Battlestar Galactica (TV Series) The Magnificent Warriors (1978) User Reviews

Jimmy Bond meets Ben Cartright-- In Space!!!!!

[profh-1 · 5/10 · 8 January 2011]

By rights, this should be a lousy episode. But it's just too fun to watch...

A Cylon attack destroys the fleet's food supply (and 2 of the 3 "Agro Ships" used to grow more). So Adama hatches a plan to trade a used civilian energy converter for seed at a nearby farm planet, so no one will know it's the Colonial Fleet that's involved in the deal. Right off, this is bad-- the Cylons are out to exterminate every human in creation, but no thought is given to what might happen to the people they do this trade with.

But it gets worse! Because the only piece of equipment in the fleet that fits the bill belongs to Siress Belloby... who just happens to be an old flame of Adama's. And despite the lives of every single person in the fleet hanging perilously in the balance-- she insists that she'll only hand it over, if Adama comes a-courting. I could really see Ben Cartright on BONANZA caught in an uncomfortable, awkward situation like this... but NOT Adama!!! What follows should simply be embarrassing to watch... but the truth is, the way it's played out (a tribute to the actors on this show), it comes across as FUNNY! The whole situation is just completely, flat-out WRONG-- but hilarious all the same. This show could really be schizo sometimes.

Planet-side, it gets WORSE! Seems the local town is having trouble with raiders who rob, steal and kill anyone who get in their way. Yep, it's a really bad tribute to "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN". Can the show stoop any lower? Just wait! It seems the guy running the town-- and the "chancery" (translation: GAMBLING CASINO) has been conning one naive stranger after another into becoming town marshal. The job has a high fatality rate, but nobody's allowed to resign. And WHO is slick enough to wind up WINNING the marshal BADGE in a poker game before he knows what hit him? Of course-- STARBUCK! So of course, when Belloby (who, in the tradition of frontier women, turns out to be handy with a rifle) gets herself KIDNAPPED, it happens that negotiating winds up a better option than a shoot-out. Especially when Starbuck proves better at it than Adama.

Belloby is played by none other than Brett Somers, who was Jack Klugman's wife in real life, AND played his ex-wife Blanche on THE ODD COUPLE! (I knew I'd seen her before.) As ridiculous as her character seems to be on the surface, I can't help but like her attitude and the way she handles herself in here. At the end, Belloby tells Adama he's become "too refined" and at her age, what she really needs is "an ANIMAL." Then she stares at Stabuck and says, "Oh, if only I were twenty years younger..." before planting one on him.

Oh, did I mention? The guy running things in town is played by Barry Nelson. That's right. The first actor to every play JAMES BOND, in the 1954 TV adaptation of "CASINO ROYALE". Who else should we find in a gambling house-- let alone, RUNNING the place? I really didn't want to like this one... but I was LAUGHING TOO HARD not to. I think this episode would have gone over a LOT better if it had come along much later in the season... or sometime in Season 2. Maybe if they hadn't done stories like this so early, they might have actually reached Season 2.

One of the weak episodes

[keyope · 5/10 · 12 July 2018]

This really had the feel of a "filler" episode. The idea is sound. It's another Western in Space, but this episode lacks excitement and the effects are much poorer than in other episodes. It has a real cheap feel to it. However, for me the show really starts to pick up after this episode, so don't give up on the show just yet if you're unsure about it. It's all fun and excitement from here onwards.

Humorous change of pace

[Fluke_Skywalker · 7/10 · 15 June 2016]

Plot; When a Cylon attack destroys two of its fleet's agricultural ships and damages a third, Adama and a team from the Galactica go to a nearby planet hoping to trade a power generator for new seed.

Pretty standard basic plot with some rather silly contrivances throw in, 'cause 70s, but there's a lot to like here. First, it opens smack dab in the middle of a pretty intense and rather well done (on a technical level) dogfight between Colonial Vipers and Cylon Raiders. Easily the best bit of ship to ship space combat in the series yet. The rest of the episode is rather lighthearted, standing in stark contrast to the dire circumstances of the fleet. What normally might've been a recipe for high drama is instead used mostly for humor. Thankfully it works, largely due to a pair of fine guest performances. First is Brett Somers, a member of the fleet who owns the power generator the Galactica wishes to use. She uses this to leverage time with Adama, who she has a major crush on. Somers gives a playfully charming performance, working well in contrast with the very sober and dignified Lorne Greene. The other strong performance comes from Barry Nelson, perhaps best known as the first actor to play James (or Jimmy) Bond, playing against type as the semi-crooked political leader of the outpost the Galactica crew visit.

I think this would've worked better had they shelved the humor and focused instead on the drama of the fleet's food crisis and the ploy to get the new seed, but the humor is pulled off well enough that the episode still works, albeit on a different level.

A humorous re-telling of High Noon

[Scaarge · 7/10 · 9 September 2010]

Battlestar Galactica is one of those cheesy shows that, truth to tell, is hard to dislike.

This one is kind of an odd duck, because while the situation the Colony fleet finds itself in is serious (even dire), the episode itself plays out with a generous sampling of humor sprinkled here and there. Some of the humor is a bit too, too... (e.g, Adama being pursued by Belloby plays itself out about like you'd expect). But much of it is actually funny, and kind of charming in that 1970's way, and--best of all--the episode is never dull.

As a bonus, look for a cameo by Olan Soule, the voice of Batman in those Super Friends cartoons. He plays the guy in charge of the fleet's "agro ship."

All Starbuck, and good sci fi story!

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 27 May 2023]

All Starbuck, and good sci fi story! There is need for food and the boys try to trade a generator. There is this Western town with food and the boys gets conned and Starbuck get tricked into being the Sheriff, while Admanda has to entertain a crazy older lady. The humor parts mix well with a great Sci fi story of this tribe of pig like raiders who no longer farms but raid the town. What I like here is Sci fi mixes well with humor as Starbuck comes up with a humorous solution for the town, the boys get the food , and Starbuck gets out of being the Sheriff. We can see why Starbuck got the Face role for the A Team series whit this episode. The Magnificent Warriors will leave you with a chuckle an smile on your face. 8 stars.

Of the derivitive plot episodes, this one is still a lot of fun + Silent Running footage

[Metal_Robots · 8/10 · 15 March 2023]

I was fascinated to see clever use of footage of the bio-dome ships from Douglas Trumbull's classic film "Silent Running", with viper dogfights super-imposed over the top!

This was very clearly a rip-off of various Western plots (as was the similarly-named "The Lost Warrior"), but then again, if Star Wars can do it, why not this?

As such, this episode could have been bad, like the boring "The Long Patrol", but what kept this above water was the performances and humour, which actually worked this time, and supplied genuine entertainment throughout.

I particularly like the way Starbuck's selfishness and vanity worked in his favour this time, bringing the story to a satisfying conclusion, and the relationship between Adama and Siress Belloby, which was constantly amusing and possibly an influence on ST:TNG's Picard and Lwaxana Troi?

A Town Called Serenity

[anderbilt · 8/10 · 20 March 2023]

I'm not adverse to stopping to review a 45-year-old television episode, especially on viewing it with new eyes and a fresh context. On a second view 45 years after its premiere, I found myself really liking "The Magnificent Warriors."

I wandered out of my dorm room partway through this episode on the night it aired and never saw it again. The "Shane" homage and "Guns of Navarrone" homage just weeks earlier were a bit obvious, but a deep troll into classic westerns wasn't quite what I signed up for.

Fast forward four decades. I've done a complete binge of the all-to-brief series "Firefly" at least a half dozen times, loving it dearly each time. Last night, during a just-started rewatch of the original BSG, I arrived at this episode that I remember walking out on, and started viewing.

There were things a Firefly fan could appreciate about this episode, that I had no patience for in 1978, so thanks again Joss Whedon. The rag tag circumstances, need for under-the-table barter, the naïveté of a handshake deal with a local shyster, all were part of the best Firefly episodes to be honest.

At the end, a great idea from Starbuck arrived at the nick of time, making the Colonials the Big Damn Heroes, aaaand weren't they just?

And everyone wears a brown coat. At last I felt at home here.