Talk:V (1983 miniseries)

Childhood's End

I find it totally astonishing that there's no reference to the opening scenes of the ships appearing over major cities on Earth being directly lifted from Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 novel Childhood's End. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 07:18, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Julie Parrish's character based on a historical figure

I saw Kenneth Johnson speak once and he said the main inspiration for Julie Parrish's character was a female nurse who became a leader of the French resistance in WWII. I think it was Andrea DiJon based on basic searches, but I can't find any documentation besides my own memory. It seems like this would belong under the 'influences' section - Mr. Johnson seemed to regard this woman as his primary inspiration for the series. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jancola (talk • contribs) 19:53, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Similarities to 1983's [Strange Invaders]

"Many of the movie's ideas are very similar to 1983's Strange Invaders including the names of the Alien antagonist Diana and human/alien hybrid character, Elizabeth. The story is resolved in very similar fashion as well."

I've added this to influences but it keeps getting removed.

Strange Invaders was a satire of 1950's drive-in movies similar in retro vain to V and has many of the same plot elements. The character names (and story) are too similar to be a coincidence. IMDB lists Strange Invaders as being released in September of 1983 whereas V first appeared in May of that year. This doesn't mean V was first as the production of Strange Invaders could have begun earlier which was typical of movie productions of that time (as well as holding off release dates).--75.6.146.226 (talk) 01:43, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Because your insistence on adding it and claims that it is similar to V is nothing but OR. Seriously, will you just stop adding it? Posting it in here after being removed twice explains your bitterness. --Eaglestorm (talk) 02:16, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Bitterness? There's no reason to get personal. I added this to the discussion page because the facts are worth discussing, and these are facts. Why would I not add something that is a fact regardless of some self-appointed guardian of a public wikipedia page? I'm assuming by "OR" you mean "original research". Looking at the policy for No Original research it lists "unpublished facts" as falling into this category, so it seems the real problem then is the fact that these points are not directly published somewhere else on the internet. Typically when I've seen facts that are correct, but under this category, typically someone adds the tag {citiation needed} whereas you are removing them totally. I have several references to sites pointing out that V and Strange Invaders are similar (such as http://www.allmovie.com/work/strange-invaders-47187) but nothing directly concerning each point (can also compare a list of the cast on IMDB). As soon as I find an extrernal site that links these obvious facts that should satisfy Wikipedia's, and by extension your, criteria.--138.9.28.184 (talk) 16:57, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

That the movies have some similarities is not in dispute. However, you are going to great lengths to try to prove that Strange Invaders "influenced" V somehow, and that is the Original research here. Basically, you're implying that Kenneth Johnson stole the ideas from Strange Invaders, and we cannot publish that without real proof! Such accusations would be legally actionable. But without that, the similarties really aren't notable. ALso, The first miniseries, which is what this page is about, didn't contain the character Elizabeth - she was in V:The Final Battle, the second miniseries. - BilCat (talk) 17:43, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

I dispute that "the similarities..aren't notable" whether its a legal issue or not and I do appreciate your willingness to confirm the obvious similarities. The problem then is a matter of semantics: these facts not being in the category of "Influences" would easily solve that problem. Also, thanks for pointing out the error in my timeline.--75.6.146.226 (talk) 18:17, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

While I have seen V:TOS many times, I've never even heard of Strange Invaders. I just took your word for it that there are similarities. As to whtehr it should be included here, that would depend on the quality and reliability of any sources making the comparisons. - BilCat (talk) 04:43, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Without getting too caught up in the debate, I just read the article on the film Strange Invaders and the name of the Alien antagonist was NOT Diana. It was Margaret Newman. The actress that played Margaret Newman was named Diana Scarwid. So this argument doesnt seem to hold water. However, the human/alien hybrid character was named Elizabeth according to the article. But the depiction of the aliens and the story seems vastly different.

V: The Final Battle "decanonised"

We cannot say that everything that came after the original 1983 mini-series is now decanonised purely because Kenneth Johnson didn't like it. Regardless of the fact that he has written a novel entitled V: The Second Generation in 2008 (that ignores V: The Final Battle and V: The Series), those productions have already been made and exist. At the very most, V: The Second Generation can only be seen as an alternative sequel to the original mini-series, not as the sole official sequel and Johnson is deluding himself if he thinks they can be ignored in their entirety.79.66.35.113 (talk) 08:06, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, whoever owns the rights - and I assume Johnson owns/controls something, or he couldn't have written the books - can say what is canon, and what is not. Granted, he can't make fans believe it, just as those who own Stargate SG-1 can't convince fans of the original film that the film in non-canon/non-official, even though, legally, it is just that. Either way, we do need a reliable source to state whether Johnson considers the VTFB and the series to be non-canon, or if he "graciously" alows it to exist as an alternative. We don't have to like it, but legally, it's the rights-owners' decision, and that's what we have to report here. - BillCJ (talk) 08:26, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, I'm not convinced Johnson does own the rights completely, otherwise how would The Final Battle have been made without his approval. Johnson may hold the non-television rights to the characters and situations (such as books and theatrical films, etc) but ownership of total rights is debateable. I think what we have here is a Battlestar Galactica situation, which was originally created by Glen A Larson but owned by Universal. Larson even created a sequel to it (Galactica 1980) but this is widely not considered canon because it does not tie-in to the original 1978 series as it creates continuity problems. However, despite years of campaigning, Universal decided not to allow Larson (or series star Richard Hatch) to make a continuation of the original series and opted for a remake by Ronald D Moore instead because - whether it was good or not - Galactica 1980 exists. Going back to the topic of V, we cannot just ignore that The Final Battle and The Series are no longer canon just because Johnson wants it that way. They were made by the official rights holders at the time (which is Warner Bros). Johnson will likely say that he does not consider TFB and TS to be canon purely because he wasn't involved in them, but that does not make it true. At best, his new novel is an alternative sequel and nothing more. I think the only way to resolve this would be for them to remake the original mini-series (which seems to be what NBC are in favour of doing anyway) and then Johnson's "Second Generation" can be an official canonised sequel to the remake.79.66.35.113 (talk) 09:01, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I wonder how the author feels about Strieber using the term "The Visitors". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.114.129.30 (talk) 11:18, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

chilli powder

The plot synopsis looks correct, however, I distinctly remember that at the very end, they discovered that a secret and fatal weakness of the visitors was a chemical found in chilli powder. They dropped chilli powder from balloons. This represents the most blatant plot contrivance in the history of made for TV movies. I can't believe there is no mention of this. -72.225.47.167 (talk) 11:28, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

You're barking up the wrong tree. Why not check out V The Final Battle instead? --Eaglestorm (talk) 13:00, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Chili Powder???? In the Final Battle it was called "red dust", but I don't recall or find any reference to "chili powder" anywhere. Do you have a source for this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.190.5.126 (talk) 00:52, 6 September 2019 (UTC)

Star Wars

besides a news anchor likening the Visitors' motherships to "Darth Vader's star destroyer", the main theme of Star Wars can also be heard being played by the marching band as the Visitors land at the chemical plant. I wonder if that is relevant enough to be mentioned. royalties would certainly have to have been payed for the tune to be included - Bell'Orso (talk) 02:14, 24 March 2024 (UTC)