Battlestar Galactica

Saga of a Star World (1) - S1-E1

Factual error: When Apollo decides he and Zac will attack the Cylons that are following them, he tells Zac to "hit your reverse thrusters and maximum braking flaps", but they aren't in an atmosphere. Brake flaps would have no effect in the vacuum of space. (00:10:30)

johnrosa

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Since the Colonial Vipers CAN fly in atmosphere and in space, that move would just be standard operating procedure and used either in space or in air. Similar to the way Navy pilots deploy a tailhook (for carrier use) when they land on runways.

The Lost Planet of the Gods (1) - S1-E4

Factual error: Starbuck and Apollo fly into a void and are surrounded by total blackness. This misconstrues the meaning of a space void, which is simply a large area without stars. It does not mean that further-distant stars and galaxies would disappear. They'd still be just as visible as before you entered the void. Even if Starbuck and Apollo were able to leave the galaxy and travel hundreds of thousands of light years into a really big void, they'd still be able to see the galaxy they left behind them.

Jean G

The Lost Warrior - S1-E6

Factual error: When Apollo runs out of fuel in space, he still controls his ship using the joystick as if gliding in an atmosphere. No thrust source is visible nor audible- only the sound of non-existent air rushing around his ship. (00:04:30)

johnrosa

The Long Patrol - S1-E7

Factual error: Apollo tells Boxey they're leaving their star system and entering "a whole new galaxy." Wrong. Throughout this episode, the writer confuses solar/star systems and galaxies, which are vastly (literally) different things. Even with hundreds-of-times-faster-than-light drives, Galactica's fleet would need thousands of years to cross between galaxies. (00:02:15)

Jean G

Greetings from Earth (1) - S1-E19

Factual error: Michael's ship escapes from the landing bay into space - with a crowd of people standing right next to it. No one is at all adversely affected by the launch and the vacuum it should have exposed them to. It barely ruffles their hair. (00:40:00)

Jean G

Experiment in Terra - S1-E22

Factual error: Apollo tells Brenda and the General that he's from another galaxy, and Starbuck later repeats this impossible claim. The series writers have again confused galaxies and solar systems. Intergalactic travel would take thousands of years. The rag-tag fleet usually moves at only sublight speed, and it traverses only star systems, not galaxies. (00:26:00 - 00:29:30)

Jean G

The Hand of God - S1-E24

Factual error: The Cylon commander orders his centurions to "continue into the galaxy." This is roughly tantamount to the GPS in your car instructing you to "continue to the nearest planet." It makes no sense, as they're not entering any other galaxy (nor could they). Yet again, the writer obviously confused his terminologies, and should have written "system," not "galaxy." Speculating that he meant this galaxy is just silly; it's clearly not what was intended. (00:06:45)

Jean G

The Hand of God - S1-E24

Factual error: Apollo's monitor picks up the "Tranquility Base here: the Eagle has landed" message of the first moon landing, complete with a full shot of the LEM sitting on the moon's surface - not from the onboard or outboard cameras, but from several yards away. There's absolutely nothing to indicate that this is some edited rebroadcast (that's one stretch of a rationalization). The implication is clearly that it's live. And when the Eagle first landed there were, of course, no cameras on the moon. (Nor is it necessary to insist that the series would have to be set in the Earth-time 1960s for this to be so. A live signal could take many, many years to reach the Galactica.) (00:43:30)

Jean G

Battlestar Galactica mistake picture

Saga of a Star World (1) - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Baltar turns to face the two setting suns, we see the lower one at the left has what could be a boat in its reflection on the water. The higher one on the right is over a mountainous area on the horizon. The next shot is of Baltar in close-up, then the next returns to the horizon to show us Baltar's view, which shows just ONE setting sun. The one on the left has vanished though there is room enough for it to have been seen in this shot. (00:40:15)

johnrosa

More mistakes in Battlestar Galactica

Commander Adama: Mr. President, a wall of unidentified craft is closing in on the fleet.
Baltar: Possibly a Cylon welcoming commitee.
Commander Adama: Sir, may I suggest we launch a 'welcoming commitee' of our own?

More quotes from Battlestar Galactica

Trivia: The patch worn on the Rising Star medical uniforms is actually the shield for the United States Air Force Academy.

More trivia for Battlestar Galactica

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.