Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The popular British cult comedy returns when the crew is hurled through a portal and makes the shocking discovery that they're nothing more than characters in a TV series. Knowing they will eventually die in the final episode, they track down their creators to find out how long they have left to live.

In all honesty, when I saw the title Red Dwarf: Back to Earth, I thought I was going to be watching a documentary on our neighbor planet—oops! I had never seen nor heard of this show before popping in this three-part made-for-UK-TV special, so many of the seemingly inside jokes went right over my head. Even taking that into consideration, it wasn't particularly funny; I've read that the original series is much better.

Using the Red One digital camera, the show was shot entirely in HD for the first time with decent results—though the Blu-ray is encoded at 1080i, probably because that's how it was broadcast. Colors are generally strong with adequate black levels, but close-ups are a bit too revealing of the aging cast. Additionally, the CG effects are blatantly obvious and poorly rendered, but maybe this is intentional?

The front-loaded DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack is serviceable, but not earth-shattering. Dialog is intelligible, but the sound design is very pedestrian with little use of the surround speakers. Frequency response is limited due to the material, but given its TV roots, this is to be expected.

Supplements include separate cast and director commentaries, a couple of making-of documentaries, deleted scenes, trailers, web videos, and a photo gallery. Fans may get something out of these, but I didn't find them interesting.

Having no frame of reference from the original series, it's difficult for me to knock this production. That being said, laughs were difficult to find in the comedy, which is never a good thing. The A/V quality is decent, but I would recommend a rental for even the diehard fan.

Release Date: October 6, 2009
Studio: Warner

Movie: 4/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 8/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics