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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
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
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
219 of 222 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
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.
142 of 150 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
Definitely cult and I am so glad I took the time to see this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
V for victory!
A heavy-handed nazi allegory featuring hammy acting, a clunky script, clichéd characters and ropey special effects. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Philvis
A masterclass in TV Sci fi
V The Original Mini Series is a masterclass in working with a tight budget,developing many many main characters without ignoring others or confusing the viewer,and pacing. Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. Mccaffrey
Dated but still good sci-fi
OK so the effects are dated, the acting a bit naff, and the script easy to improve, but that's true of Dr Who and plenty of people enjoy that. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Vicky Park
Flash back
I so enjoyed this series from its first showing, way back when I can't remember! My daughter bought me The Complete Series as a Christmas pressie, thinking that's exactly what it... Read more
Published 15 months ago by annemargaret
Misleading
I enjoyed this series when it first came out. I had not seen it since it was first shown. When I saw it advertised as the original mini series I purchased a copy. Read more
Published on 9 May 2010 by Mr. David Ballingall
Giant Flying Saucers
I feel I should point out that anyone who criticises "Independance Day" for ripping off "V" has clearly never read Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End" (1953)
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by Vague Boy
'V': The thinking person's Independence Day...
Kenneth Johnson's superb 1983 mini-series might have dated visually, but this is easily overshadowed by the power of his writing and direction. Read more
Published on 22 July 2009 by Mr Ghostface
Excellent
This is by far the best out of the V trilogy. A must have for sure.
Published on 1 July 2009 by Glenn Philip Williams
V - The Mini Series
Was great! I remembered this film from ages ago and is just a groovy classic
Published on 9 Mar 2009 by Ms. N. L. Cooper
v
i watch v as a child and i loved it from start to end.the best.
Published on 23 Dec 2008 by Ms. N. Khan
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