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Blu-ray Review: V: The Complete First Season
By Dave Dreher - FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER OR FACEBOOK

Nov 21, 2010 - 4:29:04 AM

The original V was a ground breaker and quite the event when it came out in the early 80's.  They actually pretty much invented the modern day "big mother ship's hover over large cities" sci-fi sub genre.  It certainly wasn't the first alien invasion flick but they did it a little differently and with what were at the time mind numbing special effects.  You look at it now some 25 years later and kinda of shake your head but back then, it blew your mind.

When I heard they were going to retell the V story I, like a lot of folks who hold the original near and dear, was a little irked that they would touch that part of my youth.  I've gotta tell you though, this new show is great.  Not just good but GREAT.

I think a lot of the concern was that they would try to rehash the characters that we all love.  There's now Donavon, no Dianna, no Willie.  They've gone a completely different way.  The resistance still exists as does the alien collaborators known as The Fifth Column.

Story line is basically the same.  One day huge spaceships show up over the worlds major cities.  Naturally citizens freak out but when the aliens show themselves they are beautiful, friendly human looking visitors who have come in peace, always. 

So while the basic premise is the same that's pretty much where any similarities end.  They've really taken the original V notion and run with it. very much bringing the story line and special effects up to modern standards.

This new Blu-ray set does a fantastic job of showing us how that achieved this up scaling.  First up though is the show itself.

In this post 9-11 era things really take on a different feel.  Leaving in the city and having some unexplained shaking and rumbling going on really kind of makes your heart skip a beat and the pilot episodes opening moments are down right frightening which quickly turns to amazement when everyone figures out what is going on.

All the episodes are well done.  The writing is top notch and the acting and character development is intriguing and makes you want to hang around for the next hour long story.  There are 12 episodes in the Season One  and in the end what you end up with is a well developed series that in the end leaves you anticipating where things are going to lead.

The episodes are only part of the reason to own this disc set though.  The special features are riviting and must see.

I'm always a sucker for the behind the scenes stuff and this set loads in on heavy and I ate it all up. 

BREAKING STORY:  The World of V talks about bringing the classic V storyline up to modern standards.  The writers and producers talk about their love of the original and the difficulties of keeping all the inter woven story lines on track and making sense.

AN ALIEN HUMAN SKIN:  THE MAKE UP FX OF V gives us an in depth look at the practical and CGI FX in the show

THE VISUAL FX OF V:  It's exactly what it says, they talk about the myriad of visuals for the show.  They say that each episode has several hundred visual FX shots.  Amazing.

The disc is also loaded with assorted commentaries and unaired scenes.

It is a literal treasure trove of information of any V fan and just plain interesting to anyone interested in how this is all done.

I really enjoyed this disc set, it's one of the few where the feature presentation and special features actually work together to give you a seamless, gotta watch it all experience.

V:  THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is available now on 2 disc Blu-ray and I can't recommend strongly enough that you pick it up.

OWN IT ON BLU-RAY - You know you've gotta have it.

CLICK HERE to go pick it up directly from Warner.


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