dapplez The essence of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that it is a stiletto sharp political and social satire. If you read the original "Gulliver's Travels," by Jonathan Swift, you will see a remarkably similar approach.This TV series retains the essence of that satire found in the original radio series and subsequent book. While I enjoyed the original radio series immensely, when I listened to it again more recently, I found it a bit rushed, and liked the pacing in the television version better.The extras disk with the DVD version provides an explanation of how the "computer graphics" were done in that 1981 pre-CGI age: by artists. What they accomplished was amazing and highly aesthetic.The preceding review by In descending order... makes some good points about the order of the Douglas Adams opuses. I assume, being British, he has more first hand knowledge than I. But I think he may be a bit off. I think what he considers a subsequent radio series was, to my understanding, a dramatized audio book, and one with additional material beyond any of the books, from what I can recall. But perhaps it was broadcast in Britain.And I think the original three books were revised when they were printed together as an anthology.So it is a bit of a mess to say which is the definitive version. Short of reading the book, I would say this BBC TV production is my favorite. It really holds up well to repeated viewing. But you should still read the trilogy; it is a masterpiece that deserves a place in a college 20th century literature curriculum.But one thing can be said definitively: The 2005 movie version is an abomination that bears no semblance to the artistic concept of the author.As Paul Newman used to say, "Why settle for hamburger when you can have steak?"

Muldwych 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy' is the most remarkable television series ever to come out of the BBC between January and February of the year 1981. More authoritative on the inner workings of the Vogon Constructor Fleet than 'The Fall And Rise Of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz', more comprehensive on the early planning stages of the Norwegian coastlines than 'Changing Fjords', and more informative about the culinary offerings to be found at the Restaurant At The End Of The Universe than 'Can't Cook, Won't Cook, Because The Universe Is Collapsing'.In addition to this, due to internal wranglings by BBC planners preventing the commissioning of a second series, it is slightly smaller than other programmes of the genre and requires an attention span of only three hours, which for the convenience of the attention-deficit-plagued Artemisterons of Colferbelson VI can be broken up into six segments of half an hour (Artemisterons with especially short attention spans may wish to avoid the DVD release, which contains a bonus disc of behind-the-scenes material, the total running time of which will only cause unnecessary aggravation).By a not-entirely-strange coincidence, 'unnecessary aggravation' is precisely what Earth descendant Arthur Dent feels after his home planet is destroyed in order to make way for a hyperspatial bypass, and finds himself perpetually distracted in his quest for a decent cup of tea by the need to answer the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Aided in his task by Ford Prefect, a man he is unprepared to discover is actually from a planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, Zaphod Beeblebrox, another man who once ruined his attempts to pick up an attractive blonde woman at a party in Islington, Trillian, an attractive blonde woman whom he failed to pick up at a party in Islington, and Marvin, very possibly the most intelligent robot in the universe and very likely the most depressed, Arthur attempts to come to terms with the reality of his situation. In the interests of providing an accurate summation of the plot, it is important to clarify at this time that 'aided' is the Calufraxian word for 'hindered', while 'come to terms with' is the Jagaroth expression for 'become increasingly bewildered by'.Less clear, however, is the information concerning the actors consigned to inhabit the characters of the story. But while little is known of their identities, a magazine clipping from the year 2005 claimed to offer insight with the names 'Martin Freeman' and 'Mos Def' printed in impressively large silver font. This has been summarily dismissed, however, as most right-thinking people are aware that the year 2005 never happened. Further clues later surfaced when the discovery of a torn sheet of notepaper taped to the back of a filing cabinet in the rodent-infested basement of a small publishing company in Islington listed the names 'Simon Jones', 'David Dixon', 'Mark Wing-Davey', 'Sandra Dickinson' and 'Stephen Moore', under the sentence 'Beware of the mice'. This information was also dismissed, given that the publishing company burned down in 1952, some 29 years before the programme was produced, because it also lists the name 'Peter Jones' as the book, which is unlikely since Jones. a household name in places as far away as Shropshire, would have been too in-demand to make time for such fiddling small parts, and because it claims the music for the series was provided by 'sorcerer Paddy Kingsland and a flock of eagles'. Recent attempts to contact series creator Douglas Adams with a view to shedding light on these and many other baffling conundrums proved unsuccessful upon the discovery that Adams had himself left the Earth in 2001 intent on making several highly improbable discoveries about the universe which he promises to share with humanity at some point in the future, preferably before teatime.This lack of understanding however should not perturb any newcomers to 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', since the only thing you really need to know while watching it is the present location of your nearest towel and to avoid purchasing anything that costs 42p on Thursdays. Please note that both the BBC and Megadodo Publications may not be held responsible for the loss of any digital watches during the viewing of this programme.

artistgirl the hitchikers guide to the galaxy is the ultimate British comedy. I am obsessed with it,the most interesting thing about it (aside from Douglas Adams genius) is that through all the different media, a slightly different story is told, so you can listen to the original audio recordings, and then read the book, recognising the bits that you love, but still getting new laughs. The TV series was another opportunity to evolve the story, though i would say it was the least changed overall. Arthur dent is exactly the way he should be, and i thought that nobody else would suitably replace him in the new film, but actually hes good in that too. I found ford to be slightly less... something than i expected, though i didn't like him in the film either, and i can't really put my finger o why in either case, but it did not interrupt my enjoyment, and distract me the whole time, like it does in other things.the special effects, and costumes etc. are primitive, and obviously done on a budget, but i find this great fun, the restaurant at the end of the universe set was carried off perfectly.overall, basically i love the hitchikers guide to the galaxy, and am thankful for any opportunity to get a new light on the story, anyone who hasn't known ANY of the versions is sorely missing out.

Eric Kuzma (earbird) THis movie was a very refreshing break from basically any other movie out there. I have never seen the '81 version and have never read the book so I was not sure of what to expect. I didn't even know that is was a comedy. The introduction scene set the par for what to expect. The dolphin montage was absolutely the greatest and most breathtaking dolphin sequence anywhere in film. Another factor that made this film stand out was the use of Unscripted dialogue. Again I have not read the book or anything, but this film had a satisfying and refreshing sense of unscripted dialogue that most movies should at least try to comprehend. What is unscripted dialogue you say? Well, it is where the actors or narrators or any other character in a production do not talk like they are reading a script line by line, but talk in a way that is actually more human. Just about actor in every movie ever made talks in a way that is so inhuman and robotic that is a sure giveaway that they are reading line by line from some manuscript buried somewhere. The actors acted human, the acted sporadic and made the whole atmosphere feel like every audience member was having a different experience. The cinematography was top-notch, the visual effects were stunning and having a huge cast of very imaginative and wacky characters didn't hurt either. All of Hollywood can stop whatever they are doing (especially the writers) and stop and take a note on the Hitchhiker's guide. You never know, they might actually learn something.