Product Details

• Actors: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Norman Lovett, Mac McDonald
• Directors: Ed Bye
• Writers: Doug Naylor, Rob Grant
• Producers: Ed Bye, 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
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: February 25, 2003
• Run Time: 176 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00007AP31
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,374 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Red Dwarf: Series I" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

RED DWARF SERIES I - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DAVE LISTER - THE LAST HUMAN, May 24, 2003

By 

Darrin Lanchbury (Lake Charles, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Dwarf: Series I (DVD)

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.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seinfeld In Space, April 23, 2003

By 

Michael Meunier (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Dwarf: Series I (DVD)

Don't listen to that detractor John Tilelli- He's just a pediatric cardiologist from Bumblehump Florida. I checked out his reviews. His idea of good Sci-fi is aparrantly limited to Men In Black II. I'm not surprised this was a little over his head. It's true that the classic RD foursome (Rimmer,Lister, Cat, Kryton) wouldn't coagulate until after this season, however, these episodes are hilarious and the actors are playing around- experimenting with the new format of television sci-fi comedy. Like all great English episodics, this series didn't need to rely on special effects, or stars, or gratuitous sex and violence. Not that I mind those things, but the English have had a television focus on story and characterization- and those two elements are very present in Red Dwarf. If I could get an uptown Bergdorf's fashion maven into this show almost as much as she liked Absolutely Fabulous, you and your friends will get hours of fun out of this set. Crack open a couple of cold ones, break out the store of marijuana gin, and watch these petty, inconsiderate, slobs go at each other- you'll see shades of you and your friends in them...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Very Start Of It All, April 19, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: Red Dwarf: Series I (DVD)

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.