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Quint re-reviews the final cut of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a mini re-review of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. I first saw this flick at a test screening wwwaaayyyyy back in February. I've now also seen the final cut and thought I'd repost my original review as well as share with you my thoughts on the finished product.
To start off, the film was almost totally the same as the test screening print I saw, for good or ill. The temp score is, of course, gone (sorry, no RAIDERS during the Deep Thought scenes) and the score in place is pretty good. Not wholly memorable on first listen, but definitely not distracting. There's a great use of score that actually made a joke work involving an overusage of the ID4-esque reveal of large spaceships... you know, with the jump cutting back revealing more of the ship with each jump punctuated by harsh strings... Usually they do that about 3 or 4 times... they do it at least a dozen here and it's hilarious.
The relationship between Arthur and Trillian didn't bug me as much this time out, with the exception of Arthur's big revelation of love to the mice near the end of the movie... That still bugs the piss out of me, but oh well.
Everything else is in my original review. Opinion unchanged, even stronger in fact after having seen the film again. The audience I saw it with dug the hell out of it (there was a group that walked out, but god knows what they're story is... we all know that Adams isn't for everyone and they didn't appear to be big readers, the little I saw of them as they loudly exited the theater) and it even got applause at the end. So, go forth and read my original review if you haven't already and enjoy the flick, which opens this very day!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here in rainy Wellington finally catching up to writing up the test screening of one of my most anticipated films of the year, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. (YES, THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW, BUT NOTHING NEW TO ANYONE WHO HAS READ THE BOOK!)
I don't know how it worked out... I must have bumped into my own personal improbability drive button because I had a 12 hour window where I was in LA before heading up to Santa Barbara for the film festival and the screening fell into that 12 hours... and I got in... without having a ticket! How improbable is that?
Since I didn't have a ticket I almost decided to just head up to Santa Barbara, but I knew Moriarty was heading up to try to grease some palms with his fat wad of cash to snag a ticket and a fake name to get in, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did...
So, before I delve into my opinion of the movie, let me give a setting as to what kind of audience member I was for this particular film. I'm new to the books. There was always one or two floating around my house growing up, but there was never the first book, so even though the big planets with their tongues sticking out caught my attention I never got further than the first couple pages because I had no idea what those funny words like Slartibartfast and Beeblebrox meant.
Around Christmastime this year, I picked up the complete HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE volume and have been reading on and off, one book at a time since. I'm now about a quarter into LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING. I've never listened to the radio plays, nor have I seen the television version of the book. This comes strictly from a fan of Douglas Adams' books.
The words "Don't Panic!" are very apt for you HITCHHIKER'S fans out there. When they're adapting the text (which is about 85% of the movie) they are spot on. It seems when they begin to stray too far from the original text, they lose a little bit of the magic, with the notable exceptions of the added weirdness of what happens shortly after an Improbability jump... Let's just say that I've seen one of the best on-screen barfings ever. Though the new material didn't always work for me.
In particular, I really, really don't care for the Arthur and Trillian love connection. It feels out of place, it feels forced and at best it's corny. There should be an attraction, sure, but in the last act they really focus on Arthur's undying love and Trillian's realization that she wants someone like Arthur, not the swinging dick rock star like Zaphod, to the point where when the mice are about to cut Arthur's brain out, trying to find the question (to the answer from Deep Thought... the infamous "42"), he says something like, "The only question that really matters is if she'll say yes!"
Also the female Vice President that's tracking Zaphod and the Heart of Gold down because she secretly loves him didn't really work, either.
There, it's out. That's the worst thing about this early, early screening. The Arthur/Trillian/Zaphod triangle is the only really serious mistake, in my opinion. The rest of the movie is not just passable, but near perfect. Of course, there are some scenes that need to be massaged (especially in the first act where they cut back and forth between Arthur and Ford in the pub moments before the end of the Earth and a flashback of Arthur meeting Trillian at a costume party where she's stolen from him by Sam Rockwell, whose introduction is small, but note perfect), but the casting is great, the voices of the whale, the Heart of Gold and Marvin are great, the humor is spot on and The Guide is perfect.
Holy shit, guys. The Guide rules all. I've heard there was some more Guide stuff that wasn't in this cut and all I can say to Garth Jennings is if you got more Guide, put it in the movie. I don't think there's such thing as too much Guide. They literally have it interrupting the flow of the story, just like in the book, but it fits so well and captures Adams' voice so perfectly that the flow doesn't matter. Also, I may be wrong, but it felt like all the Guide stuff was almost word for word from the book. It visually resembles something that I'd imagine would be about two steps up in technology from modern DVD special features.
The film opens with home video footage of places like Seaworld and Marine World, of the dolphins doing their thing, jumping, swimming... Then there's the opening song... "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" followed by an explanation straight from the original text about the dolphins trying to warn the humans of their impending doom before taking off themselves.
It's perfect.
Now let's get onto the cast:
-Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent-
After watching his work in THE OFFICE, I was convinced he was born to play Arthur Dent. He has the everyman personality and because his character in THE OFFICE, Tim, was pretty much representing the audience throughout the show the way he reacted to David Brent's pathetic attempts at humor and Garreth's escalating weirdness... He was us. In HITCHHIKER'S Arthur is actually a pretty dull character as written, so they needed someone like Freeman who can give a great "What the fuck?!" face.
There was surprisingly little of Tim in Arthur, but he does pop up every now and again. I would have liked to see a little more of Tim, but I can't fault Freeman for wanting to spread his wings a little bit. He does a fine job as Arthur with a constant mask of confusion on his face. The only parts of his I didn't like involved the over-the-top Trillian/Zaphod triangle.
-Mos Def as Ford Prefect-
Def is the most controversial of the actors cast in this film. I didn't care that he was black and cast as Ford because in the book he's not described as Whitey McKracker, so all he had to do was be a good actor. I've never gotten a chance to see any of his stage work, but I've heard great things. In the film, he's perfectly fine. He has some moments that are a bit too over the top and a few that are a bit underplayed, but I totally buy him as Ford. He has a good chemistry with Arthur and Zaphod. I think Jennings may have to go back and pick some alternate takes in some of his conversations as he'll go from being spot on to reading the lines a little forced. That could also be fixed when they tighten up the film as well.
-Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox-
Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite working actors. His presence, along with Bill Murray's comedy, Tim Curry's awesomeness, Crispin Glover's weird-ass coolness and Drew Barrymore's goddess-like beauty made CHARLIE'S ANGELS one of my favorite mindless 2 hours of film of the last half-decade.
Rockwell rules as Zaphod (who does have two heads and an extra arm, by the way... just hidden, you'd say, but all the stuff about the second head being in his nose is a bunch of bollocks). There are moments that don't work, but I have faith that any kinks with the editing and timing will be ironed out by the time the film is released. Rockwell has all the swagger, the arrogance, the humor and slight vacancy in his eyes that the character of Zaphod requires.
I'm not sure how much I like the idea of Zaphod's brain being split between his two heads, making one head super aggressive and one easy-going, but I'm warming to it the more I think about it. The effects weren't done, so I can't really give an opinion of how well Zaphod's second head looks. The casting is just as perfect as you'd think Rockwell playing Zaphod would be.
-Zooey Deschanel as Trillian-
This will be the one that really splits the fans, methinks, but only because her character has the most drastic change from the novels. Zooey does a good job with Trillian, acts the part and looks the part, but I don't think I'll be alone in disliking the big movie romance they try to force onto her shoulders. I understand the need to spice up her and Arthur as they're the least flashy characters in the story, but I think part of the charm of the books was how dull they really were.
-Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast-
Perfect. Perfect in delivery, tone and appearance. Inspired casting.
Voices:
-Marvin-
Alan Rickman's stuff was very new when I saw this, so it wasn't mixed very well. It sounded as if his voice was coming out of all the speakers, so it was like a voice over, which made it hard for me match up the voice to Marvin at the beginning. Once again all that will most certainly be fixed by the time you plop down in your seat in May.
Rickman, much like Rockwell, is just as perfect for Marvin's voice as you'd expect him to be. The level of unbridled contempt is classic. Warwick Davis does a good job capturing Marvin's mannerisms and is a good match for Rickman's voice. Marvin will be an easy favorite from the film (although his last line doesn't make any sense... think about it, Jennings! The restaurant isn't a where, but a when!)
-The Heart Of Gold-
100% perfection as it stands. Just as chipper and overly friendly as a fan could hope for.
-The Guide-
Stephen Fry nails it. He narrates the Guide segments like the words came straight from his brain. It doesn't feel like someone reading a narration. It's fast, sure and hits every beat perfectly. He really is the voice of Douglas Adams in the film and shoulders that responsibility perfectly.
What was really funny to me about the test screening was just how much fan support was there. The line for the screening easily consisted of 4 times the amount of people that could fit in the theater. I don't think Disney has any real idea of how big a fan base these books have. I'm not joking or exaggerating when I say there was a row of people that wore towels around their necks at the test screening. I sat besides a middle aged mother and her 15 year old daughter who are both equally in love with Adams' books.
These books are crossing the generation gap and have fans just as rabid as the people who dress up as Jedis or Hobbits at ComicCon (where, incidentally, the trailer was the only trailer to premiere that got the whole room whooping and cheering). I think Disney may be a bit worried that the film is too weird, which is why I'm betting they tried that Arthur and Trillian love story. If it was an invention of Adams, then I guess I have no room to bitch, but if not, then I'll still take issue with it.
I think Disney should be a little relieved to see the fan support for the film and realize that they have a film right now that is almost there, just a few inches away from being 100% embraced by the fans of the books. Them pulling back and trying to include some weird romantic element to draw in the non-fans is only keeping fans like me from enjoying the film 100%. I think if they truly embrace the quirks of Adams through and through then the audiences will, too.
It's obvious Garth Jennings understands Adams and he's done a great job of bringing his spirit to the big screen. Obviously, I don't think it's a perfect job, but then again I have yet to see it completely finished. The effects weren't totally finished, the score wasn't in place (I did get a laugh from hearing some RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK temp score during the Deep Thought stuff, though, I must admit) and it doesn't have a finished sound mix or edit yet.
If it should happen that I sit down with my bucket of popcorn and super-mega huge Coke next May and see a HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY minus the romance I will be the happiest of all campers. No matter what, though, if they released the movie as I saw it, warts and all, it'd still be a great adaptation.
Some final thoughts... The Vogons rule. Moriarty stole my "best animatronics since Audrey II" line, but it's true. Fantastic work. John Malkovich is creepy and cool as Humma Kavula, the new character created by Adams specifically for a movie before he passed away... The nod to Adams himself is nice... Slartibartfast's tour through the planet production plant is gorgeous... Deep Thought looks awesome... The movie looks like 100 million bucks, though I believe it cost about half that... Did I mention The Guide rules?
That's about all I can think of. I can't wait to see the final film. Now it's time for me to thumb a ride to the bedroom and catch some Zzzz's. Happy Valentine's Day, squirts!
-Quint
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I'm seeing the movie today and I can't wait!
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Looks great
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I think it's a perfectly adequate and enjoyable sci-fi movie. In the way that From Hell was a perfectly adequate and enjoyable Ripper movie. It's just that the originals were so much more.
The thing which MJ Simpson's review leant towards but never really said is that HHGTTG isn't Star Wars with jokes. It's not even Monty Python In Space. It's The Adventures Of PG Wodehouse Across The Universe. It's more Psmith and Bertie Wooster than Men In Black. The cantor of the lines is much more important than plot, in the way it takes ideas off into tangents, perfectly syncopated. By truncating those lines and those tangents for brevity (and then wasting huge amounts of time in other areas) it loses the spirit of HHGTTG which the radio, the book, the play, the computer game, even the TV series managed to retain, despite their incredible divergences.
Some people complain about the romance. Bollocks. Lintilla from the radio and Fenchurch from the books didn't cause any problems. Humma is great. The Arkleseizure expansion is superb. Each incarnation is always (and traditionally should) be different from what's come before. But it's possible to lose the baby with the bathwater. And the time limitations of a movie aren't a mitigating factor either - hell the book was only based on the first 4 episodes of the radio series - of which a number of scenes were removed in subsequent versions.
It's a fun sci-fi movie. But then there are quite a few of those. HitchHikers should have been more.
And this is the worst of the six incarnations so far.
I hope there are sequels. And I hope, given the success this film will no doubt acheive, that they give themselves the luxury to keep the tangential nature of the Guide alive. If only for the Dish Of The Day's banter. -
Saw it last night, it is very very poor indeed.
Everything just falls flat, the dialogue is ruined - ruined I tell you!
The characters are watered down, apart from Zaphod - who is just really stupid and often nasty - he was supposed to be just very very vain and a bit dim.
Marvin is wasted... oh GOD! the lameness of the fridge gag!! - and worse, the arm gag!!
Basically the jokes are the same, but they just don't work here, and it's not just me being precious, the audience who I sat with laughed ONCE, and that was when the Vogons - who BTW are in this wayyyy tooo much - got hit by the point of view gun (not a hugely original idea, wasn't there something similar in Mystery Men?). And the plot... now makes zero sense (granted, plot was never the point of Hitch-hikers) - the new characters are rubbish, the love interest is pathetic. So basically, I didn't much care for it. Go buy the BBC DVD of the TV series instead, and/or treat yourself to the original and BEST version - the Radio Series. Even the books...I'm feeling wild.
It just isn't very funny anymore, so what's the point?
Mos Def was good though. I have to give the movie that. -
Big fan of the original BBC series (the best special effects this side of Spain) and moderate fan of the books. I guess I thought the movie was ok, not great. Hitchhikers is such a massive idea both in scope and actual content, it's so hard to try and fit it into a two hour format. A friend who has never seen or read any previous Hitchhikers movie really didn't get on with the film.
The main issue I had with it was a number of elements and backstories which felt watered down, and in some cases were left as unresolved threads in the cardigan of the guide. So to speak. The whole section involving Malkovich, for example, seemed a little pointless.
I also shocked myself in not liking Bill Nighy in this one. Pitch perfect as a step-dad in Shaun of the Dead, and a great feature of the Curtisland (one for the fans of Monkey Dust) fare that was Love Actually. But for some reason he just didn't work in this film. But then he's a great actor and won't give two tosses what I think. Nor should he.
I thought Mos Def was one of the best things in the film. A very nice counterbalance to both Freeman and Rockwell, who were also good. Deschanel is almost too attractive to play Trillian. So hard to get listening to the lines as opposed to staring...truly, I am perverted.
I've typed too much. But that's my British opinion for you all.
I imagine you'll read it and type things like wanker and gaylord about something completely unrelated. Great. -
Apr 29, 2005 6:35:59 AM CDT
You see I wanna know how much of Douglas' screenplay survived??
by big_bubbaloola
If most of it made its way through to the final product, then if your gonna blame anyone....blame him. But then on the flip side, ya can't blame him coz it was his baby and he constantly changed it. Ahhh....ummm.....I just lost myself....i'm sure theres a point in there somewhere.
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There are bits and gags that work, but overall it's almost like it was done by a bunch of people who quite liked the material but didn't know why, and as such couldn't seem to bring the greatness of it fully to life and make it truly pop. It's not a terrible film, it's not even a bad one, it's just, like I say, quite flat and a bit lifeless and lacking in the sharpness of the satirical wit that made the other versions so great. And just so you know, I love the books, but I'm not fanatical about then, really enjoyed the tv series and radio plays, but realise that both have their flaws in spots, but this, to me, on first viewing anyway, just feels kinda like Adams Lite, and like I said, lacks a general energy and spark to it all, and that rare Adams magic that he brought to all the other projects is largely absent here. It's well intentioned, and it does have moments though, but that's all it has really. At least that's my take on it anyhow.
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The point is, when it was written for radio it worked because the dialogue just bristled with engery and wit, they brought the words to life... this just doesn't do that, it's like, say that bit and then we cut to a great special effect and then zaphod will do something wacky. Watered down for the yanks - YET AGAIN. Seriously guys, you liked Shaun of the Dead didn't y'all? and they only changed one word for you boys - Pissed to drunk. If we're honest, Douglas did peak with the radio show in his 20's, it was all down hill from there, he never managed to top the guide. Such a shame...
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Saw this last night, not quite sure what i made of it, had a great time and all but I was insanely jealous of the chick that came with us who was a HG2TG virgin. I think the real issue is that I've been laughing at 90% of the gags in this for over 20 years, so instead of laughs it was smiles.
What was great: Magrathea. Mos Def was surprisingly good. The Eagles. The sighing doors. Old Marvin. Simon Jones. The Dolphin Song. No Sandra Bloody Dickinson.
What was bad. None of it really. Even Arthur & Trishia's romance was not as irksome as it could of been. The Whale scene could have been a little more complete. Not sure i liked the graphics for the guide as much as the tv ones. Some of my favourite lines and gags missing. But these are nitpicks. Still more fun than a big chunk of what we'll get served up over the summer anyway. -
Apr 29, 2005 7:39:44 AM CDT
Was is Ford Prefect called Ford Prefect and not Ford Focus or so
by angry chimp
Cause he was only Ford Prefect to show how lame his research was. Makes no sense now though.
It is strange that despite most peoples initial doubt about Mos Def he turned out to be one of the only good things in it.
And it made perfect sense that despite having a thick american accent he would claim to be from guildford.
That's ford, always looking for a good party, but never bothering to look into much before hand -
I've never read any of it and this is my first real encounter with it.
Reading info elsewhere, the stuff I liked the most about the movie is mostly unique to
either the fact it is a film (Hammer& Tongs - great use of music and visuals), in so much as directorial choices/set design
or the expanded stuff with the Vogons. Love the massive muppets (one of whom looks just like Maggie Thatcher from Spitting Image!).
Martin freeman plays a plank and thus comes across as such. Loved him in the office, but here he just bugged the shit out of me with nothing to do but look puzzled the whole time or pledge his random love to Trillian. Marvin looks and moves fantastic,
altho he is another waste of space. Not funny or endearing he just grates. Mos def is OK
as Prefect, but is not really given much to do but witter on about Towels
(apparently a big joke, but it is never explained, I guess I missed
something) and chase Zaphod around. Sam Rockwell fairs the best as Zaphod, but by the end he is just as bland and predictable as the rest. Were it not for Rockwell's charisma I would have totally given up. Oh and Zooey is nice to look at, but had me wondering where I recognised her from the whole time. Again does nothing. Hmmmm. So nothing *really* happens, nothing goes anywhere. The film comes across like a spastic, nebulous
sketchshow where the joke is on you but then the no one is even sure what the joke *actually* is. Really disappointing stuff. -
If the screenplay lacks punch, it's likely because Adams was getting bored of this material by the time he wrote the screenplay. The best books are the first two; the third is pretty annoying, and the fourth is good but not all that related to the first two (and has the real Arthur Dent romance). But Adams got less and less funny as time went by, and it was clear that he was tired of HHGttG. Making the same jokes work for 25 years is hard to do. Nevertheless, I plan to go and enjoy the movie for what it is and bask in the fact that they at least tried to get it right.
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http://forums.delphiforums.com/InsultLoki/messages?msg=13628.1
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People forget that Douglas Adams wrote his radio play nearly 30 years ago and things have changed. Radio and books are literary mediums, which use lots and lots of words (naturally). I think many of the critics of this movie would have been happy to sit and watch great chunks of the text from the Guide projected on the screen. Unfortunately, your average cinema goer and non-Hitch-Hikers fan isn't going to want that. This was meant to be the version that hit the mass market.
This film wasn't made for those of us who read the books obsessively and got into the radio play/TV series. It was made for a new generation of viewers. I saw the film today and I was lucky to have a group of 10-year-olds sitting in the row in front. Guess what? They laughed at the jokes, loved the dolphins and screamed with delight when the mice said "Bollocks" and got squished. They looked pretty happy with the film when it was over and I felt a warm glow knowing that those 10 year olds might just go off and discover the source material.
I liked the film and thought it captured a lot of Adams' spirit. I thought it was a fresh direction and a suitable update for the 21st Century. I didn't want it to be EXACTLY the same as the TV or radio show. I wanted different and I got it. Granted, there wasn't enough of the actual book in there, but for the little people this is the ideal introduction to the world of Douglas Adams. And at the end, when Adams' face came zooming out of the screen at me, my eyes went a little moist.
I paid my money and I got thoroughly entertained for 109 minutes. Thanks to all involved. They made a 34 year old feel like an 11 year old again. ;-)
Darren -
Apr 29, 2005 12:36:41 PM CDT
WHY is Ford Prefect called Ford Prefect and not Ford Focus or so
by angry chimp
So none of you geeks had the decency to point out that I made a fucking stupid error in my subject line?
The least you could have done is call me a 'tard or something.
I say you can't trust a 'self-proclaimed' geekoid who doesn't read stuff like Hitch Hikers until the movie is sticking out their asses.
Seriously, when you're a kid, it's The Holy Trilogy, Some Trek, Some LOTR, A bunch of superhero comics, Hitch Hikers and then all the rest of the shit out there.
God, I'm so depressed. -
Apr 29, 2005 12:37:29 PM CDT
WHY is Ford Prefect called Ford Prefect and not Ford Focus or so
by angry chimp
So none of you geeks had the decency to point out that I made a fucking stupid error in my subject line?
The least you could have done is call me a 'tard or something.
I say you can't trust a 'self-proclaimed' geekoid who doesn't read stuff like Hitch Hikers until the movie is sticking out their asses.
Seriously, when you're a kid, it's The Holy Trilogy, Some Trek, Some LOTR, A bunch of superhero comics, Hitch Hikers and then all the rest of the shit out there.
God, I'm so depressed. -
oops
here I am, clearly with a brain the size of a pea... -
That's as far as I got.
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So I guess I'll like it. Pretty colors! (baby clapping) ...Asshole.
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http://chud.com/reviews/2727
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Hell no. Many, many, many "yanks" love these books; and Adams spent many years of his later life here (in the US) teaching. If anything, it was watered down for kids by the ball-less Disney.
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Hell no. Many, many, many "yanks" love these books; and Adams spent many years of his later life here (in the US) teaching. If anything, it was watered down for kids by the ball-less Disney.
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I didn't do that. AINC is acting odd today.
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It's a movie! I've never understood the constant bickering back and forth about something like a movie. Some will like it, some won't. Your saying otherwise won't change people's minds. I saw it, I enjoyed it. And yes I've read the books a few times so I'm a fan. It all comes down to taste in the end. No matter what reasons you come up for liking or dis-liking, it's all taste and no one is right or wrong. Give it up!
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... at one specific instance, for about 40 seconds, I was smiling like a fool and tears streamed down my face. It occurred immediately after the destruction of Earth. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've watched the television version. ********************* My take on the movie? Geeks, dweebs and dorks will love it. Nerds will hate it. I'm not sure which of the previous three I am, but I was happy with the end result.
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Apr 29, 2005 3:23:09 PM CDT
"Also the female Vice President that's tracking Zaphod and the H
by archduke_chocula
Thanks Quint, I was wodnering who she was and why she was after Zaphod....and not trying to kill him. Saw it Wednesday, loved it, seeing it again today :)
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Apr 29, 2005 3:31:27 PM CDT
This is the only site I've seen give any sort of rave for this m
by zikade zarathos
...and the "raves" have been pretty so-so. Everyone else (Ebert, Chud, Rotten Tomatoes et al) have said it's either mediocre or just plain bad. Looks like I'll be skipping this one...
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into his songs? the Hitter has great lyrics but why does he have to speak all the words? FUCKCIN MELODY BRUCE!!!. it is your friend.
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I just heard a positive review on NPR. It's the first one I've heard.
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It's a movie BASED on the book... live with that, I loved it, though I must admit the rest of the audience was eerily quiet... the Pratchett/Gaiman/Adams loving side of me had a great time, the film looked stunning and if the narrative didn't make much sense then tough... didn't really expect it too anyway :)
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beforehand, everything seemed right with this - Garth Jennings said all the right things, it seemed a Jackson-Tolkein-style match of material and sensibility - but no. No, this is a damp squib; a terrible misshaped thing. Probably worse, yes, because I
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I just came back from seeing it--first off, the trailers before the film: I don't know why, maybe because it was a Touchstone (Disney) film, but almost all the trailers were kiddie flicks--the coolest one was "Chicken Little", which spoofed THHGTTG--the weirdest one was "Shark Boy and Lava Girl"...as for the actual film there wasn't too many laughs during it, a few chuckles here and there--I didn't laugh too much either, but I chuckled from time to time as well and I had a smile on my face for pretty much the entire film, which I think lies the main problem, which might not make much sense at first, but bear with me--if you have read the books, like I have, then their won't be too many surprises from the film--I don't know why there was all the talk that the film was going to deviate from the books in a major way, but that's just not the case--there are a few original bits but its pretty much taken from the books--therefore, the familiar smiles, the occasional chuckle for a favorite bit being acted out before your eyes, but no big laughs for anything surprising and original...I hate to say this but I don't think this film will do well in the U.S. because (and keep in mind I'm being objective about this): there are too many British references, too much narration and too much animation for a typical American audience (altho just think how much better the film might have been if the animated/narrated "Guide" plot-forwarding sequences were actually acted out vice the way it was done, I realize this was probably due to budget restraints--think how cool it would have been if the sequence about Arthur's "final words" floating over to a violent battle about to start would have been if it had been actually filmed, even if with CGI, ala LOTR--nowhutimsayin'? In short, I personally felt this was a noble failure along the lines of Hellboy--again, that's "personally", so hold your flames, jetboys...
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...but I know nothing of the original... so there.
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..want to see this film. I loved the books, and the TV series.
Oh, and i quite liked Hellboy too, and im a big fan off the original comics, so, there we go. -
i just got back from the movie.... sadly, it IS NOT 85% from the book. i'd say its about 40% from the book. almost every scene was altered drastically from the book for seemingly no apparent reason. MOST of the dialog has been changed and feels a lot like adlibing instead of the funny lines from the book. zaphod is flat out ruined.. ford was the best character and arthur was alright (aside from the horrid horrid love story angle, which will make you want to puke in your pocket). they changed so many things for no reason.. scenes take place in completely different settings just so they can setup some lame joke or so they could cut corners. great amazing jokes were flat out omitted for no reason. i really couldn't believe it.. I'd give a C- .... it was mildly enjoyable, but didn't feel like HHGTTG at all.... btw, i'm not a douglas adams historian.. i've read 2 and a half of the books and after seeing this movie, it'll probably be a while before i attempt to re-enter that universe, so that i may do so with an untainted palatte.
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I changed my last name to Fortytwo in 1998! (see g42.org for details)
I've seen the movie twice now (wearing a bathrobe and carrying my "42" towel of course).
I enjoyed the movie, but I think it could have been tightened up some more. I hope they make a DVD version without the slow romantic scenes.
My only major beef is with the Deep Thought scene. It looked nice, but it was executed terribly. The actors were not appropriate for their parts. The timing was terrible. Even at the midnight showing there was no cheering at that point by the audience because the timing in the movie did not urge us to suddenly cheer.
Other than that, I liked it. Zaphod and Marvin were wonderful.
If for no other reason, please go to the movie so that you'll finally understand the importance of always knowing where your towel is! -
And I liked the movie. I got a smile on my face somewhere around the beginning and it pretty much stayed there for the whole film.
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Did an interview with Mr. Adams years ago at E3 and had him proclaim the show as the greatest ever:
www.imhz.com -
batman begins trailer makes this film amazing
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It looked great, really, but I don't know where Quint is getting this 85% figure. The whole middle of the film isn't in the book. It's made up for the film, and it's pretty weak. The best dialouge has either been truncated or cut. Also, Rockwell was fine, but they ruined Zaphod. He's just a moron with a good smile now, nothing more, a one-note character. The love story was poor. Doesn't work at all because you never believe that Trillian would like Arthur or Zaphod. Plus, all the witty humor has been replaced by sight gags and slapstick (Ford and Arthur becomming sofas). It's downright lazy. It's not a terrible movie, but boy do I wish I'd gone to a matinee.
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Look... The book was not the be-all, end-all of the HHGTTG. In fact, the book was an afterthought (a good one, but still an afterthought). The radio play was first, and the spirit of that radio play is in this movie. Granted, it's a bit rushed in places- Primarily because they're fitting a 6-hour radio play into 2 hours. Some stuff had to get crunched a bit, and some had to go entirely, but they chose wisely. The HEART is there, though. The story is solid. The actors are all good. The main plot is virtually untouched, even if circumstances are changed slightly. I liked it a lot. I plan on owning this one on DVD, and seeing "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" when it's out.
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Looking forward to this movie for about twenty years, but this was just a incoherent, disjointed mess of a film that completely dispensed with the brilliant wit of Admans for some poor sight gags and tepid action scenes.
The few jokes that did survive were bulldozed by terrible comic timing and atrocious editing. A major dissapointment.
Visually is was awesome, though. -
Apr 30, 2005 1:12:32 AM CDT
If they're trying to fit the book/radio play into two hours...
by brock samson
why add the unneccesary Love triangle AND the Malkovich cult leader thing? They wouldn't have to rush things without these two elements. General question-does anyone think that the Malkovich subplot was pointless?
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Went to a late afternoon showing Friday night. I don't know what kind of crowd you all saw this in, but at least here in San Diego, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Lots of chuckles and even some guffaws (especially the added character of Malkovich, which I know a lot of you will hate - but that lampooning of the Catholic cross gesture was just too much for me and I lost it for about 30 seconds. Yes people started to look at me.) Each character part was played accurately and with great skill. The only scene that I was saddened to see cut was Arthur arguing with the tea dispenser about making a proper cup of tea. They just shortened it to keep the pace I realize, but that whole sequence was hillarious in the book. Ok, to stop this before I get to a 500 word review, see the movie, you'll have a smile on your face the whole time - and many many laughs later you'll realize that the 2 hour running time was just too short.
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"Granted, it's a bit rushed in places- Primarily because they're fitting a 6-hour radio play into 2 hours."
No they're not. They're only doing the first four episodes of the radio sitcom. So that's less than two hours. And there have been major chunks of that removed.
"Some stuff had to get crunched a bit, and some had to go entirely, but they chose wisely."
Not from where I was sitting. They took out the jokes, the language and the divergence. Pretty much the point of HHGTTG.
"The HEART is there, though. The story is solid. The actors are all good. The main plot is virtually untouched, even if circumstances are changed slightly."
HHGTTG was never about story or plot. It was hardly about characters.
"I liked it a lot. I plan on owning this one on DVD, and seeing "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" when it's out."
Based on the fifth, sixth and seventh episodes of the radio sitcom. Less than one and a half hours. -
IMHZ.com
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Marvin from the bbc mini series in line on Vogonsphere?
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It was old marvin queing ^^
I wanna know who was the woman in the pub staring at mos def throughout the scene? Adams missus??? who???
Yeah the film wasnt perfect but it was FUN. Plus the Vogons made me feel like a child watching films like Time bandits & dark crystal again.
Trillians quite hot ^^
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