A Decent Effort

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome is set 10 years into the first Cylon War. We follow a young William Adama, fresh from the academy who is assigned to the Battlestar Galactica. Quick to be the hero, he's originally in it for the fame and glory but comes to realize that the war is not all it is being portrayed to be.

Plot-wise, Blood and Chrome takes place between the events of Caprica and the re-imagined Battlestar Galatica. But thematically, it is more skewed towards action than thoughtful drama.

While it may lack the gravitas of its predecessors, that action approach works well in the context of being a web series.

No, Blood and Chrome isn't going to have you thinking about the story days after you've watched it nor will you be blown away by the acting but it still makes for entertaining viewing.

It is still an ambitious project that is constrained by a limited budget. The story is let down by the quality of the special effects. Given the lack of practical sets (they used 3D scans of the original Galactica sets), a number of scenes looked fake.

There is an overabundance of camera lens flares and background blurring to hide the fakeness but it only enhanced these problems because I was continually distracted by it. One show in recent memory with worse use of green screen sets was the re-imagined V.

This is a shame because other special effects, particularly the action sequences (a lot of the dog fights and views of various battleships) are fantastic - crisp, clear and in keeping with the BSG aesthetic.


There aren't any big name actors in this, just a lot of familiar faces you normally see in smaller roles. Thus, the acting is okay but nothing much to rave about. While Luke Pasqualino did a decent job as William Adama, he looks too young be a rookie pilot. Instead he looks like he's about to enter high school.

But all things considered, if this were made into a tv series and with some tweaks (improve the character development and emotional resonance) and a better budget, a show about the Cylon war is something I'd be interested in seeing.


6/10