Why Some Of Battlestar Galactica’s Technology Seems Unadvanced

Syfy

The goal of the reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” was to create a space opera that stayed relatively close to reality. Series’ co-creator Ronald D. Moore, who wanted to write the stories he never could on “Star Trek,” coined the style as “naturalistic science-fiction.” That meant handheld cameras in the style of “cinéma vérité” documentaries, as well as a world that resembled the one the audiences lived in.

The characters on “Battlestar Galactica” behaved like they worked on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier — and indeed, aside from the faster-than-light travel, the technology on Galactica is at about that level. The primary communication system on the ship is corded telephones, not the handheld communicators or viewscreens seen on “Star Trek.” Rather than tablets, the Colonial Navy still uses paper documents. Even the more advanced Battlestar Pegasus had CRT computer monitors right out of the 1990s.

If you look closely, you’ll notice it’s mostly computer technology where “Galactica” seems behind the times — and there’s a good reason for that. The premise of the series is, of course, that the people of the 12 Colonies of Man created robots called Cylons who rebelled, evolved, and waged war on their masters. (No wonder Edward James Olmos says “Battlestar Galactica” and “Blade Runner” share a universe.)

As Moore wrote in the “Battlestar” series bible, this meant that Colonial society did away with innovations like computer networking and microprocessors, because Cylons could…

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