Bear in mind Galactica was 50 years old at the start of the series, lacked most of the addon armour plating, was partially decommissioned and her structural integrity was actually lower than intended from the start because her designers skimped material in order to expedite her construction. Yet she soldiered on. She survived a direct nuclear strike, countless missile impacts, a shockwave from a Raptor jump, atmospheric reentry and several years of attrition with virtually no overhauls or refits. And even after all of this, she managed to hold together after ramming the Cylon colony and jumping away with extended flight pods. She broke her back, but stayed mobile, and even her scuttling was done under her own power. What a grand old lady. Now imagine how sturdy must have Galactica been in her peak during the First Cylon War.
Not to mention a lack of sufficient repairs even before the attack, as she was due for decommissioning. Add that to the "pain" she endured during and after the attacks; she was breaking even during the raid on New Caprica and still soldiered through the re-entry from the "Adama Maneuver". She was hurting and still she didn't give in. She was the dying leader throughout the show, who saw her people to the promised home.
It makes sense once you look back at the time of her construction and her intended mission: a capital ship to go head on against early tougher basestars, usually outnumbered, and survive to fight another day. That's why I shake my head anytime Pegasus fans say she's superior in every way. I really like the Peggy, but her value was strategical dut to her Viper facilities. As a warship, nothing beats a Jupiter class.
@@moteroargentino7944 And this is why Kane was such a poor officer, as when brought up against older officers in older battlestars she lost every time. The only way she made it to Admiralty was through political connections.
You watch, the way she wiggles and shakes after that last jump. She's completely broken. She's only holding her skin together, with great effort, to protect her humans. Thats a warship. She's done what she was supposed to do, what she was built to do, she's saved humanity. And now she's done it. So much combat, so many victories and escapes. She's done it. And now, finally, she's done. My God, who could ask for a better ship? And then she turns her engines back on.
@@carlsvrd1098 you do not get how lucky they are to have survived the jump the ships done yes but it could have been worse she could have been badly ripped apart during that last jump and had major losses but they didn't people could have been impaled by beams shooting off like rail gun rounds but didn't think about the violence of the scene and how they pretty much came out of it without out a scratch or nose bleed they got so lucky do you not see that one
It's pretty wonderful how they stole the design of the mothership of the cylons from Babylon 5 spider ships design Edward James olmos ain't got no no creativity stealing the copyright from Babylon 5
Like comparing a 1980 Lincoln town car to a 2019 newer car yeah there's Bette things on board but in a collision the older car would prolly hold up better
I find it funny that they think corners were cut, I think it has more to do with the ship fought in the first Cylon war and is 50 years, was already stripped to make a museum out of her(most of her armor plating had been removed) and has been fighting under heavy conditions the ENTIRE exodus with out a shipyards available every repair has the "make do" with what the fleet had. Galactica fought dam for a ship that wasn't ment to fight anymore.
Watching the ship rip and contort like that had to be one of the tensest scenes in the whole show. I was expecting her to rip in half, Titanic-style. I cannot explain the relief I felt seeing those sublight engines come back online.
I also have to say...I think one of the biggest reasons she took so much damage from this final jump, not just because of how beaten up she is, but does anybody notice they never retracted the flight pods into the ship before she jumps? That alone reduces Galactica's structural rigidity by quite a bit. If the flight pods had been retracted, she might not have broken her back, and might have been able to survive one or two more jumps had they needed to. I think this was intentional as well, not some oversight by the show's creators. She didn't have time to prep for the jump, and because of this, her final jump was fatal. RIP Galactica, you were always the main character of this show, and we'll always love you. :'(
OR.... the jump was so FAR across the galaxy, that the extended distance crippled her systems as jumps that far I can guarantee we're not normal. Think about it. For how long were they searching for earth? And then they jump from one end of our galaxy to the other. Remember, the cylons pushed man to the far reaches of their galaxy in trying to escape them, after so many years, so many jumps, but with destiny on their side, the jump was successful, fatal, but successful.+no more cylons!!! (Atleast reproductively speaking.
It also fits both the prophecy and the fact that galactica was an old workhorse, dying of a degenerative disease from the start. She was never meant to make it longer than she did.
@@tsugumorihoney2288 If the writers had more balls they would have destroyed galactica and moved the flag to Pegasus. The sacrifice of that ship made absolutely zero sense and was the first point where the show started falling apart at the seams for me. In no world does it make sense to ram the Pegasus through the entire bastestar fleet like that.
It real says something about the resilience of the Galactica that after all the fighting she's seen, and all the punishment she's taken, that the Cylons couldn't bring her down. In the end it took the power of a star to end her.
@@grigss3027 You miss the point. Galactica was a tough ship. She endured more than anyone could possibly ever ask her to, and then some. And so did all who sailed in her.
In looking at BSG all over again I have to say Galactica itself was the dying leader. It wasn't Roslyn the reason why is because Galactica didn't give up and no knew she was dying the whole time. From the very start she was going to be mothballed but they had no choice but to use her to save the colonies. It only makes sense if you think of it in those terms.
Ironically... whenever the Cylons used their bio-tech to repair and enhance Galactica... it actually became more alive...like a low tech pirate version of the hi-Tech Basestars and their Hybrids... with Anderson being a stand in for the latter.
"And the lords anointed a leader to guide the Caravan of the Heavens to their new homeland. The new leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the new land'' - Galactica is the leader, not Roslin. Roslin entered the new land, Galactica did not.
First time I saw this, I teared up when Tigh said, "She broke her back... she'll never jump again." I don't know why, but it made me sad to think of the Galactica as essentially on her death bed. It's just a ship, how did I come to love it so much?
Battlestar Galactica is the star of the show... a show called "Battlestar Galactica." If you don't love the ship, you're not doing fandom right. As a Trekkie, I can attest the I am in love with 3 ships called Enterprise (1701, 1701-A, 1701-D).
FUCK THIS ENDING THEY COULD MAKE A SEQUEL STORY PLOT THE OLD HUMANS BUILD A MOON BASE AND LIVE THE KNOWLEGED AND GALACTICA TO SLEEP UNTIL WAS DISCOVER BY THE NEW HUMANS THE GOOD CYLONS HELP THE HUMANS BUILD A THE MOON BASE AND THE CENTIRUES WATCH OVER THE EARTH AND THE SHIP AND THEY WAIT FOR THE NEW HUMANS .
I don't know what scene was sadder, hearing that line from Saul about the ship's condition, or seeing the old girl on her way towards the Sun to be scuttled. She was a fine ship, so say we all.
so say we all! Quoted after Adm./Cmdr. William "Husker" Adama last Commanding Officer Battlestar Strike Group 75 Capital ship "GALACTICA" the first response at the funeral scene/ last scene of the miniseries as a tone reference
so say we all! Quoted after Adm./Cmdr. William "Husker" Adama last Commanding Officer Battlestar Strike Group 75 Capital ship "GALACTICA" the first response at the funeral scene/ last scene of the miniseries as a tone reference
@@mrz80 Exactly. They made too much of a deal of the supposed "design flaw" in previous episodes. But what REALLY happened was a jump with the flight pods extended. This is exactly why they repeatedly stressed retracting the flight pods before jumping.
@@Dave-gu3zj Every time they jumped for the entire four-year run of the series, they retracted the flight pods before jumping. This is the one time they did not.
this is probably my favourite scene in the entire show, the fact that all along the watchtower, a song, was an integral part to the show's plot, science and religion being intertwined, kara being an angel, the quest to find earth, all perfectly wrapped up in this one scene. ngl watching her yell "jump" while the final riff plays will always give me goosebumps, it's just too good
I stared watching Battlestar when I was just 9 years old and was devastated by the original series' failure to end properly....I waited over half a life time to see this scene...I cried. By far, one of the most wonderful and beautiful TV scenes in history. it was worth the 35+ year wait for it to be done right....Thank you Moore for doing this. Paul A. Rossi, Mountville, PA
Broke her back? Give me a Scotsman, two bottles of something green, and some duct tape and we'll have her back to normal before the end of the episode!
@@lumberluc .. Oh, such a defeatist attitude. Forget solar systems. Forget galaxies. This is the UNIVERSE of television. If they can bring people back to life, have dead people walking around, travel the stars, and patch Galactica up episode after episode up to this point, they can bring the Galactica back to life, polished & new, for at least several more seasons. Lol.
@@CoyoteSeven .. Hell, the most interesting part of Voyager was species 8472. They kicked everyone's butt, until the the writers completely changed their tactics (no quick shock & awe attacks, etc) so Janeway could easily get them.
Kara's words "There must be some kind of way out of here" has stuck with me for all the years since this series ended. All along the watchtower was the perfect song to base the theme of the show around.
I waited a lifetime to see a proper ending to the Battlestar Galactica series...this is pure art. One of the best things about this ending is that it tracks with the voice-over opening to the original Battlestar Galactica opening: "There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the Universe with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, ot the Tolteks or the Myans." Moore is brilliant. Why did the original serires forget this important part of the BG story.
Honestly, as much as I do love the original series, this reboot did a much better job running with the original premise than the original series did. After the pilot episode the original BSG became basically a Star Trek/Star Wars hybrid.
@@freighttrain7143 so say we all! Quoted after Adm./Cmdr. William "Husker" Adama last Commanding Officer Battlestar Strike Group 75 Capital ship "GALACTICA"
The Galactica had served her purpose. Other than the Pegasus, the only Battlestar to survive the attack on the colonies. She protected the remnants of humanity throughout the exodus. Kind of cool that, according to the mythos of the show, we're the descendents of the colonial remnant. As far as the negative comments, I also grew up with the original 1970s show. This one was a little different, but different doesn't mean bad. The basic superstructure of the original show was present. I was just happy to have the show on the air again. And the original series will always live on in the DVD set. RIP Richard Hatch.
FTL jumps are based on the departure location and destination being taken into consideration .The fact that a song from Karas childhood would have the coordinates to Earth in that moment where they needed it most at a base she would otherwise not have know even existed is a sign of divine intervention in the show.
“She’s broke her back; she’ll never jump again.” Still one of the coolest lines from any science fiction TV show. RIP mighty Galactica! Job well-done. 👍🏻
That show was the best, it will always be my favorite series - as a teen it made me believe that there's a greater reason for all of us and its awesome story will always be a part of my disillusioned self ^^
Star Trek Voyager reaches home in perfect condition. Battlestar Galactica reaches home falling to pieces and scarred to fuck. Guess which series had better scriptwriters?
Scarred, burned, nuked, held together by duck tape and general self belief, with already before this damaged internal structure from constant jumps and 4 decades of combat. one ship is alot more emotional making it home than the other.
wrong! voyager reaches home in a monage that glosses over what might have been some of the most interesting moments of the show, followed by a poorly thought through paradox of a time travel plot!
As I recall, Galactica was not only an ancient tub that had forgone maintenance for 4 FRAKKING YEARS, but also only had one flight pod, about 1/2-1/4 (I'm guessing) of it's preholocaust main battery, reduced CIWS batteries, and a partial Viper wing. The fact that the Cylons couldn't kill her before she literally CAME APART AT THE SEAMS is just damned impressive.
Heartbreaking death of a proud ship of the Line at the uttermost end of her strength. She did what she was born to, alone of all the fleet.... she kept her people alive and brought them home.
"The great ship, Galactica, majestic and loving, strong and protecting. Our home for these many years we have endured the wilderness of space..." I remember that line as a child back in the early 1980s, and its quite upsetting when Tigh says "She's broke her back...she'll never jump again.".
Honestly, it wasn't until Galactica started dying that I realized how attached I'd become to the old girl. That's now four sci-fi ships I've basically fallen in love with -- the USS Enterprise, the Millennium Falcon, the TARDIS, and now the battlestar Galactica.
For me, it's the Daedalus, the Normandy, Serenity, and the Rocinante. All of which will forever remain in my heart. But Galactica, she's as faithful and tough as they come. A ship truly worthy of her place among the great titans of sci-fi. So say we all. (Moya and Talyn from Farscape may actually win out in my sheer attachment to them, though. They are literal characters of the show, after all)
think of all the sailors who''s ships have gone down.... I had 4, one is still afloat(mothballed into a museum) but the rest have succumbed to the seafloor. it still breaks me up thinking of them going down. 2 due to weapons fire and one due to spite( no breakers yard for her) dammit! she was not going to become something else and be lost to the world...SHE IS STILL A WARSHIP! Gotta love that Dammed old Adams class Destroyer!
Hold on, are you talking about the Benjamin Stoddert as the "one due to spite?" Where it was being towed to be scrapped, and then sunk on the way to the scrap yard? Why am I getting the distinct impression from your statement that one of her crew might have helped her on her way to becoming an unintended artificial reef?
0:26 Damn, Racetrack was a badass. Took out the Cylons from beyond the grave. The thing that really bothered me about the ending, next to no thought was given to those who gave their lives for the larger group. Even to those like Racetrack who had died only hours before and was left adrift in space. In fact, it looks like many fighters were left behind, and the pilots weren't dead!
I always thought most of the fighters were withdrawn to galactica during the cease fire period where there was the waiting for the final 5 in the command room to download the stuff. Both sides withdrew their forces. Only the fighters and Raptors that could manouver anymore were well....left for dead. But there wasnt exactly time in a scenario where everything could go to shit any second and they might have to jump any second to launch rescue teams
@@noobster4779 I know why Galactica jumped away, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the complete lack of thought given to those left behind after the fact.
Yeah right, i never noticed that she was already dead...i always thought that hit had woken her up and she fired those nukes, but nope, it was a cosmic level of "luck" or rather divine intervention....and not the only one that day!
I found it on Netflix. And i grew up on the original. Took time to get use to it. I was off work because of a heart attack. So i binged watch it all loved it
What i love about the last shot is the different emotions it sends to my brain. In the first microseconds you think"oh gods(,-) ) A desolate wasteland of a planet". Then it pans out and in the next second, you hear the sad start of the beautifull song, and you start to recognize the colors and the shape of the craters..."is this..?" and then you see earth, and i always had tears in my eyes.
Adama knew Starbuck had the coordinates for Earth in her subconscious and that they'd surface at the right time. That's why he told HER to jump the ship.
The first time I saw that specific scene I thought exactly as you do. A few of those pieces had to have found their way to the moon surface. But that's a big surface, and who knows if 150,000 years of dust would have covered the debris. Who knows? But yeah, that would be a massive discovery.
Galactica is THE most badass Sci-Fi ship ever it took a shit load of crap (atmosphere jump, alot of nukes) and it survived that long with a dock to repair it fuck all other ships against the Galactica they are but twigs SO SAY WE ALL!!
Well, that’s why they decided to scuttle her, and “go native”. First time I heard of the series’ end, everyone was bitching about “Why’d they have to do that?!” When a ship’s “back” is broken, it’s only good for making a new coral reef. Sad, but damn fine ending for the Galactica.
Seeing Galactica like that knowing that her life had come to a end was a hard one to watch but she did accomplish her mission...she got the human and rebel cylon races to their new home. She deserved to go out in style.
Enterprise: Come with me Galactica You have served your purpose, Now let's go to were our space faring sisters are waiting for us Galactica: Thank you sister Enterprise, So say we all Enterprise: To boldly go where none have gone before.
Galactica was built indeed to take a beating but those bastards at fleetyard that cut cornners during her construction were the worst foe she ever faced
God what a great show. Thanks to the people who made it possible. Years later and I am still loving it. If it werent for the old good stuff all the new bad stuff would be that much worse. These are dark times of propaganda and social engineering by assholes. Stories like these are a ray of light until we can overcome the dorks.
Watched this in a room full of about 50 other fans. We all gasped when she started falling apart. Probably the toughest death in the series was Galactica finally giving up after taking her people home.
So... All this time I assumed the last jump broke her because of all the hell she's gone thru up to that point... Now, though I think that is part of it, I think it's not the actual reason... Her flight pods... They didn't have time to retract them before jumping... That's what crippled her o.o
For a ship as big as Galactica, you can actually see why the pods have to be retracted to make the jump. they're literal structural supports for the design, especially when the the pod arms and beams go right through her central spine. If they at full extension, the torque load would probably exceed maximum designed load, even if it could so and emerge only partially scathed. Couple in the battle damage, the age, structural fatigue, inability to repair in any significant margin; even if the maximum designed load could be exceeded prior in the show, since they kept the damage so consistent through the show, this jump is accumulation the entire series. Look at how the pods just swing and torque their arms through the vessel. if they wanted to kill a ship believably, they picked the best way to do it without explosions.
I thought so to as to me the the fight pods were needed in the retracted pisition to add structural rigidity to the frame. I felt bad for all the people manning the topside gun batteries as the top side seems to have taken the brunt of the explosions after the jump. They almost made it yo Earth but not Quite.
Steve Wismark They would be fine, since the individual gun pods would be in one piece. Plus they were running a skeleton crew, and had no need for the pods to be crewed, since they would have been killed by the colony’s defenses.
It's well established that in the distant history of the series, we have humans on one planet, they build cylons, they fight, they split up, etc, over and over and over. There have been other Kobals, other Earths, other Twelve-Colonies, and the same thing keeps happening. On that thought, those "angels" could be ancient Cylon survivors from many cycles back, Kara's dad being one of them. Biologically perfect human duplicates, but still not. They know the future because they've seen it before.
@@insideoutsideupsidedown2218 I don't think I've ever seen a series that was perfect but this one, even with its mystical and religious flaws, came close and is still one of the best series ever made.
@@cesarcueto1995 the first 2 seasons showed so much promise. Then it was like the writers got lazy or just didn't care. They could have done several beautiful story arcs, it just became predictable and vain. It was like they were writing scripts on Friday at 230 in the afternoon. A great series easily goes 5 seasons, this one went 4 and it shows.
In the original they arrive at Earth in 1980 I loved this twist that it was 150,000 years ago and what they do is they give us language art and culture.
Imagine the story ended with them leaving the Galactica orbiting in space. In a perfect Orbit that would never degrade....and it survived through time. Until one person looked up in the sky, with a tube and glass.....
@@blade913 I always disagreed with the ending. To me, it would have made perfect sense for Galactic to have arrived about 700 BC, give or take. The Colonials built a city which in legend becomes Mt. Olympus of Greek mythology. It's where the legends of Atlantis are born and how Earth absorbs parts of Colonial culture-- why modern Earth resembles Colonial civilization at its height. Maybe some of the Colonials spread out and helped or became founders of other Earth civilizations. As for Galactica, I always liked the idea of her jumping from orbit to a place on the planet. Her jumping again in space would lead to her being torn apart due to the structural damage...but if she could jump to a prepared place on the planet, solid ground, that would account for her staying intact more or less. Again, the Colonials found Olympus with Galactica standing watch over them. The basis for the myth and the Greek Gods. Much more sense than the ending they came up with...
@@Hal09i I just like the idea of something like Galactica staying in space. Then being left there, perfectly preserved. Reactors still on even if only a little. Until sometime in the vast far future, it's found again. It'd put our existence into perspective, as the only ruins we find are of less advanced civilizations.
Compare the Galactica for how she looked at this last jump, from her earliest view of 1st cylon war in the film "Blood and Chrome" She was might Battlestar that Survived Two long massive wars.
Everyone crying about the damaged Galactic misses the point-God was holding it together. Once it no longer served the Divine purpose, it finally broke.
The old GALactic did her job and completed her mission!! Protected the remants of humanity and carried them to their new home. She was tough and faithful dependable courageous and true. She had a soul and her spirit lives on though her body was broken in the performance of her duties!!!
Some people say, they don't watch this, because it's too religious ... I'm an atheist and I like this much better than the mormom trip of the first show.
