Posted at 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23

Two tough women are at the center of "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" (from left to right): Officer Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen) and Adm. Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes).

“Battlestar Galactica” fans are getting a love letter from the show’s creators with “Battlestar Galactica: Razor,” which debuts at 8 p.m. Nov. 24 on Sci Fi.

The 2-hour movie ties up some loose ends left from past seasons while teasing us with clues as to where the show will go in its fourth and final season beginning next spring. And, of course, we’re treated to some frakking amazing fight scenes.

The producers may have meant to attract new viewers to this finely crafted series by using flashbacks in “Razor,” but still it’s too densely plotted for newbies to understand everything. I’ve never missed an episode and I’ve viewed “Razor” twice, but I still plan on watching again because I know I’ve missed important details.

Let me catch the uninitiated up a bit, because I feel this show definitely is one worth discovering. If you like this movie, rent the first three seasons before next spring.

The series follows the war between the 12 human colonies and the human-created Cylon robots, who launched a nuclear attack that destroyed most of humanity. The survivors live aboard Battlestar Galactica and a rag-tag group of non-military ships that are racing to stay one step ahead of the Cylons as they search for the mythical 13th colony—Earth. They have learned that the Cylons have now evolved, and that there are 12 versions of a Cylon-human hybrid that appear to be human among them.

In Season 2, Galactica encountered a second battlestar, Pegasus, which was commanded by take-no-prisoners Adm. Helena Cain.

With all its time-hopping, “Razor” tells of events aboard Battlestar Pegasus from the original Cylon attack on the colonies to its first mission with its last commander, Galactica pilot Lee “Apollo” Adama. The story is told through the eyes of officer Kendra Shaw, who reports for duty aboard Pegasus on the day of the Cylon attack.

The “Razor” in the title refers to the type of soldier who is transformed into a human weapon by war, someone who is devoid of fear and compassion. Cain immediately begins honing Shaw into a tough likeness of herself—a razor. It’s through their storyline that “Razor” delivers the thoughtful, disturbing observations about war and how people deal with its extraordinary pressures for which “Battlestar Galactica” is well known.

“Sometimes we have to do things that we never thought we were capable of if only to show the enemy our will,” Cain tells Shaw in rationalizing some of the unforgivable actions they are forced to take. “This war is forcing us all to become razors, because if we don’t, we don’t survive.”

“Razor” gives the formidable Michelle Forbes a chance to show that her Cain is more than a ruthless dictator by giving her an intriguing back story. For example, you’ll be surprised to learn why she was so angry about the Cylon spy Gina being aboard Pegasus.

Newcomer Stephanie Jacobsen delivers a standout performance as Shaw as well, giving her all the complexity of Galactica’s best characters. Shaw plays an equally important role on Pegasus after Adama (Jamie Bamber) takes over as commander, thus she holds the past and the present together in “Razor.”

After Adama makes Shaw his second in command, she and pilot Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff, left) butt heads over just about everything, but learn to appreciate each other during a dangerous mission that only one of them survives.

During the mission, Shaw encounters the missing link in Cylon evolution that a young Adm. William Adama (Nico Cortez) first saw in the seven mini-sodes seen on Sci Fi and at scifi.com.

This meeting leads to the best part of the film for fans. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, except to say that Shaw is given a warning about Starbuck that will leave fans begging for spring to come quickly.

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Hey, just watched Razor (advanced copy on DVD) and must say I was a bit disappointed. It's still good, but doesn't develop its characters or provide an interesting, cohesive story the way the series does. Read my review here... http://blog.filmjabber.com/2007/11/24/review-battlestar-galactica-razor-2007/

great show, i think it answers a lot of questions people were having about "loose ends" in the storyline of the series. however you really have to have seen at least a season of the show to really understand what is going on in this movie. im going to buy it as soon as i possibly can. thumbs up here.

Curt's response: Thanks for writing in Kevin. I think "BS" is well worth price of buying or renting the DVD sets.

Hey,
I thought it was good overall, but sub par for Battlestar Galactica. The teaser about Starbuck is definitely interesting, though.

Curt's response: Can't wait to see what's in store for Starbuck. Thanks for writing in.

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