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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?"
score 10/10
dapplez 6 May 2011
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2424863/ |
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9-10-2020 06:39:06