Blackadder: Back & Forth

As nice as it is to see a reunion of the entire cast of the Blackadder franchise, this is only so-so entertainment(and poor Byrne, getting such forgettable lines). It's interesting to see this as produced as something other than a sit-com, with well-done cinematography, special effects and editing. The plot isn't bad, and the concept allows for the writers to mock time periods that they hadn't before, and while this freedom puts the pressure on them to utilize it, they do so most of the time. The story does drive this one so much that little room is left for laughs, unfortunately. Pacing is solid. The production values are quite high. Everything looks great and we believe that we are where and when we are told to be visiting. Acting is all good. The "guests" are magnificent. Atkinson is marvelous as always as the cynical, greedy and self-righteous Edmund. The comedy is fair. Too much reliance on sight gags, and silly, occasionally violent, humor(even some of the gross-out material of the latest season, what gives?), though, and so little(though there is still a note-worthy amount) of the verbal comedy that we know and love this series for. As we are by now used to from these, the shortcomings throughout history is poked fun at through matter-of-factly stating in a satirical manner. This has some of the clever wit of previous productions, but not as much as we're used to. On the plus side, the excellent theme song returns, with a new, fitting text. The DVD comes with the Cavalier Years and Baldrick's Video Diary, that expands into a making-of featurette with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews(with every performer, very cool) and deleted scenes. It's fairly informative. A final goodbye to those that we've come to know and love, but could have been rather a bit better. I recommend this to all fans of the title character. Just don't expect the greatness as we've become used to from his side. 7/10

Even though a lot of people on this forum seem to think this is rubbish i think this is a great blackadder ( although not as good as the TV series i admit ), It is funny and tries to incorporate a family audience to blackadder, I saw the film @ the Dome when i was just 10 and i was laughing my head off. There are a phew mistakes with crew visible but it is a nice short film to end the blackadder series.

The crew all seem to have had a great time making the film and it was a good send off after the killing off the characters in series 4, it shows them all as very good friends and Rowan Atkinson @ his cunning best.

Old BBC shows are lovely, so low-budget and witty and strange.

To a lover of literature and history like myself, Blackadder stands as possibly the funniest sitcom of all time. Like Doctor Who, it was cheap, but I didn't give a fig...it was simply ten times cleverer than anything on American television, and I loved it. At first, I was dubious about this millennium special - I didn't think that Blackadder really needed a big-budget makeover, special effects, etc. But in the end, "Back and Forth" served its purpose for me. I laughed. Lots. Maybe I would've liked a little more wit and a few less sight gags, but so what? It's been ten years since the original Blackadder went off the air, and it's unreasonable to expect that a new special will emulate the old show exactly. And in addition to the new material, there's plenty of nostalgic jokes on hand (e.g. "I have a cunning plan"...why do people complain that this was recycled here? Can you image Blackadder WITHOUT this line?).

Like the recent big-budget Doctor Who and Asterix films, this was criticized by fans who were disappointed that it wasn't 4 stars all the way...but a general audience can forgive the odd flaw and accept this for what it is, a delightful reunion of great British comics for one last episode of a great show.

Blackadder and his faithful servant Baldrick build a fake time machine from original plans in order to fool their friends into thinking that they went back in time and collected artifacts, thus winning a big bet. However they travel back in time and accidentally change history – wiping out the very characters they claimed to have met.

This special was made for show in the millennium dome, however it was also shown on BBC recently. This is no way classic Blackadder – the story is a mix of Blackadder trademark sarcasm and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The time traveling element is amusing and is also an excuse for some very funny scenes (Robin Hood, Jurassic Park moment) but other bits don't work as well (the current-time dinner party is weak given the cast, and the Blackadder II bit isn't very funny and just shows how good the series was). The dialogue lacks the sharp, cruel sarcasm that the other 4 series had – it tries to do it but it isn't as fresh as it once was…I guess that's the real effect of time!

Atkinson is good as Blackadder – but he never seems comfortable with this incarnation as he did with previous ones…perhaps because it is an one-off creation. Robinson is good as Baldrick because his character never changes. Of the rest of the talented cast only Rik Mayall is really funny – the rest (Fry, Laurie, Richardson etc) are all weak and never as good as they were in their roles in the 4 series. However nice cameos from Colin Firth and Kate Moss make it interesting.

Overall it's worth a watch – but don't expect to be anywhere near the height of the original 4 Blackadder series.

I understand why people think this is a dud compared to the rest of the Blackadder legacy. It isn't particularly remarkable. It isn;t as good as any of the series episodes of Blackadder (though it is better than the Christmas Carol special).

However, by the average standard for comedy, this is still enjoyable. It's cute. Admittedly, Blackadder was never good because of being "cute," but it works here. I suppose I liked it for the most part for the nostalgia value - 10 years after the last official episode, we see my favorite British comedians reunited (worth the price alone): Rowan Atkinson, Rik Mayall, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie... and all the rest. I was lucky enough to be in London during this show's run at the Millennium Dome, and now am proud to own it as part of the new DVD Blackadder set.

There are some great gags, and (for fans of British comedy) some great appearances. It's no "Bells" or "Dish or Dishonesty," but it makes me smile. And that's the important thing.