I really don't care what people say now, I still think the Cylons from the original BSG were awesome looking machines. I don't get this revisionistic re-writing of history to say that they were ugly, stupid, and silly. Who the hell is saying this? Mostly kids who grew up in the 90's and the technological advancement of CGI. Hey kiddies, this was real cool back in 1978, oddly enough the year "after" star wars came out, and it helped to pave the way for more the CGI effects that you all seem to love so very much. To me the original BSG was, and is, a nice looking show with original ideas, special effects, and costumes that, even by to days standards, are impressive for the era. They were real, and not computer generated. It really does make me angry to listen to these actors/actresses who play in the new BSG mini series when they trash talk the original series when most of them weren't even alive to have seen it.
I saw it on Sunday September 17th 1978, and to this day I can still remember thinking how cool those cylons looked. They set a standard for the series that said, hey we are not going to humanize a race of robots created by a race of reptilians. The Cylon race, the reptilians, were exterminated by the robots they created. Ronald Moore just took that tid bit and made it a human one. Humans created the cylons, not god. Well it is a dramatic statement, but it is way to much like Blade Runner and so many other Quter Limit episodes that I can't even begin to count.
The uniqueness of having the Cylons as a completely unhuman created race of machines bent on the destruction of humanity was just as appealing, and in my honest to god opinion, it was a better story.
The new Cylons, the robot ones, look CGI, and they are not as impressive on screen as the old chrome silver and gold ones from the original series. But hey, I guess the CGI cost for making the old chrome ones was to high.
