Customer Reviews
Solid addition to the series - By: A. Whitehead, 27 Jul 2008 
Backin 2008, with the transmission of Battlestar Galactica's fourth season delayed & its full run interrupted by a nine-month-long break due to the Writer's Strike, the Sci-Fi Channel saw fit to deliver us an extra treat, namely a TV movie delving deeper into the show's backstory.
Razor takes place at the end of the second season, shortly after the events of the episode The Captain's Hand. Lee Adama is now commander of the battlestar Pegasus, but as an outsider he finds himself not entirely trusted by his new crew. Lee decides to appoint a former favourite of Admiral Cain's, Lt. Kendra Shaw, to the position of XO,in an attempt to 'build bridges' with his new subordinates. Interestingly, the plot doesn't dwell on this idea. We know the fate of the Pegasus & Lee's command of her from other episodes & seeing him do a 'winning the respect of the crew' plotline would have been redundant. Instead we see much of the story through Kendra's eyes. Lengthy flashbacks take us back to the day of the original Cylon attack on the Colonies & we see Kendra rising through the ranks & observing Cain's gradual moral erosion as the tensions of command take hold. A present day storyline, which is little more than a subplot, sees the Pegasus crew stumble across a bunch of obsolete Cylons from the First Cylon War & have to eliminate them.
Razor straddles two stools. On the one hand, it is a balls-to-the-wall action story with huge, epic CGI battle sequences & lots of emotional intensity which is designed to appeal to newcomers as well as established fans. On the other, it features a lot of fan-pleasing asides & references to the original series. This is a somewhat odd idea (going for newbies & hardcore fans at the same time) but just about works, with the new character of Kendra providing a worthwhile 'in' to this story & universe for new viewers but at the same time allowing established fans to see stuff they've wanted to see since the series began. Kudos for the writers for managing not to make a total hash of this.
The TV movie lives or dies on the performance of actress Stephanie Chaves-Jacobson as Kendra Shaw & thankfully she delivers a competent performance. She tended to mumble a fair bit, however, which resultedin much rewinding of scenes to make out what she was saying. The actress has a great rapport with Katee Sackhoff & Michelle Forbes, &in these scenes she is extremely good. The other actors are as trusty & reliable as ever, although some have very little screen-time (Athena & Tigh get a single scene each, President Roslin three short scenes & Dr. Baltar only briefly appears thanks to an extended scene only available on the DVD).
Overall, Razor (****) is an enjoyable slice of Battlestar Galactica. Some elements misfire a bit (the "By your command," moment, although amusing, totally breaks the fourth wall) & the resolution's dependence on yet more BSG mysticism is mildly exasperating, but overall the TV movie fulfils its remit of being both entertaining & restoring faithin the show after a patchy third year. I do think Razor works better if viewed chronologically (i.e., after The Captain's Handin Season 2) than between Season 3 & 4 as originally aired, at which point it does feel a little more redundant.
The DVD edition is extended over the TV cut by some 15 minutes & features a lengthy flashback to the First Cylon War (complete with another huge battle sequence) as well as other new scenes, plus a writer & producer's commentary.
Worth the time. - By: Dark Star, 21 Jul 2008 
I'll keep this short & sweet. Much of the marketing gave people the wrong impression of this feature length. Many thought it was history of the Pegasus under the command of Admiral Cann many thought it was the missing pieces between command being handed down to Lee Adama & it's untimely destruction at the Battle for New Caprica.
Whatever you thought, what you want this be. Throw it out the window now. Expectations & preconceptions will only close your mind & heart to this magnificent piece of story telling.
Although the story follows the once innocent Kendra Shaw, Admiral Helena Cain (fantastically portrayed by the talented Michelle Forbes) has stolen the show with a character, who's ideals & principles would turn even the most moral viewers into Razors.
You don't even need to be a fan of the Battlestars series nor have a comprehensive knowledge of the universe to enjoy this. Due to the focus of the story everything unravels itself & is very much self-explanatory. It can & will drawin the most unlikely viewers.
And for those who are fans. Many questions will be answered, but many many more questions will be raised.
Worth the time.
Don't care that much for it. - By: David Addison, 15 Jul 2008 
Personally,I'm not a fan of this show.However,I do have my favourite characters.Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama.Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin,and Grace Park,as Sharon.My main gripe is that the writers always seem determined to show practically all of the male characters as totally & useless weaklings.Girl power is what they like here.The action is good,but of course,its the women that save the day.I didn't find this to my liking,but if you are a fan of extreme girl power saving blokes,and treating most of the men with utter comtempt,this is for you.Its not for me.
Good but not up to the usual standard of writing - By: D. J. Dubery, 23 Jun 2008 As an established fan of the series I enjoyed Razor. It was great to have a little more back-story regarding the Pegasus, the first Cylon War & Admiral Cain. The old time Cylons & Cylon Raiders were a real treat to see & beautifully rendered. That said, the lead characters of Kendra Shaw & Admiral Cain are particularly unsympathetic & very hard to like- which makes this story a little hard to really engage with. I also thought that the story had holes & inconsistencies that I would not usually associate with BSG. It was somewhat bizarre that Admiral Adama would send a whole battlestar to search for a missing Raptor. It was even more odd that he would then chose to accompany it. It was inconsistent & out of character for him to selectively start overruling his son's commands- while at the same time telling him that it was `his call'. The whole raid on the base-star was then rather unconvincingin so far as they had no problem escaping through the fighter screen once they withdrew- indeed it seems not to have even been a factor. Minor quibbles maybe - & I feel like a real geek for even writing this- but BSG doesn't normally contain these sort of flaws. In summary, great for back-story, not so great for the actual drama & writing.
Superb - By: A. C. Wood, 02 May 2008 A must see for fans & an exciting flick for others - however I would recommend that you watch sequentially. Great piece of TV with cinema standard production values.
