My name is Ross and im 26, I like travelling, reading, music (mainly metal),going to gigs, photograp...
My name is Ross and im 26, I like travelling, reading, music (mainly metal),going to gigs, photography, painting, hiking, and cinema.
Cheers to everyone who has read my reviews! Comments are always welcome.
Member since:12.06.2009
Reviews:179
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After the abominable car-crash that was Red Dwarf series 7,which removed the laughter track and made the transition from endearing sci fi sitcom to cringeworthy and unfunny sci fi comedic melodrama, the show hinted that it might be back on track once more with series 8, which, though still greatly inferior to series 1-6, reintroduced the laughter track and largely returned to the original sitcom formula, making the show at least watchable once more. 'Red Dwarf- Back to Earth' mercilessly crushes these hopes however, acting as the long-running series' swansong and a crushingly disappointing one at that.
The premise is an unoriginal one- the crew discover that they are in fact just characters on a tv show, and end up returning back to Earth in order to kill their creator before he can kill their characters off once and for all. The show pays homage to Blade Runner here, complete with a scene in which the crew get blasted through numerous planes of glass, but it all feels very tired, giving the impression that the plotline was adapted more for a lack of any more imaginative ideas than for any other reason.
The laughter track is gone once more, as are almost all of the jokes, and the show is back in the awkward melodrama territory of series 7 again. The only good think I can think to say about it is that Kochanski doesn't feature in it due to her being dead, which is a definite bonus as her character added nothing whatsoever to the show. A female hologram played by the actress who plays Big Suze in Peep Show pops out throughout the programme, but though the actress' performance is decent her character is largely pointless, dying halfway through without contributing anything of any importance to the proceedings. Craig Charles (aka Dave Lister) has a role on Coronation Street, these days, and in another 'homage' the Red Dwarf crew end up paying a visit to the Street in a little car mocked up to look like Starbug, before having a natter with the soap's Steve Macdonald in the Rovers Return. Its all utterly derivative and cringeworthy, and the special as a whole feels like nothng but a last ditch attempt to wring a last little bit of money from the Red Dwarf franchise now that the Red Dwarf Movie has been eternally consigned to development Hell.
The DVD comes with numerous added features, including deleted scenes, director and cast commentary, blooper reels and a making of documentary, but no amount of polishing is going to change it from being anything other than a turkey at the end of the day.Cynical, pointless and irredeemably worthless, 'Red Dwarf Back to Earth' is a final insult to fans of the show and should be avoided at all costs. DVD features-
All-New Exclusive Documentary
The Making of Back to Earth
Bonus Features
Cast Commentary
Director Commentary
Smeg Ups
Featurettes
Deleted Scenes
Trailers
Web Videos
Photo Gallery
Easter Egg
includes both Director's Cut version of Back to Earth and the original televised version.
Summary: Avoid at all costs
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Science Fiction - Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga - Original Language: Japanese - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Fujiko Takimoto
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