V: The Complete First Season (2009)

I’ll get my disclaimer out of the way first: when I was a wee lad I didn’t like the original ‘80s V miniseries. At all. The aliens looked dumb, the spaceships and costumes were boring, and the story couldn’t even capture my childhood imagination. With such bitter memories, I greeted this new series with a total lack of interest and assumed it would be dealt a fairly quick and unceremonious death like its predecessor. But hey, it’s hard for me to pass up any sci fi Blu-ray box set screener, so I took the plunge into a viewing marathon of the new complete first season with absolutely zero expectations. As such, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

The core conceit of the original show is still present: aliens have arrived in gigantic spaceships above Earth with promises of friendship and goodwill that mask their shadowy ulterior motives. They’re also masking their true reptilian forms behind pretty human skins that ease their acceptance into human society. In fact they’re masked so well that we get through the entire season without seeing a fully exposed alien, so other than a few glimpses of scales in wounds and creepy reptilian eyes we still don’t really know what we’re dealing with. Led by their charismatic and gorgeous ruler named Anna (Morena Baccarin), the Visitors (Vs) offer medical and technological miracles to humankind in return for basically nothing, just some rest and replenishment. At least that’s what Anna tells the world. Behind the scenes, she’s plotting…something, although the grand design of her master plan remains a mystery throughout the season. Do they want to eat us? Sell us into slavery on their homeworld? Tune in next season!

While most of the dumb Earthlings are content to go along with the fantastic offer of V friendship and aid, a resistance movement arises to expose the true intentions of the Vs and fight for their removal. Leading the resistance is plucky FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), growing increasingly concerned about the protection of her dopey teenage son Tyler (Logan Huffman) in light of his infatuation with comely young V Lisa (Laura Vandervoort), who also conveniently happens to be Anna’s daughter. Agent Evans is aided in her resistance efforts by turncoat V Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut), soldier turned priest Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch), and mercenary Kyle Hobbes (Charles Mesure). A news anchor named Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) walks the line between V and resistance fighters, building a rapport with Anna while also confiding in Father Jack. With all the relationships and shifting allegiances, the series quickly becomes a tense game of figuring out who to trust and who to fight, pulling its key players further into the inevitable conflicts.

The series certainly isn’t the smartest, but it’s consistently exciting and nerve-wracking as each side attempts to conceal its objectives from the other while figuring out who they can rely on to further their goals. It’s a considerable strength that the show has one principal story line and keeps tight focus on that story rather than wasting time with standalone episodes like Fringe or X-Files. Sure, there are subplots, but they all contribute to the main story arc rather than divert attention to meaningless side paths. That attention to constantly moving the plot forward is the single best reason to appreciate this series so far and has me anxiously awaiting season two.

The series is incredibly effects-heavy, with all of the environments on the alien ships constructed in CGI. Unfortunately, the CG integration is pretty bad, pulling viewers out of the action as we easily imagine the massive green screen sets the actors inhabited. The producers should be commended for attempting such a high level of CG in a weekly format, but it’s not ready for prime time yet. Maybe add some more actual props and a few tangible backgrounds here and there to foster some sense of realism? For now, the Vs frequently look like they’re running around in the middle of a video game. There’s also some wonky camera work, with a recurring use of over-the-head-looking-down angles on actors and sweeping, rotating camera movement in the virtual environments that just adds to their fake feel.

CG technical issues aside, the series looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, with its crisp 1080p 1.78:1 picture and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound consistently precise. Its bonus features include largely inconsequential deleted scenes and looks at the makeup, effects, actors, and challenges of updating the original show. Note to the studio: when cramming a series onto just two discs, please make sure the bonus features on the first disc don’t include scenes and spoilers from the episodes on the second disc!

V: The Complete First Season is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download.

Article first published as DVD Review: V - The Complete First Season (2009) on Blogcritics.

District 9

District 9 is described by its studio as a sci-fi thriller, and while that’s an accurate label in broad strokes, it sells short the film’s startling originality and thought-provoking social commentary. Rather than just presenting a heavily plotted story of aliens stranded on Earth, writer-director Neill Blomkamp utilizes loose acting improvisation and a documentary style to increase its realism and impact. He also sets it in a weighty locale that forces viewers to draw the obvious parallel between his film’s alien fiction and our own all-too-real mistreatment of fellow humans.

The film’s title refers to an internment camp outside Johannesburg, South Africa, where over 1 million stranded aliens have been reduced to life in the slums for over 20 years with no apparent hope of returning home. Amid escalating pressure from the local human populace, the government begins a program of forced eviction in the hopes of moving the aliens and the unsavory element they attract further from the city. Enter Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a nerdy government office drone selected to spearhead the militarized task force responsible for the relocation. His assignment requires door-to-door contact with the aliens as he coerces them to sign documents consenting to the relocation while he also scouts for any illegal alien weapons activity.

When Wikus runs across some mysterious alien goo in the ghetto, he begins a tragic transformation that grants him both human and alien characteristics. He also makes the acquaintance of the brainy alien who concocted the goo and is forced to reconsider his role as an oppressor.

Blomkamp’s alien ghetto is so fully realized that it becomes the most integral character in the film, a vividly detailed and massive shantytown that seems all too real. Aliens rummage through the trash and live in poorly constructed shacks that offer no dignity and very little shelter, adding to their desperate situation. It’s just as shocking as the favela in City of God or the slums of Slumdog Millionaire. The Blu-ray release amps up the minute details of this horrid camp, fully exposing its grime and hopelessness in crystal-clear high definition.

The Blu-ray also boasts a slew of exhaustive bonus featurettes about the film including spotlights on the production design, visual effects, transformation of Wikus, and a three-part documentary. There’s also an exclusive interactive map of the world of District 9, numerous deleted scenes, and Sony’s movieIQ feature that allows viewers to pull up dynamically updated trivia about the film during viewing, such as cast and crew filmographies that will continue to add ongoing entries as long as your player is connected to the Internet. If you want to watch on the go, the package includes a second disc containing a digital file of the film for easy transfer to PSP or other mobile video viewing devices.

But wait, there’s more: a playable demo of Sony’s forthcoming PS3 game release, God of War 3. Sure, the demo takes about twice as long to install on a PS3 hard drive from the Blu-ray disc as it does to actually play through, but players who stick it out also unlock a brief feature about the game’s production. There’s no apparent direct connection between the two properties, but considering the substantial key demographic crossover of the two it’s not at all an unwelcome addition.

District 9 is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Blu-ray is the clear winner here due to the deep bonus features and the sheer technical beauty of the film. Fine details like the tiny letters in the bottom right corner of the documentary camera’s label overlay to the subtle differentiation between the aliens are displayed in stellar clarity, while the crisp 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track creates a fully immersive audio environment.