Customer Reviews

Red Dwarf - The Bodysnatcher Collection : BBC Series 1 - 3 Remastered Deluxe Box Set [DVD]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My first port of call for the preceding dvds has always been the extras, primarily when included, the documentaries. The amusing and insightful recollections of cast and crew would inspire me to reflect on my own memories which then enhanced my pleasure when watching the episodes. So the announcement of this extra's led dvd was eagerly received for two main reasons.

1. For the first time Rob Grant was voluntarily appearing in interview rather than as an easter egg animation.
2. At last it included cast and crew recollection documentaries for series 1 & 2 so conspicuously missing from the original releases.

Rob Grant 's contribution has always been conspicuously absent from the documentaries. The reasons seem to be water under the bridge now and I hope that someone has had the foresight to get his recollections for series 3 to 6 for , optimistically, any future Red Dwarf dvds. With Rob Grant and Doug Naylor back on speaking terms and clearly enjoying collaborating on the Bodysnatcher episode for this release , there's a glimmer of hope that Dwarf may return to its natural home the small screen. The two documentaries on this release follow in the same vein as their predecessors. With an eclectic guest list reminiscing on the earliest Dwarf history , it provides a wealth of fascinating, openly honest and amusing information particularly some differing opinions on set design and colour. All true fans know it's a minor miracle that the programme made it to air. If the original recording of the first episode The End , included in this release, had been broadcast without the extensive rewrite and re-shoot, I think its fair to say that there would be considerably less than the 52 episodes that currently exist

The lost Bodysnatcher episode is presented as a series of sepia storyboards read and voiced by Chris Barrie. Though interesting and more amusing towards the end and acknowledging that it would have made a better episode than Waiting for God , audio stories have limited appeal to me especially when sitting and watching them on a TV screen. The lost script excerpts presented in the same way work better than a full episode but this is not a path I'd like to see any future Dwarf follow. I was impressed with the short Mobi excerpt and in the absence of live action Red Dwarf ,CGI animation is perhaps a good route to follow. Personally I'd like to see RD recreated in the same outstanding CGI way that the new Captain Scarlet was made. If you've seen them you'll know exactly what I mean.

Of the other extras I enjoy the rare FX model shots most. Call me strange and many people do without invitation, but there's something calming and ethereal about watching model shots of Red Dwarf drifting silently through space at 2am in the morning. I must make mention of the legendary long lost deleted scene of Robert Llewellyn's first day as Kryten in Bodyswap. I'm so glad he changed the accent.

My perception was that this dvd release would essentially be a collection of extras first and foremost with the re-mastered versions of series 1 to 3 as the bonus discs. I had no enthusiasm for the latter and just saw them as completing a collection. I'd either forgotten or was blissfully unaware that the reason for re-mastering was so that the first 3 series could be sold overseas. When they were first released some 10 years ago on VHS I recollect that I was unconvinced that they had enhanced the programme but instead made it look dark and distant compared to the originals. Consequently I only bothered with a single viewing and just dismissed them. My opinion is now at the opposite end of the scale. The slightly glossy film finish gives a consistent look to the first three series, as does the uniform opening credits. The 'new' CGI images of Red Dwarf linking scenes look superb and give the show a more contemporary feel. The numerous new effects both audio and visual combined with some editing of scenes and dialogue breath new life into these early episodes that was not apparent before. In hindsight the poor picture quality 10 years ago was largely due to the limitations of VHS and television technology at the time. It became apparent when released on dvd that the original visual and special effects are very dated for series 1 - 3 but the comedy has lost none of its integrity. If Red Dwarf was simply a comedy programme the dated appearance wouldn't really matter especially to the sit com element of its fanbase. But as it is also a sci-fi programme and to that element of the fan base its futuristic credentials are compromised from outdated effects. As I said in a previous review for Red Dwarf 8 it is paramount that both elements (comedy and sci-fi) are present in balanced proportion for Red Dwarf to be at its best. As my feet are more in the sci-fi camp I now regard the re-mastered visual and audio changes as being for the better and there's a case for re-mastering again sometime in the future given the advances made in computer generated images. There is a very useful text track which details where the changes are which provides for a greater appreciation of the subtle and more prominent revisions.

There are those who will not be objective and regard the changes then and now as heresy. I'm not one of those people who instantly dismisses anything on the flawed basis that the original is always the best. The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and the aforementioned Captain Scarlet are for me vastly superior to the originals. I generally find those who vociferously diminish revised programmes or films are quite happy to extol the virtues of their latest mobile phone over the previous model from 6 months ago. Not one to swim in the main stream or stay intransigently entrenched in my opinion, I'm prepared to stand up, possibly alone, and say that I now prefer the re-mastered versions to the originals and will watch them in preference but with deference to the originals.

Red Dwarf is 20 years old in February 2008 and this is a fitting tribute to a show that I have watched since first broadcast and will continue to love and watch until my breathing privileges are withdrawn.

To celebrate the Red Dwarf 20 year anniversary they have released this 4 disc box set of the first the series all remastered and a bonus disc of goodies for the fans.

Like George Lucas did to the original Star Wars Trilogy, the old faded episodes have had there original film tossed into a washing machine, and scrubbed down by Kryten to bring there colors back up. Then the film has been fed to Holly who has re-touched it with even better colors, and dropped some frames out to give it that movie feel... oh, and also some FX have been added to things like the windows so it looks more like space then lights shining off of alphabet heads "H".

And then the scutters have been hard at work improving the sound, they have added better scores, enhanced sounds, added sounds, removed some sounds.. and when it's all put nicely together, Cat is happy to sit and watch the first 3 series like they where made in ....1997.

Some fan's may not like the idea of re-doing and re-touching the original episodes, but personally, my only complaint is removing the scene where heroic Ace (who has lot's of girlfriends) falls through the table.

Of coarse, these where re-touched in 1997 to help sell the original 3 series to an international market. Because as they where originally, they looked old and dated, and they know these shows deserve better then the quality of of a Melbourne public access television broadcast. (namely, C31)

So, the 1997 CGI shows when looking at a lot of the CGI, but it does not take away the comedy of Red Dwarf... it looks great to me, i'm happy owning both the original and remastered. So no complaint's with what they have done to the shows trimmed scenes, cut bits or time enhancing methods. However, Holly's episode one re-shoot did not feel as good as the original.

Ummm, I hate the menus... there boring... the rest of series had these nice parts of the ship to navigate around, and this one has a black background with text. Zzzzzzzzz, boring... it's like listening to Rimmer dribble on about his 1930's telegraph pole collection... well, maybe not that bad.

about 2 episodes per disc feature commentary... the commentary is great if you want to know more about "Spitting Image"... just too bad they don't have any of the cast commentating.

Now, why is this DVD called "Body Snatcher?"... well, they have done a new episode, which is actually an old episode that never got shot. Tho, don't get too excited, it's just Alphabetie-Spaghetti-Head reading the script with black and white still drawings over it.

It was going to be the second episode of series 1, but they could never figure out how to end it. Now, 20 years later, they thought of a way and present it in a kind of comic book like way. Then you can listen to the full version of Chris Barrie reading it without pictures.

Personally, with the hype the site made it sound like, I thought it was going to be an awesome cartoon like they did with there mobile shows... but, it's not.

they also do the same thing with some other unused scenes, like the start of series 3 with Lister pregnant, continuing off from where season 2 ended... but this one doe's have no ending. There is also a few others like that too.

then there is a heap of documentaries.. which is more interviews really. Pretty much just for the die hard fan who has to know what color pant's Lister wears and if the Cat is circumcised or not.

Then there is the original-ORIGINAL pilot episode. Episode 1.. gawd, it is sounding like Star wars now... the first episode of Red Dwarf was not actually the first episode... well, it was the first episode, but ya see, they filmed the first episode, then did the next 5, and where given the time to do a 7th episode, which the took the time to re-shoot the first episode to fix some mistakes and add more jokes. So really the first episode you know was the 7th episode filmed! And now you can watch the first take of the original original episode of Red Dwarf... mind you, you'll be glad they did re-shoot it! but it's interesting to see.

There is some hidden eggs of a boring interview and some not so funny out takes.. and err, ohh, subtitles, yup, it's got those (thumbs up)

And errr, there might be a few more things i'm forgetting... oh, the text tracks like subtitles that tell you whats been changed from the original. And ummm.... no, thats about it.

Overall, i'm happy with the purchase, however, a lot of the fan's of the original may not like the episodes being tampered with and presented in a new way... but i say to smeg with them, you can still purchase the original episodes un-touched. And the bonus features I'm smeggingly sure would only appeal to hard core Red Dwarf fans.

If you are new to the series, then the re-masters is the way to go, but I do recommend you buy both so you can see the differences and what the re-masters have actually achieved!

It is clear that a lot of time and effort has been spent on this collection and nobody could say that this box set isn't packed with interesting extras. There are 3 enlightening documentaries, audio commentaries from the original writers, deleted scenes and script excerpts all of which fans will want to see. The Bodysnatcher script itself is also impressive and certainly would have been good enough to record for the first series.

So why does the set only deserve 3 stars in my opinion?

There are two big key reasons. The first is that almost 9 hours of this box set is made up of the remastered series. Now these series aren't, in my opinion, as bad as some people have said but they are very similar to the original series and for anybody who has the other DVDs, owning these is not essential. The audio commentaries on 6 episodes do improve things but the poor text tracks don't.

Also, the price is very high for a 4 disc set. Series VII and VIII both came as 3 disc packages and were available for £15.99 on the day of release. To charge more than double the price for 1 more disc could put off some fans and understandably so.

All in all, this is certainly worth seeing for fans but some may want to wait until the price goes down.

My sons are Red Dwarf fans, and this was a birthday gift for one of them. Great interviews, behind-the-scenes info and documentary bits included - most interesting. North American fans should note - this is a Region 2 format DVD, so may not play on North American (Region 1) DVD players, unless they have multi-region capability. Check the info on Amazon about DVD formats.

A great, great release for all Red Dwarf fans. Yes, essentially it's a load of DVD extras, but WHAT extras! The usual great quality doccos, loads of behind the scenes stuff, Rob Grant and Doug Naylor reunited for Bodysnatcher, the original cut of The End... oh, and eighteen episodes that were mercilessly butchered by "special effects" that struggled with the concept of "special". But whatever you think of the remastered releases (they're rubbish), this is a five-star release for completists like myself who want to know everything Dwarf. And it's bloody funny.

I already own the whole series on DVD in its original single format with extras and stuff aswell as owning the VHS's of the Remastered series.
I pciked this up today and I am happy with my purchase.

. The Re-mastered Epsiodes look great on dvd with superir picture and sound in comparison to the VHS versions.
. It includes the episode by episode documentary features that are missing on series one and two.
. It includes a Documentary on the re-mastering of the series.
. Along with other various less important extras it also includes (this being my favorite extra) about 10 seconds of footage what was shot for the movie, yet this is only 'test' footage but to me this is still new dwarf.

The only thing I feel that this box set is missing is the lack of a 5.1 sound mix, something that even age old episodes of Doctor who get when released on dvd.

I just hope who ever is stopping new red dwarf stories being told will buck their ideas up and get some new dwarf out there!

It's a good concept - "Bodysnatcher" is the name of an abandoned episode from series 1 (completed here with storyboard visuals and Chris Barrie's voiceover, ala "Identity Within" on the series VII DVD), but it also represents the manner in which this boxset is quite self-consciously replacing the original series 1-3 DVD releases.

This set contains new 70-minute original documentaries for both series 1 and 2, where the second series got short-thrift the first time around. Even if you choose to get this set, however, you may wish to supplement it with the original series 3 release, which had its own documentary (not included here) as well as many other extras absent from this release.

Also note that these are the Remastered episodes, not the originals. These versions of the first two series are obviously being considered definitive by the BBC (hence the main documentaries for them appearing here), but people who grew up with the originals in the 80s will definitely miss much that made those so endearing. With the extra material, these are either for collectors or for people who perceive the Remastereds as definitive. For the rest, these will feel "wrong" somehow, and I would nevertheless recommend the original DVD versions, in spite of the inferior bonus material and menus.

I'm rating this 3 stars out of 5, mainly because I don't like the way the BBC held back the two main documentaries for this release. If they'd been included on the earlier sets I wouldn't even be giving this release a look.