Revealing mistake: Throughout the entire run of the series, special effects shots are repeated over and over, often half a dozen times in the same episode. Budget problems forced the practice, but at times it is so pronounced as to become a distraction. The same Cylon raider banking to the side, hit by laser fire and exploding outward to its sides, is probably seen more often than any other single shot in the show. It is flipped many times so that it can bank left, then be used to bank right, providing two shots for the price of one.
Revealing mistake: Several times, close up shots of the Cylon Centurions show the shoulders and chest moving slightly as the actor inside breathes. Though originally conceived as a reptiloid species, this never made it to screen. Centurions are robots who don't breathe.
Saga of a Star World (1) - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: In the second shot showing the fleet of Battlestars (from the port side and slightly behind), two ghostly images fly in formation with the three Battlestars shown. They are just above the closest ship (where the narrow middle meets the larger rear section). It seems that the shot may have originally contained 5 ships and an attempt was made to 'remove' the most distant two, leaving the "ghosts". (00:02:45)
Saga of a Star World (1) - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: When a Viper is launched, it is catapulted forward from a standing start, and the pilot is thrown back forcefully into their seat. But the very first time Apollo's Viper is launched, the background image shows the Viper is already racing forward before Apollo is thrown backward- the actor missed his cue. (00:05:40)
Saga of a Star World (1) - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: It appears that just about every Viper that is launched has the exact same dark smudge on the canopy glass (along the forward, sloped edge of the side glass). Apparently the same full-scale mockup was used for most of these scenes. (00:18:45)
Saga of a Star World (1) - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: During the sequence where Starbuck is attempting to land his damaged Viper on the Galactica flight deck, Athena begins running a diagnostic scan on her computer. In the first insert shot of her computer screen, near the top right hand side of the shot, the words "MADE IN USA" are legible in the diagram. These survivors of the "12 Colonies" are searching for a mythical 13th colony known as "Earth" that they've never been to, so having American software is quite out of place.
The Lost Planet of the Gods (2) - S1-E5
Revealing mistake: When Galactica arrives at what they believe is the planet Kobol, Adama, Apollo and Serina all go down to the surface. As they approach the ruins in several shots from behind, the three are obviously, almost laughably, replaced by stand-ins. Adama's white hair is enormous, almost helmet-like, and Apollo's is nearly as bad. Serina's famously long, rump-length hair is suddenly much shorter and she has no gun on her right hip. When the three are seen entering a shot from the left, the normal actors are back, including Jane Seymour's abundant brown hair and her gun. The stand-ins appear again later, in all the exterior shots obviously filmed in Egypt. The normal stars were filmed on studio sets. (00:18:20)
Revealing mistake: Re-used footage causes the lupus running toward Puppis to make the exact same leap twice. (00:26:45)
Revealing mistake: Starbuck is romancing both Cassie and Athena in different rooms aboard the Rising Star. Odd that both rooms have the same wrinkle and tear in the wallpaper just under the window. There's also, in both rooms, what looks like a black thumbtack repairing the glitch. (00:08:25)
Revealing mistake: When Robber starts shooting at Apollo and Boomer, it's comically obvious that the two warriors have been replaced by stunt doubles that bear almost no resemblance to the actors- most notably as they run for cover. (00:32:55)
Revealing mistake: When Apollo fires at Robber, his shot hits a pillar, knocking a chunk of it off. As he runs behind the pillar, a circular device dangles from a wire in the damaged part of the pillar- the remnants of the effects charge that was used to cause the damage. (00:33:45)
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (1) - S1-E8
Revealing mistake: When the 'snow ram' loses power and stops, the crew jumps out to see what has happened. The snow surface behind the ram is undisturbed and trackless, as if the ram has been stationary long enough for its tracks to be erased. This is because it is actually on a set and has not moved at all. (00:34:00)
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (2) - S1-E9
Revealing mistake: During the second wave of the Cylon attack, Galactica is shown from her port side, and her name is missing from the side of the landing pod. (00:26:10)
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (2) - S1-E9
Revealing mistake: When Adama orders the fleet to "Flank speed ahead", the next exterior shows Galactica, seemingly turning to port, but looking at the landing pod shows the image is a reversed shot of the ship turning to starboard, evidenced by the ship's name being backwards. (00:27:10)
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (2) - S1-E9
Revealing mistake: After an avalanche, Apollo gets off a guy he has sheltered. Around them, in the fake snow, are several chunks of ice or snow. As Apollo moves forward, note how they move less like snow, and just like the Styrofoam that they actually are. (00:29:25)
The Magnificent Warriors - S1-E10
Revealing mistake: Due to repeated film footage, Sectar's full moon rises on the second night with the exact same, very distinctively-shaped cloud bisecting it. (00:11:45 - 00:26:10)
Revealing mistake: In the opening scene, the canopy of Starbuck's viper is not fully lowered while in space flight, leaving a wide gap under its starboard side that would have allowed his air supply to be instantly sucked out into the vacuum of space. (00:02:50)
Revealing mistake: As Starbuck's rescuers arrive, they are riding unicorns. The second from the right is bobbing its head energetically enough that the sheepskin cap it's wearing is bouncing loosely, along with its fake horn. (00:11:45)
The Living Legend (2) - S1-E13
Revealing mistake: When the "drop team" shuttle passes over the Cylon city of Gamoray, the city lights below are a reuse of the graphic in Episode One that represented the human city of Caprica City. (00:14:00)
The Living Legend (2) - S1-E13
Revealing mistake: As the gold Centurion Cylon approaches the camera, some very obvious human fingerprints litter the frame around his "mouthpiece"- as if left by a crew member that helped the actor put it on. (00:15:45)
