I love this movie so much

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This film may have been released after the third series of Battlestar Galactica but it is set shortly before the end of the second series. Pegasus has lost three commanding officers and Admiral Adama has decided to put his son Lee in charge and he in tern must pick a new Executive Officer. In order to improve the moral aboard his ship he doesn't bring somebody over from Galactica; instead he promotes Lt. Kendra Shaw, an officer whose career was closely associated with Admiral Cain. In flash back we see her join Pegasus and learn just what went on aboard that ship from the time of the Cylon attack to the time they find Galactica. This includes Cain killing her XO, a massacre aboard a civilian vessel and how a Cylon Number Six almost caused the ship to be lost before her capture and subsequent torture. This isn't the only story being told; in the present a raptor has gone missing and the search for it leads to a group of Cylons of a type not seen before in this series; they are older models of a type used during the first war, as Sharon informs then; part of a mythical basestar that fled from the other Cylons with the first hybrid Cylon aboard. Admiral Adama determines that it must be destroyed and Starbuck and newly promoted Major Shaw must lead a dangerous mission to rescue the missing personnel and destroy the basestar.To enjoy this film I think it is essential to have watched the series at least as far as the point where Apollo is given command of the Pegasus as there are lots of references to events in the series and no time is wasted introducing characters that viewers of the series will already know. We are though introduced to Kendra Shaw who was played by Stephanie Jacobsen; I think she did really well in the role to the point where I wished she could have become a regular character rather than a one off. The real highlight for people who had enjoyed the classic series as a child was seeing the old style Cylons and their ships… we even get to hear the classic 'By your command' uttered once! This film has far more action than most episodes including space battles against the old Cylons, the attack on the fleet at the start of the war and some close quarters combat. There was also a bit more blood than we usually see; especially when Cain shoots her XO! Talking of Cain it was good to see the excellent Michelle Forbes back in command of Pegasus for one last time.

Before its destruction in battle the crew of Battlestar Pegasus underwent many changes in command. One common crew member through these changes is the green Lt Kendra Shaw who joins the ship shortly before the attack on the colonies. She remains in place in a higher role much later when Lee Adama assumes command although it is clear that her experiences have changed her approach to leadership. It is under Adama that she makes tough but risky calls that lead to the discovery of an very old model of Cylon ship – a model that brings memories back to Commander Adama relating to his encounters in the first Cylon wars.I must confess that learning that the massive cliff-hanger at the end of season 3 was to be followed by a "flashback" film was not the most cheering thing in the world. Quite how it was back when fans had to wait a year to find out they were waiting a bit longer I don't know but at least for me everything is out on DVD now so the only delays are those associated with my spare time. Anyway, Razor took me a minute to get into, partly because I didn't want to jump back. In it we get events on the Pegasus under Cain that we had previously only heard about, events under Lee Adama and some back-story on the Cylons by way of Commander Adama. In terms of the main plot of the overall series, Razor doesn't add a huge amount apart from adding a little bit of information on the Cylon experiments with humans and a warning about the destiny of one of the main characters.Where Razor works though is in its look at the nature of command within Pegasus, the tough decisions required and the regret that somehow has to be managed. We see this through new character Shaw, who we see as both a relative "rookie" of sorts as well as the more experienced, jaded Lt of Adama's command. She is the common thread across the majority of the film and it works because she does. She is very well played by Jacobsen who is convincing in all the parts she has to play. She fits into the cast well and captures the darker mood the series has gradually taken on. Her threads are full of action and space battles where the effects are impressive and quite exciting – sure it doesn't move things along in the way one would hope but the events are engaging and make for a solid drama. Not all the cast are as good as Jacobsen although most are solid. The regular cast all do their stuff but it is the Adama flashbacks that are not that well acted, with a bit too much overacting and over-expression that does border on being hammy.Razor may not answer the questions left hanging after season 3 but, viewed without the pressure of answers (I did not have to wait long after 3 for the season 4 DVD release) it is a solidly entertaining film. The various threads all engage but it is the common presence of Jacobsen's Shaw that makes it work as well as it does. Worth seeing for those watching the series proper.

Excellent stand alone/season 4 intro (watch it how you want) that finally puts the whole franchise's roots on screen.Centurions, vox-boxes, Gold Centurions! Ah, finally. And they don't look clunky, move poorly OR suffer from Stormtrooper Syndrome.If, like me, you were not yet 10 when Ben Cartwright began to lead his Wagon Train toward earth, then you probably thought it was the most amazing thing you'd ever seen when first broadcast. Oh, how memory leads you astray. Damn you, VHS cassette and VCR, for ever allowing my golden, hazy dreams of days yore to be punctured by cruel reality. Amazing SFX (but what else from Richard Edlund?), blow-them-out-of-the-water opening (complete with sacrificial-lamb), boring, sermonising speeches, standard over-focus on leads (why does Apollo, a pilot, have to space-walk for the blast/oxygen vent, where are the engineers?), zero development of universe (oh, one comment about "loose" Geminese women) and (come the series) repeated FX shots that weren't simply repeated, but were obviously so.If, like me, you saw all this, but refused to by bowed by it, then Ronald Moore's arrival on the scene (after Todd Moyer's departure, whew, that was close) was cause for pure rejoicing.But as the series progressed, it gave fewer and fewer nods to its, admittedly dodgy, source material.Until Razor. How to meld the painful past with the amazing now without destroying either or, worse, both? Write Razor.Anybody who says that original Galactica was brilliant, current Galactica is a pale shadow and Razor is just crap is lying. Lying to themselves and you. Original Galactica was hamstrung by budget, pacing and imagination (yes, you read that right, imagination, see "over-focus on leads"), modern Galactica needed the legitimacy of the original. Casting Richard Hatch as Zarek was a good start, this is the perfect bridge.Oh, and it's a great script, involving three time periods, moral conflicts, interpersonal conflicts and some kind of redemption. And centurions, vox-boxes and Gold Centurions.By your command! 7.5/10

Fans of the show might just barely get their times worth - you get to see some of the characters occasionally doing what got us to like them after all - but not an inch more. For an unsuspecting viewer however this must be utterly disappointing - tacky lines in a story that is rather ridiculous and very badly cut. The feature uses flashbacks a lot, which is not of course bad in itself. The way executed here, with phony dialogues setting them up, or not serving any purpose for the storytelling, leaves a very stale taste. The acting is not quite so bad. The regular cast delivers their usual performances; the support, especially Michelle Forbes as Admiral Cain and Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen as Kendra Shaw is doing rather fine. The writing ... well, let's just say if you know the series, there won't be any surprises in the way the story is told. For anyone who does not know the series - don't bother. There are loads of unresolved plot bits (and not the good kind that should leave you thinking or whatever) and nearly no one you can sympathize with or take an interest in. One last note on the story itself: If this is the kind of writing and story we can expect from BSGs 4th and last season (and the third season unfortunately seems to point towards that conclusion, too), people will not bother watching. I know I won't.