Claudia Black] and Teal’c [Christopher Judge] vanish. When members of the Tok’ra begin to disappear, too, the remaining SG-1 members and O’Neill realise that Ba’al has gone into the past to prevent the Stargate from being used – leaving Earth open to complete domination by the Goa’uld.

One of the best things about Stargate time travel tales is that they are usually a lot of fun. Continuum takes that to a whole new level, with appearances by nearly every major character in SG-1 lore – even though many are surprising cameos [check out the appearance of the System Lords, for example]. Also, Continuum is a stand-alone movie, so it’s not wrapping up a cliffhanger – or leaving fans hanging on yet another one.

In the alternate timeline that’s created by Ba’al’s maneuver, we get to meet alternate versions of O’Neill, General Hammond [Don S. Davis], Major-General Landry [Beau Bridges] and even President Henry Hayes [William Devane] – and we learn that, in this timeline, Col. Samantha Carter [Amanda Tapping] was an astronaut who died saving her shuttle crew and Daniel Jackson [Michael Shanks] is a discredited crackpot. Not only that, but Lt.-Col. Cameron Mitchell [Ben Browder] is in a position to create a Grandfather Paradox [look it up] if he screws up.

Stargate: Continuum works on a couple of levels: it’s a solid SG-1 adventure replete with action, humor and wit, and it’s also a breathtaking visual achievement, with some brilliantly shot sequences in the Arctic – and the first ever time that a nuclear submarine has been used in a movie [the captain being played by the sub’s real commander]. The writing is a bit above the average for the series and the cast get to play some interesting variations on their characters – especially, Shanks, whose Daniel Jackson suffers more than usual [even for him]. The direction is, as with the series, pretty snappy. Even the expository scenes are rife with wit and fun. As for the effects, they’re terrific – though they can barely hold their own against the majesty of the Arctic.

Features include: Audio Commentary by Executive Producer/Writer Brad Wright and Director Martin Wood; The Making of Stargate: Continuum Featurette; Stargate Goes to the Arctic Featurette, and The Layman’s Guide to Time Travel.

Grade: Stargate: Continuum – B+

Grade: Features: A

Final Grade: A-

One thing you can say about the Stargate franchise – it may rarely reach brilliance, but it’s equally rarely less than fun. Season four of SG Atlantis found Torri Higginson’s Dr. Elizabeth Weir leaving her command for a pretty good reason – to keep the Replicators from destroying Atlantis. In her stead, the Atlantis Expedition welcomed [all except for maybe David Hewlett’s Rodney McKay] Col. Samantha Carter [Amanda Tapping] as their new commander.

Along with other familiar villainous faces [like the Genii], season four also brought the former Wraith Michael [Connor Trinneer] back and tied his arc into the story of Teyla’s [Rachel Luttrell] pregnancy [Luttrell’s real pregnancy sparked the writers’ ideas]. We got to see Rodney attempt to propose marriage; the deserted Atlantis of twenty-eight thousand years in the future, and a fable about a little girl who was about to become queen. The season’s creative high point may have been Tabula Rasa [with everyone’s memories gone, including his, Rodney has to save the city], but I particularly enjoyed Midway wherein Col. Carter asks Teal’c [Christopher Judge] to help Ronan [Jason Momoa] prepare for his IOA interview – and things go, of course, hilariously wrong.

Overall, Atlantis’ fourth season rarely disappoints. The writers have a firm handle on the characters and seem able to produce interesting new riffs on the many aspects of the series. The cast is a well-oiled unit, figuratively speaking, and each has shown the capacity for bringing new shadings to their characters as the writers delve more deeply into them.

Features include: Audio Commentaries on nineteen of the twenty episodes [excepting only the one I wanted most, Midway]; four Mission Directive Featurettes [Doppelganger, This Mortal Coil, Quarantine and Outcast]; A New Leader: Amanda Tapping Joins Stargate Atlantis Featurette; The Doctor is In: The Return of Paul McGillion Featurette; The Making of Trio Featurette; A Look Back at Season Four Featurette; Bloopers; Deleted Scenes, and the usual collection of Photo & Design Galleries.

Grade: Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Season Four – B

Grade: Features: A+

Final Grade: A-

When Eureka [Tuesdays, Sci Fi, 9/8C] returns for its third season, tomorrow night, it will feature a number of big bangs – and not just from the scientific menace. Bad to the Drone will feature [among other things]: Allison’s [Sally Richardson-Whitfield] answer to ex-husband Nathan Stark’s [Ed Quinn] proposal; an efficiency expert, Eva Thorne aka The Fixer [Frances Fisher], whose mandate is to stop the town’s financial woes by helping/forcing Global Dynamics to find ways to turn their top-secret projects into merchandise; and a terrific riff on the Robert Sheckley short story classic, Watchbird - and all of these threads combine to create more problems for Sheriff Jack Carter [Colin Ferguson].

Other plot points include Zoe’s [Jordan Hinson] part-time job and Henry’s [Joe Morton] incarceration for treason – not to mention Deputy Jo Lupo’s [Erica Cerra] difficulty in finding a suitable romantic counterpart. Then there’s the problem posed by the town’s most popular eatery [plus, we learn how it’s possible for Cafe´ Diem to serve whatever the customer wants – no matter how bizarre or obscure...].

For a breezy, light summer series, Eureka continues to be as Calvin used to say, “Just packed!” Somehow, though, director Bryan Spicer manages to shoehorn in all of writer Jaime Paglia’s script without making the ep seem either too busy or too forced. Something else that comes through – and very plainly – is the enthusiasm the cast has for the show. Their performances [especially Colin Ferguson’s as the sheriff and a very concerned father] are as good here as they’ve ever been.

Upcoming eps see The Fixer’s particular expertise rendered useless when the inhabitants of a Global Dynamics biosphere begin evolving in reverse; Zoe beginning her accelerated physics program; the annual dog show growing more competitive than usual, and there appears to be an earthquake. Seems like just another season in Eureka.

Final Grade: B+

Escape Velocity opens with Chief Tyrol given a poignant eulogy at Cally’s funeral and ends with Gaius Baltar in a [for him] most unusual position. In between, this is one of Galactica’s most intense episodes – even though there are no great Cylon battles or even much action at all.

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Civil unrest; civil war; a potential for mutiny and character death – this week’s Battlestar Galactica episode, The Ties That Bind, is picking up the pace. Outside of Cavil’s response to last week’s little fracas with the Centurions, did anyone see any of this happening? Spoilers follow.

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After a rather ho-hum premiere, Battlestar Galactica seems to be moving back in the right direction. Where He That Believeth In Me tended to rehash the season three finale without adding much to the running story – except for the development of the Starbuck-Roslin situation – Six of One is almost chockfull o’ stuff.

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Battlestar Galactica may be the best SF series, start to finish, ever produced for television. Even so, after sleeping on it, I have to say that the final season opener left me cold. [SPOILERS beyond this point!]

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On Friday, I had the opportunity to take part in a teleconference with Starbuck, herself - Katee Sackhoff, of the Peabody Award-winning Battlestar Galactica. She talked about her reaction to the mind-bending prophecy that Starbuck was a harbinger of doom; which is tougher - love scenes, or fight scenes; who she thinks Starbuck should wind up with [if indeed she wainds up with anyone...]; how she’d like the series to end for Starbuck, and much more.

Battlestar Galactica returns to the Sci Fi Channel Friday at 10/9C.

Note: There were some reception problems, so there will be an occasional word or phrase missing [replaced with the word unintelligible].

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Tin Man is the Sci Fi Channel’s re-imagining of a classic work of fiction and its film adaptation. It’s darker, livelier and definitely entertaining, but it’s not your great-great grandparents’ Wizard of Oz.

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