This writer chose deliberately to refrain from reading blogs about Battlestar Galactica until early December 2007 brought the arrival of the unrated extended version DVD of Battlestar Galactica Razor. What a wise choice!

Experiencing Battlestar Galactica Razor on the unrated extended version DVD proved to be most engaging and all-consuming. This one DVD is proof of why broadcast and cable television will never be able to stand as the sole vehicle for producers and writers. Yes, this DVD is that excellent.

One must conclude after experiencing Battlestar Galactica Razor that the future of the franchise is very bright, indeed. Even though we have been assured that the upcoming fourth season which starts in early 2008 will be the last of Battlestar Galactica, it is difficult to imagine that Ron Moore and the entire team of cast, crew, writers and directors responsible for this series will let it pass into history after the remaining twenty or so episodes have been aired.

Looking ahead, perhaps another movie-length production like Battlestar Galactica Razor would make financial good sense for NBC Universal after the resolution of the writers strike. No question that Ron Moore and company have proven with the Battlestar Galactica franchise that they have what it takes to succeed financially with the science fiction space adventure genre.

Battlestar Galactica Razor provides a great deal of backstory that even the most fervent fan would never have guessed was out there. At its most basic level, Battlestar Galactica Razor is an exploration into the deepest psychological and emotional depths of Helena Cain, an admiral in the fleet who commands the battlestar Pegasus. Cain is a complex and brutal person. The portrayal of Helena Cain by Michelle Forbes is one of the strongest performances by an actor in the entire history of this series since this character demands a redefinition of what it means to be a woman and a military leader. Some bloggers have speculated that Helena Cain is not a human being, and that she will be revealed in the final episodes of the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica as the very last of the previously unidentified Cylons.

But, Battlestar Galactica Razor also presents never-before-told details about the early military experience of William Adama–played by Nico Cortez. In his later years, we get to know William Adama as an admiral in the fleet and a crucial character to the entire Battlestar Galactica series. Had it not been for Battlestar Galactica Razor, however, we never would have had the opportunity to understand why Adama is so driven to defeat the Cylons. The unrated extended version DVD devotes significant time to flesh out the young Adama’s emerging trait of heroism brought on by his deep commitment to justice and fairness. This unusual storytelling time spent in the past also clarifies the essential male military role-model icon for which the Battlestar Galactica franchise is known. Since this particular perspective on the young Adama occurred some four decades back in time (relative to the current timeline of Battlestar Galactica), regrettably, future episodes of the series will only be able to present this younger version of Adama in flashbacks.

The same holds true concerning the Battlestar Galactica Razor character of Lt. Kendra Shaw, played by Stephanie Jacobsen, who is killed off before the story of Battlestar Galactica Razor ends. The character of Shaw was never-before-seen on Battlestar Galactica and it is quite obvious that producers and writers required this particular character to weave together the story told within Battlestar Galactica Razor. Once the character of Shaw had served her storytelling purpose, she was expendable. While Shaw’s life was important to the crew members of both the Pegasus and the Galactica, her death–vaporized by a nuclear explosion that she set off to save others–was all the more significant. Battlestar Galactica Razor presents some of the strongest female characters ever depicted within the Battlestar Galactica franchise. This aspect is certain worthy of further study.