MovieChat Forums > V: The Final Battle (1984) Discussion > 'Supreme Commander' Title

'Supreme Commander' Title

posted 19 years ago by khoekstra
6 replies | jump to latest

I just watched "V" and "V: The Final Battle" again over the course of the past two nights and I had an interesting observation.

When "John" first appeared from the mother ship, the Secretary General (or whoever) refers to him as the Visitors' "Supreme Commander." When John addresses the crowd, he says that is inaccurate. Their Leader is the supreme commander and he is, essentially, an "Admiral" in the Leader's fleet.

That should have taken care of that...

But...as the series went on, journalists continued to refer to him as "Supreme Commander" and ultimately, the other aliens started to do it as well. In fact, when "Pamela" shows up with her fleet of ships, she too is referred to by Diana as "Supreme Commander."

It's minor, but I think it's interesting. Maybe the Aliens just decided to use the term since humans seemed to be comfortable with the meaning and its implications? *shrugs*

[–] Mr_DrippyFist 19 years ago

I'm fairly sure this is a goof in the script as John had more stripes on his uniform than Pamela. John had at least 5 (most likely 6) while Pamela had 3 or 4. This would indicate that even though she was referred to as a "Supreme Commander" John still outranked her.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] psifi872 18 years ago

I think John really was a supreme commander and his comments about being just an admiral were his way of joking around and trying to make himself seem likable and humble. He was trying to put humans at ease.

I think the difference between John and Pamela was he was Supreme Commander of the entire fleet, while she was Supreme Commander of a single Squadron. She actually tells Diana at one point that "Your ship is but one in my squadron." So, John's rank is the next step above hers.

[–] dykesy30 17 years ago

I'd say it's similar to the US Military General ranks.

Pamela was probably a Major General or a Lt. General and John was a full General.

[–] iloveyourmind 16 years ago

The best part was when Diana shot that bitch Pamela!

"Consider this an early retirement"

ZAP!

[–] VJanicki34 15 years ago

Loved this part also.
As for Diana referring to Pamela as Supreme Commander, it might have been sarcastically done. Didn't show Pamela respect while poking fun at what us humans called John.