Customer Reviews

V: The Complete Series

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Please can someone tell me if this dvd collection V the complete series is the full collection?

Dpcole7 from Oak Park Heights, MN wrote that there were two episodes that should have been included in the 19-episode set (effectively making it a 21 episode set.) I wanted to take this opprotunity to state that s/he was misinformed.

"Breakout" is indeed an alternate episode although no alternate cuts of "Breakout" apart from the one included in this set exist. "Breakout" features a different take on how two characters meet that is contradicted by the following episode. This is because "Breakout" was not part of the original 18 episode run on NBC (and is in fact counted as episode 19 on this DVD set and is placed on the last disc); the network considered the episode too violent but eventually aired it while "V: The Series" was in repeats, hence the existence of Dpcole7's friend's VHS. Viewers may want to watch this where it was originally produced (I believe that was episode 3), but keep in mind it contains some alternate takes on how certain characters meet for the first time and interact.

"The Attack" was never filmed. The script was written and has circulated for years at sci-fi conventions and online but the television series was cancelled before the episode could be filmed.

The reviews stating that this show wasn't of the quality of the mini series have a point. I thought the V mini was best of the lot.
Next came V: The Final Battle which answered the question "What happened next?!" but was a notch under the first mini series.
Next was V: The Series which answered the question "Then what happened?!" but was a few notches under the second mini. BUT I gotta be honest and say I *loved* this show! Seeing it on DVD all these years later will be even more enjoyable. I'm not about to claim that this show isn't flawed, but the flaws add to the fun.
Cheesy? You bet.
Exciting? Yes indeed.
I've truly gotten five stars worth of fun out of this series flaws and all.

V the series was a great show to watch during the 80's its a shame they took it off the air so quickly ..i hear that NBC is working on a new V series i hope this is true :) But the best part of this show for me (and i know im not alone here) is the lovely JANE BADLER !!.... she has a unique beauty all her own and when she wore that TIGHT red spandex uniform and those boots ..LOOK OUT!!..it steals the show ! :) in my opinion V was one of the best sf shows that ran on tv in the 80's.it had action, humor, great special effects(then again the mini series had better effects though..thats why for the sky fighters they reused the footage from the first 2 mini series)...but ms badler always stole the show for me i wonder whats she doing these days ?..if you liked this series growing up in the 80s do yourself a favor and pick this up and enjoy ! ps the 2 intros rocked as well :) they changed it mid season because some of the characters left etc...

The original V miniseries had a strong, taut plot about fascism, and what people will do to seize and maintain power...

The followup miniseries "The Final Battle" lacked a lot of logic, but whose characters more than made up for the stupidity of the plot (20th century technology can duplicate high-tech alien passcards, the dark corridors within the ship lead to wide open vent holes, it must be real fun trying to breathe when the ship is in space, the unnecessary and whacked-out death of Eleanor (she turns from collaborator to rebel in a mere 3 seconds, and for no explanation!!), but I could spend a day nitpicking this miniseries' plot, but at least I'd be nitpicking it for the sake of fun...)

Both of those titles deserve 5 stars (well, Final Battle deserves 3 in terms of story, but once again, the characters boost it by 2 well deserved points...). In sci-fi, characterization can be more important than the story. It's interesting to note that creator Kenneth Johnson wasn't involved for this miniseries...

However, the TV series is utter rubbish. NBC was drunk on the high ratings and rushed to get this series on television. And WITHOUT Kenneth Johnson's blessing whatsoever...

In fact, the production quality was so beyond belief that most of the original cast had quit by mid-season.

Gone were the cool alien synth'ed voices.

Mostly gone were the special effects. Ship models were liberally re-used from both miniseries and, as the Visitors' gun effects had cost $2000 PER BOLT at the time, they were nixed almost completely from the full-fledged tv series, which was about as low-budget as they get, which is odd for a mid-1980s tv show where pointless plots and flashy effects could be seen from The A-Team to Knight Rider to virtually any prime time show of the time...

Gone were plots that had some thought put into them, even if they weren't entirely realistic...

What we got instead were the following:

* Red dust no longer affects aliens, but only in warmer climates. How convenient. I will admit that it's reasonable to say that the bacteria in the dust can only survive in warm climates, but in terms of conquering a whole planet, they could have just as easily worn spacesuits over their bodysuits and be done with it. Why do they need to take the time to meander over the dust? (If nothing else, the revelation that the dust is harmful to all living life on the planet was a means of going somewhere with a continual plot, though "The Final Battle" went out of its way to say the dust was not harmful to humans, can they please make up their minds about it already...?)
* Some silly bogus TV announcer at the start of the show, doing his best not to laugh at the script he'd been given to read.
* Diana changes her hairstyle again (she really is vain, isn't she?)
* Martin, one of the better characters both miniseries offered, gets killed - only to be replaced by a TWIN under the most ridiculous of circumstances (a bad guy who TURNS good, sheesh...) Good grief, saying that another lizard liked Martin's human suit would have been much more palatable (though it still wouldn't have been)... what's up with this bad-guy-gone-good twin nonsense?!
* The episodes become pointless 'cat and mouse' scenarios where people basically get captured, only to escape once more to be able to destroy the super-weapon-of-the-week (tm).
* Lots of Visitors are apparently vain, especially when it comes to their hair. Another new character with a hair fetish, Lydia, is introduced...
* Not to forget, with the red dust now apparently harmful - albeit in certain regions - Julie wants to go make a new version, oh joy... why not have her goof up again and have her turn the Earth into one giant mushroom and be done with it?!
* Worst of all, there's a Christmas-themed episode. Mixing sci-fi with real-life holidays has never ever worked, and this show is hardly an exception. Still, at least Donovan didn't turn to look square in the camera and wish all the children at home a merry Christmas (on the other hand, I'm almost surprised that he didn't...)

I recall an alternative of the 2nd episode "Breakout" that was shot. It's rumored to be quite good. I have a friend with a bootleg copy, but from what I've read it sounds like that episode wasn't included on the set.

Kenneth Johnson has written a new follow-up miniseries. A new 2-parter that will air in 2005. Some of the original stars will make return appearances. But will fans accept a 60 year old Donovan and 50 year old Diana, bodysuit and all?!

The DVD release claims there are 19 episodes. Not forgetting the alternate "Breakout" episode that was made, there is an episode (#20) called "The Attack". If the technical info Amazon.com claims is correct, what happened to "The Attack"? It was purportedly made.

Now, let's also consider video quality. When it comes to DVDs, DVD has been hyped up as a superior quality standard. This means, with dual-layer media, anything more than 4 hours per disc will mean a grainy, less detailed image. Well, this set contains 3 discs. There are 19 episodes total. As I recall, each episode is an hour long (50 minutes after commercials are cut out). This means each disc is going to have at least 6 episodes on it, plus commentary sound tracks and irrelevant commercials for other products the DVD distributor slopped in. I shudder to think of how bad these discs will look.

On the other hand, NBC never put much effort into this TV show, so Warner probably put as much consideration into this release. I say it's forgettable.

True die-hard V fans will probably like this show, even though they are getting a raw deal. It is kewl 80s nostalgia, even if it is cheap and spits on the effort that was put into both miniseries. Or maybe I just didn't get into the prime time series as I had the two miniseries.

Diana is so evil its incredible, I mean she would make Hitler and Stalin and Bush seem like the happy sunshine gang and thats why this gets five stars, and as a side note there is some cool stuff about the lizard people culture but most of what everybody else writes in thier reviews is correct, parts of this are truly cringe worthy and I can only assume the executives behind it were cutting corners on the budget to finance thier white powder !

By the time they made this TV series we'd already seen the visitors take control of our planet in two mini series. The novelty of V lessened with each sequel, but even now this show still manages to entertain the crap out of me. Taken on it's own terms (don't even try to take this show too seriously) V The Series is fun stuff indeed. I'll really love having this series on DVD instead of tape.

I have only seen the first two episodes of this series and I must say, I am intrigued. I was amazed when I found out that this series was made in the 80's. The effects were so good; I thought it had to be 90's. The series reminded me of my favorite Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man." It had a similar storyline. Aliens come to Earth supposedly to aid the human race. In reality, they come to eat the human race. There were many similarities between the V series and the holocaust. The way the Visitors alienated everyone against the scientists was very much like the way the Nazis alienated everyone against the Jews. I can't wait for the whole miniseries to come out.

This was our first time ordering DVDs from Amazon via Digital Vault. It arrived without any delay and in excellent condition. I wouldn't hesitate to order this way again.

Hi! I was busy rearing children in the 80's so I totally missed this series. I am now hooked on the 2010 version.

My questions are: There are two different versions 1)V: The Original Miniseries ~ Kenneth Johnson and 2)V: The Complete Series ~ Marc Singer

Does the complete series contain V: The Final Battle and V: The Second Generation by Kenneth Johnson????

If I wanted the entire series - no omissions, would I order the three separate one or just the "complete series" Marc Singer???

Thank you everyone in advance for your help.