There is so much heart in the tv pilot

Completely agree. All the cast went 'all-in' with bringing the story and characters to the screen and did so well at it. Starbuck and Apollo were great together and it's sad seeing Starbuck on his own in the final Galactica 1980 episode, 'The Return of Starbuck'.

Despite the religious overtones, it remains a very enjoyable pilot. I first knew it as the edited theatrical movie here in Australia so it was a real treat to see the two full-length episodes of the pilot when the series was released on home video.

When I was a kid, I put the "movie" (pretty much the edited pilot episodes) up there almost as high as STAR WARS. The effects were just about as good and the sound and costume design top notch. The only thing that took it down a peg was the cast, who generally didn't quite have cinema-level acting ability (except Lorne Greene and Terry Carter maybe).

I remember being pretty shocked at the near-destruction of humanity, the cylons betraying Baltar, and the Ovions especially. I loved that idea of the elevator losing control and going "too low" and everyone coming out and getting eaten by aliens. Ultra creepy and awesome stuff.

I also remember being unsettled by that woman's laugh when she yelled "Your word as a WARRIOR?! HAHAAHAHA." in a very 70's way.

The ending was awesome too with the whole planet exploding just to kill the one base ship. All those poor employees and guests at the Ovion resort. :(

The Feral Historian was talking about this show today.
https://youtu.be/-g3VjEpBoFo?si=BHSULCYIxQxH69M3