Customer Reviews

RED DWARF, Series III, Byte One ~ 1989 Remastered Programs (Backwards / Marooned / Polymorph) [VHS]

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I got this tape but the film got spliced wrong or something. The entire first episode is completely backwards. I am really pissed off. I don't know if this is just a manufacturing error or what. I want my money back. I guess it doesn't surprise me that the quality control guy fell asleep at the wheel and we are the sad acts who pay for it.

A summary of the opening Star Wars-type message that quickly scrolls at light speed. Basically, Lister has had his two children, Jim and Bexley, as foretold in "Future Echoes", and has sent them back to live with their Dad (a woman) in a parallel universe. They are reunited with Kryten, who has had a mishap and is repaired, but with a different personality. And Holly the computer performs a head sex-change operation based on Hilly, a female computer he met in the "Parallel Universe" story, which closed out the second season. So far so good? Whew!

"Backwards"--shouldn't that be "sdrawkcaB"-- is one of my all-time favourite episodes, as the crew travel through "an orange whirly thing" in space and land on Earth, the year 3991, 871 selim from Nodnol, .sdrawkcab si gnihtyreve erehw (where everything is backwards). Holly explains, "Everything starts with the Big Bang, right, and the universe starts expanding. Eventually, when it's expanded as far as it can, you get the Big Crunch, where everything starts contracting." And how's this for an ad on this planet? "Roll off deodorant. Keeps you wet and smelly for up to 24 hours." This episode features the barroom tidy, the climax of this classic episode. And the time-hole is well realized with the digital effects used.

The crew of the Red Dwarf are forced to evacuate in "Marooned", when Holly sees five black holes. "Well, the thing about a black hole, its main distinguishing feature, is it's black. And the thing about space, the colour of space, your basic space colour, is it's black. So how are you supposed to see them?" she asks in defence. Lister and Rimmer take Starbug but are forced down on a desolate planet beset by winds so strong, it's hard for Lister to stand up. Food and fire get low, and Lister is desperate for survival, burning Rimmer's books and even eating dogfood. The scene where Lister and Rimmer learn personal things about each other, such as how they lost their virginities, predicts the drama-comedy of Season 7, and fleshes out both their characters. Lister may seem like a cheery goofball who takes life as it comes, but he says his guitar, "an authentic Les Paul copy", was "the only thing in me whole smegging miserable life that hasn't walked out on me."

"Polymorph" is another classic, about a genetic experiment gone wrong that is an emotional vampire, feeding off negative emotions of the crew. While the alien is well-realized, there are other scenes that make this a laugh a minute. The scene where the kebab attacks Lister and when Kryten tries to remove Lister's shrinking boxer shorts while Lister is on the floor writhing in agony, only to have Rimmer walk in the room, is one of the most popular scenes ever due to the double entendre it engenders.

Full of hilarious snappy dialogue, insults (on someone's posterior--"they look like two badly parked Volkswagens"), and visual gags galore from one of the best seasons of Red Dwarf. Two new regulars to the Red Dwarf cast are Hattie Hayridge (Holly), who debuted as Hilly in "Parallel Universe" and Robert Llewellyn as Kryten, who has a new look compared to his debut with Dave Ross--the signs of further greatness in the series.

Obviously, if you're a Red Dwarf fan you'll probably own all the series anyway, but there is no doubt that RD3, Byte 1, is one of the essential videos to own. It is a fantastic intro to use when convincing friends why Red Dwarf is so good. But for this loyal fan of Red Dwarf the fun of all three episodes is to see how they were later used in the books. Having actually read all the books first I think they did a phenomenal job of stretching the story lines out onto paper. However, nothing is as funny as seeing Lister twirl the bat around and whack himself 'in the happy sacks'. Well that is if you like physical humor. Now I have to go watch it ONE MORE TIME.

I would recommend every second of the smegtastic, space-saga RED DWARF, but Series 3 is especially brilliant. I got these videos when I was eleven as a christmas gift. That was 7 years ago and they still haven't paled. "Backwards" is not only a classic, but a maverick episode in the field of comedy and sci-fi. "Polymorph" was so good they gave it a sequel in series 6, and contains a hilarious, fear deprived Lister and the side spliting shrinking boxers scene. My favourite of them all is "Marooned", a whole episode of just Lister and Rimmer conversing after Starbug has crash landed. These three episodes are superbly written, wonderfully performed, imaginative, witty and even touching. This is not your average sitcom. This is a work of genius. It deserves all the stars in the solar system!

RD 3 Byte 1 is the best in the entire series! I mean it. That's because of two of the episodes it has--Backwards and Polymorph! These two episodes are special since they contain certain special effects that were never shown again in the series!

In Backwards, a shy Kryten officially joins the team and is played by Robert Llewellyn who played him from then on. The crew enters a version of 20th century Earth were everything is...you guess it...backwards! The people really do speak backwards (as a subtitle shows)...not gibberish! All movement is backwards: including bicycling (as the Dwarfers attempt--hilarious!), walking, and even eating as Lister and the Cat show (you do NOT understand how cool it is until you've experienced that scene!) There's even a bar fight between the Dwarfers and the humans--backwards! I'm not going to tell you about the other surprises! I've always tried to tape this episode (no luck!)which IS considered one of the best in the 52 episode series (along with Gunmen of the Apocalypse). And the ending with the Cat is hilarious!

Polymorph is fantastic and also universally considered to be one of the top episodes. It's quite fascinating because it features a shape shifting life form that fools the crew and removes their characteristics upon attacking them. The Cat regards himself as a loser (and wears rags!), Kryten becomes hostile and angry and more...The challenge the crew faces is that of finding a way to agree with the different personalities on a way to defeat the polymorph. Just wait till you hear the new nerdy Rimmer's campaign,hehe. One of the funnies scenes is that of the Cat running around to avoid the heat seeking polymorph!

On top of everything else, this is remastered and as new scenes, a new intro, and new model effects to provide a cleaner more up to date looking set of episodes (especially with Holly).

If you are new to the hot sci-fi series or a Dwarfer yourself, this is the one video that has been deemed as an official "must have." Make sure you get this video first before the supplies are gone! I'm dead serious. I'm glad I got my copy. This is THE legendary RD smash hit that IS one of the best. Just ask anyone.