V – The Complete First Season (2009 – 2010 revival series/Warner Blu-ray Review)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Episodes: B-

 

 

V for those who don’t know or realize is based on the 1983 miniseries and 1984 television series originally created by Kenneth Johnson (The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk; he is not involved with this version).  The series chronicles the coming of a technology advanced alien race that pronounces peace, but in actually have much deeper and audacious motives.

 

The V-istors arrive in 29 major cities around the globe.  The leader of the aliens Anna (Morena Baccarin) steps forward to offer the people of earth a deal.  In exchange for a small amount of natural resources the vistors will share their advanced technology.  Whereas some welcome the aliens with open arms, there is a growing band of people who are hesitant and suspect the aliens have other intentions.  Due to the growing suspicions centering on the aliens actions, a resistance group is formed.  FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) stumbles across the fact that aliens have been infiltrating all walks of human life for decades (including that of government) and in turn joins the resistance movement.  There are a number twists and turns throughout the First Season that should not be revealed here, but in general involves double agents and countless cliffhangers.

 

The show is not what I imagined it would be.  I find the series to be on the same level as the original miniseries as far as storyline, but the overuse of CG and green screen makes certain sequences obnoxious.  I would have traded the CG for old Star Trek cardboard sets at any point, at least then there would have been more passion then dollar signs.  The acting is well done and the cast seems to have good enough chemistry.  I think as long as the series doesn’t go too over the top that V can go on for quite a while.  On the down side I have the nagging sense that the series may have spun out of control way too early and the double crosses and such that took The X-Files years to amass have all happened in Season One.

 

The technical features on this First Season Blu-ray are actually pretty bad.  The picture is presented in a 1.78 X 1 1080p that has a muddy appearance at best.  The colors and flesh tones of “the real world” are stunning and crisp, but as we switch back and forth between CG and reality the visual experience becomes mucky.  Whereas I am supposed to believe this alien technology is the most advanced in the universe, I instead find myself picking out the blaringly obvious green screen moments.  The overuse of green screen and budgetary restrictions have plagued this Blu-ray’s image quality, making it unbalanced at best.  The sound is a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound that is weak with most of the sound blasting from the front and the occasional musical score or ambient noise coming from the rears.  The dialogue is crisp for the most part, but when the dialogue gets loud there are moments of spatter and crackling.

 

The extras include:

 

• Audio Commentary (oddly) on episode 11
• The Actors Journey from Human to V
• Breaking Story: The World of V
• An Alien in Human Skin: The Makeup FX of V
• The Visual Effects of V
• Unaired Scenes

 

Overall, the extras are short, but cover a fair bit of enough in the short segments.

 

The series is interesting and shows promise, but it may take another season to get me hooked.  For now I am just visiting.

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II