Just sorting some old books out, I came across this Battlestar Galactica paperback.
Books often tell you things about the owners and this one is a gem. The previous owner, from Dinington near Sheffield [who has blacked out his name], has not only stuck in a Cylon Warrior from the Action Transfers set but also what I suspect to be the stub from the cinema screening of the film way back when!
The stub says EMI on it. EMI ran the ABC cinema chain and I assume it came from a Sheffield ABC ticket. I can't find any info about Battlestar Galactica being shown at Sheffield ABC - dates, attendance - but I presume it was 1978. It will have looked something like this [taken in 1983]
picture: www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk
The paperback also contains several pages of colour photographs including some fabulous artwork by the gifted Ralph McQuarrie.
I didn't see Battlestar Galactica at the cinema but I can appreciate the effort that has gone into personalising this paperback. Did you see the movie when it came out readers?
Came across this same pb just this summer at one of our local car boot sales. I think the photo section with pre-production artwork makes it all the more special.
ReplyDeleteSaw the movie back in 1978. Even if it was simply a couple of tv eps edited into a feature length treat, seeing it on big screen made all the difference. To understand why it was such a huge experience, one has to consider its place in the wake of the huge success of Star Wars. For every teenager counting days (or, years) to the first sequel, TBG The Movie was the next best thing. And not bad at all!
Great memories Arto. I wish I'd have seen it in 78 too. It was years later. We forget how close the Seventies were to the Sixties don't we, I mean, Mattel even had chance to recycle my favourite, Captain Laser, into the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Warrior!
DeleteI never saw the theatrical release, but I remember watching the American television premiere in September 1978. There was a comics convention that weekend, so a large group of fans (maybe twenty people?) were squashed together in a hotel room to watch the show together. Suddenly, a little more than halfway through, the broadcast was interrupted by the announcement of Jimmy Carter getting Egypt and Israel to agree to the Camp David Accords, which was stunning, wonderful news. And then they covered the signing ceremony live, so it was more than half an hour before they returned to the program. None of us in the hotel room minded the delay too much.
ReplyDelete(Looking back, I can only imagine that some who were against the peace accords must have tried to draw parallels between Israel and Egypt and the humans versus the Cylons who are about to sign a peace treaty...but that didn't occur to me at the time.)
Funny how we always recall where we where when monumental things happen like that Rich: Elvis's death, John Lennon's death, 9/11. Alas, I can't think of anything good like Camp David! Oh yes, the Berlin Wall coming down in 1989. Phew!
DeleteI'll see you that paperback, and raise you the second one too ;) Titled 'The Cylon Death Machine' it's an adaptation of the episode 'The Gun On Ice Planet Zero'. Both owned by myself since new.
ReplyDeleteI saw the theatrical release - with Sensurround ! It was very impressive the way the seats shook whenever there was an explosion or the Galactica made a close pass !
I think I've seen that book, The Cylon Death Machine Mart. Nice one! They still do Sensurround at Cineworld. Its called D-Box. I've never had a go - too pricey - but if you sit near the D-Box zone you get to feel the shaking seats for free!
DeleteMart, we corresponded recently. My email link is at the bottom of the blog if you'd like to get in touch again.
DeleteMust have been a better cinema than the one I saw it in- the "sensurround" explosions just sounded like somebody stamping on a tin roof!
ReplyDeleteThat's the kind of thing I'd have done as a kid Andy. A home made cinema with DIY sound effects like rattling tins! My greatest project was a Ghost Train in the garden, complete with rubber snakes, skeletons, cobwebs and the lot. Kids had to pay to go through! ha ha
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