Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Winston Taylor I first listened to the BBC radio broadcast and loved it. Later I read all the books in the series and became a fan for life.This series follows the books and radio broadcast almost word for word but as someone pointed out earlier, like most books, your own imagination makes it better, provided you have one. I must say though, being a long time fan, a friend bought me this series on two VHS cassettes which included a paper back copy of the 1st book and have to say, I did enjoy it.The movie that was made in 2005 was a huge disappointment so if you want to watch it, instead of reading or listening to it. I definitely recommend this series.

MisterWhiplash Thanks to a friend, I've now become a fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide. For what it's all worth- and it is all about Life, the Unvierse, and Everything, isn't it- Douglas Adams's creation is consistently clever and silly, a work of imagination where the levels of human idiosyncrasies that can always be reached by levels of ego, self-pity, paranoia, greed, super-intelligence, self-deprecation, awkwardness, et all, can make for some great, succinctly dry-British wit. Sometimes Adams can go for the laugh out loud (anything with the dolphins, the answer to Life, the Unvierse, and Everything, the mice, Marvin, or the pig at the restaurant who asks to be eaten, all parts over), or the more subtle (the many bits taken away from the 'Book' as narration covers all sorts of topics, not least of which the usefulness of towels, the power of one throwaway phrase that can ignite a war between two alien systems, and of course, Blartfast). But always, the Hitchhiker's Guide series is about the knowing eye for the cruelness, humanity, joy, and just plain stupidity of human beings, and how it can be conceivably out there in the rest of the universe- just look at the Vogons with their poetry (actually don't)! The series produced for BBC is, typical of the network, not of the high-caliber of budget. At a time when Star Wars expanded the proximity of what could be done, unfortunately Alan Bell, Adams and the producers had only limited resources (like, erm, plain old models and locations in Africa for some of Magrathea, oddly enough where A New Hope shot as well), and even the entries shown from the book with characters 'drawn' in green outline or the globes were all hand-drawn. But despite the limitations, the comic strengths of the actors pull the material very well enough, especially Mark Wing Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, David Learner as the voice of Marvin (albeit the way he talks he should be voiced by a Woody Allen type of neurotic), and Richard Vernon as Blartfast (not to mention bit players like the guys who play the cops in episode 4 or Clockwork Orange alumni Aubrey Morris as the bathtub captain). And sometimes it the production design itself is in on the joke; the restaurant at the end of the universe is funny just to look at, with its main little dark area for the 'announcer', and various creatures all abound at tables introduced like it's Las Vegas.It's a minor triumph for all involved that these episodes were this much fun and occasionally brilliant, and they'll likely impress fans of the book moreover than the 2005 movie did.

Lee Eisenberg A quarter century before Douglas Adams's (happy birthday, Douglas!) famous book became the movie that most of us probably know, BBC made this quirky miniseries based on it. True, much of the miniseries is hard for us Americans to understand, but it still works to just luxuriate in the pure wackiness of it and consider what our role in the universe really is. Parts of "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" do come across as a little silly - namely the whole "resistance is useless" sequence - but they probably intended it to be far out, so it's all good.Anyway, it's just a pleasure to see these people being totally outrageous in their humor. Some of those numerical coincidences still have me befuddled! But no matter, if ever I have to answer a really hard question, I'll just remember that the answer is...42. All in all, a classic. I like the movie version better, but this one is still pretty neat. Up in that great spaceship in the sky, Douglas Adams must be proud to have been known for this.

Canvoodoo Unlike the recent Movie, this mini-series is mostly good, and does an excellent job of capturing the quirky spirit of the radio original.Probably the biggest reason why this adaptation works well is that the marvelous dialogue of the radio version has not been messed up. There are changes (as there have been in every medium the guide has been adapted into), but unlike the film version, the best and most memorable parts haven't been tampered with – See the memorable quotes section for examples of this. The biggest difference between this version and the film may be that Douglas Adams was directly involved with the production of the Television version, but sadly was not around to oversee the film version, for which the loss is evident.The special effects aren't great (think Doctor Who, circa 1980), but the performances are enough fun that it doesn't matter all that much. Many of the cast members are the originals from the radio series, and even those that aren't originals mostly do a good job with their characters. The one exception is Sandra Dickinson, who just isn't convincing as Trillian – She's supposed to a very bright astrophysicist, but comes across as a bimbo/airhead. Still, the rest of the casting is excellent, so this one lapse can be forgiven.The best part of the whole series is the visuals for the actual Guide. These are extraordinarily detailed animations, buttressing Peter Jones' voice-over from the radio original with lots of extra visual jokes and humor. One of the best parts about being able to watch this on DVD is the ability to freeze-frame some of the more interesting bits to be able to better appreciate all of the funny stuff contained within. These visuals were actually accomplished using a painstaking manual animation technique to simulate the computer displays, as 1980-era computers just weren't up to the job of doing things like this. Ironically, the simulated computer animations are a lot funnier than the actual computer animations (with 25 years worth of improved technology) in the film version.In sum, given the choice between this and the film version, I would take this any time. The DVD version also includes lots of extra material – production notes, making-of documentaries, and a tribute to the late Douglas Adams.