The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Adrian Bamforth]

The always thought provoking Kermode review is online...

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/fivelive_aod.shtml?fivelive/kermode290405" target="_blank">...and he doesn't mention The Exorcist.

[IndigoPrime]

:: or the improbability drive, as it's also known-
:: the greatest deus ex machina out there in my opinion

I was thinking more along the lines of the Malkovich character  myself, and that gun.

[Carlsborg Expert]

Yuo dont know how

really

comforting to hear that is Conex and hopefully a great example of the film and original fans of the books connecting.
Martin Freeman did mumble how he hoped the film had something for everyone.

I havent seen the film myself yet but your more positive review since your viewing is very encouraging.
:)

[paulvonscott]

I saw it and er...

I think it's best I don't start talking about it, even thinking about it produces some strange effects.

It...

No, I can't

The one thing I will say is that I do think they should have got a director familiar with comedy as opposed to some pop video blokes.  The film might have been less... and more...

(Paul's brain promptly explodes)

[paulvonscott]

(a few pieces of Paul's brain coalesce to think a few more thoughts)

I don't really agree with MJ Simpsons review, having seen the movie it still comes across as hysterical and ill though out.

But then I don't have anything better to say about the film.

I went onto the site to read the review, and found that in the guestbook, Americans, presumably who are paid by Mickey Mouse are still calling him a faggot.

(Paul's small amount of remaining brain matter evaporates)

[Bico]

I took my dad to see it this evening.  He has League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Species 1 and 2, and Van Hellsing on dvd - and he *still* said that this was rubbish.
It's not as bad as being anally rammed by a sperm whale (long story) - but not by much.

It's like someone was vaguely aware of the elements in the book, and had seen Brazil once.  Or pictures of it in a book.
It just wasn't funny.  That's all I can say, really.

[SamuelAWilkinson]

Saw it tonight, and probably put it on a par with the tv series - quite enjoyable, but really only an introduction to the books/radio.
The thing about Adams' stuff is that it's all about the absolute precision of his choice of words. There's clearly a lot of sentences in his books which he sat and thought about which particular synonym of 'eat' to use here, or whatever. This kind of thing, obviously, does not look good on a screen.

Having said that, though, I did quite like all the stuff on Vogsphere and all the various cameos, especially those of the deer-like creatures and crabs on the vogon ship, possibly only amusing to Hitchhiker vets.

Am I alone in thinking, though, that Dirk Gently would have made for a better film?

[Adrian Bamforth]

I made the mistake of thinking it was going to try to be the full first series ie the first two books, with some stuff taken out. As it turned out it was more like the plot of the first book with some new Adams(esque) stuff added for free which sounds like an ideal approach.

I think they therefore decided not to dwell on the 42 stuff since it would be left unresolved til the end of the next film, and bring in the replacement Earth in order to make it seem a happier more resolved ending rather than just a first part. Didn't work of course, but I can see they were trying to make the right compromises.
The beurocracy story was in the spirit of Adams (he wrote the adventure game Beurocracy on the very subject) though as we all know it was done better of course in The Twelve Tasks Of Asterix.

Trillian however, was marvelous, always easy on the eye and finally fleshed out from the underwritten character of the original, and it made perfect sense to play her off against Arthur and bring out her human side (the Arthur & Trillian characters actually compliment each other nicely.)

Basically I think all the changes were good in theory, bad in practice, it was a film brimming with Adams' and Adamsesque ideas in which the plot didn't work and there were too many things that made little sense: Why did Ford have a trolley of beer? Why were the Vogons chasing everyone? Who's that woman with the Vogons? Why did the Vogon planet keep slapping them? Why didn't the Malchovich guy get the gun himself? Why would Zaphod care about Magrathea? Why did the planet fire at them? What were those portal things? Why was the gun still with Deep Thought? Why didn't anyone object after Arthur killed the mice? Why did they make the Earth all modern for Arthur? Of course they should have ditched the Vogon planet stuff and kept in more dialogue to explain it all.

However, nice to see so many Adams ideas so beautifully realised, and the song was just inspired. I hope the sequel is made with the problems ironed out - I say get the same guys to do the visuals, just get a decent writer/director in.

ADE

[KingPhone]

Happy birthday Leonia!

I'd like to see the movie. I am getting sick of extravagant praise for Douglas Adams...almost every review opens with some gushing about him being a combination of P.G Wodehouse, Groucho Marx, James Joyce (insert name of writer for whom no praise is too much here) and so on. I liked him...just didn't think he was that great.

[Dudley]

The Hitchiker's Guide film made precisely ?4.2 million in the UK in its opening week.

And $21 million in the US.

Cosmic co-incidence?  I don't think so...

[Adrian Bamforth]

I almost forgot (pedantic point): Why did Trillian get Arthur a crappy cup of tea from the machine instead of a nice one from the "it-makes-whatever-you-want" machine which she used herself immediately after?

ADE

[Bad Andy]

I don't remember the exact bit in the film but wasn't the joke in the book that the 'gets whatever you want' machine always comes up with something that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

And this is a good example of the care that went into the originals that are sadly missing. My fav is  (when talking about the Vogon Constructor Fleet) 'They hang in the air exactly the same way that bricks don't'

[Tiplodocus]

"almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. "

I always thought that was a joke about vending machines in general.  

[IndigoPrime]

:: Why were the Vogons chasing everyone?

Because they were trying to capture the kidnappers.

:: Who's that woman with the Vogons?

Someone high up in the galactic government, who quite clearly had a thing for Zaphod.

:: Why did the Vogon planet keep slapping them?

Uh, that was a joke. Every time someone got an idea, they got slapped. Hence why the Vogons are ideal bureaucrats! (Why said slapping didn't continue into the city itself, however...)

:: Why did the planet fire at them?

Because it was closed for business and they wouldn't go away.

:: What were those portal things?

Dimension jumps to make the Magrateheans' lives easier.

::  Why didn't anyone object after Arthur killed the mice?

Uh, why would they object.

:: Why did they make the Earth all modern for Arthur?

In the film, it was stated the Earth Mk II was a back-up, not a reboot.

[Darryl]

I liked the film, we went the other night, and the comment made by my girlfriend was that it was the best film we had been to see recently. I thought that Sam Rockwell was poor, probably the weak link in an otherwise great cast.

A good enjoyable film.