V: A forgotten SF Classic?
Eric S Brown
In 1983, the “V” mini-series launched on NBC. It was a success, drawing a huge audience for its time. The story of V was inspired by the novel “It Can’t Happen Here”, a powerful anti-facist story. A race of alien lizards, disguised as humans, arrive on Earth in a fleet of fifty motherships, each three miles long. With tech far beyond that of our own, they promise peace, friendship, and prospertiy for the human race. Their promises, and popularity, allow them to quickly take over the media and win not only acceptence but even a degree of hero worship from the populace of Earth.
It isn’t long, however, until a few, mostly scientists and doctors at the start, begin to realize that is much more to these Visitors and their agenda than they claim. The lizards respond by branding scientists as criminals, accusing them of plotting to drive them away from Earth before they can carry out their promise of making the world a better place. A resistance group forms against the lizards and h discovers that their real reason for coming to Earth is to drain the planet of its resources, and enslave the human race as cattle to be used for food.
V: The Original Mini-series, is a true SF classic and a powerful one. Somehow though, it seems to have been forgotten by most, or perhaps its message is merely one that we don’t want to hear today. However minus a few hopelessly out of date FX sequences, V truly does stand up to the test of time in terms of its acting, writing, and overall message.
There is talk of a big screen “V” movie being made by the series’ creator, Kenneth Johnson, in conjuction with Desliu studios. It’s rumored to be the studio’s first major project. Whether or not this reboot will really happen remains to be seen, but it certainly gives hope to the fans that long for more stories set in the dark world of the franchise.
