bernie (05/04/83)
Schlock. Moderately watchable, but schlock nonetheless. "Willing suspension of disbelief" is essential for any true sf-lover; however, the writer has a responsibility not to abuse this willingness on the part of his readers/viewers. Problems with "V" : Why on Earth (so to speak) did the Aliens speak English *to each other*?? One would think they'd speak their own language, or possibly one of the hundreds of other terrestrial tongues they'd mastered so easily. There was also evidence that at least a few of them had trouble with English, so why would they use it? In particular, why use it when discussing things they clearly would not want humans to know about? Stealing Earth's water? WHY? If they have the technology to cross interstellar distances, they surely have the technology to make water out of available substances. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and oxygen is readily available in the atmospheres of most most planets, even if it's not as abundant as on Earth. The reasons for needing water were stated by one of the "friendly" aliens, but none of them (forgive the pun!) held water. He mentioned running fusion plants and powering starships; for this, only the hydrogen would be needed. He said his planet was dry, and in need of water; why not re-cycle what they already have? If their need for water is increasing due to population increase, why not simply limit the population size? It would sure be a lot easier than dragging a sh*tload of water across interstellar space! The various sexual relationships depicted or implied between humans and aliens. These include Robin (the elder daughter of one of the human families) and her infatuation with the young alien who she breeds with while held prisoner on the mothership, and a few others I'll mention in a second. I can understand Robin's interest in the alien (he looks human, and has a *great* tongue). But why on Earth (there's that phrase again) would an intelligent reptile find a human being sexually attractive? The female alien who helps Marc Singer escape from the mothership also seemed to show some (admittedly mild) interest in him. More surprising is that Singer (who knew what the aliens really looked like) is attracted to her. And finally, Diane (the alien commander) showing a more-than-just friendly interest in the female newscaster. Granted, there were only two scenes that suggested that; nevertheless, it was clearly intended to make us think even less of Diane than we did before (since the North American Viewing Public doesn't think highly of gay aliens). (As if being a genocidal bug-eyed monster wasn't enough!). Who knows, in an earlier era "V" might have been called "Attack of the Lesbian Lizards from Outer Space". The idea that the other reason for conquering Earth is to provide food for the mother planet is equally absurd. If their populaton is any decent size at all (and there are plenty of indications that they are at least as heavily populated as Earth) then the few thousand bodies they're bringing back would hardly begin to feed their people. Perhaps we're not their main foodstuff, but rather some delicacy that only their ruling class can afford... sort of like imported caviar. If we were going to be food for them, it would be cheaper to breed us there than to drag full-grown people across vast distances. The fact that Robin becomes pregnant. Anyone ever wonder why humans and apes can't breed successfully? (Knowing some of the people on the net, I can't help thinking some of you may have tried). The reason is that the we're too far apart genetically; we don't even have the same number of chromosomes. The chances of beings who developed on completely different worlds and are descended from utterly different types of animal (apes versus lizards) being able to impregnate one another is downright silly. I could go on and on. (In fact, I already have). Suffice it to say that "V", though reasonably well-done visually, was not my idea of good Science Fiction. --Bernie Roehl ...decvax!watmath!watarts!bernie