Themes: Heroic Mission, Evil Aliens, End of the World
Main Cast: Jane Badler, Peter Nelson, Marc Singer, Faye Grant
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 205 minutes
Plot
In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
Although its special effects pale in comparison to the modern CGI norm and its dialogue and characters seemed pretty wooden even when it first aired, this seminal '80s miniseries remains a watchable piece of sci-fi world making thanks to Jane Badler's campy and creepy lead villainess, former Beastmaster Marc Singer's regular-joe hero, creator Kenneth Johnson's idea-laden though heavy-handed script, and the memorable scenes in which the aliens reveal their true colors: lizard green. Although most of the effects involving space ships are obvious blue-screen jobs, and the distorted voice effect applied to the aliens' dialogue has dated poorly, nostalgia actually works in V's favor; revisiting the Reagan-era hairstyles of Badler's dominatrix-like Diana provides some undeniable though ironic entertainment value. Full of allusions to events both historical (World War II) and science-fictional (Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Day the Earth Stood Still, to name a few), V tries valiantly to please fans of both creature features and political allegory. Unfortunately, its tone is closer to a second-rate soap than to a piece of weighty "issue" filmmaking -- even when Leonardo Cimino is forced to draw painfully obvious parallels between the plight of the movie's ostracized scientists and the travails of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Johnson is on far surer ground in exploring the corrupting effects of power on Cimino's character's grandson, Daniel (David Packer), who joins the equivalent of the aliens' Hitler Youth movement and soon turns his back on everyone he loves. In a parallel plot thread, the interactions between thief Elias (Michael Wright) and doctor Ben Taylor (Richard Lawson), a pair of African-American brothers, seem in retrospect to have been fairly pioneering for '80s TV. These and other subplots provide the human-interest hook that keeps V watchable even when the mechanics of the central narrative fail. The script doesn't do a particularly good job explaining why the world's governments would so easily allow the Visitors to erode their power base, or why the alien villainization of scientists and doctors everywhere wouldn't raise a few alarm bells among the populace. Still, there are some nice bits, including the ascension of alien troop leader Brian (Peter Nelson) to Tiger Beat hunk status in the eyes of belligerent schoolgirl Robin (Blair Tefkin), whose flirtation with the handsome reptile would produce one of the more interesting plot threads -- and characters -- in the follow-up miniseries, V: The Final Battle. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Cast
Faye Grant - Julie Parrish
Michael Alldredge - Bill Graham; Frank Ashmore - Martin; Jane Badler - Diana; Jason Bernard - Caleb Taylor; Rafael Campos - Sancho Gomez; Leo Cimino - Abraham Bernstein; Diane Civita - Harmony Moore; Viveka Davis - Polly Maxwell; Michael Durrell - Robert Maxwell; Stephanie Faulkner - Assistant Director at News Room; Myron Healey - Arch Quinton; Richard Herd - John; Joanna Kerns - Marjorie Donovan; Evan Kim - Tony Wah Chong Leonetti; Richard Lawson - Dr. Ben Taylor; Curt Lowens - Dr. Maurice Jankowski; George Morfogen - Stanley Bernstein; Jenny Neumann - Barbara; David Packer - Daniel Bernstein; Neva Patterson - Eleanor Dupres; Stack Pierce - Captain Jake; Tommy Petersen - Josh Brooks; Andrew Prine - Steven; Hansford Rowe - Arthur Dupres; William Russ - Brad; Marc Singer - Donovan; Jenny Sullivan - Kristine Walsh; Blair Tefkin - Robin Maxwell; Penelope Windust - Kathleen Maxwell; Robert Englund - Willie; Michael Swan - Bob; Bonnie Bartlett - Lynn Bernstein; Mary Alan Hokanson - Ruth Barnes; Michael Wright - Elias Taylor; Peter Nelson - Brian; Camila Ashland - Ruby Engels; Marin May - Katie Maxwell
Credit
Kenneth Johnson - Director, Joe Harnell - Composer (Music Score), John McPherson - Cinematographer, Daniel H. Blatt - Producer, Kenneth Johnson - Producer, Robert Singer - Producer, David J. Latt - Producer, Kenneth Johnson - Screenwriter, Wingate Jones - Costume/Wardrobe
