MovieChat Forums > V (2009) Discussion > Will History Repeat?

Will History Repeat?


When I was a very young kid in the 1980's, the original "V" miniseries was being aired for the first time. This series was so amazing that my family watched it even though one of the worst tornado storms was blowing through North Carolina. Oh, and we just got one of the first VHS recorders. We could have easily left it to record while we ran to safer ground but I guess we decided it was worth the risk.

On average, once every 6 years, I see it again with a few old and new friends. It's crazy, it's a good series and way fun to watch! And if you know background on the actual story regarding WHY the lizards wanted humans (first for soldiers against the insects, and then secondly food), it adds even more to the plot. What makes it even more interesting is the original author loves answering random emails from people and clarifying plot points such as the Insect wars and the Human Soldiers -- stuff that was NEVER shown on the TV shows.

I just don't see this "new" series as having the agelessness of the original. I can't see people getting together for a "V" night decades after this series has ended. Baccarin is no Jane Badler, and who could ever top Marc Singer and Robert Englund? Maybe this new series *is* good enough to watch over and over again over the decades. I don't know, maybe I just don't see it yet. But then again, I don't recall thinking in 1982 that I would eventually re-watch the original series again in 2004.

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The new series had no clue what it wanted, apart from shallow beliefs.

It believed the original was so severely flawed, it had to be remade - and with the chance some people would watch and bring in revenue from the ratings...

Replacing big cargo spaces in spaceships with big fantasyland flora and fountains was a very obvious sign the new people digging up the dead franchise had no clue. Big CGI does not mean it's any good... the effects were good, but I fell off my chair laughing at the reveal of the ship's interior.

When the new aliens arrive, the humans noted that all terrorist activity (except for some signals) stopped. If the new Visitors, who claim they've been around for decades, know humans oh-so-well, why didn't their shrouded cells not stop transmitting?

Another logic gaffe is the big battle in the pilot... the sphere with the needles goes away when it runs out of ammo, and all the Visitors come in with... swords. Followed by an idiotic fight. Nothing is shown that sets up the Visitors as being unstoppable, which was something the original series did extremely well.

In the original, the Visitors used sex as an experiment. In the new version, that I recall, it's sexual attraction. From human to alien-in-suit works, but not the other way around. Were all the Visitors instructed to find someone to get it on with, or where precisely did the writing get sloppy...

The pilot was so lamentable, I didn't bother with the show... apart from one episode where Jane Badler guest stars... in a huge gray chamber with white, some design shaped like a "V", and yet another stupid fight sequence...

I recently rewatched "The Final Battle"... it's flawed, but it's tons better than the pallid remake. I would dare call it "ageless" as well, despite some of the B-level fodder put in.

I don't know if the reboot bothered with the reason why the Visitors came... and if it's to get food and water, they would not be lallygagging around for decades...

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