Customer Reviews

Red Dwarf VI - Byte One: Gunmen Of The Apocalypse [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Elizabeth is not wrong. If Red Dwarf is a religion then Series 6 is the Holy Smeg! Wisely moving the posse into Starbug means high peril at all times. Hold on to your wage packets...

"Gunmen of the Apocalypse" has oft been touted the best ep EVER; A cowboy bonanza with knock out SFX, cyber sex and "The Vindiloomian Empire"! And it is perfection, pulling out every stop imaginable.

This series begins and ends so perfectly, from the whacked-out "Psirens" to the sublime brilliance of "Out of Time". Another gem on this particualar video is "Legion"- a real showcase for the sharp writing genius of Grant Naylor. If you listen to the language, every other word buzz's and the one liners sparkle with wit and timing. There's also the ultimate Red Dwarf sequel ep "Emohawk" which heralds the return of Ace, the Polymorph and Duane Dibbly: The Duke of Dork! And Lister marries a gelf aswell.

The only critism reviewers have thrown at series 6 is that it has too many running gags. Personally I found each time I heard Kryten offering to commit suicide in more surreal ways on the crews behalf, my laugher got louder! What does one say. A sci-fi comic masterpiece if ever there was- you wont find anything more smegtastic anywhere in the entire cosmos!

The beginning of the sixth series of Red Dwarf takes a dramatic change in format. The crew are marooned on Starbug after Lister "misplaced" their massive spaceship. This plot twist is brilliant as it provides the writers with enough new material to keep Red Dwarf as witty and fresh as ever.

Psirens pays tribute to ancient Greek mythology in proper Red Dwarf style. The crew are lured and pursed by a number of hilarious fantasy creatures who are desperate to snack on their brains. Kryten almost gets annoyed.

Legion pokes fun at Gestault psychology as the crew discovers a seemingly perfect being named Legion. However, there is much more to Legion than meets the eye. Especially notable as Rimmer acquires his hard light drive. This episode has Red Dwarf fanatics screaming Plot Inconsistency! as Lister has his appendix out for the second time in the run of the show. Ah well...it's still a brilliant episode.

Gunmen of the Apocalypse is fantastic. It's a Red Dwarf Western, complete with a race against time to save Kryten and in turn, save themselves. Rimmer utters some of his funniest lines ever. This is can't miss Red Dwarf.

If you are unfamiliar with Red Dwarf, I highly recommend checking out the series from the beginning (aptly titled "The End"). This is a wonderful British sci-fi comedy series.

All conniseurs of Red Dwarf agree that Series 6 has to be the best season ever. Red Dwarf isn't for everybody, but if you can appreciate the sublime (and not so sublime) humor, then this is the show for you. The classic episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" is the main feature here and it has to be the best episode ever (and the BBC agreed, because it was the episode shown for the 10th anniversary Red Dwarf special in England).

Of course, the other two episodes on the tape aren't bad at all. The dinner scene in "Legion" is absolutely hilarious and we can all relate to eating unfamiliar food with even more unusual utensils, but certainly never Mamosian anti-matter chopsticks! Of course, I would like to have seen the Jovian boogle hoops and the often fatal Mercurian boomerang spoon. And finally there's "Psirens," with the Kafkaesque cockroaches sucking out human brains (of course our heroes don't have anything to fear, because between the sorry lot of them there isn't enough brains to make a snack). Will the Cat find his true calling as a seed spreader? And is Pete Tranter's sister really who she says she is? And what is Lister's fascination with peaches, since he has an aversion to fruits and vegetables?

Got to cut this short, but then I could complete the rest of this sentence using my intestines, although where am I going to find a kidney to use as a full stop? Tantalized? Then get the tape!

I seriously believe this particular video to be the best piece of television in known history. If you can sit through "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" without laughing then get someone to check your pulse - you might be clinically dead.

This is a brilliant vid., especially the third show, "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". This, I feel, is the best Red Dwarf program ever, even better than what Red Dwarf 7 offered. END

I say that because following the Red Dwarf crew's tangle with the Despair Squid in "Back To Reality", the crew have lost what the Cat describes as the giant red trash can with no brakes and 3 million years on the clock, and have been chasing the ship's vapour trail. Result, the green Starbug becomes their chief craft and roving home. However, they encounter Psirens, temptresses who lure unwary space travelers onto asteroids and suck their brains out with a straw, "just like Odysseus and that Turkish legend... in some country where they wear curly shoes and humus."

The opening scene with Lister, whose hair makes Jerry Garcia look bald, and has to clip his toenails with a pencil sharpener, is a standout. Later, in his amnesiac state, he describes himself as "an animal, a tasteless, uncouth, mindless, tone-deaf, randy, bloke-ish, semi-literate space bum." We also learn here that his favourite breakfast is corn flakes with grilled raw onions, and cold curry sauce to drink. Maybe I should try that sometime. The Cat and Rimmer exchange proverbs: "There's an old Cat proverb: it's better to live an hour as a tiger, than a lifetime as a worm." Rimmer: "There's an old human proverb: whoever heard of a wormskin rug?"

Trivia notes: This is Claire Grogan's final appearance as Christine Kochanski, Dave's old girlfriend. Next season, Kochanski would return, albeit with a different face. Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music plays the fiery guitar solo by Lister. Of the guest stars, hot blonde Samantha Robson really burns up the screen as Pete Tranter's sister, a girl Lister lusted after throughout his puberty.

It's a "swirly thing alert" in "Legion", where the crew meet the title alien, who lives aboard a space station full of highest class art, and the apex in technology. His intentions seem noble, as he saves Lister from peritonitis and converts Rimmer's light-bee projection unit into hard-light, which means he has physical form. The crew are completely bowled over by his scientific intellect, genius, and culture. But why is Legion so intent on making everyone happy? The dinner with Mamosian anti-matter chopsticks is a highlight. A famous continuity error occurs, as in the second season episode "Thanks For The Memory", Lister had his appendix taken out. Well, maybe Lister had a rare condition in which he had two appendices, who know? Funny line from Rimmer to Kryten. "You can't serve space weevil ... not even Lister will eat insectoid vermin. With him, it's practically cannibalism."

The fun "Gunmen Of The Apocalypse" is the episode that earned the series an International Emmy award. After a battle with a Simulant (xenophobic killer android) battlecruiser, Red Dwarf's navi-computer contracts an Armageddon virus sent by the Simulant. Kryten absorbs the virus into himself and tries to find a Dove Program to eliminate the virus, but he is losing. They use one of the Cat's rare great suggestions: they use the AR program Streets Of Laredo to link up with the mechanoid's dreams, and find themselves in a Wild West town. Lister is knife thrower Brett Riverboat, Rimmer is Dangerous Dan McGrew, expert at fisticuffs, and the Cat is the crack shot, Riviera Kid. However, they face Kryten's enemies, the Apocalypse Boys, Death, Famine, War, and Pestilence. Veteran TV actor Denis Lill appears as the Simulant Captain. Liz Heckling would reprise her role as the Simulant lieutenant in "Rimmerworld." The piano in the saloon plays the theme tune and for a real laugh, check out the members of the "Vindalooan people."

The special effects are superlative throughout these stories. Another gag is Rimmer misquoting Space Corps directives, to be corrected by Kryten, which he does in these stories and for the rest of the season.

Series VI? Well, it doesn't have ANY of the sparkling character interaction of series 1, 11, 111 and VII, - in fact it tends to be a bit TOO gag friendly. However, what it does have is some fantastic action, survival episodes in the same vein as series IV and V. Here's how the first half of the series fares:

Psirens- This is basically a solid, if not spectacular start to the series. The episode uses the basic 'looks can be decieving' plot to good effect. Not as good as the other 'monster episode' - 'Polymorph' - but still a very funny, enjoyable episode. Standard fare. 2.5/4

Legion- Now things really start to hot up. Legion is possibly one of the funniest episodes in Red Dwarf history. It also has the classic 'light bulb' joke which is worth the price of admission alone. The dinner scene is likewise hilarious. Really inventive plot. Typical of the genius of Grant Naylor. Great. 4/4

Gunmen Of The Apocalypse- The classic episode of the series. Deservedly winner of the Emmy award, this episode is easily one of the top five Red Dwarf episodes ever. It deserves it's four star rating merely for the writers nerve to do a western. The episode is hilarious and simply delightful. This is one of the episodes, along with 'Back To Reality' that proves that Red Dwarf is a work of genius. Classic. 4/4

Packed with near-salacious humor - infinitely watchable. A wide variety of circumstances and happenings make this a favorite. During the several months we've been abroad, this has been a sanity saver. Even our two-year old daughter enjoys it.

Series 6 continues the hot streak of the past few seasons and adds a few twists. One of the twists is that Lister has misplaced the Red Dwarf, and the gang now is out on the Starbug trying to find the Dwarf and head home. Although I really loved the episodes that took place on Red Dwarf, I think if you continue to watch the next 2 series' you will see why this change was necessary.
"Psirens" - An alien species that lures space-travelers to their deaths is after the Starbug gang! They almost succeed.
"Legion" - A classic episode that includes telekinetic chopsticks and some great gags. The crew lands on a space station inhabited by a gestalt entity that takes on the characteristics of the people around it. Neat idea, really. The being attempts to take the guys captive, but Kryten cleverly outwits him.
"Gunmen of the Apocalypse" - Many people hali this as the best episode of all time. i don't think it is THAT great, but it is very funny. The crew has to rescue Kryten from a deadly virus by followinghim into a fantasy wild west.