• Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 3, 2009
  • Season #: 1 , 2
V Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 155 Ratings

  • Summary: The 1980s series about aliens who appear human and peaceful is remade as a split miniseries, with the second part airing sometime early next year.
  • Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. 88
    The pilot for this drama is good. I have a few quibbles with it--some of the character drama is a bit clunky--but overall, I found the first hour of the show to be solidly entertaining and suitably suspenseful.
  2. As the plot of V progresses, no doubt we will see the subtle strangulation of democracy by fascism--already the press has been corrupted--and that is a story that cannot be told often enough. Especially when it comes, like the V's, in such a fine, fun and attractive package.
  3. The surprisingly timely V plays off concerns about universal health care, terrorism, sleeper cells and journalists' access to leaders. But the series is, above all, a first-rate thriller filled with twists, shocks and heroic figures.
  4. Reviewed by: Troy Patterson
    50
    Indeed, if the show is to have the symbolic import that we expect from a science-fiction story, this is the only possible way to read V as a coherent text. The only problem with this analysis lies in its generous presupposition that the text is, in fact, coherent.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 71
  2. Negative: 19 out of 71
  1. stevep
    10
    Just seen the pilot ....it was great.
  2. I came across this show only a few weeks ago, looking for something to keep me company on planes and trains and have run through the first season since then. I remembered the original series, but none of the plot lines, just the general premise. In all honesty, I might not have bothered had it not been for Elisabeth Mitchell in the cast, by far my most favorite Lost actress. I figured this couldn't be bad.

    And you know what, it isn't. Not at all in fact, although it's not likely to convince anyone that's not at least a bit into sci-fi already. An intrinsic and permanent impediment to the genre, seemingly. Yes, the pilot advanced quickly and along somewhat predictable tracks, but no that wasn't a bad thing. The makers would not have pulled off a 3 episode span covering only the arrival of the visitors. It needed to move along because we all knew where the story needed be, before it could begin. I agree that not all performances may have been up to par, but enough of them were. The characters developed well and the lesser performances turned out the be for characters that ended up being killed off. Always a good sign if a show dares to do that. Anyone that's made it to the season finale will admit that the performances by then were fine. I think some of the cast needed to come to terms with virtual sets, shot against blue or green-screen. That obstacle should be out of the way for S2.

    But the show does need to watch out for sloppiness in the renditions of the CG sets when overlaying the live action on to them. We don't watch CRT TVs anymore, and CGI oddities are visible in all their definition. Lighting in the environment doesn't always match the character's lighting conditions when walking through hallways or corridors. Shadows are forgotten, differences in saturation levels, over-cropped live footage makes arms and legs go very narrow against their backdrop, etc.. . This doesn't kill the show but it does kill off the illusion, and that's a shame. I hope the rendering department has sharpened their tools for season two and that they have also come up with somewhat more complexity in the virtual sets, because the lack of set detail (e.g. on board the ships) makes it extra hard on the actors if their face is the only thing carrying the shot.

    So would I recommend it? Yes
    Do I look forward to the next season? Sure, bring it on!
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  3. JohnE
    7
    Was a big fan of the original series, not sure if that was cause I was 11 at the time however. Re-watching it was nostalgic to say the least. I think the pilot started out well but episode 2 wasn't great. Couple of things annoy me however. One of the aliens is "in love" with a human. Not very realistic, I don't find myself lusting after iguanas, so I see the reverse as highly implausible. In the original series the "star child" 1/2 human 1/2 alien was the result of an experiment. The other point is the reference to the V's for visitors. V is supposed to be for Victory. Graffiti of V in the original was to vandalize the aliens propaganda posters. Now it's for spreading the message of the V's . Minor point I know but it irritates me. Anyway I'll give it a chance, it needs to pick up though. Expand
  4. SidR
    3
    Here we go again. Nothing original at all. The parables aren't even done in a clever and subtle manner. Boring, token stock characters. What's that you say? Let's make the aliens masquerading as humans more menacing and mysterious by making them monotonous and lacking emotion? Wow, haven't seen that done yet! And last, but not least: yet another awful actor portraying yet another angst-ridden teen whose dad is not in his life. Just another example of TV and movies these days "rebooting" something from the past and slapping modern special FX on it, rather than genuinely attempting to come up with something creative. Skip it. Expand

See all 71 User Reviews