V (The Original Miniseries)

Infobox Television Film
name = V


caption =
format = Science Fiction
runtime = 197 min (Original miniseries)
rating =
creator = Kenneth Johnson
starring = Marc Singer
Faye Grant
Jane Badler
Frank Ashmore
Richard Herd
Michael Wright
Robert Englund
Andrew Prine
Richard Lawson
country = USA
network = NBC
first_aired = May 1 1983
num_episodes = 2 (Original miniseries)
preceded_by =
followed_by = V (The Final Battle)
V (The Second Generation)
imdb_id = 0085106
tv_com_id = 398
amg_id = 132908

"V" is a science fiction two-part television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, that launched his science fiction franchise concerning aliens known as "The Visitors" trying to take over Earth. It stars Jane Badler, Marc Singer, Faye Grant, Michael Durrell, Jenny Sullivan, Richard Herd, Peter Nelson, David Packer, Blair Tefkin, Diane Civita, Richard Lawson, and Robert Englund.

Plot summary

Aliens arrive on Earth in a fleet of 50 huge, saucer-shaped motherships, which hover over major key cities. They reveal themselves on the roof of the United Nations building in New York City, and are human in appearance, but require special glasses to protect their eyes and have a distinctive low resonance to their voices. Simply referred to as the Visitors, they reach out in friendship, ostensibly seeking the help of humans to obtain chemicals needed to aid their ailing world. In return, the Visitors promise to share their advanced technology with humanity. The governments of Earth accept the arrangement, and the Visitors, led by their leader John and his deputy Diana, gain considerable influence with human authorities.

However, strange things are soon noted. Scientists find themselves facing increasing media hostility, and government restrictions on their activities and movements. Others, particularly those keen on examining the Visitors more closely, begin to disappear or are discredited. Noted scientists confess to subversive activities; some exhibit other unusual behavior, such as suddenly demonstrating an opposite hand preference to the one they are known to have.

Journalist and TV cameraman Michael Donovan (Singer) sneaks aboard one of the Visitors' motherships and discovers that beneath their human like facade, the aliens are reptilian in nature, and carnivorous - preferring to eat live food, like rodents and birds. Donovan gets some of this on tape, but just as this exposé is about to air, the broadcast is interrupted by a Visitor announcement suddenly making Donovan a fugitive, pursued by both the police and the Visitors.

Scientists around the world continue to be persecuted - both to discredit them (as the part of the human population most likely to discover the Visitors' secrets) and to distract the rest of the population with a scapegoat upon whom they could focus their fears. Key human individuals are subjected to Diana's special mind control process called "conversion", which turns them into the Visitors' pawns, leaving only subtle behavioral clues to this manipulation; others are subjects of biological experiments. Some other humans, on the other hand (including Mike Donovan's mother, Eleanor Dupres), willingly collaborate with the Visitors, seduced by their power. Daniel Bernstein, a grandson of a Holocaust survivor, joins the Visitor Youth and begins to reveal the locations of traitors to the alien cause. One teenager, Robin Maxwell, the daughter of a prominent scientist who went into hiding, is seduced by a male Visitor named Brian, who impregnates her as one of Diana's "medical experiments."

A resistance movement is formed, determined to expose and oppose the Visitors as much as possible. The Los Angeles cell leader is Dr. Juliet "Julie" Parrish. Donovan is later assimilated into the group and, sneaking again into a mothership, he learns from a Visitor named Martin that the story about the needed chemicals is merely a diversion. The true purpose of the Visitors' trip to Earth is to conquer and subdue the planet, steal all of the Earth's water and harvest the human race as food, leaving only a few as slaves and soldiers/cannon fodder for the Visitors' wars with other alien races. Donovan also discovers there are dissidents among the Visitors (later known as the Fifth Column) who oppose their leader's plans. Martin promises to aid the Resistance, and gives Donovan access to an alien ship, which he quickly learns how to pilot.

Soon, the members of the Resistance strike their first blows against the Visitors, while procuring laboratory equipment and modern military weapons from National Guard armories to carry on the fight. The symbol of the resistance is blood-red letter V's spray-painted over posters promoting Visitor friendship among humans.

Influences

Series creator Kenneth Johnson has said that the story was inspired by the 1935 novel "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis. Also, several scenes from the original TV pilot resemble the Bertolt Brecht play "The Private Life of the Master Race". A short story entitled "To Serve Man" (later adapted into an episode of "The Twilight Zone") had a similar theme of deceptively friendly aliens secretly cultivating humans for food.

In a commentary track on the DVD release of the first miniseries, Johnson reveals that "V" was originally intended as a straightforward political thriller, charting the rise of a fascist movement in the United States. However, NBC wanted a sci-fi hit, to capitalize on the success of films such as the "Star Wars" trilogy.

The story remains a Nazi allegory, right down to the Swastika-like emblem used by the Visitors and their SS like uniforms. There is a youth auxiliary called the "Friends of the Visitors" with obvious similarities to the Hitler Youth and Visitor broadcasts mimic Nazi era propaganda. The show's portrayal of human interaction with the Visitors bears a striking resemblance to stories from Occupied Europe during the Second World War with some citizens choosing collaboration and others choosing to join underground resistance movements.

Where the Nazis primarily persecuted Jews, the Visitors were likewise depicted to persecute scientists, their families, and anyone associating with them. They also distribute propaganda in an effort to hide their true identity. Some of the central characters in the initial series were from a Jewish family and the grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, frequently commented on the events of the past again unfolding. The Visitors declared martial law to control the scientists as well. In addition, direct figure analogies are used, such as the senior Visitor scientist, Diana, who is a direct analogue of Dr. Josef Mengele.

The miniseries ran for 200 minutes and was successful enough to spawn a sequel, "", which was meant to conclude the story. This itself was then followed by a weekly television series in 1984-85 that continued the story a year after The Final Battle. Johnson left "V" during "The Final Battle".

The miniseries has since been included as No. 25 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies and TV of the Past 25 Years" list. [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20036782_20037403_20037541,00.html The Sci-Fi 25] (Entertainment Weekly) ] .

Notes

* The concept of lizard-like aliens who appear human, and who plot to control humanity, is similar to some fringe theories — see Reptiloid.
* In the original miniseries and "The Final Battle", the Visitors' voices were given, among other post-processing, a pitch shift effect - to give them an otherworldly demeanor even though they looked (outwardly, at least) like normal human beings. This was dropped from the weekly series, evidently due to budgetary constraints.

VHS and DVD

The miniseries was released on DVD in 2002 in the Region 2 format.

References

External links

*
* [http://kennethjohnson.us Kenneth Johnson's Official Site]
* [http://sirianvisitors.com]
*
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/v/]
* [http://slithytoves.org/~dthiel/visitor/visitorhome.htm The Resistance Reference Page]
* [http://www.thevisitors.info/ Visitors Info]