Review written by forum member MegaHentai.
Region: A
Discs: 2
Length: 70 minutes
Video: 1080i, 1.78:1
Audio: English DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 (Director’s Cut), English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Episodes)
Subtitles: English
UPC: 883929085057
ISBN: 1419885219
MSRP: $29.99 US
PROS:
- the boys from The Dwarf are back!
- improved acting
- excellent effects
- plentiful bonuses
CONS:
- overused plot device
- inaccessible to newcomers
- several jokes don’t work
MAIN FEATURE
First things first: if you have not seen the first eight seasons of Red Dwarf, go watch them now. You won’t regret it, and it’s the only way this review will be of any use to you, because there’s no other way you’ll understand or appreciate the disc we’re talking about today. Come back once you’ve got the series under your belt.
Right, that just leaves us Dwarfers here.
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth picks up, both in storyline and in real life, nine years after the end of the eighth season. Lister, Kryten, Rimmer and Cat are the sole occupants of the Red Dwarf ship. We learn that Kochanski has died, Kryten is on holiday, and there is a problem with the ship’s water supply. This starts a chain of events which eventually sees the crew leap through a dimensional rift and wind up on Earth in 2009. They quickly discover that in this universe (presumably ours), they are mere characters in a TV show, and there is a good chance they will be dead very soon. To save themselves, they must find their creator and convince him to change his mind.
If you haven’t seen Back to Earth yet, here’s a word of warning: in all likelihood, your first viewing of it will be thoroughly unpleasant. (Indeed, the cast and crew report similar reactions upon first reading the script.) The “fictional characters in the real world” premise has been done many times before, will be done many times more, and is usually about 10-15% as interesting or clever as writers and directors think it is. In this case, the humour value of it wears out after about a minute. Writer/director Doug Naylor explains his reasons for going this route in one of the bonus features, and you’ll probably be willing to forgive the whole thing once you get to the end and see where it’s all headed, but that doesn’t change the fact that the material itself is extremely weak, especially by Red Dwarf standards.
Two things save this part of the show: a decent Blade Runner parody, and some truly excellent acting from the main cast. All four have improved their craft greatly in the past nine years, with Craig Charles having gained the most ground, presumably due to his new role on Coronation Street. Chris Barrie is still the best of the bunch, though; his one-man-symphony bit early in the series is hysterical.
A/V
The picture and sound are crystal clear on these discs. During the various bonus features, much is made of the use of Red One cameras during shooting, and they certainly seem to have done their job admirably. I’m not sure why 1080i was deemed sufficient for the video on a Blu-Ray, nor why only those scenes added for the Director’s Cut use DTS HD 5.1 audio, but these are minor quibbles that should be unnoticeable during viewing.
BONUS FEATURES
The bonus features take up the entire second disc of the set. The two-part making-of doc is fully worthwhile, and the “Smeg Ups” blooper reel is a lot of fun. The funniest feature is probably Chris Barrie’s commercial for the new Carbug. Other features include a pair of commentary tracks, deleted scenes, trailers, and an Easter Egg. (On the “Behind the Scenes Web Videos” menu on Disc 2, highlight “Cat Always Lands on his Feet” and press Right on your remote.)
OVERALL
Back to Earth is a must for any Red Dwarf fan, but it’s not something you’ll likely enjoy the first time around. In the bonus features, the cast and director make thinly-veiled pleas for another season of the series. If that does come to pass, we can only hope that more time will be spent massaging the script into something that is both clever and funny, rather than only one or the other at any given moment.
Review written by forum member MegaHentai.
You can buy this disc from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk