V - The Original TV Miniseries (1983) USA
V - The Original TV Miniseries Image Cover
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Director:Victor Lobl, Ray Austin, Earl Bellamy
Studio:Warner Home Video
Producer:Kenneth Johnson, Brandon Tartikoff, Chuck Bowman, Patrick Boyriven
Writer:Kenneth Johnson
Rating:4.5
Rated:Unrated
Date Added:2007-03-06
Purchased On:2007-06-03
ASIN:6303101178
UPC:0085391148937
Price:$19.98
Awards:Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 nominations
Genre:Alien Invasion
Release:2001-07-02
IMDb:0085106
Duration:190
Picture Format:Anamorphic Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:1.33 : 1
Sound:Mono
Languages:English
Subtitles:English, Spanish, French
Features:Box set
Victor Lobl, Ray Austin, Earl Bellamy  ...  (Director)
Kenneth Johnson  ...  (Writer)
 
Duncan Regehr  ...  
Jane Badler  ...  Diana
Michael Durrell  ...  Robert Maxwell
Faye Grant  ...  Juliet Parrish
Peter Nelson  ...  Brian
David Packer  ...  Daniel Bernstein
Neva Patterson  ...  Eleanor Dupres
Tommy Petersen  ...  Josh Brooks (as Tommy Peterson)
Marc Singer  ...  Mike Donovan
Blair Tefkin  ...  Robin Maxwell
Michael Wright  ...  Elias Taylor
Bonnie Bartlett  ...  Lynn Bernstein
Leonardo Cimino  ...  Abraham Bernstein
Richard Herd  ...  John
Evan C. Kim  ...  Tony Wah Chong Leonetti (as Evan Kim)
Richard Lawson  ...  Dr. Ben Taylor
George Morfogen  ...  
Andrew Prine  ...  
Hansford Rowe  ...  
Jenny Sullivan  ...  
Michael Ironside  ...  
John McPherson  ...  Cinematographer
Alan C. Marks  ...  Editor
Comments: Humankind's last stand.

Summary: In its day, V was a monumental event that for one generation remains a pop-culture touchstone. Close Encounters of the Third Kind may have reassured us that perhaps we have nothing to fear from alien visitors and E.T. introduced us to a benign extraterrestrial who only wanted to go home, but Kenneth Johnson's 1983 television miniseries knew better. Visitors who claim to come in peace are revealed to be nothing but human-looking reptilians on human conversion and conquest. As in the dark days of fascism, some collaborate with the enemy; others form the resistance.
At the time, the epic scale of this production was unprecedented. Those 50 motherships that hover over Earth's major cities anticipate Independence Day by more than a decade. The special effects and makeup are still awesome. Less so is the often-hackneyed dialogue. But thanks to their signature roles, the mostly no-star cast, most of whom would be reunited for a sequel and subsequent television series, have ensured themselves standing invitations to sci-fi conventions. Marc Singer is cameraman-turned-freedom-fighter Mike Donovan. Julie Parrish is a medical student-turned-rebel. Richard Herd is the aliens' supreme commander. Jane Bradler is Diana, the ravishing but ruthlessly ambitious alien science officer. Leonardo Cimino lends dignity to his heavy-handed allegorical role as a Holocaust survivor. Look for a pre-Freddy Krueger Robert Englund as one of the aliens.
The DVD is presented for the first time in widescreen format. Supplemental features include an amiable and enlightening director's commentary and a brief "making of" segment. --Donald Liebenson