"V" The Complete Series

I picked mine up today, too...

Having just recently re-watched both mini-series during the past few weeks, the quality drop is evident in both the ongoing series (acting, recycled effects, acting, plots, acting, story continuity) and the DVD set itself (no widescreen, audio commentaries, interviews, etc.). Compare this to the "Sledge Hammer" set that came out today, another 80's cult favorite, that had nearly all of the above features lacking from this 'V' set.
However, that said, I still love having these shows for simple nostalgia value. I accepted long ago the hamminess of this enterprise, and found many things to enjoy about it, especially Michael Ironside's character, and the musical score by Dennis McCarthy, not to mention the cheesy catfighting between Diana and Lydia. The show took a turn for the worse, though, when it jettisoned half the cast 2/3 of the way through the season. It then limped along to cancellation, and the dustbin of 80s relics. I'm glad Warners dusted it off for us fans, though, who want to have the complete saga on DVD. Now if they can just make their supposedly upcoming "V: the Second Generation" mini-series worthy of the original mini-series, then I'll be an even happier camper...

Isn't the OAR 4:3?

The series (and both mini-series) were shot in 4:3 TV ratio, so the lack of widescreen is an improvement in quality, not a drop.

The two mini-series DVDs are not OAR. The TV series is. We can at least be grateful for that.

Still, you'd think they could have tried a little harder. There are all kinds of things they could've used for extras: cast appearances on the talk shows (Jane Badler made a memorable appearance on Letterman while the series was in production, and she appeard on Carson during the mini), a photo gallery of the merchandise, a photo or text version of the script for the unmade second season opener: The Attack (which tied up all the loose ends of the cliffhanger final episode), bloopers (I know at least a few exist, as they were on Dick Clark's bloopers show), interviews (if not a commentary). An interview might've shed some light, for example, on who exactly was responsible for the cast change mid-season (I'd heard Brandon Tartikoff ordered the cast cut in half, but I don't remember where), especially the ditching of Michael Ironside.

Still, a bare-bones set is better than none.

I've got these two boxsets already..


Does "The Complete Series" have some of the matching episodes within these two?

I own these..
http://www.dvdsoon.com/show-title-details.xml?uid=37887
http://www.dvdsoon.com/show-title-details.xml?uid=18165

It'll be annoying if the 400-odd minutes of my existing two is already on The Complete Series (but with some I haven't got) so at best I'll just get another 400 minutes of episodes.

Just got mine in the mail. Haven't watched it yet, but I agree that "Standard version presented in a format preserving the aspect of its original television exhibition" is correct.

Excellent, Warner!


Cees

No. The Complete Series is a self-contained weekly TV series that ran (and takes place) after the two miniseries. You have the sets of the two miniseries. By buying the Complete Series, you'd have everything that "V" spawned from its TV heyday with no duplication.

I haven't gotten mine yet - but DVDTalk has a review up which says that 'Breakout' is the third episode and not an extra on the last disc as earlier reported.

And yes - the series starts bad and only gets worse from there, but I was such a big fan of the show as a kid that nothing could keep me from buying it.

Mines on the way
No way I could NOT buy this
thanks for reminding me it just came out

I was thrilled to pick this up yesterday.
I am unfortunately having a problem with episode 3. The disc locks up if I choose it, or if I make it to episode 3 in the play all. The only way I've been able to watch it is to select chapter 16 on play all.

This show scared me when I was a kid. I didn't like the ripped off 'skin'
I have long since gotten over that, loved both mini's and can't wait to get this set.

I am someone that discovered V when I bought the 2 miniseries just a few months back. I really enjoyed both miniseries and was planning on buying the series the first chance I get.

This thread has me wondering if I should bother with the series... I can deal with no extras even though I am one that loves extras. but now I am concerned that ppl don't consider the series as good as the miniseries.

Is it worth a blind buy? and does the series have the same actors as the miniseries?

All the actors return but half of them leave halfway through the series - including Michael Ironside.

Many of the effect shots (especially the shuttles) are constantly reused and there are many continuity errors because of that.

The plot degenerates into a Soap Opera and most of the new characters are really bad and it ends with a big cliffhanger that will never be resolved.

Apart from that it's great.

LOL... Thanks Sven. I will have to consider it I guess.

Also, consider this... The new planned V: Next Gen (or whatever its called) NBC Miniseries totally ignores the events of the TV series (and possibly the second mini: The Final Battle)

It was reported recently (I can't remember where) that the new Miniseries is on ice at the moment because NBC didn't like the script.

I hope they told him to go back and write it in a way that the series will not be ignored.

There's no problem in just having the shuttle blow up and then fast forward to 20 years later.

If this "sequel" ever gets made, I'll be totally surprised.

I find it doubtful that NBC will want a sequel to a 20-year old TV show. Not enough "young" people will have seen the original, and fans of the original may get POed if original cast members aren't used.

A remake, on the other hand (like the horrid Battlestar Galactica Sci-Fi Channel series), sounds more likely.

"I hope they told him to go back and write it in a way that the series will not be ignored."

Rest assured that if they did, Kenneth Johnson would have told them to shove it and walked away from the project. The whole point of Johnson wanting to do this is so he can continue his original creation the way he intended it to be done, but which was taken out of his hands when "The Final Battle" was made. And having watched all of "V" when it first aired, Johnson was dead right. The miniseries is intelligently written with fascinating characters. Then in "Final Battle" the shift goes away from the characters (some of whom like the Bernsteins disappear completely without explanation) to mindless action and when we reach the series we are left with a cheap shell of its former self.

The difference between the original miniseries and the series that aired would be the same between that of the original Battlestar Galactica and the Ron Moore fake version. A property that offered so much strength and potential but in the hands of outsiders who didn't appreciate the original was turned into a cheap, boring soap opera joke.

Off-topic, but I liked the Ron Moore Galactica a lot more than the cheesy original.

That doesn't surprise me if you think Johnson should be forced to acknowledge the existence of something he had no use for and not do his own creation right.

I really enjoyed both mini-series as a 13-year-old and also enjoyed them during repeat viewings in my late twenties. I'm looking forward to the new one and hope it gets made before the principles are too old.

As for the series, I didn't see all of them when they aired. I remember being disappointed at what I did see. Maybe they were just missing the "epic" quality of the mini-series? Regardless, I may pick up a set to revisit.

If they do make the new one, how are they going to explain the returning cast who played visitors aging like 20 years? If they just wore human suits, why would they now wear aged skins?

Because if Johnson does a new miniseries that ignores the second miniseries then the knowledge of the Visitors true appearance would still be a well-guarded secret.

Now I remember watching this, but I thought it was just a miniseries not a tv series.

I remember things like, ELizabeth ( I think that was her name)the girl that fell in love with one of the lizzard guys got pregnant by him. I remember she had this green ring around her neck. I also remember they ( all the people that went against the lizzards) took shelter in some old abandoned building and plotted against destroying them.

Wasn't Robert England in this?

My mother bought me a disc of it, but it was only the first episode or part of the series... So this new one that is out is allof them?

You're slightly off, It was Robin Maxwell who got pregnant. Elizabeth was her daughter.



Yes, he played Willie, a friedly visitor that aids the resistance.



Yes, I suppose that is a good point. I keep forgetting that it was in T.F.B. where the visitors were exposed on National Television, but even then, the visitors covered it with a subsequent fake broadcast.

Ric,

I heard a rumor about this a year or two ago. I also remember JMS (writer and creator of Babylon 5) posting on his newsgroup that he had either submitted a script with Kennith Johnson, or one for him, on a "next-gen" V movie of sorts. It too was to take place some 20 years after the events in :V the Final Battle." I don't know if he posted any details, but it was supposed to have something to do with the "enemy" of the Visitors...the ones the resistance send the message to in the end of the first Miniseries. Can anyone back me up or add more to this? My memory is failing me.

Also I think the original "V" was fantastic. I think "V:The Final Battle" was just OK. Nothing special, not bad, but didn't live up to the original Miniseries. I never really watched the series, heard bad things about it, and the fact that the creator, Kennith Johnson had nothing to do with it, kinda makes me not care to even see it.

Actually, I remember Kennith Johnson didn't have anything to do with "V The Final Battle" either...which is probably why it didnt measure up either.

Actually after doing some digging I sort-of stand corrected.

It seems that the Next-Gen "V" that NBC was flirting with last year WAS written by Kennith Johnson, and is set 20 years after "V" concluded.

JMS did try to revive "V" back in 1994 it seems and submitted a script to WB, but it was never acted on I believe due to budgeting issues. A part of his script can be found on his newsgroup:

groups.google.com/groups?selm=CqC1EB.1r1%40murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU

(add http before the above line, as I can't yet post URLs).

He also commented last year, when he heard that Kennith was taking a stab at reviving "V," that he wished him luck and that if anyone could pull off reviving the series, Kennith could.

Of course now it seems Kennith's attempt has also fallen by the wayside. Oh well.

My understanding is that the new miniseries was to have ignored TFB and the Series. Now, however, I've heard it may allow for events in Final Battle.

I think the 20 years mark makes for a great opportunity to revisit the V universe. If you think back to the end of "The Beginning", Julie and Elias start sending a message to the Visitor's potential enemy. This is completely dropped in TFB, but would make for an excellent story this time around. Remember, Julie commented that it might take years, or decades, for the message to be received and acted upon.

Much as I still love the series for guilty pleasure value (I love the characters and concepts), I wouldn't be upset if the series were ignored. After all, I'd rather have my favorite characters alive than dead. If you read the script for the conclusion to the cliffhanger, you'll find that my favorite character dies.

I'd like to see him include the history of TFB, but I won't be offended if he does not.

Was watching a bit of this last night. I think it would have been great if they digitally restored the reverb in the Visitor's voices that were dropped in the series. How hard could it have been? You could probably do it with free sound editing software you can download from the internet. But I guess it seems obvious that WB wasn't really interested in putting any real effort into this set. Just wanted to slap it onto discs and put it out for sale. But I suppose we should be lucky it was released at all and at least they did not MAR it to 16:9. The irony is that if more effort was put into this, perhaps it would have gotten a 16:9 MAR.

So help me to understand something here...

Is this complete series that is out the series that aired after the mini series? After V:The Final Battle? If I am not mistaken ( my memory may be a bit hazy)did the original miniseries only run for two nights? I have a dvd that is basically the first part of what I remember to be the miniseries.

I am curious about the dvd's, my mother who is a fan of the show is looking into getting them, but I am not completely sure I know what is what.

What exactly is this set of?