The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Review

BBC-TV adaptation of Douglas Adams’ hilarious radio serial (better known to many as a series of best-selling books), done with many of the original audio cast members and positing a riotous universe of adventure, absurdity, and really wild things, of which Earth is completely ignorant, yet of momentous importance. Thus typical Englishman Arthur Dent survives the sudden demolition of his planet (by a hyperspace road crew) thanks to hitchhiking skills of his best friend, secretly an alien travel writer updating the latest edition of the eminent Hitchhiker's Guide. Together they ricochet through time and space, meeting an odd assortment of creatures like the infamous Marvin the Paranoid Android and mod master criminal/entrepreneur/galactic president Zaphod Beebelbrox. Viewers will also learn the answer to the question of life, which certainly makes this worth a rental despite cut-rate computer graphics and low-budget f/x that are a painful distraction half the time (dig Zaphod's inanimate, superfluous second head). Adams’ crafty intellect makes this not just first-rate comedy but splendidly imaginative sf. David Prowse – the big guy who was really inside Darth Vader's costume – cameos as an intergalactic rock star's thug bodyguard. Available in both single-cassette and double-cassette versions; the latter “special edition” includes a copy of the first book in the series and a mock dedication from Adams at the beginning.

1981 194m/C GB Simon Jones, David Dixon, Sandra Dickinson, Mark Wing-Davey; Cameos: David Prowse; D: Alan Bell. VHS, LV FOX, MOV, FUS