Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Season 3 takes the series in a new direction as the Cylons occupy New Caprica with little resistance from new President Baltar. Colonel Tigh leads a group of resistance fighters and Commander Adama undertakes a daring near-suicidal mission to free the humans from their mechanical captors.

The middle of Season 3 has its ups and downs, but finishes with a flurry with five of its best episodes starting with "Dirty Hands" and culminates with a two-part "Crossroads" with Baltar being tried for treason with Lee has one of his defenders. The finale revolves around some mysterious music that only a select group of humans can hear, but why?

Of the 20 Season 3 episodes, the majority are very intriguing and entertaining with only a couple of stinkers mixed in ("The Passage" and "A Day in the Life"). The season finale includes a plethora of questions that need to be answered at some point during the fourth and final season and while I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two seasons, it is still one of the best on TV shows of the new millennium.

Video Highlights

• VC-1/1080p encodes on a BD-50 discs
• Interior shots are very grainy with hazy detail
• Exterior shots on New Caprica have heightened contrast
• Inconsistent black levels
• Obscured shadows

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtracks
• Excellent dynamics
• Clear and concise dialog
• Strong LFE when appropriate

Video quality within each episode is very inconsistent depending on the shooting location. Interior shots of Galactica and other spaceships have a documentary look to them but the encodes are faithful to the source.

Bonus Materials

• Extended Episode commentary with executive producer David Eick on "Hero" and Ronald D. Moore on "Unfinished Business."
• Ronald D. Moore's podcast commentaries
• David Eick's video blogs
• Deleted scenes
• Colonia Military Assignment Quiz
• U-Control with "The Oracle" interactive guide to ships and characters and "Battlestar Blips"
• BD-Live Enabled

While the show reached its peak in the second season, the third season is still entertaining. To see the humans struggle under the Cylon occupation and how sympathizers are dealt with once they escape explores human emotions on a deep level. The two-part conclusion is extremely well done and lays the groundwork for the disappointing and prolonged fourth season, but that's a story for another day. Recommended

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Release Date: July 27, 2010
Studio: Universal

Season: 8/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 9/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics