Product Details

• Actors: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Norman Lovett, John Abineri
• Directors: Ed Bye
• Writers: Doug Naylor, Rob Grant
• Producers: Ed Bye, Ann Zahl, Paul Jackson
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Warner
• DVD Release Date: February 25, 2003
• Run Time: 176 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00007AP32
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,189 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Red Dwarf: Series 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 2 in The Red Dwarf Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The second series of Red Dwarf was, as Danny John-Jules says in the accompanying DVD commentary, "the one where it really went good." First broadcast in the autumn of 1988, these six episodes showcase Rob Grant and Doug Naylor's sardonic, sarcastic humor to perfection. The cast had gelled and the occasionally erratic tone of the first series--which was made a little too much in the shadow of Dark Star and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--is replaced by a confident assurance that the show's mix of sci-fi in-jokes and gags about bodily functions really does work. There's more color this year, too, as the drab sets are spiced up, a little more money has been assigned to models and special effects, and the crew even goes on location once in a while.

"Kryten" introduces us to the eponymous house robot (here played by David Ross), although after this first episode he was not to reappear until series 3, when Robert Llewellyn made the role his own. Then in "Better Than Life" the show produced one of its all-time classic episodes, as the boys from the Dwarf take part in a virtual reality game that's ruined by Rimmer's tortured psyche. Other highlights include "Queeg," in which Holly is replaced by a domineering computer personality; the baffling time-travel paradox of "Stasis Leak"; the puzzling conundrum of "Thanks for the Memory"; and the astonishingly feminine "Parallel Universe." --Mark Walker

Product Description
Boldly going where no one in their right mind would ever go, this popular cult sci-fi spoof takes you on a joyride three million years into the future. Those ubiquitous anti-heroes of space travel - Lister, Rimmer, Cat and Kryten - are coming to DVD for the first time ever!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Dwarf's influence on scifi should not be underestimated, February 14, 2005

By	Michael J. Tresca "Talien" (Stamford, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After watching the first season of Red Dwarf, I wasn't expecting very much from the second season. I figured it'd be more of the same...cheap sets, the slob and the neat freak, and some crazy cross between James Brown and a feline bouncing around on screen.

I was right...it's all that and more. But I was wrong to think it would be boring. The show actually takes the time to explore the characters and really get into their heads. In season 2, the show hits its stride.

David Lister (Craig Charles) is still Lister, but he's more subdued. Someone finally realized that watching a slob be a slob is funny in small doses. Which is good, because Lister got on my nerves after awhile. More screen time is given to Arnold Judas Rimmer (Chris Barrie), the real star of the show. It's easy to figure out why Lister is a pig, but the uptight Rimmer is much more intriguing. We delve into his neuroses as well as his past. And Cat (Danny John-Jules) exists primarily as Lister's foil. His quieter screen presence helps let the show be funny rather than distracting.

It is in this season that we first meet Kryten the android (David Ross), a manservant who isn't too good at determining the liveliness of his hosts. We learn about Lister's love life, the death of Rimmer's father (a touching scene that's played straight even though everyone's long dead anyway), watch the blokes play in a virtual reality game, mess with time travel, and enter a parallel universe where women rule.

I can't harp on this point enough: a lot of other science fiction shows ripped off Red Dwarf. Lister gets pregnant by a female, just like Charles Tucker in "Unexpected" on Star Trek: Enterprise. The holographic game is just like the movie eXistenz, right down to the "are we still in the game" twist. And don't even get me started on the time travel plot.

Red Dwarf isn't afraid to mess with its characters something serious. Lister feels bad for Rimmer's lack of a love life, so he transplants a few months of his own romance into the hologram's memory. What a mind-screw that is! Speaking of messing with their minds, Holly at one point decides to play the meanest practical joke in history. Only Red Dwarf has the courage to pull off entire episodes that are fake or inconclusive.

Indeed, Red Dwarf often ends without any solid conclusion. Characters wander off into the bowels of the city (where the heck DID that android go?) and storylines are dropped, only to be picked up in later episodes. Having been exposed the first two seasons of Red Dwarf for the first time ever, I'm looking forward to the show's evolution.

It may be wacky, it may sometimes not make sense, but Red Dwarf's influence on science fiction should not be underestimated. All that, and it's really funny too.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The worlds premier Sci-Fi comdey programme is here!!!, December 24, 2002

By	"ouroborosyd" (Addieville, IL United States) - See all my reviews

...and its about time. Join the continuing adventures of the crew of the Red Dwarf; Dave Lister (the ship screwball and slacker and the last human being alive), "Holly" (the ships computer), Arnold J. Rimmer(a holographic representation of Lister's deceased bunkmate), and "Cat" ( a humanoid who has 'evolved' from Lister's cat while he was in stasis for 3 million years) as they meet "Kryten", an android who will join the ship as a regular crewmember in season 3, survive a stasis leak, and travel to an alternate universe!!

Seasons 1 and 2 are available Feb 25th 2003, and two seasons will be released every ensuing February until all eight seasons have been released.

This is the funniest television program ever made in my opinion, and I am sure you will enjoy it!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Adventures Continue Beyond the Ship, April 19, 2003

By	Slade Simon "slade37" (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

For budget reasons, the first season was limited to events on the ship. Now that the Red Dwarf model is built, money can be spent on other things like planet shots and adding color to the ship's set. The plots are still like a sitcom, but the scripts are a little more developed this time. There will be radical changes in the next season so don't get used to this as it is.

This DVD has one of the best commentaries I've ever heard. I love hearing the actors comment on the show.

This set also has the best extras, included on a second DVD. It has some of the same type of things the first one had like smeg-ups (bloopers), deleted scenes, and photos. It has the complete Tongue-Tied performance. The A-Z Documentary is interesting and has some great moments. I'm not sure why the Daleks appear, but you do hear comments from various actors and well-known people - Patrick Stewart, Stephen Hawking. The "Smeghead" segment is great!!! ...especially when a young fan is heard asking what "smeg" means. The word remains undefined although most of us can probably guess the meaning.

The A-Z Documentary and Alternative Personalities offers some insight into what to expect in the future seasons.