It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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.

One can claim that this was so good for it's time, or otherwise make excuses for it, but as a piece of entertainment this show is pretty weak. I'm not one to gripe about weak special effects, so I won't. That could be overlooked given budgets and production pressures. Quality entertainment doesn't require it.Something that is required in great comedy is a surprise. If you've read the book there's absolutely nothing surprising about the show.At least nothing surprising in a good way. Some say it's "campy" or "corny". I don't think it even rises to that level. A funny face, a gesture, even a raised eyebrow could have made the transition to tape worth the trouble; instead we got mailed in performances. They spoke the lines, they stood in the right spot, but that's about it. Arthur was flat, Trillian played as an airhead, but Ford was the worst. In this series he comes off as a rather affable, friendly fellow, not the deeply misanthropic (or should I say mis-pan-sentient) Ford Prefect that we love from the book. The properly two-headed Zaphod at least gave it a shot, and Marvin had potential.If you're taking a class on the history of low budget television production, this is a good vehicle. If you're looking for an evening or two of entertainment, you'll be better off with, dare I say it, the movie. It at least gave me a reason to keep my eyes open, if only to see where they mangled the original story.

Considering the budget, actually ignoring the budget, this is far better than the sorry 21st century makeover movie. It just seems to sum up perfectly the HHGttG Universe. Simon Jones does make an absolutely memorable Arthur, and Peter Jones as the narrator captures the spirit of the book, although to be fair Stephen Fry doesn't do that bad a job in the film. This is one of those very few occaisons when the episodic format does not detract from the enjoyment and pleasure of watching the whole entity. I remember watching a TV programme on making HHGttG, (QED I think it was), and being amazed at how simply the special effects were done. Nowadays the quality could easily be surpassed on the average home computer. That shows how much technology has progressed, but also reinforces my sentiment contained within the first 42 words. Watch & Enjoy

This series is based on the books and radio scripts written by the late and great Douglas Adams. It covers the first two books, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe". Although Adams has said it wasn't one of the best, it is still one of the best visual interpretations of the story of a book and how it came to affect a certain Earth man.Arthur Dent (Simon Jones), a six feet tall ape descendant, is awoken one morning to find that his home is being demolished. Not long after, the entire Earth is destroyed. Dent survives when his best friend, Ford Prefect (David Dixon), hitches a ride on a Vogon Constructor Ship and takes the Earth man with him. He is given a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a wholly remarkable book, and they soon embark on a string of froody adventures throughout the galaxy and all the way to the end of Time itself.