Caprica Launches -- on iTunes

Sci Fi Channel’s Caprica premiere is for sale on iTunes so some early reviews are in.

The Battlestar Galactica followup is also a prequel — it deals with events that come decades before the Cylons attack Caprica and other human-occupied planets, scattering the survivors in spaceships. It got greenlit last year but the series isn’t scheduled to air on the channel soon to be called Syfy until 2010.

Apple says that despite the $14.99 price tag for the 90-minute pilot and an already free trailer, Caprica is No. 20 on the top 100 TV shows sales list on iTunes. The pilot also is on sale via DVD ($17.49 on Amazon.) There are plenty of reviews on iTunes. Others are on blogs, including a 4-star recap by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Rob Owen.

I haven’t coughed up the cash yet so I can’t review it, although the trailer shown at the Sci Fi upfront in March was intriguing and it’s from the same team that brought you BSG. Eric Stolz is starring, which is a good sign.

The average iTunes rating is 4 stars — 55 gave it 5 stars and 13 gave it just 1 star. The 1 star posters seem to be objecting most to the price for a single “2-hour” movie that’s really a little over an hour and a half. Also it’s not in high definition and iTunes labels it a “season pass” though it doesn’t seem as if it will include the 18 hours that will follow the debut.

Anyway, if you need a way to sate that BSG jones this year, Caprica is out there.