V, the original miniseries, closes with humans realizing seemingly kindly invaders mean them harm and forming a resistance movement. It is a meditation on how different types of people respond to authoritaritarian manipulation and rule. V: The Final Battle has more of the action and adventure one expects from a science fiction movie.

Mike Donovan (Marc Singer) and Julie Parrish (Faye Grant) are back as the leaders of a guerilla group. They are joined by a new member who will be pivotal to the plot. Ham Tyler (Michael Ironside) is one of those CIA-related 'terrorism experts' who has sowed havoc in the Third World to protect so-called American interests. His hatred of the visitors is elemental, encompassing both friend and foe. However, the resistance needs him for his knowledge of military strategy and development of weaponry that works better than the norm against the well-armored reptiles.

The tide turns with the improvements in munitions, spread of the resistance and destruction of visitor water removal stations. Though Diana (Jane Badler) is as cold-blooded as ever and her brainwashing technique is one of the best weapons in the visitors' arsenal, her megalomania results in personality clashes with her superiors. Meanwhile, the fifth column of aliens who oppose the invasion and secretly work with the human guerillas increases its numbers and causes the enemy additional personnel problems. Ultimately, Diana is replaced as de facto commander — a decision that leads to her meltdown at the end of the movie.

An awkwardly rendered subplot is the relationship between the human resistance and its visitor allies. The core of the conflict is that the allies are just as alien as the enemy. However, their difference is barely acknowledged. For example, a favorite alien is never shown eating, but enemy aliens devour living mice, rats and birds. The aliens continue wearing their human body suits even after their true anatomy is known. Nor is there any suggestion of how reptilian allies who remain on Earth will be integrated into societies that have learned to hate their kind.

The relationship between the human collaborators and the enemy is handled much more realistically. The quislings basically contract with the aliens. They will aid and abet them in their conquest of Earth. In return, they will get money, prestige and power over other humans. The deal is a sweet one until the collaborators attempt to breach it or are no longer useful to their masters.

I am not sure there is a qualitative difference between the two Vs, though writer Kenneth Johnson quit during the filming of the sequel. What struck me was the repetitiousness and seemingly interminal length of part two. I kept thinking the movie was about to end, but each time, after the credits had rolled, there was another sequence. If the material had been integral to the plot that would not have been a problem. However, it was often just more battle footage that did not move the story forward or further develop the characters.

As expected, the good guys — the resistance and their alien allies — prevail at the end of V: The Final Battle. Nuclear war is narrowly averted and Earth is made untenable for the aliens unless they are aided by humans with an antidote. People have proven once more that they will recognize and throw off the yoke of authoritarianism eventually.

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