For those who missed the series, you seriously missed out one of the coolest sci-fi shows to hit the airwaves. Nothing beats the new Battlestar Galactica mind you, but this one is a kind of a mix between Wing Commander, Galactica, and maybe some Starship Troopers. The show even had running plots throughout the series, all centered around the experiences of each member of the 58th Squadron, and their efforts to end the war with the Chigs. It’s a true pity the show only lasted a year, second to Millennium this is the best thing to come out of the X-Files production duo Glen Morgan and James Wong.

If you can find the DVD set (and that can be a big if nowadays) I highly recommend picking it up.

Yesterday saw the release of the second half of season two of Battlestar Galactica, which has to be the most absurd way to release a season of a television show. Many who know me know that I think Battlestar Galactica (the new series) is possibly the best television show done by man, and the second half of season two does not disappoint.

While I was there at Best Buy, I decided to pick up Test Drive Unlimited for the 360. The demos really do not do this game justice, as many of my friends have claimed. It’s a total blast to be able to have free-for-all access to the entire collection of Hawaii roadways presented by this game. This is like a guy’s Pokemon in a sense, where the “gotta catch em all” phrase can be applied to the many vehicles the game lets you buy and race.

The free roaming nature of the game is the one thing Project Gotham Racing 3 lacks. For all of PGR3’s incredible visuals and sim-ish racing dynamics, you’re unable to just take a car out for a spin on the streets of the different locations. Here you can conceivably drive around for hours and hours (like in real life I suppose), taking in the nice visuals of the island and its assorted locales. I’ll have to put up a review of this one in the Games section after I spend some more time with it.

The Dune series of books is one of the cornerstones of science fiction literature. The depth of storytelling and incredibly complicated relationships between characters, countries, and organizations is incredible to behold, and can only be ridiculous challenge to commit to film. David Lynch tried, and while he missed the boat on a lot of the story elements he nailed an excellent style.

Then the SciFi network did the Dune miniseries, an attempt to do Dune again but this time be faithful to the original story and characters. The ability to take many hours to tell the story did the effort justice, marred only by some iffy acting and lowbrow special effects. When SciFi was to bring Children of Dune to the screen, I cringed a bit, fearing a repeat of the dodginess of the first series. But oh how I was wrong.

The director Children of Dune in fact mixes the second book (Dune Messiah) and the third book (Children of Dune), creating a brilliant series which showcases major turning points in the Dune mythology. The production values blow away those done by many motion pictures, with top end special effects and incredible use of lighting and costume to set the mood. Add in a richly emotional score by Brian Tyler, which was so good I ended up buying the CD, and you have a perfect recipe for greatness.

In a nutshell, Children of Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides after his defeat of the Emperor from the first series. The mythology which surrounds his family is stifling, and beginning to take on a life of its own as his religious armies ravage the universe, killing any who do not swear allegiance to him. Old enemies continue to conspire, and old allies beginning to acquire a distaste for what Muad’dib’s empire represents begin to turn against him. The series focuses primarily on Paul’s children, as they grow into a legacy which becomes increasingly dangerous for them.

The entire cast is spot on throughout the series, including the actors from the first series. It’s evident they’ve grown as actors since the last series’ production.

The story of the Dune series is one of fate and tragedy, and that is no more evident than in the second and third books. It’s captured perfectly here and is something which will deeply touch anyone. I highly recommend this series, regardless of whether someone is a science fiction fan or not. The story and characters are the highlights, not the technobabble. It would be worthwhile to check out the first series before watching this however, since several plot points are important here.