"They came for water. And for food. And as it
turned out, we were the food. But humanity bravely resisted-a struggle
seen in the hit miniseries and V: THE FINAL BATTLE. Yet the war
continues. The heroic conflict comes to a surprising outcome in V: THE
SERIES, presented complete and uncut in this three disc, 19 episode set.
Once again, Earth is the main battleground. But now the aliens whose
human guise hides their true reptilian natures are wiser. They believe
the secret to their survival on Earth lies in the DNA of the newly born
half-human, half-spaceling Starchild. They intend to capture her.
But that's something the world's Resistance Fighters cannot allow."
One the major science fiction television events of
the 80s was mysteriously titled V; and this four hour mini series was
the INDEPENDENCE DAY of its time (remember this was before Sci-Fi
Channel came along with 24 hours of bad science fiction shows we get
today). This alien invasion thriller, which boasted an intelligent
script, well-defined characters, and big budget special effects, scored
a major ratings coup for NBC when it debuted in 1983. Network execs
never rest on their laurels, and sure enough NBC reunited the cast and
crew for a 6 hour sequel mini-series the following year called V: THE
FINAL BATTLE, which offered more action than the previous year, but
ended the saga in a highly anti-climactically manner (the promised ‘final
battle’ was a joke). In 2004, Warner Home Video is releasing all their
classic television shows on DVD (due to public demand), so naturally
they chose to release V: THE COMPLETE TV Series on DVD.
Here is the episode break down in sequential
order:
Disc 1
- Liberation Day
- Dreadnaught
- The Deception
- The Dreadnaught
- Visitors Choice
- The Overlorde
Disc 2
- Reflections in Terror
- The Conversation
- The Hero
- The Betrayal
- The Rescue
- The Champion
Disc 3
- The Wildcats
- The Littlest Dragon
- War of Illusions
- The Secret Underground
- The Return
- Breakout
Though V: THE FINAL BATTLE answered all the plot
threads of the original V, this six hour mini-series created even more
plot threads. So in the fall season of 1984, NBC starting airing V: THE
SERIES on Friday nights (and this was before THE X-FILES cemented the
coveted Friday night genre timeslot) and continued the alien adventures
of Earth resistance fighters Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), Julie Parrish
(Faye Grant), Ham Tyler (Michael Ironsides), and the lovable Willie the
alien (Robert Englund), and their ongoing quest to rid Earth of the
reptilian visitors. Sadly, the premise never lived up to the original V,
and the series was canceled in 1985 after 19 episodes .
V: THE SERIES is presented in it’s original
made-for-TV full frame (1.33.1) format. The transfer is pretty good, but
it has it’s share of dirt, grain, and speckles in the picture, which
is natural given the 20+ year vintage of the source material. The
picture is fairly clean, and the colors are fully saturated (just check
out the vibrant reds on the Visitor’s uniforms). The special effects
sequences look pretty good but most are lifted from the two earlier
miniseries. Ditto for the organic alien make-up effects, just remember
that V: THE SERIES predates STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and BABYLON
5; two shows who earned Emmys for best alien design and make-up. The
only weak spot of the set is the audio presentation of V: THE SERIES.
Warner Home Video presents the show in Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 sound, and
this crystal clear soundtrack is serviceable enough to enjoy the vocals,
sound effects, and score. What troubles me is that if Universal can
completely re-master their 1970’s show BATTLESTAR GALACTICA into a
satisfying Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, why can’t WHV do the same
with their 1980’s show, V:THE SERIES? One other area where the disc
disappoints is the extras: There are none!
V: THE SERIES is a great example of how NOT to do a Sci-Fi television
series. In a pre-X-FILES world, the debut of the original V mini-series
presented an interesting premise of an alien invasion conspiracy and
introduced some solid characters portrayed by quality genre talent.
However, the big budgeted mini-series gave birth to a low-budgeted TV
show with cheap production values (with too much stock footage), weak
scripts, and uninspired performances. V: THE SERIES stands as a
testament on how to run a potential franchise into the ground. At the
creative helm of the show, V: THE SERIES needed its own visionary like a
Gene Roddenberry or J. Michael Strazinski in order for it to succeed.
The show still has quite a cult following, so Warner Home Video has done
fans a favor by releasing the entire series in this special collection.
The only thing we can complain about is the lack of a decent stereo
surround track, and the fact that there are no extras here. The show’s
actors are still around, so Warner Home Video could have gotten either
Singer, Englund, or Ironside to do commentary tracks, or other such cool
stuff.
V
THE SERIES is available at DVDEmpire
V
THE MINISERIES is available at DVDEmpire
