Battlestar film this fall

But “questions and concerns” raised by “Razor” will be picked up when “Battlestar Galactica's” final season begins in early 2008, according to Moore. The film, which will be released on DVD soon after it airs, explores the experiences of those aboard the Battleship Pegasus, which was the setting for a couple of memorable second-season episodes of the show. It also marks the return of Adm. Helena Cain, a fan favorite played by Michelle Forbes.

“We've been through [the Cylon attack on humanity] with one ship, with this group of characters” from the Galactica fleet, said Michael Taylor, who wrote “Razor.” The two-hour movie will explore “a ship that had a very different experience and a very different captain.”

“When we first started talking about the movie, somebody said ”Pegasus,“ and everybody lit up,” Taylor continued. “I think it was the chance to tell the story from another perspective, which perhaps is less heroic in traditional terms. But [the actions of those aboard the Pegasus] may have been just as necessary a reaction, as necessary a way of dealing with such horrendous circumstances. To tell the same story even more darkly was naturally very attractive to all of us.”

“Razor,” which also follows the first mission of Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) aboard the Pegasus, promises to reveal some important information about the Cylons, who, as fans of the Sci Fi series know, have been relentless pursuing the 50,000 remaining humans in the Galactica fleet.

“There's an element in [”Razor“] -- something in the deep past that young Bill Adama encounters,” Taylor said. “It comes back to haunt us. It's something we have to deal with in the present. It tells us something new about the Cylons as well; it advances that mythology a little bit.”

That back story of a young William Adama (who in the present day is Adm. Adama and the military leader of the Galactica fleet) will be fleshed out in 2- to 3-minute “mini-sodes” that will air on Sci Fi starting in October. Speaking of Season 4, at least two characters won?t make it all the way through the last year of “Battlestar Galactica.”

“It's interesting; there have been a couple cast members where we've had to say, 'Your character isn't going to make it,' ” Moore said. “But because it's this year, as opposed to last year, it's different. They kind of went, [in an upbeat tone], 'Oh, I kind of wish I was going to make it to the end -- but I'm in the last year!' ”

I noted that Katee Sackhoff certainly got a lot of attention for her dazzling third-season “death” episode, “Maelstrom,” and of course for her character?s unexpected return in the Season 3 finale.

“Actually, we're going to kill Katee again and again this year. That worked out so well for us,” Taylor joked.

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“I've been very, very impressed -- the cast has really been involved in the stories,” he said. “Something clicked over when we said, 'OK, this is it, this is over, this is senior year on the show.' The cast suddenly cares very much what their final story is.”