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The production values aren't the greatest here, but this adaptation does capture some of the ebullient, hilarious anarchy of Douglas Adams's book. Arthur Dent discovers that his friend, Ford Prefect, isn't human at all but an alien on assignment, writing for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Many of Adams's delicious asides are dropped off here, like the woman who figures out the meaning of life right at the moment that she gets blown up with the rest of the Earth, but it retains what it can. Sure, the book was better, and the realization of Zaphod Beeblebox and Trillian are, well, just different, but it's a great introduction to the series for the uninitiated. --Keith Simanton
Additional Features
A suitably eclectic, if not to say eccentric, collection of extra features makes this a wholly satisfying two-DVD set. On the second disc there's an hour-long "making of" documentary from 1992 featuring contributions from the cast and crew, including Douglas Adams; and then there's even more in a 25-minute section entitled "Don't Panic!" A fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at filming as the clock runs on studio time and a look at the recording of the original radio series complete the first part. Then navigate to the "Outer Planets" to find outtakes, a deleted scene, Zaphod's animatronic second head on the BBC series Tomorrow's World, Peter Jones's witty and rambling introduction to the first episode, and more. The series itself is presented in standard 4:3 ratio and remixed Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo or the original mono. --Mark Walker
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Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I laughed myself silly,
By Greg Slade "Grga" (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2DVD) (1981) (DVD)
I love science fiction. In fact, I love it so much that I will even watch cheesy, low-budget, so-bad-it's-funny productions like the 1979 version of H.G. Wells' The Shape Of Things To Come. So when, flipping through the channels one fateful day, I came across a British production with shoddy props and laughable effects, I stayed to watch rather than flipping on. As it turns out, it was a PBS marathon of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and in fairly short order, I was laughing myself silly. Instead of something laughably bad, I had discovered something hysterically funny. You see, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a bit of that inspired, lunatic British comedy which many people love, and the rest just don't "get." It's not about the effects, nor about the production values. It's not even about the plot or the acting. What makes me laugh till it hurts is the utter deadpan attitude with which Adams skewers any target careless enough to cross his path:"The Encyclopaedia Galactica defines a robot as a mechanical apparatus designed to do the work of a man. The marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as 'Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun To Be With'. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy defines the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as 'a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes.'" (p. 73) There are so many digs, at so many of the insanities of modern life, that it's simply not possible to do justice to the work. It overflows with wit, and even if you only catch one joke in three, you'll be holding your sides. The original radio series has spawned five books, a television series, a computer game, and a movie, and has inspired countless mailing lists, newsgroups, web sites, and other forms of expression. If you've been wondering why IBM called their chess-playing computer "Deep Thought", or what a Zaphod Beeblebrox is, or why it is that some people have to struggle to keep from laughing out loud on meeting somebody named Arthur Dent, or what the big deal is about the number 42, this is the place to look for answers.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic, revisited...,
By Bruggadung (Toronto, ON, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2DVD) (1981) (DVD)
I was in university when this burst onto TVO and we were gripped by its originality... I would say that it has aged a bit, and the ending still leaves me as unsatisfied as I was originally, but it remains great fun. The extras are good, but I found the set-up structure very awkward to operate. Still, it remains light-years ahead of the recent, re-made version. I would recommend it for the younger generation which only knows the series from the novels (and I bought those when there were only three in the series!).
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Way better than the remake,
By
This review is from: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2DVD) (1981) (DVD)
It has THE cheesiest effects ever -ok, maybe not cheesier than Dr Who, but certainly on par- But it beats the movie remake by a galaxy! It gives much more of the storyline and captures the light-hearted humor of the novel; the characters are much more sympathetic and it is just all-around way more enjoyable than the grim, plodding, and non-sensical movie version.
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