thesar-2
I thought it would be neat, for my 2,000th review, to go back to part of my beginning. And 7½ hours later...I grew up on V. No, not the awesome Vendetta film from DC decades later. And I'm not talking about the super-vamp drug from True Blood or the hard-to-get-through 2009 remake.I'm talking about the Badass Badler and Super-Hot Singer Star Wars knockoff of the early 80s. In fact, V *was* my Star Wars.Back when I was between 9-12ish, I consumed this show/concept. While it only had two miniseries (sorta movies, sorta seasons) and one official season (or, as labelled, Season 3,) it practically became my world. I watched it live and all the reruns I could plan out. And no, my family couldn't afford a VCR until a few years later, so I did my best by the TV guide and commercial previews.It wouldn't make much sense to me until this viewing that one of the biggest reasons I fell in love with V was the show's creator. He also created another favorite show of mine growing up and pre-V: The Incredible Hulk. I had the same feeling about that show as I did V and they shared the same creator: Kenneth Johnson.I digress, once the show's finale (3rd season spoiler) created peace in the world, and I began my teen years, I grew apart from the show/concept and never to return any of the Vniverse until 35-freaking-years later.When I thought of what I could celebrate my 2,000th review with, this made sense as my 1,000th celebratory review was the very first movie I'd ever remember seeing: 1975's Escape to Witch Mountain. V was a huge part of my childhood and memories, but I had no idea what kind of commitment I had to give to review this. I mean, seven and a half hours?! Fine, I had nothing else going on this weekend, so why not?I'll tell you why not and why I can't give it a huge recommendation. For today's audiences anyways. It's way too padded. It's easy to figure out why, but it's a chore nowadays when we have more options of what to watch online and wasn't relying on a non-VCR, heck, non-internet world in 1983. These two miniseries/seasons could've/should've been easily edited down to about 4 hours, ish.At the time, though, it was epic. Not just for the preteen in me, but for the ambition they had. They had top-notch FX (for TV) and world-building that they did oh so well. I truly felt this world of V (for visitors) could have existed. Yes, there are special effects we would scoff at today, mostly the flying sequences, but for the most part, it was practical effects and sets. I can totally see the 9-12 year old in me loving and believing this world was realistic.From what I'm told, the concept was supposed to be a retelling of the Nazi regime in modern (1983) times, but those in charge thought no one would buy it (fast-forward to the trump presidency of these modern times and, well...) and Star Wars was hot back then, so they switched it to an alien invasion. In any case, that worked and totally made sense and is more believable. The world is invaded by "peaceful" Visitors who come from a dying planet. Their mission is to share their resources and technology in exchange for hospitality. As most dictatorships develop, "They Come in Peace" and slowly/surely take control of society. Ahh, but Vive la résistance!The show/series/seasons began with Star Wars-types of tropes and ends with flat-out theft of the Original Trilogy. Again, as a kid, I was fine with it. At the time, anyways, the only way for a kid to see Star Wars was to go to the theatre for the first-run Return of the Jedi, for one of the many re-releases of IV and V (Episode 5 in this case) and pray one of the five channels we got ran them in prime time.I literally have not seen the V original series or singular season since around/about 1985ish and boy do I remember plenty of it, this time around. This does prove to me how much this show did mean to me.Fun Facts: I was in total love with Marc Singer during the show, though I didn't know what that meant since I didn't know what "gay" was at the time. I totally dug Diana as one of my all-time favorite villains. She was so deliciously evil and charismatic. I also loved Faye Grant as the leader and every-person and Freddy Kruger! Well, not yet, but I did like Robert Englund as Willie. Oh, and lest I forget Michael Ironside, which I was in love with internally and externally, as well. Back then, I couldn't get enough of this show. Every character meant something to me, every battle and scheme had me truly involved and on the edge of my seat and, mercifully, the plot, dialogue and adventures were easy enough for my preteen mind to wrap around. THIS was perfect for my age back then and no matter what I feel now (ah-hem, only 4/5 stars,) V will always have a special place in my heart. Only, I don't think I'll ever rewatch the show again. Once every 35 years is enough nostalgia...and honestly, I don't think I have another 35 years left. Is it V for Visitors or V for Victory?***Final thoughts: Couple of other good things I loved/love about these two miniseries: a VERY good score, only to be improved in the "3rd" season and some actual laugh out loud humor that, surprisingly, still works today. I was honestly pretty impressed with some of the dialogue and delivery.
konky2000
While I thought the original mini-series was great, this follow up only ranks as a fun trip down memory lane. I doubt I will ever watch it again after having just seen it on DVD.In the original we watch a band of revolutionaries form a secret underground resistance to the alien visitors. It is a very thinly veiled allegory to Nazism, but that is what makes it so effective.In this second part, we basically follow the 'incredible' adventures of the underground resistance as they perform various deeds. The plot just seems to be treading water and not going anywhere for the first 3 hours. As others have mentioned, the ending feels quite abrupt and unsatisfying.
The biggest problem is that the resistance fighters seem capable of pulling the most amazing feats, slipping past security with amazing ease, and hiding out in a 'secret' hideout that would take the aliens about 10 minutes to find. The bottom line problem is, how can an alien race that is capable of travelling 65 million miles through space not also have a proximity detector that tells them when resistance fighters are rustling around in the bushes outside of their 'security headquarters'? With the credibility strained, the action sequences just feel repetative.As in the original, the human sub-plots are what remain the most interesting. The most interesting is the story of the girl who was impregneted by an alien in the first series. Watching her come to grips with being the mother of a possible alien is pretty good.If you remember seeing this when you were young, get it for fun, but don't expect too much from it.
JX
When I was young this show was it. Aliens coming to take over our planet just like we always thought. Now they didn't do it via a all out attack, (although they could) no they had watched us for awhile and realized the best thing to due was to use politics. Then we would willingly turn our selves into slaves, and then when they got what they needed from us they would simply destroy the planet and leave. What a simple, easy, and almost traditional Earth plan.Of course not everyone on the planet was willing to be led like sheep by there leaders. They don't believe the news reports, and they cause trouble for the aliens and the elected officials. Storming news conferences, trying to expose a so called conspiracy, so on and so forth.It was an obvious re-working of the Nazi parties attempt to rid the world of what they thought were inferior people (jews,blacks,most everyone else who wasn't blond haired and blue eyed Aryans). This is mentioned in the very beginning of the series and is never in question. And although the effects are extremely dated at this point in time, the entire series was a up to date for 1983. You need to remember that Return of the Jedi was just coming or just did come out. As I remember Battle Star Galatica was still on, and CGI was a distant dream.Everyone was loving Sci-Fi and this mixed it with politics, humor, suspense and old memories of our own tragic past. The girls looked good in there body suit uni's and there were new weapons and vehicles for the all important merchandising tie ins. It was a movie so we all knew who would win out. And all the aliens came in Russian red. (I wonder why they picked red in the middle of a cold war? Hmmmm...)I remember watching this over and over, my parents just got a new vcr and we discovered that if you watch a movie 100 or so times and use one of those speedy rewinders you can ruin a VHS tape in no time. I believe I was about 8 when it first aired and everyone I knew watched this thing live and on tape, plus we knew about every line. When my copies of this and "The Final Battle" got destroyed from abuse, my parents asked my Uncle to throw his copy away as opposed to giving it to me.This is one of my all time favorite movies along with the follow-up and series. It inspired more sci-fi after it then people will admit to. And although like I said before it looks really dated now days, it was still one of the most popular mini-series of all time. It deserves more credit then people give it. For those who haven't seen it, watch it for the fun story. For those who have seen it, don't hold the effects against it. It is 20 years old now and even ROTJ looks severely dated at this point. Not to mention that The ships in ID4 look like they were digitally removed from this movie and layered into that movie.
