"There are those who believe... that life here... began out there. Far across the universe. With tribes of humans... who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians... or the Toltecs... or the Mayans... that they may have been the architects of the Great Pyramids... or the lost civilizations of Lemuria... or Atlantis... Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man... who even now fight to survive... somewhere beyond the heavens"

The story of how the 12 colonies of man are destroyed after a 1000 year war with the evil Cylon Empire. Through deceit, the Cylons are able to destroy the Colonies' entire fleet, except for the Battlestar Galactica, captained by Commander Adama. Adama gathers up the few remaining humans left on all the twelve worlds and embarks on a journey to find the mythical planet Earth, the supposed thirteenth colony of Mankind, lost millennia ago when humans first left the motherworld, Kobol. With food and fuel running out, the fleet heads for an ore planet, Carillon, hoping to get what it needs. The Ovions, who populate the planet, are being controlled by the Cylons, who set a trap for the Galactica. The fleet gets food and fuel, and escapes, destroying Carillon and a Cylon Base Star.

Richard Hatch - Capt. Apollo

Dirk Benedict - Lt. Starbuck

Lorne Greene - Cmdr. Adama

Herb Jefferson Jr. - Lt. Boomer

Maren Jensen - Athena

Tony Swartz - Sgt. Jolly

Noah Hathaway - Boxey

Terry Carter - Col. Tigh

Lew Ayres - President Adar

Wilfrid Hyde-White - Sire Anton

John Colicos - Count Baltar

Laurette Spang - Cassiopeia

John Fink - Dr. Paye

Jane Seymour - Serina

Ray Milland - Sire Uri

Ed Begley Jr. - Ens. Greenbeat

Rick Springfield - Lt. Zac

Randi Oakes - Young woman

Norman Stuart - Statesman

David Greenan - Bridge Officer

Sarah Rush - Flight Cpl. Rigel

David Matthau - Operative

Chip Johnson - Warrior #1

Geoffrey Binney - Warrior #2

Paul Coufos - Pilot

Bruce Wright - Deck hand

Patrick Macnee - Imperious leader (voice)

Myrna Matthews - Space Angel

Marti McCall - Space Angel

Carolyn Willis - Space Angel

In the beginning of this film, the Galactica is not the only Battlestar. The others--identified in background radio chatter--are Atlantia, Pacifica, Triton, Acropolis, and (offscreen) the Columbia.

The producers were sued by George Lucas, who claimed that some of his ideas from Star Wars had been used.

There are numerous references to ancient Earth civilizations. The helmets worn by Colonial Viper pilots are based on headdresses work by ancient Egyptian kings. Baltar's name is a merger of the Norse god Baldur and the Summarian god Baal. The Cylon force structure is based on Roman legions.

The character of Cassiopea was originally a prostitute, but became a medtech overnight after complaints from viewers. A scene explained that medical training was required in her field of work.

Although Cassiopea was a prostitute in the pilot movie, she was never identified as such. The euphemism "socialator" was used (in the Battlestar Gallactica universe, a socialator is defined as a female who is proficient in the arts of music, dance and entertainment, and trained to engage in conversation on a variety of subjects).

Don Johnson was originally offered the role of Starbuck.

The Colonial military rank system is never explained in detail in this (the original) version of the show. The official website for the 2003 Sci-Fi Channel remake does give a detailed run-down of the Galactica ranks. They are: Ensign, Lieutenant j.g., Lieutenant, Captain, Colonel, Commander, Admiral.

The twelve human colonies have the same names as the signs of the Zodiac.

In addition to playing Starbuck, Dirk Benedict also served as a stunt double for one of the Capricans being killed (falling to his death as the result of the Cylons attack) in the "Destruction Of Peace" sequence.

John Dykstra, who worked on Star Wars used much of the technology developed for ILM in this movie, including his motion control camera, the so-called "Dykstraflex".

Sophia Loren served as a model for a "likeness" (i.e. picture) of Adama's wife Ila, which can be seen during the scene where Adama sifts through the ruins of his family's home on Caprica after the Cylons' attack on Peace.

The night of the original three-hour premiere was interrupted by the signing on the peace accord between Begin (Prime Minister of Israel) and Sadat (Prime Minister of Egypt) and mediated by President Jimmy Carter.

The name of the ruling council, Qurorum of the Twelve, is taken from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) which has a Quorum of the Twelve in its governing structure.

The word "sealing" instead of "marriage" is taken from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

That is not actually Lorne Greene in the scene on Kobol which shows Apollo, Serina, and Adama walking toward the pyramids. Greene's doctors reportedly forbid him to fly, so a body double was used with a white wig on his head.

None of the writers had a scientific background.

Revealing mistake: When Athena is trying to help Starbuck fix his fighter remotely, her monitor clearly shows "MADE IN USA" on one of the schematics she views.

Continuity error: The characters in the Galactica universe are all supposed to say "yahrens" instead of "years". However, when Cassiopeia tells Starbuck about the Geminese Sunstorm, she says it "happens only once every seven years", not once every seven yahrens.

Revealing mistake: Shortly after Apollo and Zac launch, as they make a turn there is a very brief moment when a Cylon Raider is visible in the lower left hand of the screen.

There are two versions of this film: A stand-alone TV movie, and a pilot/first episode of a series. In the stand-alone version, Baltar is executed halfway through. This version was actually released theatrically first in Canada before the TV version aired in the USA. It was eventually released to theatres worldwide (including the U.S.). When it became apparent that the series would in fact be made, an alternate ending and version of Baltar's execution scene was filmed. In the Series version, Baltar is "held for public execution" instead of being beheaded at once. When the Cylon "Imperious Leader" who ordered his execution is killed in the explosion of the planet Carrillon, his successor order's Baltar's release so Baltar can command the Cylon Base Star that will chase the human refugees throughout the series. All this information is given in an "Epilogue" tacked on at the end of the film.

Re-edited into a 3-part episode for syndication with the rest of the TV series.