As a 12 year old watching V, I was enthralled with it. Alien lizards vs. mankind. What a compelling story. Now that I am in my late 20's and have re-discovered V again, I have learned to appreciate it for the message. I can see the overtones of Naziism in the film. Everything, right down to the visitors symbol is pure Nazi. And the series should be revered for that. A message this strong should always have a place in the history of our television.
But you know what? It's not the message that I really care about after all of these years. It's not the fact that these Aliens are nothing more than Nazis with a leader that is reminiscent of Hitler and it sure isn't the fact that it teaches us as humans to accept each others differences and wants us to get along. No it's not all of that. What it is, is the sheer entertainment of it all. It's Donovan sneeking to the mothership one last time to try to get some information. It's Julie Brown in the conversion chamber. It's Martin and Willie and Barbara, the good aliens, lending a hand to the resistance fighters. It's my pure and utter hatred of Daniel and his caniving ways. And it's the addition of Ham Tyler and his trusty partner that like to blow things up. V may be allegorical by choice but it is entertainment first and foremost, and that is what I enjoy most about it.
The Final Battle begins immediately after the last episode of V ends. The resistance has grown but they are still no match for aliens. At the very end of the first new episode, Julie gets captured and she is put into the conversion chamber. Then we are introduced to Ham Tyler, played by Michael Ironside. This is very smart casting as Ironside brings a certain arrogance not only to his character but to the film itself. Knowing what I know now about Ironside, this character of his could have been a cousin of any number of characters that he played years after. Take Richter, from Total Recall and especially Major Paul Hackett, from Extreme Prejudice. These characters are just an extension of Ham Tyler. Ironside was probably best known for his work as the guy whose head explodes in Scanners before V. After his stellar work as the weapons expert in V, he was only known as this kind of character. And it works brilliantly in here. V was very good, V the Final Battle is great and a big part of that is the work of Ironside.
The Final Battle has many twists as well and some great moments of action, suspense and surprise. Having Donovan's mom turn on him with a gun was expected but still a little unsettling because, well, she is his mom and the conversion chamber was very well done. In the chamber, your mind is probed to discover all of your childhood fears and weaknesses. You are then worked over using images of your fears and such. The idea behind it is to be under someone elses command after you have gone through enough "torture". It is like brainwashing someone, but from a scientific standpoint. I always said that if I was in Diane's conversion chamber that I would be left to think I was on a raft and Jaws was right underneath me, or that I was being stalked in the woods by Leatherface and Jason. Toss in a few spiders and I would build a new wing of the mothership if Diane asked me to.
The ending of V is appropriate and it left the door open just enough for there to be another one. The series didn't work out quite that well but it would be interesting to see what would happen if they tried to make another one now, some 16 years later. I'm not sure if people would want to see it anymore, but is sure would be fun.
V the Final Battle was the highlight of my television schedule in the 80's. There were other shows that I liked and most of them are mentioned in this forum, but nothing was quite like V. This was the highest quality of film making and it is something that I will always enjoy and I will pass all five tapes down to my kids someday. I don't think the film will age either. Technology may advance, but the action and the message will always be there.
10 out of 10
