I was nine years-old when we all sat with our eyes riveted to the old heavy CRT television set to watch the original V. My brother and I would reel back in horror at the aliens who pretended to be our friends, but meant to eat us all. The next day at school, we gossiped like old ladies about every morbid and tantalising cliffhanger. We Cold War kids would play out Vs paranoid themes in the school yard. During the Reagan era, we all believed the communists would invade at any time - so why not aliens? Most boys would play the blond-haired, blue-eyed, all-American lead character Mike Donovan. Not me. My hero was the anti-hero, Ham Tyler. He was the dark knight who took care of all the dirty work Donovon couldn't handle. The girls would vie over who gets to play the alien femme fatale, Diana. Her wanton fetish appeal delighted our pre-pubescent minds. There was even "a creepy alien/human relationship that clearly suggests - but doesn't show - inter-species sex" (from 'What Parents Need to Know' at commonsensemedia.org). What fun!
Twenty-seven years later, we've all grown up, got married, had kids. The communist bogeyman has been replaced by the terrorist specter; so we have a new reason to fear outsiders. My brother called me long distance to let me know he had downloaded the 2009 remake of our favourite childhood show - V. What we discovered was a supercharged version of the old series.
At the helm is Emmy-award winning director, Yves Simoneau, who has a lot more panache than the original auteur, Kenneth Johnson. Ken's last claim to television fame was the wasted TV opportunity, Bionic Woman.
The cinematography gets a shot in the arm as well. Stephen Jackson does very imaginative work with creative close-ups. Meanwhile the original cinematographer hasn't worked since Bingo and an episode of Baywatch.
The old V costumes were terrible in 1983 and they look even worse in retrospect. The tight and revealing spandex suits for the female aliens seemed to be designed by excited pubescent boys for excited pubescent boys. The shoulder pads - good god, the shoulder pads! The new V costumes won't make you cringe 27 years later. Leo-Award winning costume designer, Maya Mani, drapes the aliens in tasteful clothes that look like they are actually made by seamstresses with advanced technology.
The acting enjoys an upgrade as well. Elizabeth Mitchell takes the lead role after impressing the fans of Lost. The four acting schools that she attended certainly paid off. Her subtle body language cues and broad range of emotion look great in close up. She takes over the original lead played for fun by Marc 'The Beast Master' Singer. He and his director cousin, Bryan, have a firm grasp of popcorn entertainment. Marc will never win an Emmy, but he won our hearts in the original V as the 'do-gooder' hero.
I had wait through four episodes to see who would replace my beloved Ham Tyler as the dark knight. Tyler was played beautifully by the a-grade actor who became a b-grade titan, Michael Ironside. In the 2010 V, his role was replaced by Kyle Hobbes, portrayed by Charles Mesure. He is six years older, four inches taller, and way more buff than Tyler (Kyle's signature black t-shirts look painted on). Both Mesure and Ironside are matched in many ways. Both men produced, directed and wrote their own plays while topping their respective acting schools. Both have had to pay their dues slogging it out in exploitation stories way below their station. Both are armed with a steely gaze that guarantees they will be forever cast as the villain, or at least, the anti-hero.
The most important casting decision is the alien queen, Anna. Morena Baccarin took a cardboard cutout character and gave it flesh. When she was 24, she was one of the students on the PBS series American Masters which featured the Julliard School for the Performing Arts. Since then, her delicate portrayals have delighted us all. In this latest role, we see the fruition of her complex talent. Her character is one moment, a magnanimous regent, the next, a malevolent demon. The 1983 queen was called Diana. She was portrayed by Jane Badler, a former Miss America contestant whose resume contains so many soaps she should should open a shop. Even today, she is guest starring on the Australian soap, Neighbours, as a character called - guess what? - Diana. Jane Badler's alien queen was no more than a fun soapie villianess. She provided much titillation for our young minds and many of us are grateful for it - as the gatherings at Comic-Con suggest.
You will notice there are many die-hard fans of the 1983 V who insist the original is better. You will have to forgive these rabid purists as they are relying on fond memories of probably the most entertaining show running at the time. You youngsters out there won't remember, but the only decent show on back in '83 was Black Adder. Today, the bar is set much higher with shows such as Eastbound and Down, Modern Family, and Lost. The new generation of V watchers have a lot of good TV competing for their attention. The producers are well aware of this and have ramped up the quality of the new V accordingly.
Twenty-seven years later, we've all grown up, got married, had kids. The communist bogeyman has been replaced by the terrorist specter; so we have a new reason to fear outsiders. My brother called me long distance to let me know he had downloaded the 2009 remake of our favourite childhood show - V. What we discovered was a supercharged version of the old series.
At the helm is Emmy-award winning director, Yves Simoneau, who has a lot more panache than the original auteur, Kenneth Johnson. Ken's last claim to television fame was the wasted TV opportunity, Bionic Woman.
The cinematography gets a shot in the arm as well. Stephen Jackson does very imaginative work with creative close-ups. Meanwhile the original cinematographer hasn't worked since Bingo and an episode of Baywatch.
The old V costumes were terrible in 1983 and they look even worse in retrospect. The tight and revealing spandex suits for the female aliens seemed to be designed by excited pubescent boys for excited pubescent boys. The shoulder pads - good god, the shoulder pads! The new V costumes won't make you cringe 27 years later. Leo-Award winning costume designer, Maya Mani, drapes the aliens in tasteful clothes that look like they are actually made by seamstresses with advanced technology.
The acting enjoys an upgrade as well. Elizabeth Mitchell takes the lead role after impressing the fans of Lost. The four acting schools that she attended certainly paid off. Her subtle body language cues and broad range of emotion look great in close up. She takes over the original lead played for fun by Marc 'The Beast Master' Singer. He and his director cousin, Bryan, have a firm grasp of popcorn entertainment. Marc will never win an Emmy, but he won our hearts in the original V as the 'do-gooder' hero.
I had wait through four episodes to see who would replace my beloved Ham Tyler as the dark knight. Tyler was played beautifully by the a-grade actor who became a b-grade titan, Michael Ironside. In the 2010 V, his role was replaced by Kyle Hobbes, portrayed by Charles Mesure. He is six years older, four inches taller, and way more buff than Tyler (Kyle's signature black t-shirts look painted on). Both Mesure and Ironside are matched in many ways. Both men produced, directed and wrote their own plays while topping their respective acting schools. Both have had to pay their dues slogging it out in exploitation stories way below their station. Both are armed with a steely gaze that guarantees they will be forever cast as the villain, or at least, the anti-hero.
The most important casting decision is the alien queen, Anna. Morena Baccarin took a cardboard cutout character and gave it flesh. When she was 24, she was one of the students on the PBS series American Masters which featured the Julliard School for the Performing Arts. Since then, her delicate portrayals have delighted us all. In this latest role, we see the fruition of her complex talent. Her character is one moment, a magnanimous regent, the next, a malevolent demon. The 1983 queen was called Diana. She was portrayed by Jane Badler, a former Miss America contestant whose resume contains so many soaps she should should open a shop. Even today, she is guest starring on the Australian soap, Neighbours, as a character called - guess what? - Diana. Jane Badler's alien queen was no more than a fun soapie villianess. She provided much titillation for our young minds and many of us are grateful for it - as the gatherings at Comic-Con suggest.
You will notice there are many die-hard fans of the 1983 V who insist the original is better. You will have to forgive these rabid purists as they are relying on fond memories of probably the most entertaining show running at the time. You youngsters out there won't remember, but the only decent show on back in '83 was Black Adder. Today, the bar is set much higher with shows such as Eastbound and Down, Modern Family, and Lost. The new generation of V watchers have a lot of good TV competing for their attention. The producers are well aware of this and have ramped up the quality of the new V accordingly.