A very impressive pilot (I hope it's a pilot - but a good SyFy movie in any case) for still another addition to the Battlestar Galactica franchise. Creators Michael Taylor and his co-creator David Eick have picked up the saga post-Caprica and pre the 2004-2009 Battlestar Galactica series with a new tale centering on a young Bill Adama. Pasqualino and Cotton were excellent as Adama and Coker and the action filled plot is thankfully nothing like Caprica, which was sort of boring. This time we are back in space where the series belongs, shooting Cylons.

There is still a hint of the philosophical depth in Ronald D. Moore's re-imaging of Glen A. Larson's original series but the Taylor teleplay keeps the politic and morality questions to a minimum and we get treated to a lot of good old fashioned shoot 'em ups along the way. (Taylor and Moore worked DS9 for the Trek Franchise way back when, BTW, and David Eick worked on all the recent BG series.)

My only complaint was too little time for vet character actor John Pyper-Ferguson as a sort of bad guy (no spoilers here because he usually plays a bad guy, although some of us fondly remember him as a very funny bad guy in Brisco County Jr.) If we really do get a new series, maybe he'll be back.

BG fans should be marching for a reboot based on Blood and Chrome. This universe has plenty of room for more episodes.

****UPDATED 23 March 2017****

I just watched the Blu-ray release of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome and I've added one star as it was even better than I remembered. There is a lot of material that didn't make this, the extended cut, (included in Deleted Scenes) that is worth watching, even though this didn't become the pilot I'd hoped it would be.

Battlestar Galactica is a great series and Blood and Chrome is a worthy prequel to it. I won't go as far to say that it's perfect, the dialogue while mostly fine could have done with more polish, it did have some cheesiness, the story does drag a little towards the end and Lili Bordon shows little charisma. However, it is well made, the special effects are generally well-crafted and not too overused, the photography is solid and the interiors are striking. Credit must be made for the attempt to make it true to the series. The music is rousing and atmospheric, while the story is fun, doesn't take itself too seriously and maintains attention throughout(again doing a good job trying to respect the series) and the characters are written into the story well and are interesting. The acting I was very impressed by, Ben Cotton is the best of the lot, very charismatic and successfully bringing maturity to the story. Luke Pasquallino is likable in the lead role. John Pyper-Ferguson is under-utilised but not enough to still make an impression.

All in all, not on the same level as the series but still quite good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

It's young William Adama (Luke Pasqualino) in the First Cylon War getting his first assignment on the Battlestar Galactica. He's a young gun, top of his class, and itching to start shooting Cylons. However he's put into a Raptor to transport supplies. On his first mission, he's given an uneventful milk run assignment. His co-pilot Coker (Ben Cotton) is a war weary short timer who's only too happy to have a nothing mission. As they leave BSG, their passenger Dr. Becca Kelly (Lili Bordán) tells them that their mission has changed and it becomes something much more deadly.

It has a lot of CGI space battles in the first half. It looks functional, but not at the same standard as the TV series. The lead Luke Pasqualino doesn't have the same quality as Edward James Olmos. The story is acceptable but not as amazing as I would have wanted. The way it was portrayed in the TV show, I expected much more. Also Luke Pasqualino just doesn't have the same level of power or screen presence even if you add in the age difference. It's a reasonable TV movie, but that's about it.