Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4684 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

V The Mini series don't get confused
V The mini series is great. I watched some episodes on TV when I was a kidbut never managed to see it all until now. Imagine Independence day andMatrix all together.
The important thing is to know in which order youshould watch this series if you are really interest.
1. V The mini series which is where the Alien make their first contact.(One two sided DVD about 3 hours)
2. V The final Battle which continues where the mini series finished. (TwoDVDs, One two sided DVD and the other one, one side only in total about 4hours).
3. V The complete Series which are 19 episodes after V thefinal battle. By the way this DVD has not been released yet. I havepre-order it in Amazon.com (July 2004). Hopefully with this commentAmazon.co.uk would have it before so I can pre-order it here instead. (3DVDs about 800 min).
I hope this comment help as it is very annoying to watch it in a differentorder.
Just four stars because the special effects are not brilliant but if wewere in 1984 I would say more than 5 stars.

A Very Good TV Mini Series But A Bit Misleading
If you like sci-fi and Independance Day then you'll love this. It bring an up to date look at how Nazi Germany treated the Jews, with the Visitors portrayed in this sense. It's brilliant to watch, however, what annoys me is that it isn't the full mini-series but only the first two episodes including the pilot episodes.

I bought this DVD thinking it was the whole complete mini-series & didn't know it was the first two. So be warned.

THEY DO NOT COME IN PEACE...
"V" was one of most original made for television movies of its time. It spawned a sequel and its very own television series. It was able to do this with a cast of virtual unknowns, because of the strength of its story line. "V" is simply great sci-fi.

The film opens with fifty gigantic spaceships, hovering over all of Earth's major cities ("Independence Day", anyone?), while mankind anxiously awaits the outcome of their mysterious, awe inspiring presence. What transpires is almost anti-climactic, for when the visitors finally emerge from their spaceships, they look human. They are led by an alien innocuously called John (Richard Herd), who gives Earth a benevolent message. They come in peace, or so everyone is led to believe. Many are gulled, and some humans even end up working collaboratively for the aliens. There are some, however, that are skeptical of the aliens' motives, and mistrust turns to fear when scientists and doctors begin to be rounded up and mysteriously disappear.

Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a hunky cameraman, has his own misgivings about the aliens, but when he observes the aliens literally shedding their skins, revealing that that they are not human at all, but rather nothing more than reptilian looking aliens, his misgivings are reinforced. Mike also discovers that they mean mankind harm and are hell-bent of the conquest of Earth and divestiture of one of Earth's most important natural resources without which humans cannot live.

Mike now joins the resistance, headed by beautiful medical doctor, Julie Parish (Faye Grant). As the underground resistance battles the aliens, many humans are still convinced that the aliens good and are being misjudged by these so-called freedom fighters. As fascist rule supplants democratic government throughout the world, under the pretext of law and order and at the direction of the aliens and behest of their human puppets, the viewer cannot help but be aware of the allegorical implications. In case the viewer should be so obtuse as to miss it, Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), a holocaust survivor, blatantly states it.

There are some interesting special effects for its time. There are also some key performances. Most notable is that of Jane Badler in the role of the evil, but exquisitely beautiful alien, Diana, the alien science officer and the one from whom humans have much to fear. Look also for then newcomer, Robert Englund, of later Freddy Kreuger fame, in the role of Willie, a peaceful loving alien who allies himself with the resistance. This film has everything, suspense, action, thrills, unusual special effects, a great story line, a moral message, and an inter-species romance. How can anyone resist? Kudos to writer/director Kenneth Johnson. This is sci-fi as it should be. Bravo!

The DVD provides a crystal clear picture and audio, as well as an excellent feature length commentary by writer/director Kenneth Johnson. There is also a behind the scenes documentary that is well worth watching. The DVD provides the usual interactive menus, as well as scene access, and may be viewed in English and French. Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish. All in all, this is a DVD well worth having in one's collection.