I haven't read the entire thread, so bear with me if I repeat anything.
First of all, I'd like to show some Canuck pride: the actress who plays Six is from just outside of my hometown of Edmonton. And all that gorgeous Caprican scenery can be found in and around Vancouver, B.C. Okay...
While the original Battlestar Galactica holds a fond place in my memories, I last saw it as a young lad. Having seen it more recently, it struck me as terribly dated, a bit cheesy to say the least, and somewhat immature as far as storytelling. All I remember of BS 1980 was sky-bikes over the Los Angeles freeways...ew.
Let's not forget that the original Star Trek comes across much the same way when compared to its later incarnations.
Captain Kirk: We need to go down to that mysterious planet. I'll take Spock, Sulu, Scotty, Bones...and you there, in the red shirt.
Red Shirt: Aww, crap.
From minute one I have loved the new BSG for a great many reasons. First and foremost, the cinematography. The hand-held cam look is elegantly simple and effective. You can easily lose yourself in an environment you might well just step into. Nothing is too shiny, and everything looks lived-in and worn. The clothes, the props, the sets...they're all believeable. The pseudo-Egyptian space-disco capes-and-feathered-hair...not so much.
The sound adheres much better to the laws of physics. No whining or growling beauty passes of starships, just the barely audible and muffled percussion of live ammunition. It adds another layer onto the realism. And the soundtrack...skeet!...I haven't listened to a single CD so often as I have the BSG Sountrack. Give it a listen, even if only on the Amazon demos and you'll understand.
The story is not merely episodic. It's an ongoing sojourn, as the original should have been, I think. And it's character-driven - with deep and complicated and well-rounded characters played by capable and believeable actors. In my opinion, this is bar none the best reason for its superiority over the original.
And for the record (it's become the subject of some debate with a rather anvil-headed sister-in-law), Gaius Baltar and DS9's Dr. Bashir are two different actors. Yes, they look alike, but that's all. It astonishes me how many people I need to explain this to.
