Saturday, August 2, 2008

You Might Be a Cylon!

This video by Galacticast is a lot of fun. They've taken the basic idea of "anyone could be a Cylon" and turned it into a game show - a bit of Battlestar parody, a bit of their own humor and a lot of Gaius Baltar. These types of parodies are very hit and miss, but I was impressed by the attention to detail here. I've seen this about five times now, and it still makes me laugh.

At a first glance, I didn't think the Baltar was enough of a lookalike, but after hearing him speak, I was sold. The accent and speech patterns are just right, and there's a nice overtone of arrogance and flirtation (Sheba... Yes, Sheba...) His pride at his "challenging question - are you a Cylon?" is played just the right amount of ridiculous. I got the feeling they were making fun of the character rather than James' acting. And whatever happens, Gaius will get laid.

I also liked what they did with HeadSix (my minor quip is that she has dark hair). The way she whispers, "They're on to you, Gaius!" sounded a lot like Tricia Helfer's HeadSix at her meanest. The theme they use here is not Sense of Six like on the show, but rather the Cylon theme from the beginning - and I must admit I didn't notice that on the first watching. Likewise, the "cylon sound" is actually the sound of the dradis consoles on the Battlestar. It's a clever way of using the original show sounds to create the right atmosphere.

Gaius framing Aaron Doral for being a cylon - which he ended up being - is straight from the miniseries. Sheba's rundown of the typical viper pilot hobbies seems to cover just about everything they do - yes, drink is the big thing, but my personal favorite was the one about emotional moments that don't lead to anything. The turtle in the desert metaphor was apparently a Blade Runner reference, which I personally didn't catch, but someone on YouTube remarked on it. El Cylono is, of course, a bit obvious, but I enjoyed it because it wasn't overdone. (And I loved how he's apparently played by Matt Damon!) I have a feeling that "they should think of puppies... and kittens... and apple pie... and being human..." is also a reference, but I can't place it.

All in all, good job. Parodies rarely manage to scrape more than the surface of the actor mannerisms and plot clichés, but in this one, I think they had some pretty astute observations.
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