DVD Review | V: The Final Battle
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: B+
DVD Special Features: N/A

No teenager ever thinks life is fair.  I remember back when I was
13-years-old and the miniseries "V" came on and I wasn't allowed to watch it.
When the sequel came out a year later, I was deemed old enough to see it,
but only the first hour since it ran past 9 or 10 or whenever my bedtime was.
I don't mind telling myself to go to bed at 10 these days, though,
especially since I can sleep safe in the knowledge that "V" and "V: The Final
Battle" are now out on DVD and I can watch them at my leisure.

Earth has been invaded by aliens, only in a way that tends to be a bit nicer
than by those in the film "ID4".  In order for these Visitors to steal our
water and harvest us as food, they disguise themselves to look like us and
attempt to relate to us in terms that put our minds at ease.  Does the phrase
"It's a cookbook!" ring any bells?  The first miniseries introduced us to a
number of characters who banded together to fight the alien threat, only
their future remained uncertain.  In "V: The Final Battle," the planet's fate
is decided.

Scientist Julie Parish (Faye Grant, "The January Man") and ex-news cameraman
Mike Donovan (Marc Singer, "Beastmaster") are the unlikely leaders of the
resistance, the only people who have any idea what the aliens really are and
what they're after.  The small group's hit-and-run raids aren't making much
of a dent in the Visitor's plans, so they need something to get the world's
attention.  Helping them is a group among the aliens known as the Fifth
Column, lead by Martin (Frank Ashmore, "Airplane!"), and a human mercenary named Ham Tyler (Michael Ironside, "Spacehunter").  Opposing them is the scheming evil Visitor bitch herself, Diana (Jane Badler, "One Life To Live"). Those who get on this woman's nerves have a tendency to wind up either dead or going through a mind-altering process called "conversion".

Things really start to heat up when the resistance discovers a way to expose
John (Richard Herd, "Star Trek: Voyager"), the Visitor's supreme commander,
on international television.  Throw in some traitors within the resistance, a
human/alien pregnancy with incredible results, several exciting shootouts,
lots of drama, a possible way to save the planet from invasion, a Visitor
weapon of mass destruction and a cast that includes Robert Englund ("A
Nightmare On Elm Street"), Thomas Hill ("Hackers"), Michael Wright ("Oz"),
Sarah Douglas ("Superman II"), Dick Miller ("The Howling") and Jenny Beck
("Troll") and you've got yourself one heck of a miniseries.

As with their release of "V", Warner Bros. has delivered a Widescreen version
of "V: The Final Battle".  I don't know if it was originally films in this
aspect ratio or whether the studio fudged the picture a bit to get it to look
like this, but the new ratio really gives the show a film-like quality that
works to its advantage.  The transfer itself looks a bit dated, especially
where the special effects are concerned, but this was made-for-TV after all.  
The audio doesn't sound bad either and compliments the film rather nicely.  
Unfortunately, whereas the release of "V" featured an audio commentary and
documentary, this one doesn't contain a damn thing.  It's barebones dry!  
What happened here, guys?

The only other complaint I have about "V: The Final Battle" is how
ridiculously difficult it is to get the discs out their holder.  I don't know
about anybody else, but I was very concerned that I was doing to break the
discs simply trying to remove them.  What's up with that?  I also wonder if
Warner will release the only season of the "V" TV series that aired after the
success of the two miniseries, but I've not heard any rumors yet.  I can't
remember liking it very much, but then that might have been because my
parents complained about watching it.  Oh, well.  Overall, I'm quite glad to
have this show on DVD, especially in Widescreen, only I'm disappointed at the
lack of effort on the studio's part where extras are concerned, especially
after what they did for the first release.  Yeah, I know, would I like some
cheese with my whine?