V - Season 1 [Blu-ray]

In about 99% of science fiction, aliens come to earth in two ways: charging in to invade, or they come in peace... so they can invade quietly. The second kind are the main problem in "V: The Complete First Season," a remake of the 1980s series/miniseries about mysterious alien Visitors who come to Earth with some nasty ulterior motives. While this remake suffers from some "Lost syndrome," it's a sleek, complex story with an intriguing cast of characters.

City-sized alien ships have appeared over twenty-nine cities worldwide, and the aliens' leader "Anna" (Morena Baccarin) declares that, "We are of peace." The Visitors offer their advanced technology to better the world, and cause massive changes -- social, religious, medical, and so on.

While hunting a terrorist cell FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) stumbles across an anti-Visitor resistance -- and the shocking discovery that not only are the visitors reptilian creatures in humanoid skins, but some Visitors are hiding among us. She and the skeptical priest Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) begin forming their own little resistance cell, along with the V-in-hiding Ryan Nicholas (Morris Chestnut) who is trying to reactivate an alien rebellion known as the Fifth Column. At the same time, news anchor Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) finds himself the media ambassador of the V's, caught between ambition and his growing doubts.

But the resistance has more than Anna's cruel, duplicitous nature to deal with -- Erica's gullible son Tyler (Logan Huffman) has become a "peace ambassador" for the V's and is falling in love with Anna's daughter Lisa (Laura Vandervoort). Ryan's girlfriend is pregnant with a hybrid baby. One of their number is captured by the V's and brutally tortured, even as Anna hatches terrifying new plots to wipe the Fifth Column from existence...

"V: The Complete First Season" is very different from the 1980s version -- there are sweeping changes to the story, characters, the political commentary and the aliens' manipulation ("Gratitude can morph into worship. Or worse... devotion!"). The only problem with this season is that it suffers from "Lost syndrome" at times, where it feels like the plot is moving WAAAAAAYYYY too slowly and not enough is happening per episode.

But the writing is undeniably brilliant -- it's full of suspense and some amazing plot twists (just see what Anna's unleashing on the Fifth Column). The characters are painstakingly sketched out and carefully developed, along with strong dialogue ("Human decency's a privilege, father. He's lost his. And, when we prove to you that he's lying, you're gonna lose yours, too") and some very powerful emotional moments (a Fifth Column doctor is forced to murder his own friend).

And yeah, there's some creepy stuff too, such as when Erica gets her shocking first glimpse of a V face. Not so much rodent-eating, though.

And the story revolves around two strong actresses -- Mitchell has a powerful, wiry presence with plenty of hidden sorrow/strength, and Baccarin is wonderfully creepy as the ruthless, cunning Anna. Chestnut is simply brilliant as a good-hearted V who cherishes freedom and his human lover, and Gretsch is also excellent as a priest torn between his priestly duty and the need to stop the V's. The problem: Huffman doesn't have the chops to make Tyler anything but a whiny little pain, and Vandervoort feels like a token love interest for Tyler.

It has some freshman flaws, but "V: The Complete First Season" is a promising start for one of the few sci-fi shows on network TV -- powerful acting, solid scripts, and some nicely creepy aliens.

Disc 1:

* The Actor's Journey from Human to V (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:16.55) -- The actors talk about working on the new V series and their memory of the original show.
* Deleted Scenes (1.78:1; 1080p/24):
o Pilot
o There is No Normal Anymore

Disc 2:

* Commentary on "Fruition" with Steve Pearlman and Scott Rosenbaum
* Breaking Story: The World of V (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:16.38) -- Show creators and crewmembers discuss the show's visual effects.
* An Alien in Human Skin: The Makeup FX of V (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:11.52)
* The Visual FX of V (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:15.08)
* Deleted Scenes:
o John May
o We Can't Win
o Hearts and Minds
o Fruition
* BD-Live

# Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
# Video Codec: VC-1
# Resolution: 1080p/24
# Audio Codec: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448kbps), French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
# Subtitles: English SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish
# Region: ABC

When I think of `V' I think of; 80s hair, Nazi style symbolism, a woman eating a mouse and electronic voice boxes. The short lived science fiction show is a cult classic and rightly so. However, it's distinctly 80s aesthetics does make is ripe for a reworking, so enters season 1 of the new `V'. Played over several hours' worth of television, `V' season 1 is a slow build up. Aliens arrive early and appear to be friendly, but a small group of humans refuse to believe their intentions are pure and begin a resistance movement that will show the `true' face of these visitors.

If the original show felt 80s, the reimagining feels incredibly now. Touches of `Lost', `The Event' and `Battlestar Galactica' hang off it, making it feel less than original. On a positive note the pacing of the show was surprisingly subdued and intelligent, allowing the viewer several episodes to get their heads around the concept. Even by the end of Season 1 there are several set pieces from the original series that have yet to be explored. I liked the sedate pace as it allowed some of the drama to build.

There are several elements that need to be improved in Season 2 if it is to rise from average science fiction into a must see. The cast is incredibly mixed in terms of quality; some actors are perfectly decent, whilst others should be in soaps. The two female leads; Elizabeth Mitchell as Agent Evans and Morena Baccarin as Anna are what really make the show worth watching. They both play powerful women who are trying to do the best for their families.

The special effects are a mixed bag as the BluRay highlights some of the weaker CGI sections and blander sets. There is certainly a potential here for `V' to open up into a great action based science fiction show. The intelligent scripts are somewhat hampered by a lukewarm cast, but often writing wins out. Let's hope this is the case here.