Rating: 
Summary: A Dream Come True!
Review: The release of V The Original Miniseries on DVD is a dream come true! I just loved the director's commentary... There's so much info given throughout the film its truly amazing. Even better is the behind the scenes footage complete with interviews with the stars, Faye Grant and Marc Singer. And what a genious was Ken Johnson to film this in widescreen format, hoping for the technology someday to share V with us as it was meant to be seen. The sound is wonderful as well. Its great to have V in stereo with my Dolby Surround system. Like everyone else, I'm begging Warner Brother's to release the sequel as well as the TV series on DVD also... And just one last thing. Give the fans what they want... A good ending for the TV series that so rudely ended in a cliffhanger 16 years ago!
Rating:
Summary: Marc Singer and Faye Grant Really SHine In This!
Review: V was one of those series - like many - that start off real strong and then forget about characters and story and replace them with action and budget cuts. This is the first of two mini series and then a short-lived series. This movie had some great concepts and parallels to human history. From the Nazi's to Mad Scientists - everything seemed cohesive and entertaining.This movie has some great performances by Marc Singer, Faye Grant and even Freddie Kruger himself - Robert England. You have Michael Ironside as a bad guy tuned good guy and how can you forget the ever-evil performance by the bad lady herself Jane Badler. She really was fun to hate and played it to the top! Then there is Richard Herd - the leader of the Alien race. He was very starchy at first but then you got to know who he really wasn't. The story is simple. It's ET taken the next step. Not only are we contacted by Aliens (Or Visitors - hence the "V" in the title) but also they are asked to stay and help our natural resources. But guess what? They need something in return. Food. Guess what the food source it? I'll never tell. Anyway, I think young and old alike will enjoy this and without the commercials and having to watch it over three nights it is very very good. The DVD extras are good to and especially the commentary. It was interesting hearing how it was produced in the late 80's. You like Sci-Fi you'll like this!
Rating: 
Summary: loVe it...
Review: This was the ORIGINAL TV Miniseries for V (which stood for Visitors).
With Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) and Marc Singer. This was then spun off into it's own (short-lived) weeekly series. In a massive media campaign before the series aired, posters promoting "The Visitors Are Our Friends" appeared in subways around America just as they did in the first part of the mini-series. Days before the first episode aired, each poster was spray-painted with a bright red "V"(for Victory) just as is done in the show.
Rating:
Summary: V For VICTORY!!!
Review: The Original mini-series was undoubtedly Kenneth (Incredible Hulk, Bionic Man/Woman) Johnson's greatest achievement in television. It is a spectacular and frightening "What If?" epic about the arrival of the Visitors from a dying planet in the Sirius system who have come to our world for Earth's abundance of resources in exchange for cures to diseases and "all the fruits of their knowledge". Intrepid photojournalist Mike Donovan (The Beastmaster) is suspicious of the Visitor's intentions and hijacks a shuttle to the mothership, only to discover the Visitor's horrific truth and their plans for the people of Earth. When Mike convinces a group of other skeptics organized by the beautiful and resilient Dr. Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant) the Resistance of freedom fighters in born and begin terrorizing the occupying Visitors. The Government and the Visitors agree to impose marshall law to combat the Resistance and what ensues can only be compared to the Nazi halocaust. However, Donovan makes an alliance with a Visitor sympathizer named Martin (Frank Ashmore) and members of the Visitor Fifth Column who ally themselves with the humans in the battle to save Earth. A solid cast with outstanding performances from the aforementioned including the unforgettable treachery of Jane Badler as the Visitor leader Diana who gives new meaning to the word Snake. Diana is one villain who could give even Darth Vader a run for his money. V is the inpiration for many imitations such as Alien Nation and Independence Day... none of which could compare to the dramatic suspense of this classic mini-series. Accept no substitutes! V: The Final Battle was the sequel mini-series, and while it was entertaining and introduced fan-fave Michael Ironside as the stone-cold merc Ham Tyler, it failed to hold on to the dramatic suspense presented in the Original mini-series. A short-lived weekly television followed after and was a pale resemblance to either dramatic mini-series.
Rating:
Summary: V - The Return of the great series
Review: Almost 20 years ago, those flying ships arrived in gigantic mother ships spread across the Earth. Now, finally, V is available on DVD. The first four hours of the epic 10 hour series that spawned a 20 episode ( 19 noted but there were 2 versions of episode 3 aired during the initial TV run) series 2 years later. The series was good, but could have been better. The original mini-series was the best and could have left us great, in Dolby Digital stereo and even presented in widescreen. hanging even if Final Battle was never produced. The DVD is
However, it is listed as including the trailers but the disk I have anyway, does not include any promotional material. I do have the old tapes which included the promos for the next nights airing, which wre the only things missing from this DVD release.
WB will hopefully release the other episodes soon, preferably as a season set instead of individual episodes as Star Trek and other series have been recently.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware! This DVD is "fake" widescreen!
Review: For those of you who are into "original aspect ratio", I reget to announce that this DVD (and the one for "The FInal Battle") have had a "fake" widescreen effect applied to the picture. The two mini-series were shot (and, importantly, broadcast) in fullscreen 4:3 mode. Warner Bros, apparently with Kenneth Johnson's blessing, have "matted" (i.e. covered up part of the top and bottom of the picture) to make this fit widescreen TVs. Johnson claims he shot the first mini-series with a theatrical aspect ratio in mind (which doesn't explain why "The Final Battle" was also matted), but that's not the point: it was shot primarily for TV and therefore, should've been presented in its original 4:3 ratio.
Rating:
Summary: A glorious "What Could Have Been"
Review: As one of the most fanatical "V" fans to be found in the early 80's, I couldn't quite give this DVD release the 5 stars that I so desperately wanted to. As an allegorical "it certainly CAN happen here" tale, V is unparalleled. As a science-fiction tale it's merely okay --and as for the cheesy comic book-level TV series it spawned, well, the less said about that the better. Probably the best feature of the DVD is the commentary by Kenneth Johnson, but for me, it only brought home the tragedy of what this truly excellent pilot degenerated into. The original "V" isn't so much about an alien invasion as much as it is about us as a civilization and how human beings react to dramatic changes in the norm. Once the shock of extraterrestrial contact (in the form of "Independence Day"-style ships over the world's major cities) wears off, it's astonishing how quickly the Visitors are welcomed into almost every facet of human culture, and how difficult it is for so many members of the cast to accept "the truth" as inadvertently discovered by Marc Singer's character.
There must be at least 30 principal characters to keep track of, but for me that's what brings this series down to earth --it's the best way to showcase how world events affect "the ordinary guy." Visuals are impressive by 1983 standards --again, mainly because of how ordinary they're made to look (for example, alien shuttlecraft take off and land at a manufacturing refinery and rate about as much notice by passerby as, say, a tractor trailer). Okay, to be fair, there's some truly scary makeup effects and a great edge-of-your-seat spaceship chase sequence at the end.All told, whether you're a devotee of the TV series, a Jane Badler fan (hubba hubba), or a student of the Nazi "phenomenon" of the 1930's, this chapter is worth spending your money on, but ONLY this one. Skip "The Final Battle" sequel and certainly avoid that demeaning "L.A. is the Center of the Universe" TV series.
Rating:
Summary: V For VICTORY!!!
Review: The Original mini-series was undoubtedly Kenneth (Incredible Hulk, Bionic Man/Woman) Johnson's greatest achievement in television. It is a spectacular and frightening "What If?" epic about the arrival of the Visitors from a dying planet in the Sirius system who have come to our world for Earth's abundance of resources in exchange for cures to diseases and "all the fruits of their knowledge". Intrepid photojournalist Mike Donovan (The Beastmaster) is suspicious of the Visitor's intentions and hijacks a shuttle to the mothership, only to discover the Visitor's horrific truth and their plans for the people of Earth. When Mike convinces a group of other skeptics organized by the beautiful and resilient Dr. Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant) the Resistance of freedom fighters in born and begin terrorizing the occupying Visitors. The Government and the Visitors agree to impose marshall law to combat the Resistance and what ensues can only be compared to the Nazi halocaust. However, Donovan makes an alliance with a Visitor sympathizer named Martin (Frank Ashmore) and members of the Visitor Fifth Column who ally themselves with the humans in the battle to save Earth. A solid cast with outstanding performances from the aforementioned including the unforgettable treachery of Jane Badler as the Visitor leader Diana who gives new meaning to the word Snake. Diana is one villain who could give even Darth Vader a run for his money. V is the inpiration for many imitations such as Alien Nation and Independence Day... none of which could compare to the dramatic suspense of this classic mini-series. Accept no substitutes! V: The Final Battle was the sequel mini-series, and while it was entertaining and introduced fan-fave Michael Ironside as the stone-cold merc Ham Tyler, it failed to hold on to the dramatic suspense presented in the Original mini-series. A short-lived weekly television followed after and was a pale resemblance to either dramatic mini-series.
Rating:
Summary: This mini-series is still awesome after 21 years!
Review: After seeing this again, after 20 or so years, I still love it. Truly it is one of my favorite pieces of film of all time. It was way ahead of it's time in 1983. The storyline, special effects, and acting were all excellent, and the ending is climatic. Although it is 10 hours long, I didn't want to stop watching it, then or now. It really parrallels life, and hopefully will continue to open people's minds. I've now showed it to my children and pointed out how it is reminiscent of the holocaust in many ways. I definitely recommend that if you have never seen this, you do, and if it's been awhile, check it out again. It's fun the second time around.
Rating:
Summary: Beware! This DVD is "fake" widescreen!
Review: For those of you who are into "original aspect ratio", I reget to announce that this DVD (and the one for "The FInal Battle") have had a "fake" widescreen effect applied to the picture. The two mini-series were shot (and, importantly, broadcast) in fullscreen 4:3 mode. Warner Bros, apparently with Kenneth Johnson's blessing, have "matted" (i.e. covered up part of the top and bottom of the picture) to make this fit widescreen TVs. Johnson claims he shot the first mini-series with a theatrical aspect ratio in mind (which doesn't explain why "The Final Battle" was also matted), but that's not the point: it was shot primarily for TV and therefore, should've been presented in its original 4:3 ratio.
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