Rating: 
Summary: Red Dwarf kicks arse
Review: if you've never seen red dwarf before, you are seriously missing out. if you have, then you know that the only time red dwarf is ever broadcasted is at some ungodly hour on PBS, or on the occasional and very much appreciated marathon. Buy the dvd, and then you can watch them when you want to! hurrah for DVD!
Rating:
Summary: The Start of Something Great
Review: In Britain a TV show like Red Dwarf gets only six episodes a season, compared to the 20-plus common in the US. The good news is that, with all their efforts bent toward a mere six eps, they can make those the best six episodes possible.Red Dwarf is the name of a mining spaceship. The first episode in the series - called, paradoxically and charmingly, "The End" - introduces us to Dave Lister (Craig Charles), uber-slacker and lowest ranking person on Red Dwarf, and Arnold J. Rimmer (Chris Barrie), stupid, rude, officious control freak and second lowest ranking person on Red Dwarf. (Obviously AJR is destined to become the series' most popular character.) Since Lister is the only person he outranks, AJR of course dedicates most of his waking hours to making Lister's life hell. This would work if Lister gave a damn about anything Rimmer might say or do. Instead he regards Rimmer with the total contempt usually reserved for a high school stoner contemplating a junior ROTC cadet who takes himself WAY too seriously. A horrible accident kills the entire crew except Lister, who emerges from suspended animation millions of years in the future to find himself a long, long, long, LONG way from Earth, his only companions the computer personality Holly - I have to point out the obvious play on 2001's HAL (played as slightly dense by the wonderfully deadpan Norman Lovett); a humanoid cat (Danny John-Jules) whose main occupations are eating, sleeping and admiring himself; and his old pal Rimmer, generated by the ship's computers as an intangible but visible hologram, surviving to badger Lister millions of years after AJR's own death. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. In this first season, the lack of a serious budget shows. The sets are drab in a Blake 7 kind of way. In one scene, showing much of the crew of Red Dwarf at a banquet, jackets are thrown over seat backs both to add a bit of color and hide the fact these are all modern, cheap cafeteria chairs. Almost all the budget went into building the sets; the Red Dwarf mock-up; and robotic "scutters," cute as hell, small janitorial robots (which never worked well, an ongoing source of irritation for everyone making Red Dwarf). Every episode takes place on the ship, simply because there was no money for location shooting. Series creators and writers Doug Naylor and Rob Grant had very little power to control the show during this first year. Otherwise they would've done things differently regards set decoration, direction and character development. For all that, even in these early episodes Red Dwarf has SOMETHING. The "something," of course, being the relationship between Lister and Rimmer, the Odd Couple of outer space. Over the years this relationship would be expanded upon, and modified somewhat, but its rock solid appeal was there from the very start. I'd been told for years before watching this DVD that Red Dwarf was a "very confusing series, hard to get into, but stick with it, it's worth it." For years after its introduction, because every Power That Was considered the first season so inferior to what came later, the episodes on this DVD were never rebroadcast, either in Britain or the US. I can see where this would be a confusing series to jump into in the middle, not knowing the backstory, why Lister is stranded on Red Dwarf, that Rimmer is a hologram, etc. Since my first exposure to Red Dwarf, by contrast, was watching Series 1 on DVD, to me it made perfect sense. This two-disk DVD set was obviously a labor of love for the people putting it together. It's been given top drawer treatment all the way around. The quality of video transfer is excellent, the colors (such as there are) crisp, the audio clear. The second disk is chockful of amusing "extras." The only negative, to my mind, is that the enclosed Red Dwarf booklet, while very well-done, reveals secrets from later seasons. While I'm sure this is all old news to longtime series fans, as a new fan whose first exposure to Red Dwarf was this DVD, I found it a bit irritating. Buy this DVD, it's the perfect introduction to one of the most imaginative, funniest television shows ever. If you have any liking for science fiction, or any sense of humor at all, you will love it.
Rating:
Summary: I cant beleive thaI had been missing Red Dwarf for 14 years
Review: It is a pity that this series have never been broadcasted in my country. On a visit to Nederlands this summer, when I first heard a dialog between Lister and Kryten, my eyes were trapped to the TV screen, I was captured by a very funny dialog about a crucial subject : Is there such a place called Silicon Heaven ? What becomes of an Android's soul after its death ? Wooww !... A different kind of "Blade Runner", I thought. That was my first impression. Then, I didnot even know it was "Red Dwarf" which had been a cult series for at least 14 years with lots of fans. After watching several episodes, it became my favorite sitcom series ever. Sometimes masterpieces come in cheap, simple, weird Sci-Fi sitcom packages.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously tasteless!
Review: Most of us grew up on Sci-Fi films and televison of the Star Trek/Star Wars, tradition, with starships full of pure hearts and high ideals in the pursuit of galactic knowledge. Of course, I've always thought that if you filled a starship with the people I've gone to school and worked you'd get something quite different. Remember that kid who was always crashing his bike, setting the chem lab on fire, or dropping delicate devices...? What if he was, say, in charge of safety on an intergalectic starship? He'd get everyone killed. Which is exactly how Red Dwarf begins. An overrreaching and extremely annoying cliber by the name of Rimmer (one of a great many absolutely tasteless references) has managed to kill off the entire population of a ship except for one man left in suspended animation. A few millions years later when the radiation had died down, he's taken out of suspension by a computer who has gone quite mad in the interim, and finds that his only companions are a holographic projection of the most annoying man on the ship- yes, the one who's killed everyone off- and the last descendant of his cat. Season one sets up the basic premise, introduces the characters, and explores the ship. Along the way much beer and curry is eaten and sprayed about as thousands of crude insults are tossed about and our hero tries to figure out how to keep from going mad himself. And it just keeps getting better from there.
Rating:
Summary: DAVE LISTER - THE LAST HUMAN
Review: Red Dwarf is a classic BBC Sci-Fi series with a cult following all over the world. Originally produced an a miniscule budget and a fairly unknown cast, it grew to become one of the BBC's most popular shows and now was a movie in pre-production for a 2004 release. The DVD contains 2 disks with the following episodes from the first series: "The End". We are introduced to David Lister and his superior Arnold Rimmer, two junior technicians on the mining space ship "Red Dwarf". They work together, the live in a cabin together... and they HATE each other. After visiting Titan, Lister smuggles a cat onboard but is caught and sentenced by Captain Holister to spend the rest of the tour in a stasis pod. When Lister emerges he discovers to his horror that 3 million years have passed. While in stasis, a drive plate ruptured and the radiation leak killed the entire crew. Holly, the ship's computer, piloted the ship into deep space and didn't release Lister until the background radiation level became safe. In an unusual attempt to preserve Lister's sanity as the last human alive, Holly resurrects Rimmer as a hologram to keep him company. As the two of them argue with each other they are surprised to encounter a humanoid life form that evolved from Lister's pregnant cat which had survived the radiation by sheltering in the ship's cargo hold... In this episode we're introduced to the two main characters and their hate-hate relationship is defined. This is also the only chance until the last series that we get to see the fully populated Red Dwarf with the exception of a few "flash-back" sequences in later episodes. "Future Echos". Over the last 3 million years, Red Dwarf has been constantly accelerating and suddenly breaks the light barrier! Lister, Rimmer and the Cat begin see images of themselves in the future projected throughout this ship. Finally, Lister and Rimmer see an image of Lister aged 171 who has an urgent message for him... An interesting script where the crew end up interacting with future versions of themselves. Of particular note is the sequence where Lister is totally confused by the behaviour or Rimmer only to discover he had been talking to a future version that couldn't see him. "Balance of Power". Lister is lonely and asks Rimmer if he can temporarily replace his hologram with Kochanski (a female member of the crew he had lusted over). Rimmer refuses, as he doesn't believe that Lister will switch him back on after his "date". Lister then forms a plan to complete the Chef's exam so he can outrank Rimmer and order him to hand over her disc. Fearing that Lister just might manage to pass, Rimmer has to find ways to distract his subordinate... The mistrust and dislike for each other held by the two main characters is greatly expanded on in this episode. At this point, Kochanski is supposed to be someone Lister fancies, but could never sum up the courage to ask out on a date. Later on in the series, the writers decide to throw continuity out of the window and re-write them as lovers who broke up. "Waiting for God". Lister decides learn to read (smell) the books of the Cat-People and discovers that they died fighting over a religion based on the belief of "Cloister the Stupid" who saved their virgin Holy Mother by allowing himself to be frozen in time. Lister realises that he is their "god", however, the Cat is not impressed and wants a second opinion. Deep in the cargo decks, Lister discovers a dieing Cat-Priest who has lost his faith... A humours satire of religion in general and our only glimpse of another Cat-Person throughout the whole story arc. It's also the only decent story the Cat gets in the first series. "Confidence and Paranoia". Lister catches a 3 million year old mutated flu virus and becomes ill. Unfortunately, this new virus causes his fevered dreams to become solid resulting in it raining fish in the cabin, the Mayor of Warsaw combusting and two strange humans appearing on the flight deck. Rimmer recognises them as symptoms of Lister's disease, but Lister falls for the charm of "Confidence" and refuses to get rid of them. When "Confidence" murders "Paranoia" and then tries to convince Lister to remove his helmet in space, Lister realises he's trapped with a madman... This episode is a fan-favourite, mainly due to the excellent gags and the over-the-top performance of Lister's "Confidence". Lister also gets to demonstrate his prowess with a guitar as he gives us a sterling performance of the "Indling Song". "Me2". Lister thought he'd found Kochanski's data disc, but is horrified to find that it's a copy of Rimmer's and now there are two of them running around and putting him down. Eventually, the two Rimmers turn on each other and Lister decides to turn one off - for good... Red Dwarf might be made on a small budget, but the split screen effects of having two Rimmers running around at the same time was perfect. We aslo get to look deeply into Rimmer's troubled past and discover just how he became so petty and annoying... Extra features on the discs include cast comentries,writer & director commentries, deleted scenes, out-takes, trailers, documentry, music scores, photographs and more. Note: The US Region 1 version is missing the "Drunk" featurette from the Region 2 and 4 versions. This was due to the music used in the featurette not being cleared for distribution in the USA in time for release.
Rating: 
Summary: If you dont like Red Dwarf, you're a smeg-head
Review: Red Dwarf is a great comedy series that is a toss up between a sci fi comedy, or a comedy sci fi. For me, it's a comedy set in space, sci fi sounds to geeky to describe this hillarious and long running series.
Season 1 has all 8 episodes, with subtitles and audio commentary on the first episode. And on disc 2 there is an interveiw about how the show came about, out-takes/bloopers, deleted scenes, trailer, an episode in Japanese with the added updated computer FX edited in like George Lucas murdering the old Star Wars movies, and a bunch more.
I can garentee that even after here in season one that shows how everything has come about, it gets better with every new season, and keeps getting funnier.
Rating:
Summary: I cant beleive thaI had been missing Red Dwarf for 14 years
Review: RED DWARF is a series that came out during a time when there was a major strike in Brittain. The show had a lot going against it and a comedy in a sci-fi based series was something that BBC wasn't quite supportive until they realized how much of a hit they had in their hands. With the many wonderful reviews already on Amazon, I'll more or less discuss if the casual viewer of sci-fi or non-BBC watcher would enjoy RED DWARF. First and foremost, although this is sci-fi and came out during the same time Star Trek: The Next Generation was out in America, please do not think this is a serious show. As a matter of fact, keep your mind open and do not compare this series to any sci-fi show. Also, I want to say that I give this DVD a perfect rating because they went all out and put many things on this series 1 DVD from outtakes, featurette, the Japanese version of the series which shows the edited special effects of the show and more. As for the series itself, things get better as the series progresses, season 1 is more or less funny actors working on a miniscule budget and the things you learn from the included booklet and the featurette, you get a feel of what it took to make this show a hit despite the budget and the crisis they went through during the electrician's strike. Now for my friends in America who ask me to compare it with another series or movie in terms of what kind of humor. This series is quite hard but it does have the zaniness and dissing like "The Young Ones" but the comedy in itself is that the last human alive happens to be the dimwit crewmember they put on stasis along with his deceased partner who is a hologram, the computer and the cat evolved to a human who looks like he is a big fan of James Brown. It's something you can't compare to anything and it's quite unique. The first series pretty much focuses on Lister as he must cope of being the last human and getting along with whatever he can with the ship. But this being a unique show, if one has an open mind, I truly recommend giving it a shot.
Rating:
Summary: The cult Sci-Fi hit BBC show is now on DVD
Review: RED DWARF is a series that came out during a time when there was a major strike in Brittain. The show had a lot going against it and a comedy in a sci-fi based series was something that BBC wasn't quite supportive until they realized how much of a hit they had in their hands. With the many wonderful reviews already on Amazon, I'll more or less discuss if the casual viewer of sci-fi or non-BBC watcher would enjoy RED DWARF. First and foremost, although this is sci-fi and came out during the same time Star Trek: The Next Generation was out in America, please do not think this is a serious show. As a matter of fact, keep your mind open and do not compare this series to any sci-fi show. Also, I want to say that I give this DVD a perfect rating because they went all out and put many things on this series 1 DVD from outtakes, featurette, the Japanese version of the series which shows the edited special effects of the show and more. As for the series itself, things get better as the series progresses, season 1 is more or less funny actors working on a miniscule budget and the things you learn from the included booklet and the featurette, you get a feel of what it took to make this show a hit despite the budget and the crisis they went through during the electrician's strike. Now for my friends in America who ask me to compare it with another series or movie in terms of what kind of humor. This series is quite hard but it does have the zaniness and dissing like "The Young Ones" but the comedy in itself is that the last human alive happens to be the dimwit crewmember they put on stasis along with his deceased partner who is a hologram, the computer and the cat evolved to a human who looks like he is a big fan of James Brown. It's something you can't compare to anything and it's quite unique. The first series pretty much focuses on Lister as he must cope of being the last human and getting along with whatever he can with the ship. But this being a unique show, if one has an open mind, I truly recommend giving it a shot.
Rating:
Summary: The Very Start Of It All
Review: Red Dwarf is one of those ever changing series. You can't judge the complete series on the first two seasons. The first season is a fairly basic sitcom. Most of the budget was spent on the main ship, Red Dwarf so they couldn't even afford to take the crew off the ship. There were also some problems in getting the sets to look the way the creators wanted it. The set has too much grey in it. If you look at the exteriors of the ship, there is a tea bag hanging on the bottom of the ship. Due to a method of punishment used on the ship (suspended animation without pay), Dave Lister ends up being the last human alive. The computer, Holly, is supposedly intelligent and provides some conversation for Lister. The ship's computer also maintains a hologram of one of the crew - Rimmer. Rimmer is a total smeghead. Also, Lister's pet cat, Frankenstein had kittens, and the cats eventually evolve into humanoid creatures while still having some basic cat traits. If you don't like this first season, give season 3 a shot. Only the first two seasons are fairly simple. The changes made in third season stay in place for the rest of the series, but the stories continue to develope and change. So far, this series has the best commentary I have ever heard - if you stick with the actors. They actually joke around and comment on the scenes. The bonus commentary with the show's writers and director during the first episode is kinda dull, and, if you watch the other extras, you don't learn much new information. The bonus commentary is only available from the episode selection menu, not the main one. The commentaries are also very unprofessional. During the writers and director's discussion, you can hear what sounds like a new mail sound from a PC. And during the actors commentary on Confidence and Paranoia, a cell phone rings. It's at the very end of the episode. The DVD has several extras on a second disc - deleted scenes, smeg-ups (bloopers), isolated music, photos. This is an ideal DVD set for true fans. Trivia:
Danny John-Jules (The Cat) also appears in Blade II and has appeared on stage in Starlight Express. Chris Barrie (Rimmer) can be seen in Black Adder III "Nob and Nobility" where he plays the part of a French revolutionary.
Rating:
Summary: I Don't Care If It's Old, It's Still Amazing!
Review: Red Dwarf is undoubtedly the best sitcom ever, it's smart, funny and done with a razor-sharp wit rarely seen elsewhere. Ignore anyone who says otherwise, there is no point in missing a T.V treat like this one simply because of some bad reviews.
The series really works thanks to the classic setup; there are only two people left in the universe and they're trapped together on the space vessel Red Dwarf. The only problem is that they HATE each other.
Everything in this show is amazing and worth every cent, even season one, which is done on a miniscule budget (and it shows). Although later seasons have more special effects (and the carachter of Kryten, the funniest T.V android ever), this season is just as funny as the others and really sets up the Lister/Rimmer relationship (the Cat doesn't feature much this season).
I recommmend this to anyone with a taste for comedy, sci-fi or both. This is the best series ever to emerge from British television and, for its price, is certainly worth the money, especially when you can watch the episoides time after time without it losing its edge.
Forget any bad reviews, buy this. If you don't, you're going to be missing out on something amazing.
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