V the Miniseries is a natural progression from Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica. With BR and BSG, it was clear that sci-fi could create a fervently loyal following. The key question, however, was: Could it become a bona fide success? The answer is yes.

First you have to start with a compelling concept. BSG had that. And so V would have to find a way of creating an idea equally as compelling — but it’d have to do so by also avoiding the inevitable Star Wars comparisons. The concept also had to be financially feasible. BSG’s entirely space-bound concept really drove up the costs. BSG 1980 was an attempt to reduce those costs by having the action take place primarily on Earth — but the marriage of BSG and Earth was ill conceived and doomed to failure. V would have to avoid that landmine as well.

The show made some concessions with respect to visual effects (they are, at best, on par with the then five year old original BSG), but it compensated by using some truly skillful cinematography. But even more importantly, the concept, while not as compelling on a grand, epic scale, was more immediate and more manageable than BSG, or even BSG 1980. V would be about an invasion of Earth, and it would tell the story from a profound angle: that of the “Resistance Fighter” struggling against an oppressive, and deadly regime. And the concept worked so well that it was duplicated, almost to the point of plagiarism, for 1996’s wildly successful movie Independence Day (ID 4).

But what really, truly makes the miniseries so successful is its humanity, its characters. The miniseries is skillfully cast and, for the most part, capably acted. Once you can get past the unfortunately dated visual effects and 1980’s clichés, the emphasis on the human equation, on the way people act and react to such drastic circumstances, provides a commentary and a focus that makes V the Miniseries one of the most underrated shows in television history.

The DauntlessMedia.net review will be done in four parts, representing the four major “acts” in this miniseries.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Topics: Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
Filed under: V The Series

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