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Spoiler Free Review Of Stargate Atlantis' Series Finale [Stargate Atlantis Review]
Published January 6, 2009, 2:16 pm in io9 Tags:

The end is nigh for Stargate Atlantis — this Friday marks the series finale. We've screened the last SGA episode ever, and want to share some (virtually) spoiler-free details with you.

The episode picks up right where last weeks alternate-reality CSI episode ended. And let me say, "Vegas" was a fun little forensic, cop show mystery. It was almost sad how much I enjoyed this crazy deviation from the regular SGA series, because I knew there would never be another. But bravo, Joe Flanigan, for a fun time as a lone-wolf detective in the hot Nevada desert.

But in the season finale, the crew's worst nightmares have come true and the evil frog-skinned Wraith have found a way to the Milky Way Galaxy. Which means a fate worse than death for the Earth.

So what does the SGA crew do? Call on some old friends! As it's been widely reported, Amanda Tapping pops in as Colonel Samantha Carter, giving a much-needed heartfelt shout out to long-gone cast members, and bringing a few old SG1-ers aboard. And just for a mere instant, we're reminded of the SG1 beginnings of some of our beloved SGA crew.

Richard Woolsey passes out warm fuzzy feelings amongst the crew, solidifying his place among the cast, and his personal growth as a character. We will so miss Robert Picardo's adorable mug each week.

The crew has to scramble to protect the Earth, and a great battle ensues — in the sky, on land and in a Wraith ship. Limits are tested, Sheppard is forced to do everything himself again for a while, and sciencey jargon is heaped on top of sciencey jargon.

At the climax you'll raise your hands and say no — how can it be? Will this be the final episode for some of our dear SGA crew members? Possibly, but then again, it is Stargate. Overall, it's a nice long hug with good dose of drama to send you off into the good night, remembering why it is you came to love each character. (Oh, and Teyla only has a few lines, so good all around).

Watch Kyle XY's Season Opener Online [Kyle XY]
Published January 6, 2009, 2:07 pm in io9 Tags:

I may be the only person here who's thrilled and excited by the return of Kyle XY, ABC Family's dramedy about a teen with special powers. (But I may write a giant post in a few days trying to convince you to check it out, anyway. It's way better than you think it is, although it's not Middleman good.) In any case, you can watch next week's season opener online right now. Check it out! [E! Online]

Grow Your Own Tenth Doctor, While You Warm Up To The Eleventh [Doctor Who]
Published January 6, 2009, 1:30 pm in io9 Tags:

Already missing Doctor Who's tenth Doctor? You can grow your own, thanks to this handy (ha) DIY kit. Meanwhile, overcome your doubts about the eleventh Doctor by watching him sleep with Rose Tyler.

The make-your-own-tenth-Doctor kit is something you can make yourself at home — all you need is the card, the little bottle full of some kind of green liquid, a hand (from an action figure), and a chain. Sadly, I can't find the original source of the image — all I found is this person on Etsy begging for someone to make it for them and send it to New Zealand for $5.

If you're the creator of the kit, or you know who is, please drop me a line and I'll credit her or him properly at once.

But don't panic! The new eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, got a ringing endorsement from the Moff himself (no, not our Moff), Steven Moffat. Says new executive producer Moffat:

The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe.

As soon as Matt walked through the door, and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man.

Haters of his current hairstyle will be sad, though, to know that Moffat also cited Smith's touseled coiffure as one of the reasons he'll be a great Doctor. Also, says producer Piers Wenger:

There's a quirkiness to him, an unevenness to his face, a lot of stuff going on behind the eyes. He hasn't got an entirely modern face.

(Honestly the more I think about it, the more I agree with Tom Baker, who always said the role of the Doctor is "actor-proof.") But should you still entertain nagging doubts, here's a clip of the new Doctor hooking up with Rose Tyler, from episode six of "Diary Of A Call Girl":

[clip via SunnyTyler001]

New Toy Movies To Geek Out, But Not Too Much [He-man]
Published January 6, 2009, 1:00 pm in io9 Tags:

Worried that Transformers may have inspired a spate of gimmicky movies based on the toys of your youth that'll ruin your childhood nostalgia? You may want to avoid this post, just in case.

Admittedly, the news (via Variety) that movies are planned for the Magic 8-Ball, Barbie, Hot Wheels and He-Man may sound like overkill, but apparently all of the movies will be done with something approaching integrity, according to Mattel's VP for entertainment and marketing, Barry Waldo:

[Hot Wheels is] a billion-dollar brand for us. We want to continue making it relevant for kids [but w]e won't have the cars talk... That would be off brand position for us. It won't be another 'Knight Rider,' I promise that.

Phew, that's a relief... until you read that the movie may be based upon Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, a new cartoon due to premiere on Cartoon Network this year that apparently sees the non-talking cars fighting "intergalactic" crime.

Getting slightly better treatment is He-Man, whose movie will apparently serve to reintroduce the character and concept to a mainstream audience, without sacrificing what made him the muscle-bound hero of so many children's homo-erotic fantasies. Variety quotes Waldo as saying,

There's a fine line to walk between staying loyal and true to the fan community and doing what we need to do to bring the idea to the masses in a way that's going to be relevant today and be something that hasn't been done before... we always start out not wanting to make a long toy commercial. We want to make a credible story that will make people go to the theater.

A credible story? That'll be a step up from Transformers, then.

Studios tell toy stories [Variety]

Your Twitter Stream Could Soon Be Printed On Your Skin [Nanotech]
Published January 6, 2009, 12:30 pm in io9 Tags:

Check out that piece of cellophane-like material: it's actually filled with transparent circuits, using carbon nanotube transistors. Scientists have been fabricating transparent circuits for years, but now they're getting way closer to commercial viability.

Researchers at the University of Southern California say, in a new paper, that they've succeeded in fabricating transparent thin-film transistors (TTFTs) at low temperatures, by using carbon nanotubes. Colder fabrication means it's cheaper to make them, and it also raises the "device mobility," which enables fast operation and lowers power consumption. It also allows you to put the TTFTs into more flexible substances, as opposed to just panes of glass.

In other words, low-temperature fabrication and high mobility is the key to dream applications, like "e-paper, wearable display, smart tag, and artificial skin (E-skin)." I totally want my skin to have tattoos that change color or shape depending on my mood or level of drunkenness. Can we have that by next week, please? [ACS Nano via Nanowerk]

In the Alternate History of "Blonde Roots," Africans Enslave Europeans [Book Review]
Published January 6, 2009, 12:20 pm in io9 Tags:

Doris is a young English peasant kidnapped by African slavers, who ship her across the Atlantic. So begins this action-packed, though uneven, tale of white slavery and black imperialism by Bernardine Evaristo.

Already a critical hit in the UK, Blonde Roots comes out stateside on January 22. While Blonde Roots tells a fast-paced story, often with bits of inspired satire, it suffers from several basic problems. Probably the most obvious is that Evaristo can't seem to decide if she's writing an alternate history or just a satire. Doing either is a tall order: There's a potential for oversimplified allegory in any story that offers such a basic historical switcheroo.

Creating an original, compelling tale (or a biting social commentary) requires more than simply asserting "this time the Africans are slavers!" We want some explanation about why history has reversed itself, which Evaristo never provides. Did Africans invent seagoing vessels before Europeans? Did they invent gunpowder? What gave them the advantage in the Atlantic trade zone during the Renaissance Era? This isn't a request that the book be more like pulpy alternative history - after all, Kim Stanley Robinson explains his alternate history in The Years of Rice and Salt with one, graceful note. In his world, the medieval plagues wiped out almost the entire European population, allowing Muslim kingdoms to colonize Europe, and installing Islam as the dominant culture of the West.

Without any kind of coherent world-building, Evaristo seems bent on creating a simplistic but confused satire of contemporary England. Doris is a house slave in "Londolo," a racially-inverted London where everyone drinks coffee at "Starbright," and the rich wear bones in their noses and listen to rave music. The few free whites pay exorbitant amounts to get their skins darkened, their noses broadened with surgery, and fashionable Afros glued to their shaved heads.

The satire here feels a little hackneyed, and relies for its effectiveness on our "shock" that black standards of beauty might be different from white. Perhaps this is a cultural difference between UK and US audiences, but I feel like this is a lesson we've all learned before, from far more persuasive thinkers.

Still, Evaristo's story of Doris' imprisonment and escape are heartwrenching and compelling. As Doris flees from her master in Londolo, with help from the underground railroad (here, abandoned tube tunnels), we learn her story in flashbacks. She's been a house slave, more psychologically abused than physically, and she's lost everything she loved: Her original family, the man she loved, and the children her master sold before she could even nurse them. Doris' wrath at her first mistress - who pretended to be her friend, but controlled her completely - is a well-observed tale of how slavery can warp consciousness no matter what racial group is in charge.

And though a lot of the satire feels forced, Evaristo reaches a frenzy of brilliance in a rather lengthy section of the book which she writes in the voice of Doris' master Bwana. It's his published account of how he became a powerful slave trader, and why it is merciful to enslave the mentally-defective white people whose narrow heads clearly show that their brains are inferior. Written in faux eighteenth-century prose, this section of the novel really soars and shows what Evaristo is capable of when she merges smart historical observation with her deliciously dark sense of humor.

You won't be able to put Blonde Roots down, because Doris' adventures are intense and the plot moves at such breakneck speed. But if you're looking for a thoughtful exploration of how master and slave are accidents of history, you won't find it here. Evaristo's mashed-up eighteenth/twenty-first century Londolo, and her unexplained historical twists, make this novel a failed exercise in world-building. But it's one I found intriguing despite its flaws.

Blonde Roots [via Amazon (pre-orders) or Amazon.uk (in stock)]

Dollhouse Has Potential, Say Reviewers [Dollhouse]
Published January 6, 2009, 11:30 am in io9 Tags:

Another review of the first episode of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse has appeared online, and like the first, it describes a show that could be excellent. Time to get nervous yet?

Television review site The TV Addict - written by a self-declared "Whedon fanboy" - has had a chance to see the first episode of the new Fox drama, but their verdict isn't entirely one of slavish devotion:

I’m not going to lie, it’s not perfect. There are a few missteps — and some even glaring mistakes — made in the first episode, but there is a lot of potential in the concept, in the characters and in the story... This is actually the second episode filmed for DOLLHOUSE, the initial pilot was rejected by Fox, which is probably why this episode feels like there’s a lot handed to you in terms of exposition. Clunky lines like, “Let’s have no ex-cop heroics, huh?” hinder the flow of the show and make me think, “Come on, Whedon, you’re a better writer than that. There must have been a more elegant way to introduce that.” There are also moments that make me think, “Whedon, you’re a better director than that.” In a couple scenes it seems that Whedon can’t get the actors to the emotional place he needs them to, especially during the opening scene which really hurts this episode.

It isn't entirely bad news, however; the review also tells fans "fear not [because the] first episode is mostly good and it’s something to be excited about," before closing with a pessimistic - but practical - summary:

As far as this episode goes, it’s not the total success that fans were hoping for. It’s a show that still needs to find its feet and that puts this show in more than a bit of jeopardy with cancel-happy Fox. But from what I’ve seen, I’m convinced that there is a good series following this pilot even if it isn’t here yet.

Whether or not it'll get there depends on ratings and Fox's patience.

Dollhouse premieres Friday, February 13th on Fox.

Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse [The TV Addict]

Superman Finally Kicks Lex Luthor To The Curb? [Superman]
Published January 6, 2009, 11:22 am in io9 Tags:

Can you have a quality Superman movie without the bald villainous Lex Luthor? Warner Brothers certainly thinks so, and they're rumored to be hunting down nemesis replacement.

Latino Review is reporting that Warner Brothers executives are searching for a Lex Luthor-replacement to give the old franchise some new spice. They've been checking out scripts that feature a different supervillain from Superman's Rogues Gallery.

But don't get your Superman jammies in a twist — the studio still may keep Luthor in a smaller, more minor role in the new film, which I think would be pretty difficult if they continued to use Kevin Spacey.

So who do think it will be? My supes sense says most likely Braniac or Doomsday. It would be pretty spectacular to see more General Zod, but it has been done. Dark horse candidates include the Toyman and Mongul. Best of luck, WB — the world is in desperate need of a quality Superman film, so let's hope the villain switcheroo works.

[Latino Review]

Val Kilmer Teaches Kids About Global Warming And Death In Thaw Trailer [The Thaw]
Published January 6, 2009, 10:46 am in io9 Tags:

Global warming is toying with our environment and spreading alien egg-sacks from person to person, until we're all dead, and it's all Val Kilmer's fault. New trailer for The Thaw: "Recycle or die."

Val Kilmer plays Dr. David Kruipen, a world-renowned expert in climate change. Dr. Kruipen and his students discover the thawing carcass of a woolly mammoth, but alas, their joy suddenly turns to fear. The thawing carcass releases a terrible parasite upon the research group, and begins picking off the team one by one.

Eventually, the students realize what they need to do: quarantine themselves, which means killing anyone who gets too close and protecting each other from their fellow research buddies. This is a classic isolationist horror directed by Mark A. Lewis and even though it pulls a bit from The Thing, I like the idea of a bunch of smarty pants kids killing each other off to protect the world.

There is still no release date for The Thaw.

Finally, The Star Wars Buddy Comedy We've Waited For [Star Wars]
Published January 6, 2009, 10:00 am in io9 Tags:

Imprisoned by space pirates, Anakin and Obi-Wan have to work with Count Dooku to make their escape, in this Friday's Clone Wars. Does it go smoothly? Watch the clip and judge for yourself.

Here's the official synopsis for Friday's episode. And yes, it does feature he-who-must-not-be-named:

Anakin and Obi-Wan are negotiating Count Dooku’s ransom when they are also taken prisoner and placed in holding with the Separatist leader. Their only choice: Work together to escape.

A clone contingent is dispatched to deliver a ransom in exchange for Dooku – unaware that the Jedi are with him. But misfortune befalls their mission, and circumstance finds them with the unlikeliest of leaders: Jar Jar Binks.

I just hope somebody says "I smell Dooku" at some point. And here's a new pic:

[Warner Bros.]

George Romero Tries To Teach Old Zombies New Tricks [Of The Dead]
Published January 6, 2009, 9:30 am in io9 Tags:

Can you teach zombies to eat other delights, besides delicious brains? A difficult task perhaps, but one George Romero sinks his teeth into, in a promo video for his film ...Of The Dead.

Romero's next movie takes place on a little island being overrun by the undead. But instead of hacking up each former family member into little zombie bits, the residents are trying to find a cure. Unfortunately we all know what happens when you have one zombie: they reproduce like bunnies. There's a fight over who shall inherit the island — people looking for a zombie-free oasis, or those looking for a cure. But most folks in the little town are content to chain up their loved ones inside their houses and pretend everything is all right. So of course, havoc and mayhem ensue.

There still isn't a release date for this film, as it is in production, and who knows if the ...Of The Dead title will stay. But still, it's good to see Romero back in the undead business, even thought the quality of this clip is questionable. But I keep my mind open for a redeeming and graphic thriller, after that whole Diary nonsense.

[Voltage Pictures]

It's Time To Start Monkeying Around With This Week's Comics [New Comics We Crave]
Published January 6, 2009, 9:00 am in io9 Tags:

Science fiction monkeys. Sure, this week may bring all manner of collections of more recent comics, but let's face it: Nothing measures up to science fiction monkeys. Of course, these are new comics we crave.

The best part about the appeal of SF monkeys is that they pop up in two different books this week. But before we get to those, who don't I tell you about the other books you might want to pick up in order to come down safely afterwards? DC Comics is starting their Faces of Evil branding with Faces of Evil: Grundy, which follows Solomon, the Florida swampland's own undead supervillain, as he prepares for a new series starting later this year. Not to be undone, Marvel launch Spider-Man: Fear Itself, in which ol' webhead comes face to face with Man-Thing, Marvel's version of Swamp Thing who... lives in the Florida swampland. What are the odds?

Less likely to find strange parallels, DC's DC Universe Illustrated By Neal Adams is the first of three hardcovers collecting all of the popular artist's DC work throughout the years that doesn't feature Batman, Green Lantern or Deadman (because all of that stuff has been hardcovered already). On the more recent front, Marvel's Secret Invasion finds itself in paperback form even as its spin-off, Secret Invasion: War Of Kings gets started in a one-off special issue. When it comes to hardcovers, Marvel is doing their best to own that market this week, with Fantastic Four: World's Greatest (the first storyline from Kick-Ass and Wanted's Mark Millar), Spider-Man: Blue (from Heroes' Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale), Ultimate Origins and Universal War One all getting released in the format. They're also putting out a hardcover collection of the first issues from the third series of Runaways, but without creator Brian K. Vaughan writing... Well, it's not as fun anymore, to be honest.

Novelties of the week are the first collection of Rasl, the new SF series from Jeff Smith, creator of the awesome indie comic Bone, as well as the American release of the 2009 Doctor Who Storybook, which I recommended as a Christmas gift last month when it was available on import. But as great as both of those are, neither of them feature science fiction monkeys... unlike these two books:

Marvel's Agents of Atlas resurrects the so-called 1950s Avengers in a story that offers a pretty much perfect mix of thrills, spills and humor... and a super-intelligent gorilla who also happens to be a member of Marvel's favorite spy organization. If you can resist that, then you may have no heart... in which case, you'll also get absolutely nothing out of Showcase Presents Strange Adventures, a 500+ page phonebook collection of stories from 1950s SF anthology series Strange Adventures... which is just a sad, sad thing. Take a chance to become a better person, why don't you? Make 2009 the year you let science fiction monkeys into your heart.

Even the monkeyphobic will find this week's shipping list to be full of joy and happiness this week, before using the Comic Shop Locator to find out just where to buy said happiness. Just remember: For most of the people in the world, happiness is monkey-shaped.

Let's Start the Offshore Logging Lobby with Robots [Mega Environmentalism]
Published January 6, 2009, 8:30 am in io9 Tags:

Lumber companies are calling for offshore clear-cutting, logging forests that have been underwater for decades. And environmentalists have discovered the only loggers they could love.

Many forests packed with trees are now submerged in lakes, mostly due to humans rerouting water for dams and setting up reservoirs. Though they've been underwater for decades in some cases, the trees still make for good lumber. And since the trees are already dead, it's an environmentally-friendly way to get a lot of wood without cutting into living forests on dry land.

Triton Logging is a company that specializes in lumber processing, and they've got a giant underwater saw robot that can clearcut submerged trees - by remote control, from a desktop computer. Wired did an interesting article about Triton a couple of years ago, and now they're in the news again at Environmental Graffiti, where Linda McCormick wonders why Triton's Sawfish robot hasn't caught on, despite there being possibly 300 million submerged trees. (Some might even be thousands of years old.)

Tree chopping image by Kevin Hand, via Wired.

Learn The Difference Between A Pusher, A Mover And A Sniffer [Push Powers]
Published January 6, 2009, 8:00 am in io9 Tags:

Push is full of sexy teens with confusing mental powers. Learn how Camilla Belle, who plays rogue pusher Kira Hudson, could make you think you grew up on Fraggle Rock with one gesture. Spoilers ahead.

This is Kira, the girl that everyone is after. She's the only mutant person to escape the secret halls of brain experiments at an unnamed agency. Plus, she's carrying a deep, dark secret that evil Pusher Djimon Hounsou would move heaven and hell to keep from coming out.

Nick, played by Chris Evans, is a Mover who used to work with the CIA, now he mostly hangs out with Dakota Fanning's Watcher, named Cassie Holmes.

Think of a Sniffer as a psychic blood hound. Push has two classifications of mind power people: those working for the creepy private agency and hunting down poor Kira Hudson, and those trying to survive with only their wits and mind-powers to save them. This movie has Sunday TBS movie written all over it.

To figure out the secrets behind all the Push powers, including the difference between a Wiper and a Watcher, check out Superhero Hype. Push will be in theaters on February 6th.

Which Battlestar Galactica DVD Should You Buy? [Battlestar Galactica]
Published January 6, 2009, 7:30 am in io9 Tags:

If you're planning to pick up the Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 DVD when it hits stores today, you might want to get it at your nearest Best Buy... Or maybe wait until next year altogether. The LJ Battlestar Blog has noticed that Best Buy will be offering an exclusive "Limited Edition Gift Set" of the DVD, complete with new packaging, dog tags, and book for $39.99.

Like the regular DVD set, this will also include the following extras (courtesy of The Spin Sheet:

...([N]early) all of Ron Moore's podcast commentaries (originally available for download from the show's Sci-Fi website), along with newly recorded commentaries for episodes that never received podcast treatment (specifically, Guess What's Coming to Dinner and Sine Qua Non). There's one exception: Fans will recall that Moore's original podcast for the episode Faith was "technically challenged" to the point of being unlistenable, so that was cast aside and a completely new track was recorded with Moore and producers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. The result is that all 10 episodes now have commentary. (The only thing that's missing are the four Razor story meeting recordings - maybe they'll make the Blu-ray.) There are deleted scenes for every episode (4x3 letterbox), including some really great character moments - a little over an hour's worth in all. I won't spoil them, as they're fun to discover on your own. Next up are ten of David Eick's Video Blogs (3-4 mins each, 4x3 letterbox), totaling about 40 minutes of material. Some are better than others, but all of them offer an interesting look at behind-the- scenes life on the set. Then you get four new featurettes, two of which in particular are excellent. The first is The Journey (16x9) which runs 21 minutes and features each of the various cast members talking about the evolution of their characters over the course of the series. The other fun piece is The Music of Battlestar Galactica... or rather, Inside the Secrets of the Behind the Making of the Music of Battlestar Galactica Revealed. This runs another 23 minutes (also 16x9), and offers an obviously lighthearted look at composer Bear McCreary's score work for the series. It's pretty funny stuff. Again, I don't want to spoil it for you. The other two featurettes are Cylons: The Twelve (16 mins, 16x9), which looks at each of the Cylon models known so far, and Season 4.5: The Untold Story - Untold (2 mins, 16x9) which is cute, but truly leaves nothing whatsoever told. (It does, however, show a few interesting glimpses of the filming of the upcoming episodes.) Finally, the 2-minute preview for the Caprica pilot film is here, and Disc Two also includes (as the last of the trailers that open the disc prior to the main menu) the preview for the Season 4.5.

But if you're wanting more than just that, you may want to wait until the entire series is over, because Galactica Sitrep is reporting that Universal is planning a BluRay release for the entire series, once it's finished its run on SciFi that will include several brand-new commentaries in addition to other extras.

It just may be rather hard to stay away from Best Buy in the meantime.

The LJ Battlestar Blog has noticed that Best Buy will be offering an exclusive "Limited Edition Gift Set" of the DVD, complete with new packaging, dog tags, and book for $39.99.

Like the regular DVD set, this will also include the following extras (courtesy of The Spin Sheet:

...([N]early) all of Ron Moore's podcast commentaries (originally available for download from the show's Sci-Fi website), along with newly recorded commentaries for episodes that never received podcast treatment (specifically, Guess What's Coming to Dinner and Sine Qua Non). There's one exception: Fans will recall that Moore's original podcast for the episode Faith was "technically challenged" to the point of being unlistenable, so that was cast aside and a completely new track was recorded with Moore and producers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. The result is that all 10 episodes now have commentary. (The only thing that's missing are the four Razor story meeting recordings - maybe they'll make the Blu-ray.) There are deleted scenes for every episode (4x3 letterbox), including some really great character moments - a little over an hour's worth in all. I won't spoil them, as they're fun to discover on your own. Next up are ten of David Eick's Video Blogs (3-4 mins each, 4x3 letterbox), totaling about 40 minutes of material. Some are better than others, but all of them offer an interesting look at behind-the- scenes life on the set. Then you get four new featurettes, two of which in particular are excellent. The first is The Journey (16x9) which runs 21 minutes and features each of the various cast members talking about the evolution of their characters over the course of the series. The other fun piece is The Music of Battlestar Galactica... or rather, Inside the Secrets of the Behind the Making of the Music of Battlestar Galactica Revealed. This runs another 23 minutes (also 16x9), and offers an obviously lighthearted look at composer Bear McCreary's score work for the series. It's pretty funny stuff. Again, I don't want to spoil it for you. The other two featurettes are Cylons: The Twelve (16 mins, 16x9), which looks at each of the Cylon models known so far, and Season 4.5: The Untold Story - Untold (2 mins, 16x9) which is cute, but truly leaves nothing whatsoever told. (It does, however, show a few interesting glimpses of the filming of the upcoming episodes.) Finally, the 2-minute preview for the Caprica pilot film is here, and Disc Two also includes (as the last of the trailers that open the disc prior to the main menu) the preview for the Season 4.5.

But if you're wanting more than just that, you may want to wait until the entire series is over, because Galactica Sitrep is reporting that Universal is planning a BluRay release for the entire series, once it's finished its run on SciFi that will include several brand-new commentaries in addition to other extras.

It just may be rather hard to stay away from Best Buy in the meantime.