A spin-off/prequel to the popular Battlestar Galactica television series, Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome takes place before the last stand in the Cylon war, recounting the story of Admiral William Adama’s (Luke Pasqualino) first days out of cadet academy. Despite being one of the top pilots in his class, Adama finds himself assigned to a Raptor instead of a Viper. Paired with his new co-pilot, Coker (Ben Cotton), he’s assigned to take Dr. Beka Kelly (Lili Bordan) on what appears to be a fairly routine mission. However, it soon becomes clear that Adama is actually part of a very important covert mission; one that will result in a meeting with another Battlestar and a fleet of “ghost ships,” long believed destroyed.

Created by Michael Taylor and David Eick (both writers for the 2004-2009) Battlestar Galactica television series), Blood and Chrome was originally greenlight by the SyFy network as a series of webisodes, then given the okay to be a “backdoor pilot” for a possible television series, to eventually squashing that idea. In the end, Blood and Chrome became a standalone television movie that aired on the SyFy network. The “unrated” Blu-ray release adds a few profanities and a little bit of nudity to the mix.

Blood and ChromeIf you’re familiar with Battlestar Galactica, Blood and Chrome doesn’t offer much help. If someone doesn’t have an understanding of who the Cylons are and their issues with humans (and vice versa), there’s not much in the way of backstory to fill in the blanks. Of course, knowing who Adama will grow up to be, adds tremendously to the understanding and enjoyment of the story. So, while Blood and Chrome can be watched independently from the series on which it’s based, it’s probably going to be most enjoyed by those who followed the original series.  If Blood and Chrome is a “one and done” deal, most fans could probably live with it. However, If Blood and Chrome does well on home video, It would be nice to see more adventures of young Adama and direct-to-video might be just the ticket.

Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, the 1080p transfer won’t blow anyone away. Detail quality is fairly strong throughout and black levels are decent. However, color accuracy is inconsistent across the board and banding and aliasing are a persistent issue. Things in the BSG universe have always looked a bit herky-jerky, but this presentation could have been better.

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound mix is more impressive then the video. Dialogue is clear and concise throughout. The soundscape is fairly immersive, with music and effects being fairly enveloping. Not a bad mix at all.

English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are also included.

We don’t get too much in the way of special features:

  • Blood and Chrome: Visual Effects (HD, 23:00) A pretty extensive look at the film’s special effects is offered. We get to see how some of the most memorable sequences were created.
  • Deleted Scenes (HD, 29:00) Thirteen deleted and extended scenes, each of which is unfinished, green screen. Scenes include “Jarheads and Their War Porn,” “Nuggets,” “Adama’s First Taste of Action,” “A Hat Trick,” “An Unlikely Marriage,” “Hands-On Landing on a Half Pint,” “Lucky,” “Mission Prep,” “Tracking the Signal,” “Getting to Know Toth,” “Out of Line,” “Toasters Storm the Barricade” and “Out for Snowball Patrol.”
  • My Scenes Bookmarking.
  • DVD Copy of the Film.
  • Ultraviolet Digital Copy of the film.