***MINOR SPOILERS***
The 1983 miniseries was taut, intellectual, and top-notch.
The 1984 miniseries was flawed logically but its first episode was a rip-roaring ride despite the soap opera and other forms of cheese, which got more and more thick as the three episodes went on. (even ep 1 has some problems, but they're forgivable compared to some sub B-level tripe scribbled out afterward.)
The 1984-5 TV show had more cheese and lost its vision halfway through. The first half is amazingly watchable, as they had some cogent ideas to re-start the invasion with... even despite the creators having to skimp on so much that not only visual f/x had to be re-used too many times, even the cool alien voices were dropped... it's a shame Martin and Robert Maxwell were killed off so soon. Especially Martin, as the creators realized how big a mistake they made, and then scribbled the most idiotic excuse to bring back the actor... (they wear human body suits, they could make another Martin costume and spare us the drivel about identical twins, which was beyond daft...)
The 2009 show's pilot was riddled with logic gaffes. So badly that I did not care when the show actually went forward. I later tuned in solely to see Jane Badler and how she picks up on Diana, but what I did see was just plain stupid. It's nice to see Jane back, but the writing of the show and the characters was just awful. And unimaginative. Including red blood and a CGI set that was dark gray and had a "V" shape in the middle. Never mind the first time we saw the ship interior, which was more fantasy than sci-fi, the explanation for how the aliens now shroud themselves, ripping off the old scene where Diana swallows the lab rat, and scores of other "We're just regurgitating the concepts and have nothing original to add, but we're going to say we're better just because we have CGI." Whee. And have the time, the CGI was rubbish. (the other half the time it was good...)
But when, in the original, the Visitors came en masse and seemed unstoppable, with their weapons and gusto... in the new reboot/remake/whatever they all come in with swords, looking half-drunk or something, and half of them get slaughtered... and that's only after their magical sphere that shot out darts (which magically ran out of darts to shoot)... the memories are vague, but I have no intention of wasting time to sit through the 2009 pilot just to rip it apart with more clarity.
It's amazing it got renewed in the first place.
And, yeah, bring Kenneth Johnson back! His original miniseries was a masterpiece.
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