Red Dwarf - Back to Earth [Blu-ray] [Region Free]

The real triumph of "Red Dwarf: Back To Earth": They're BACK !!!!Despite the 10-year hiatus since Series 8, Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) have lost none of their old comic chemistry. Congrats to all for returning in such fine comedic - and physical - form.Individually and collectively the primary cast have grown even more skilled since we saw them last ... which they definitely needed here, because (as others have noted before me at some length) the BTE script gave them *little* to work with.I shall spare you my own protracted diatribe about the weak BTE script. Suffice it to say, my biggest frustration is how easily this script could have been better, both stronger and funnier. The audience kept being offered seeds of potential genius ... but such 'seeds' were never paid off by this script. Just one example from many: new character Katerina Bartikovsky - brilliantly brought to life by the refreshing and very talented Sophie Winkleman - was so delicious in all ways she presented a fantastic opportunity for wild, fun, and original new things, but she was given no character arc and sadly little to do.The production values were refreshingly excellent despite next-to-no budget, kudos to D.P. Andy Martin and a worldwide VFX team led by Mike Seymour. It is a pity, however, that more attention was not paid to the story's substance, than its visual style.So why, you may ask, am I still giving BTE a rating of 5 stars?Reason #1 - Even with BTE's weak script, "Red Dwarf" is still funnier than anything else out there.There are some bits in BTE which are absolutely "classic `Dwarf' ". Rimmer's unique solution to Katerina Bartikovsky, for instance, was so laugh-out-loud funny that our group of 40 Dwarf-ers new and old threatened to shake apart the building. Or Cat, in the diving bell scene while all hell is breaking loose behind him. Great, great stuff! I, personally, laughed right out loud more than I had since ... well ... the last time I'd watched "Red Dwarf"!Reason #2 - The Cast. This cast play off each other with such natural genius, just stand back and let `em rip!The endlessly versatile Chris Barrie proves yet again that he's the funniest thing on two feet, deftly able to make something out of nothing (which he had to do a lot, in BTE). Craig Charles has improved dramatic range, over years past. Danny John-Jules impressed me with new layers of comic timing and subtlety. Robert Llewellyn remains `Mr Nice Guy' personified. Newcomer to the show Sophie Winkleman fit in so perfectly and brought so much to her role it was a real pleasure to watch her work and left the audience eager for more, and Jeremy Swift delighted with a small but 'cherce' bit as a mad shop clerk.Reason #3 - If all else fails, and BTE's story shortcomings still get you down, watch it with the DVD Cast Commentary.Chris, Craig, Danny, and Robert know each other so well, and play off each other so perfectly, that they are frequently even more funny `unscripted' on the Commentary track than they are with dialogue written for the characters they play. (I freely confess that watching with the Cast Commentary track "on" is the *only* way - once beyond "Tikka To Ride" and the great "Stoke Me A Clipper", which gets my vote for Best Episode Ever - that I can get through Series 7 without falling asleep.)Reason #4 - This DVD's extras/bonus features are especially varied, of general and specific interest, and well-done. As we have come to expect from "Red Dwarf" releases, thanks to - Andrew Ellard, is it? - who assembles these consistently superior DVDs. This DVD is surprisingly affordable and a great entertainment and educational value for its price. Here are some BTE extras I particularly recommend:Cast Commentary (Disc One): Episodes One, Two, and Three, exactly as broadcast, with the cast's own amusing commentary on what they did and what we seeDirector's Commentary (Disc One): "Director's Cut" omits intervening credits & titles, with a more technically-oriented commentary"The Making of ..." Documentary: Part One is a short 24-minute version broadcast on Dave, of which a favourite highlight is Robert Llewellyn's description of how to cram four fully grown adult males into a Smart-For-Two car (otherwise known as Carbug) - even the two big guys in the `back'! Part Two is 48 minutes, also good stuff, but on a different variety of topics.Deleted Scenes, available with/without Director's Commentary. (Includes a nice scene, sadly cut for time, between Rimmer and Katerina wherein we finally get an explanation "why huge meteorites lying around Cargo Bays J, L, and K" throughout all these years ;-)Featurettes on various subjects. (The "Carbug" segment among the "Behind the Scenes Web Videos" is a definite Must See!)Smeg Ups (Outtakes) - this contains my personal favourite moment on the whole DVD set. All 4 of the `Boys From The Dwarf' are supposed to be running straight toward camera, the shot is blown on the first stride out when Kryten's leg falls off, Robert limps off to the side. But pause at about 09:55, the look of sheer shared joy and laughter between Danny, Chris, and Craig - by all accounts three of the most differing personalities imaginable - it's a captured magic moment that reaffirms one's basic hope for humanity.Now, perhaps more than ever, the world needs hope and laughter. We need MORE DWARF!

After a decade hiatus - and a failed movie project - in which it appeared that the perplexing, depressing cliffhanger at the end of series 8 marked the last ever outing for the Dwarfers, finally the show returned to TV in 2009. Although Back to Earth was broadcast as a mini-series on digital channel Dave (the BBC were not interested in a series 9 as they had moved on to other projects), it is much better to view it as the director's cut - the whole episode - on the Blu-ray set. Although it was fun to have three episodes to watch on consecutive nights back in Easter 2009, separately they are quite disjointed and the whole is greater than its individual parts and more cohesive.Although it was a small budget, the show does stretch it as far as it can go and the first 21st century High Definition episode looks sparkling and clear. The sets may not be of the same calibre as the Mel Bibby ones as they look slightly too much like a more serious sci-fi show, but the basic design did inspire the superior ones in the rest of the Dave era.In terms of the story, it is a pastiche of Red Dwarf’s joint-greatest episode Back To Reality (series 6’s Gunmen of the Apocalypse is the other joint-best) and sci-fi film Bladerunner, though perhaps it leans too heavily at times on the latter. It is an expansion of the greater emphasis on drama that series 7 had - similarly it was filmed without a studio audience too - so perhaps that explains why the humour particularly in the earlier bunkroom scenes is a bit lacklustre compared to the BBC series. Still the comedy gradually improves as Back to Earth continues and the scene in which Chloe Annett's Kochanski returns is one of the most affecting and effectively dramatic in Red Dwarf's history. The female squid that produces happiness pay-off is quite satisfying and a fairly decent tribute to the show's past heyday.Back to Earth is the least strong Red Dwarf (mini)-series, but it is still quite good with its experimental plot which Doug Naylor had the basic unused concept of as far back as during the writing of the earlier BBC series in that the Dwarfers were all actors in a TV show (the Coronation Street crossover scenes are surreal but quite fun too). It may not be as comical as during its glory days and feels a bit like Naylor relearning how to write Red Dwarf after such a long time away, but there is some successful comedy and an emotive quality to the drama. After a lengthy absence of ten years, it appeared the show was over so although Back to Earth is not perfect it was unprecedented and phenomenal that its high ratings led to an impressive full revival that included three full series - one very good, two excellent - and a very strong extended special that felt like a TV movie.