Originally broadcast as a two-night event (May 1st & 2nd, 1983) on NBC, V tells the story of how suddenly 50 massive spaceships show up and start hovering above major cities all around the Earth. Who are these aliens? What do they look like? Are they friendly? Are they here to kill us? Are they here to pitch the idea for a crossover movie called STOMP THE YARD VS. TREMORS? Nobody knows! Eventually, they reveal themselves (they look just like humans) and their intentions (they simply what to trade knowledge in exchange for some common chemicals and minerals). Everybody lives happily ever after. The End.
Or maybe not. It turns out that after acting like they come in peace and weaseling their way onto our good side, the visitors are actually here for sinister reasons. Duh! And, of course, by the time anybody begins to suspect that these pushy visitors are actually evil they've already taken over everything: the military, the police, the media, factories, etc. They even have their own youth organization full of snitches. So now it's up to random groups of freedom fighters to save humanity. Sadly, the main events in V only take place around Los Angeles and the rest of the world is unaccounted for.
Yeah, the story is preposterous, too vague and nowhere near as dark as I would like, but V is still a very entertaining three hours. If you've never seen it and have even just the slightest interest in 1980's culture, then you should check it out. Good acting by a strong cast, dated special effects that somehow still hold up, compelling story, Freddy Krueger as an alien, quick pace and that scene. You know the one.
Part 2 - V: The Final Battle (1984)
Freddy Krueger is an alien?!
Is that a member of the film crew off to the left?
