calvinnme 1983 was perhaps the peak year for the TV mini-series, with The Thorn Birds, The Winds of War and V all premiering to big ratings. V features a worldwide alien invasion, as huge, circular motherships arrive and take up stationary orbit all over the planet, directly over large cities. The media soon dubs them the "Visitors", and they appear human, although sensitive to the light and with strange voices. They seem to be benevolent at first, sharing medical and technological breakthroughs, while not asking for anything in return. But of course they are after something, and they will stop at nothing to get it, and soon they are disposing of enemies and setting up human collaboration units to weed out the "undesirables". A group of people soon set up an underground resistance, but can they hope to stop the seemingly superior alien invaders? Marc Singer stars as a heroic war correspondent who is the first to learn of the aliens true nature, along with Faye Grant as a biologist, Jane Badler as an alien commander, Richard Herd, Andrew Prine, Leonardo Cimino as a Holocaust survivor who sees the writing on the wall, Evan Kim, Michael Wright, Bonnie Bartlett, Neva Patterson, Robert Englund as a friendly alien, and many more.This was probably intended as a starting point for a series, but instead it led to another mini-series the following year, before finally a short-lived series (and a remake in 2009). It's derivative of a lot of things, namely the Arthur C. Clarke novel Childhood's End. It's also a very heavy-handed allegory of the Nazi occupations in Europe and the Holocaust; the alien symbol is even a variation on a swastika. The effects are decent, if dated at this point, and the script, by writer-director Kenneth Johnson, never really rises above average. But it's fun in a dopey, Saturday-morning serial way. At slightly over 3 hours, it's also a bit short as far as mini-series go.

Fluke_Skywalker One of the more iconic television events of my youth, 'V' is an ambitious (if at times clunky) allegory that hits its beats with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, yet I was surprised by how well it held up overall. The production values are first rate, a reflection of its massive budget ($13 million, the equivalent of $31 million in today) and the performances are what they need to be for this kind of story. Standouts include Marc Singer, bringing his B-movie star power to bare as the hunky camera man turned resistance hero, David Packer as the traitorous Daniel, Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund as the decidedly non-Freddy-like Willie, a friendly Visitor, and the aptly named Jane Badler as Diana, the hottest lizard I've ever seen.'V' often tries to do too much. It wisely localizes the action and drama, but it still tries to keep a few too many balls in the air, with its sprawling cast passing the narrative baton around like a hot potato at times. There are also giant plot holes that one of the Visitor's massive motherships could fly through. But on balance 'V' is a surprisingly effective "It could happen here" allegory that's worth a re-visit for my fellow 80s kids. For others, your light years may vary.

leplatypus "V" and me is a long story: it has been broadcast in France in 1985 and it was a huge hit: Sadly, as it was Monday night, my brother and me couldn't watch it. Indeed, our parents allowed us only Tuesday to watch TV after dinner. But as past legends, we were told the stories by our friends at school. Next, i was able to watch it on a rerun maybe 5 years later but i missed the essential episode, that is to say the first one. Thus, i never knew how the visitors arrived. Next, the DVD came out but there was only the first series (the two episodes of Johnson). It's only in 2004 in a London trip that i found the DVD of the "Final Battle" in English only. Finally, it's when i collected them all that a lavish collection with all episodes was released in France that I couldn't buy so.Now, i can watch peacefully my DVD thirty years after the release and the show is still a incredible one. It begins with great credits with this iconic painted V and the great musical theme. Sure the special effect are outdated but that's not the point otherwise we would never watch old movies as well. Maybe what's more annoying would be the short-cuts in the story: Why did Visitors conspire in English when they are alone in their own mothership ? Also, the events are ultra fast (as the scientist conspiring or the pregnancy) which made them unlikely and they do too much operations inside the mothership. For sci-fi fan, it wouldn't be very original because "V" strips a lot of classics ("Episode IV", "4th dimension", "War of the worlds").However, those cunning visitors allow the best lesson of democracy mass audiences can find. That's why this show would be always accurate. In short, it says that dictatorship comes ala ways under a mask. When its evil roots have taken, the pluralism is the first victim and the only way to restore liberty and freedom is the fight. What's original and totally truth in this show is that the resistance or terror are personal choices and it can bring strangers together or divide families as well. It's very different from what we see today when heroic characters are Potus, the army, police, which may be a signal that fascism is indeed coming.The so awaited first episode of the arrival is brilliantly directed and totally anticipatory. The invasion can be followed live on streets as well on TV. The news keep going on the screens of all the key families and it's a good trick to tell the story as well to introduce the characters. Finally, it's one of the few shows that deals with an extended cast in which all of them are real good. I have never seen them in anything else (except from the deadly Freddy) but they were unforgettable in those "V" shows! In addition, it's cool to have a show wrapping all the story lines at the end.Our young generations should take a look at this show and find inspiration for the nowadays threats that keep going stronger!

Maniac-9 Other then small differences like the V's being aliens the way they assimilated power and conquered the earth is very similar to how the Nazi's took power of Germany in the 1930's.The V's like the Nazi's had a charismatic leader, brainwashing and propaganda in the media. Even the uniforms of the V soldiers is very similar to the storm trooper soldiers of the Nazi and they use the same Red and Black colors.Same way that the Nazi's used hope for the future to help influence the population the V's used a cure for things like cancer and other ailments. Early terrorist attacks on the V's were blamed on scientists in the same manner that the Nazi's did the same to communists. This miniseries shows society can be swayed by easy answers and charisma.