A re-edit of the episode was released theatrically as Battlestar Galactica in Canada before the television series aired in the United States, in order to help recoup its high production costs.
The human leaders, called the Council of the Twelve (with one representative from each colony), and the commanders of their military fleet are all too pleased by the Cylon offer of peace, which ends so many years of warfare.
Frustrated, Adama orders the Galactica's Viper squadrons be placed on full alert, disguised as "Battlestations Drill," with their fighters ready to launch.
He orders the Galactica to withdraw and protect the planet Caprica, Adama's homeworld, but they are too late, as the Cylon fleet has launched simultaneous massive assaults on all the Colonies at the very same time the attack on the battlestars has commenced.
It is called Earth, but the location of this lost colony is known only to the last lord of Kobol, the planet which was the original home of Man, but which was abandoned thousands of years earlier, when the Thirteen Tribes migrated to the stars.
It is also apparently the largest tylium (fighter fuel) mining facility in that part of the galaxy, as well as a popular gamblers' den, but nobody has ever heard of the place.
Adama discovers that Baltar was responsible for performing the initial Carillon survey, and reported that tylium was too minimal for mining, and he immediately smells a Cylon trap.
Adama suspects that this might be a golden opportunity for the Cylons to launch an attack on their fleet, and orders Colonel Tigh to hold back their pilots from attending the party while outfitting noncombat personnel with fighter uniforms.
The natives of Carillon, the insectoid Ovions, have set up the gambling resort to lure humans to them to serve as living food for their hatching larvae in their underground chambers.
Once the Cylon fighter contingent is fully engaged with the Galactica, Adama recalls his Vipers from the surface of Carillon, taking the enemy by surprise.
This original three-hour broadcast was in three U.S. time zones interrupted for more than an hour to televise the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat, overseen by President Jimmy Carter.
In the theater version there is significant dramatic tension when the audience realizes that all the pilots have been invited to a party on the planet Carillon, and the Cylons are about to attack the fighter pilotless fleet.
[9] Universal promptly countersued, claiming Star Wars had stolen ideas from their 1972 film Silent Running,[10] notably the robot "drones", and the Buck Rogers serials of the 1930s.
This DVD release uses HD masters supplied by Universal and all films are presented in 1.37:1 full frame as they were shot in, as opposed to the "matted" widescreen 1.85:1 ratio seen theatrically.
This set contains all the episodes of the series (including Galactica 1980), utilizing the masters Universal used for their DVD releases, in 1080p with English 5.1 Surround and German mono.
However, the Koch set does contain the original theatrical trailers for all three films including the Super 8mm versions, along with other extras and fan convention material exclusive to that release.
In February 2013, Universal Home Entertainment released the theatrical version for the first time on Blu-ray in North America with a new, remastered HD transfer in widescreen 1080p, the "Sensurround" track in DTS-MA 1.1 Mono, and a preview for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome.
In October 2015, Koch Media released their own Blu-ray of the theatrical version using Universal's HD transfer in widescreen and unmatted 4:3 full frame formats.
Director Bryan Singer stated that the planned Battlestar Galactica feature film would be based on this part of the 1978 television series, but would not be a direct adaptation.