Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #852 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-04-08
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Dubbed in: French, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 189 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Nowadays, the word "event" is thrown around all too often when describing television programmes, but back in 1983 the debut of V: The Mini Series was a television event in the truest sense. The appearance of gigantic flying saucers over the world's largest cities heralds the arrival of aliens from a distant galaxy who look human and act benevolently. Of course, things aren't exactly what they seem, and when some suspicious humans start to question the visitors' intentions they uncover a vast alien conspiracy, along with some unusual culinary habits. Soon, the visitors have enslaved the Earth under their fascist rule, and small groups of human rebels are forced underground to fight for the freedom of their entire species. But with the future of the planet still in question the epic story comes to an abrupt end, forcing the viewer to wait for the resolution in V: The Final Battle and the on-going series.

That's not to say that the original V isn't worth the price of admission: in over three hours, it manages to capture the spirit of the great classic science fiction of the 1950s and 60s. The feeling of paranoia and insecurity that runs throughout the whole thing makes it feel, at times, like an expanded episode of The Twilight Zone, only shinier (hey, it was the 1980s). The special effects were impressive for their day, inspiring similarly themed films in the 90s (the gigantic flying saucers were seen again in Independence Day, and the storage area of the mothership turns up in The X Files Movie and The Matrix). What does irritate, however, is the utter lack of subtlety in the allegorical storyline. In fact, it could only have been made more obvious by demanding that the entire cast wear "This is how it was in 1930s' Germany" t-shirts. But if V occasionally doesn't live up to its own high standards, it's still a remarkably high-quality slice of epic television drama.

On the DVD: The picture is an impressive widescreen 1.85:1 ratio and the soundtrack is adequate Dolby stereo. The DVD boasts a feature-length commentary by writer and director Kenneth Johnson, as well as a 25-minute "Behind the Scenes" documentary. --Robert Burrow

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 10
French\German
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround English\1.0 Mono French German
Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
1.0 Mono
Feature Length Commentary By Kenneth Johnson
Behind The Scenes
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Greek\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Synopsis
Aliens with nice faces and reptilian habits descend over the earth bringing a new and menacing world order with them in this landmark television miniseries. Sixty-five million viewers reportedly viewed the original broadcast. Disguised to look just like humans, the aliens are actually lizard-like creatures out to strip the planet of its water supply and turn humans into food. Although most people are fooled by the visitors and allow the planet to be taken over by the fascist monsters, a group of resistance fighters try to defeat these creatures. Helping the underground movement is a journalist (Marc Singer) who figures out just what the aliens are up to. The story concludes in V: THE FINAL BATTLE.

Customer Reviews

From profound to mediocre
V the mini series and it's sequel V the final battle are great SF. Tough the special effects are not up to today's standard, this is more than compensated for by the interesting storyline (a parable about the naziregime) and protagonists who are real people with real faults and doubts. Some become collaborators, some become heroes against their will, but there are no black and white characters all good or all bad, except for Diana (a Dr.Mengele-like character only with real power, not a follower like Mengele was).
Together these two form an epic story of real interest.
Unfortunately the formula was milked into a television series (V The complete series) wich has deteriorated to mediocre or less. The stories have become childish, the characters have flattened out to two-dimensional. Shots of entering shuttles and the docking bay are recycled endlessly etc. The ending is very unsatisfying, because it doesn't really end but an opening is left for a sequel of the series which fortunately never came to pass.

Great to see in widescreen
V The mini series { and then V The final Battle and lastly V The complete Series } are presented in Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
and the Colours are a lot more vibrant than I remembered them to be when this was first aired over twenty Years ago.

Yes I appreciate at times the plot does have a few holes but really its very engrossing and a must have for any serious
Sc-fi Collector.

The only fly in the ointment is that V The complete Series is not out on PAL so if this is a Problem just Buy V The mini series and V The final Battle both out in crystal clear PAL.

You will not regret it

Real sci-fi
Brillant! This series relies on a strong plot and innovate character development to maintain interest with the special effects in the background. The effects are clearly dated - but the clever adaption of the aliens coming to earth scenario has not. since the effects are not relied on to sell the series, you allow them to be outdated and don't let them distract you from your enjoyment. The constant depiction of the visitors makes them totally convincing and makes such an invasion of earth totally chilling.
Definitely cult and I am so glad I took the time to see this.