Wouldn't it be cool if nice aliens came down to earth with tons of cool gadgets and advanced technologies to share with us? Wouldn't it suck if they were big fat liars with lizard faces who wanted to enslave us and eat all our adorable pet hamsters alive? Such is the predicament in the 1983 miniseries V, a sci-fi action bonanza that fired the imaginations of the playground set and created much speculation and debate around junior high water fountains across the country. Writer/director KENNETH JOHNSON was wise enough to know that you don't have to have a face like a Gila Monster to be a douche and liberally borrows from our planet's own history to show how propaganda, fascism, oppression and ultimately resistance and rebellion operate. Why even as I write this now, I feel an urge to go and march against Lizards! Not only did these jerk's ultimate plan include swiping all our beloved H20, it also turns out they were turning folks into frozen dinners to be chomped on like Hot Pockets on some future date! Two scenes from the original miniseries are particular crowd pleasing traumatizers, one involves the super bitch alien "Diana" doing something to a rodent that would make even RICHARD GERE feel faint, and the other involves BEASTMASTER MARK SINGER ripping off the human disguise of an alien guard to reveal his long slippery snake like tongue. Even those who had an inkling that there was something too good to be true about these visitors couldn't help but be shocked by these scenes that were above and beyond what anyone was used to seeing on broadcast television. Putting aside some outdated dialogue, some giant '80s style hairdos and some less than convincing, mostly matte painted special effects, V and its lizard people still carries quite a punch. Like JOHN CARPENTER's THEY LIVE, it may have you looking closer at the talking heads on your own T.V. set, waiting for their skin to peel off or a fleeting glimpse of a devilish serpentine tongue.
Note: These cool original T.V guide ads were swiped from HERE
UPDATE: Kindertrauma readers are never wrong. It seems the most traumatizing scene in the "V" universe occurs in "The Final Battle" when two little baby visitors are born to a human girl. (Thanks to reader Turnidoff for the reminder.) It really is a great scene that starts with a seemingly normal birth that turns out to be not so normal and a surprise second birth that's even worse. This is all while sweet lullaby music box tunes play on the soundtrack!. Way to turn the screws"V", and props on the expert use of a "To be continued…"
The "V" baby is what traumatized me as a kid.Â
I'm been trying to find clips on Youtube but there are none with the birth scene.
Nevermind. I found it.
Yep, I saw that when I was 11.Â
Didn't sleep for a while I remember.
@ turnidoff: I vividly remember the first baby with the forked, snake tongue… but I completely blocked out the double-birth aspect of that sequence. That second kid definitely got his father's looks.
Oh man, V was insane! I haven't seen it since the original broadcast and I'd almost be scared to see how dated it is now. But back in the day, it was incredible. Even as a kid, though, I remember things got pretty cheesy by the time V became a weekly series. Love those TV Guide ads, by the way – when TV Guide changed their format a whole era ended.
OhmyGod, V was HUGE in my hood: all the kids in my class watched it and it was like Water Cooler Talk every day after it ran. hahaha. MY FATHER used to watch it and I remember sitting on the floor in my parents room playing with Barbies or whatever and watching my father watch V. It gave me a sort of icky feeling watching it…and then they had the episode where a chick named Robin had twins and I was like "Okay I'm done" and I ran out of the room!
The next week I was in there when V was going on and I was all brave thinking "Okay, whatever they show tonight will be cool….I mean, it's not like they're gonna show someone having evil alien babies again, right?" WRONG! They started the episode by showing footage from last weeks show!!! And there were those scary babies again! I don't think I ever went in there when it was on AGAIN!
The baby birth was the highlight of elementary school. Everyone was a buzz the next day.
Its so funny , looking at the pictures of The "V Twins" NOW – they don't look scary at all ('specially the green one!) but – you know- when you're a kid and its B.C. (Before Cable) you take what you can get.
I'd love to view V now….but like someone else said: I'm sure it has aged poorly (Haven't we all?)
Oh crap! I loved V! This came out when I was in the 6th grade and I remember being glued to the T.V. The baby birth was definitely disturbing to me at the time. Anyone remember how sweet Robert Englund's character was? Of course, this was pre-Nightmare on Elm Street. I also remember being shocked when Marc Singer ripped the mask off that alien dude (I remember him best as Mr. Wilhelm on Seinfeld).
Seeing that I refused to go near the TV after that aired….whatever happened to them? Did the babies die? Live? I totally dont remember.
I know this post is two years old but I can't help commenting because I LOVED the original V.
Mama, the girl with the forked tongue lived and even grew up – rapidly. The boy the green skinned twin – died not long after his birth. It turned out he died of some infection that they were then able to use as part of germ warfare on the aliens.
The baby scene never scared me as much as the testing of the germ scene. The mother of the twins kills her babies' daddy. I can sit seem him telling her he loved her, and she just slams the pill into the tube and he dies….
And I can't believe you folks didn't mention the fact that Robert England was in this as the vegetarian alien!