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The official release of “Battlestar Galatica finally arrives on DVD a mere six months after its official UK release and two plus months after the Best Buy UK release. The differences are substantial; the U.K. release was mostly bare bones while the U.S. release features a number of extras not included on the other edition plus the extras included there as well. Fans take note this includes both the mini-series and the regular first season. ***

Universal has done an exceptional job with the transfer here; “Battlestar Galatica” looks terrific with vivid colors, nice, sharp detail. You’ll notice grain during the mini-series that isn’t apparent during the TV show—that’s because the mini-series was shot on film and the TV show on HD video. The grain adds grit to the series and I didn’t notice it on the original DVD single disc release but, surprise, surprise it was there. It appears that this is the exact same transfer as previously available. There’s a bit of noticeable noise during the series itself but its not too distracting. I’m surprised that Universal couldn’t clean up the bit of digital video noise that is evident here but perhaps it’s a problem with the original videotape. that is in use in the United States and Canada. The 5.1 sound comes across with awesome power and presence and sounds exceptionally crisp and sharp even in the 2.0 format. Overall, an exceptional job despite some minor analog and digital blemishes, “Battlestar Galatica” looks better than most transfers that Universal has done for TV series. ***

Universal has done an exceptional job with the transfer here; “Battlestar Galatica” looks terrific with vivid colors, nice, sharp detail. You’ll notice grain during the mini-series that isn’t apparent during the TV show—that’s because the mini-series was shot on film and the TV show on HD video. The grain adds grit to the series and I didn’t notice it on the original DVD single disc release but, surprise, surprise it was there. It appears that this is the exact same transfer as previously available. There’s a bit of noticeable noise during the series itself but its not too distracting. I’m surprised that Universal couldn’t clean up the bit of digital video noise that is evident here but perhaps it’s a problem with the original videotape. that is in use in the United States and Canada. The 5.1 sound comes across with awesome power and presence and sounds exceptionally crisp and sharp even in the 2.0 format. Overall, an exceptional job despite some minor analog and digital blemishes, “Battlestar Galatica” looks better than most transfers that Universal has done for TV series. ***

A note for international fans of the show with multi-region players; this set only includes the original English language 5.1 mix. It doesn’t have the French and Spanish tracks that were available on the mini-series. Subtitles are available for those languages thought. Something to be aware of English isn’t your first language and you planned on listening to the series in your native tongue. ---

I have good and bad news. There are eight featurettes but they aren’t new exactly. All were available online at the Sci-Fi Channel website. All are quite good and its nice to have them in a permanent format. Image and sound quality are better than the website versions. There’s also a short documentary on the series entitled “Battlestar Galatica: The Lowdown”. It’s essentially the same short documentary that was available on the mini-series release. The bad news is that nothing else from the mini-series is included outside of the commentary track for the min-series. ***

The deleted scenes that were available on the Best Buy UK release are available here as well. There’s also a trading card for each set. There’s also a montage of sketches and artwork from the first season included as well. ---