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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.78:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Sided
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital Mono
  • German: Dolby Digital Mono
  Subtitles
    English, German, Greek, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, English - Hearing Impaired, Turkish, Swedish, German - Hearing Impaired
  Extras

    V - The Final Battle

    Warner Bros./Warner Home Video . R4 . COLOR . 257 mins . PG . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    When V the original television mini-series aired in 1983, many threads were left untethered. In fact, the whole thing was left untethered and devoted followers would have to wait a full year before the follow-up mini-series V - The Final Battle arrived to much expectation and anticipation. That sequel is now available on DVD and for those that have only seen the original series, you can now find out how it all ends.

    V was landmark television in 1983. It was big budget (by comparison), it had special effects and make-up that were as good as anything seen thus far on the small screen, and it was a good story. It is basically a retelling of the rise of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and the Third Reich, with a thinly veiled science fiction cover. The totally unprepared Earth is paid a surprise visit by the "Visitors" who promise to share their knowledge with us. Sounds good doesn’t it? But just exactly what they want in return is not immediately disclosed.

    After some sneaking around, freelance journalists begin to uncover the truth that the "Visitors" are not what they seem and are here to raid the Earth of its natural resources. Although the USA, and in particular Los Angeles, is the setting, the whole world is under the influence of the "Visitors". The journalists attempt to expose the truth with minimal success, so they continue their campaign.

    A small band of rebels discover the truth the hard way, and similar to the resistance movement in World War II, begin an organised campaign of destabilisation and disruption. They uncover more hidden truths, but just as in Nazi Germany, the “Visitors” propaganda machine is well oiled and very effective. There are family members dobbing each other in to the authorities (Hitler Youth), families hiding fugitives (Anne Frank), people disappearing overnight, distinctive insignia on uniforms (swastikas), propaganda posters on walls, and rewards for those humans that help the "Visitors"'

    V - The Final Battle picks up where V left off. The rag-tag collection of misfits that are the resistance are still trying to find ways of disrupting the "Visitors", and they finally uncover just exactly what it is that the "Visitors" are here for. Just as in Germany, the cause is aided by insurrection from within the alien invasion force, and they ally themselves with the resistance.

    All actors from the original series have reprised their roles. Most are unfamiliar and few went on to do anything of note. Only Michael Ironside (one of those actors who is instantly familiar yet has a name that means nothing to most), and Robert Englund (who went on to the very different role of Freddy Krueger in the Elm Street films), have had any significant roles since V.

    The sequel is perhaps not quite as strong as the original, but is still a damn fine piece of television. The script is slightly more cliched, and there is more action than drama. Don't be fooled into thinking that it has been dumbed down though, as this is not the case. It has to be said however, that the creative genius behind the original, Kenneth Johnson, is notably absent from the sequel (he walked after studio bosses mangled the script, apparently). The music is still a fine effort and very menacing. The sets, makeup and special effects still have the ability to impress, but not quite as much as they did in 1984.

    After all these years, watching the two series' back-to-back was an absolute joy, and a marathon session saw the sun go down and come back up again. It is not scary science fiction, though several of the aliens are undeniably evil, nasty, and extremely unpleasant - and you'll love them for it. The infighting between the alien bigwigs is a wonderful sub-plot, and typical of power hungry megalomaniacs.

    The ending may be a trifle Spielberg, but after so many hours of joy, who cares? It is just a shame that the two mini-series' resulted in a one hour weekly television show, that again starred virtually the entire cast, but failed to live up to the same standards. But enough on that already. Just whack this in the ol' DVD player and enjoy!

      Video
    Contract

    For something as old as this, and made for television, you might be expecting a pretty standard video transfer, but in most areas this looks fine. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. Considering this was originally broadcast in 1.33:1, the widescreen presentation is a pleasant bonus, even if the case does say 1.85:1. The overall image is quite sharp and offers good detail. The clarity of the transfer, however, makes the special effects look even cheesier, but don't let this deter you, it's not a fault of the transfer.

    Colours are slightly pale in places, but this is a symptom of aging, not the transfer. The colours are generally solid and bold, from the red of the uniforms to the green of the aliens’ skin. There are no problems with colour bleeding, or interference from chroma noise. Shadow detail is very good; though again, aging of the film is somewhat to blame. This is mostly the reason why many of the black areas appear slightly blue-ish in appearance.

    As for artefacts, well there are the things you would expect in something that is almost 20 years old. There is some aliasing, though it is minor and infrequent. It occurs on the usual places such as cars and other multiple straight edges. Marks and specks are evident, though they are not seriously detracting. There are one or two quite noticeable white blobs, but generally this is a good-looking print.

    For those concerned by such things, please note that this is a two disc release, spread over three sides – yes, one disc is dual sided – although each side houses a complete episode and therefore continuity is no more disruptive than changing a disc. There are no layer changes evident, so viewing is uninterrupted. The subtitles provided are barely adequate and sell the script short. There are also some that are a little delayed.

      Audio
    Contract

    While the video transfer is quite impressive, the audio transfer fails. The only English option is a Dolby Digital 1.0 mono transfer and it's totally unremarkable. Unlike the Region 4 release of the original mini-series V which had Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, this is noticeably inferior as you would expect.

    Firstly, of course, there is no action from anything other than the centre speaker (though you could always pump it out in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono). The dialogue is mostly clear enough, and there are no problems with audio-synch, but the whole experience is limiting. There is no panning or separation of sound, and low-level frequency sounds such as explosions (which are numerous) are hardly impacting.

    Of some annoyance is the amount of background hiss that fluctuates from barely audible to rather noticeable, depending on whether the action is indoor or outdoor. In some outdoor scenes there has obviously been some post production dubbing of vocals (and this is not unusual), but as the volume of the hiss changes, it highlights the lines that have been re-recorded.

    The music score is actually very good and atmospheric. It is just a shame that it is in mono.

    The other audio is a German Dolby Digital 1.0 mono transfer that suffers from the usual problems of dubbing synchronisation and dialogue not quite as effectively delivered, although the irony of German accents in this Nazi influenced work will be lost on many.

      Extras
    Contract

    For your bucks, you get a Cast and Crew extra, which is repeated on each playing side of the two discs and is merely one screen listing the names and characters of the main players. Compared to the extras included for the DVD release of the original series, this is rubbish

      Overall  
    Contract

    Ignore the mono audio, forget the lack of extras, and get in to V and its follow-up, V – The Final Battle. If you are one of the many younger fans of newer sci-fi television series', then I have every confidence that you will enjoy this. The story is engrossing, the acting and direction is first rate, and the social commentary underlying the whole thing is brilliantly subtle – most of the time. There is the occasional corny line, or overly emotive scene, but for the most part this is a joy and provides wonderful escapism.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1955
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      And I quote...
    "Why not grab V and V –The Final Battle at the same time and invite some “visitors’ over for a V marathon? You’ll be glad you did!"
    - Terry Kemp
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Akai
    • TV:
          TEAC CT-F803 80cm Super Flat Screen
    • Receiver:
          Pioneer VSX-D409
    • Speakers:
          Wellings
    • Centre Speaker:
          Wellings
    • Surrounds:
          Wellings
    • Subwoofer:
          Sherwood SP 210W
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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