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Remastered Boxset VHS
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In 1998 Red Dwarf celebrated their 10th Anniversary, though it was of course stylised as "Xth Anniversary" because Grant Naylor had a real thing for Roman numerals. Amongst all the other bells and whistles, the paramount guest-of-honour during the celebrations was the re-released "Remastered" VHS boxset of Red Dwarf series I - III. It was classic Dwarf as we know and love it, only with the new titular intro, a complete CGI overhaul to all the model effects shots, new music cues throughout the episodes, new colour grading and the odd CGI tweak during scenes, new faster-paced editing, and numerous other unwanted and, by many accounts at the time, unpleasant changes. On the whole, it went down about as well as a horny dog at a Miss Lovely Legs competition.
Since that initial release however, there has been a definite resurgence in the appreciation for the Remastered series. They are an interesting time capsule into late nineties CGI capabilities, they brought the original super-long pencil-esque Red Dwarf design to our screens, they can be found on the rare and highly sought-after Bodysnatcher Collection DVD set, the original VHS's look fantastic on any collectors display shelf thanks to the the stunningly beautiful artwork on the VHS covers drawn by Mark Wilkinson, and all in all, watching the Remastered series is sort of like slipping momentarily into a parallel universe, where things are ever so similar, and yet oh so different. They don't replace the original versions, but they certainly add to the richness of the universe and Red Dwarf history.
As noted, Mark Wilkinson produced the artwork for the covers of this collection. Artwork so amazing, so perfect and so iconic, it bears mentioning twice. On a single VHS the artwork stretches from front, around the spine, and across the back in a single uninterrupted piece. But more than that, in an interesting quirk, when all the spines are aligned they form another glorious Red Dwarf mural.
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