Battlestar Galactica uses Apocalypse now for an important view

By Chris Snellgrove
| Announce 21 seconds ago

Part of what he did Battlestar Galactica Restarts so compelling was that he told a completely original story while continuing to provide homage to the amazing films and shows that came before her. For example, the season 2 premiere (“scattered”) has a back -to -date scene when Tight Tight was about to burn its medals and possibly suicide, and this chilling scene may seem familiar to film students. That is because this is particularly depressing Battlestar Galactica The scene was heavily inspired by Apocalypse now and one of the bleak scenes in cinematic history.

Battlestar Galactica inspired by Apocalypse Now

Originally, producers shot many different back scenes for “scattered,” and the last chapter contains a handful of them only. One of them shows younger colonel tightly pouring lighter fluid all over its old military medals; He prepares to light them on fire and possibly kill himself and his partner in bed, but he stopped by visiting the military police. They tell him he had been restored in the service, and Battlestar Galactica Guru Moore confirmed on the podcast commentary for the episode “The quality of a definite homage is this to Apocalypse now. “

If you are a Battlestar Galactica Van that hasn’t watched Apocalypse now Recently (or you may never have watched it at all), you may be wondering what the homage is. In the Francis Ford Coppola Film, some military police display and find the character of Martin Sheen’s army so hanging that they have to throw it in the shower to revive it. In “Scattered,” Tigh (apparently halfway through a large deck of drinks) is in a similar situation, although the visiting MPs do not have to throw it in the shower.

Interestingly the Battlestar Galactica Showrunner thought that this minor diversion of Apocalypse nowHe made the scene more effective. He noted that Tigh “just going away and pulling himself together” and how this was “for our story … more effective.” In that same podcast commentary, Moore was mourning “we could not convey” the fact that if Tigh lit his medals on fire, “the place could all go up.”

Obviously, the scene in Coppola’s film where Sheen’s character must be thrown into a very memorable shower, so why did Moore think they were better to show that they can pull together alone? Essentially, “scattered” is an episode where the alcoholic tigh must assume control of the ship after Adama was shot, and it was surprising to audiences and characters alike that shaky, violent drunken drunken drunkenness is actually a reliable officer with good instincts. However, the earlier tin -faster to Tigh served on Battlestar Galactica predicting this by showing that (unlike their Apocalypse now mate) pull himself together at a moment of caution.

When we first watched this Battlestar Galactica chapter, we did not clock the similarities between Young Tigh’s scene and the corresponding scene Apocalypse now. We can’t see the connection now, and we love Ronald Moore even more about adding such complexity to Colonel Tigh, one of the show’s best characters. With regard to Tigh himself, he was likely to describe a command with the same two words that Marlon Brando spoke famously near Apocalypse now: “The horror… the horror!”