dreamwatch DVD “Review”

First of all, sorry for the lack of updates recently; a combination of there being no news, and us being busy/ILL. We’ve got a few things planned for next week, mind you…

But to keep you going, why not read the following review of the IV DVD, as published in dreamwatch #114:

Red Dwarf: Series Four
• BBC Worldwide • Region 2 two-disc DVD, £19.99
• Out: 16 February, 2004 • Web: www.reddwarf.co.uk

The surviving crew of the Jupiter Mining ship Red Dwarf (which amounts to one holographic coward, one anal mechanoid, one senile ship’s computer, one egocentric life-form that evolved from a cat and the last human being in existence) are still trying to find their way home to Earth…

Series four of this fantastic sit-com doesn’t rank as one of its best, with the humour often falling a little flat and the effects hampered, as usual, by a paltry budget.

Although there’s no classic episode in this fourth outing for the Dwarfers – Justice is perhaps the best of a weak bunch – the season still has its moments, including the fantastic Mutton Vindaloo Monster, the return of the Talkie Toaster, and the first appearance of Ace Rimmer, Arnold Rimmer’s eloquent doppelganger from an alternate dimension.

This double-disc DVD comes with some first-class extras, though. In addition to the six episodes – Camille, DNA, Justice, White Hole, Dimension Jump and Meltdown – disc one comes with cast and crew commentaries. Disc two, meanwhile, is made up of some typically inventive documentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and outtakes (or ‘Smeg Ups’ as they’re known). Highlights this time round include a special focus on Ace entitled A Legend in Lame and a riotous version of Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook with Ainsley Harriot, featuring the boys cooking a curry.
Toby Weidmann

Dreamwatch Verdict 8
Another great release for one of the BBC’s brightest lights. Red Dwarf is up there with the very best sitcoms of all time and, more than 10 years on, is still capable of inducing major belly laughs.

Ahem. First off, this continues the myth that IV just not very good; again, if anyone can point out exactly why IV is markedly poorer than III or V, I’d love to know. You might all have an unfavourite bit of IV – but tell me, where exactly does huge swathes of the series fall flat in the humour department? Secondly, the comment about the quality of the effects is ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS. I can think of one bad effects shot in IV – an (admittedly quite offensive) wide shot of the escort boots in Justice – a bad bluescreen jobbie that quite LITERALLY RESEMBLES a jobbie. But that’s it – and frankly, even if someone pointed out two or three others, that doesn’t mean anything against the vast quanTITTIES of gorgeous effects in the series; the highlight for me being the wonderful crash into the ocean in Dimension Jump. I’m sorry, I know that I should respect other people’s right to have a different opinion to me, but it just comes across as lazy, without actually looking at the facts.

Lastly, having spent a good amount of time criticising the show, the release is given 8/10! Is this just because of the extras? In which case, why don’t dreamwatch do the sensible thing like some other magazines, and award seperate marks for the main release and the extras? Also: “disc one comes with cast and crew commentaries”? Yes, I remember the time Craig Charles DID THE FUCKING VISION MIXING, honest. Very poor. 2/10.

Oh, and when talking about Dwarf, it’s ‘hologrammatic’, not ‘holographic’.

Ian’ll be around to do his Newsround later today, I expect, but if you can’t wait until then, TOS usually updates around lunchtime.