The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

[Budweiserbob!]

I would just like to point out that this film is one of the best I have seen in a long time.

Just had to be said. xD

 

[AcornaMordor]

I'm DYING to see it! I just hope they kept true to the book (which they obviously didn't because Zaphod's second head is supposed to be beside the first because at the halloween party he crashed, he was a pirate and had the covered parrot cage on his shoulder covering his second head >.<)

 

[Fiend1]

I'm still in the middle of reading the books. Just started 'Life, The Universe and Everything' and loving the series so far.

I WILL be going to see this film at some point, but I'd like to get a view of things the way I see them through the books first. I think seeing the film halfway through reading will taint my interpretation a bit.

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

It was good - I bought and watched it the other day. 😀

Without giving too much away, you're right, it is quite different from the book (but then each version is different from the last - this differs from the TV series, which was surprisingly accurate to the book, which differed quite a bit from the radio play that came first).

Yeah, they should've kept Zaphod's second head next to the first one. Also, to give it a more modern action/adventure style, they used a lot more of the Vogons (who I did feel were underused a little in the book and TV series).

 

[BoundToTickle]

This book is the BEST on audio-tape. I swear it creates time travel capabilities as hours of driving pass by in mere delight-filled minutes. I bet the movie will seem very short....But I still can't wait to see it. DON'T PANIC!

 

[nessonite1]

I'll probably see it sometime next week. I am hoping it's good but I'm not going to hold my breath. I will try to remember to look at it as a stand alone movie and not a remake of the first.
I havent read through the books in years and I'm not now so it doesn't ruin the movie for me. I have read that the movie has left out a lot of things and I dont want to notice right away what's missing. 😛

 

[alchemy1]

Really, my only problem with it was that is seemed like they tried to cram a 4 hour plot into a 2 hour movie. If they had just stuck to the book for the most part and added the new ending, it would have fit into 2 hours and been ok. However, as if the plot of the book (or the radio drama) was not material enough, they felt the need to add in a completely new and separate plot-line. The addition of the second plot line made very little time to properly explore either. Instead, it dashes madly from scene to scene hoping to death that it will not only finish in the alloted time, but make some kind of sense while doing it. In most cases, just as one joke is coming to completion at least 3 more jokes are being poised to be completely missed altogether due not only to the audiences muffled laughter, but to the films apparent assumption that speed in editing is infinitely more important than comedic timing. So a lot of what would otherwise be wonderful jokes are missed and the audience is left with the opinion that the story is not nearly as funny as they were lead to belive.

 

[nessonite1]

I they would have been better making two movies. That's the way I always saw it as I had what I guess was originally a tv series on two tapes. I read that they completely left out the Rastaurant at the End of the Universe, The "B" Ark, and made up a whole new ending. *sigh* Thats why Im trying to look at it as a "new" movie rather than a "remake" of what I have always known...cause it never needed to be remade in my opinion.

 

[Budweiserbob!]

Indeed!

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

I they would have been better making two movies. That's the way I always saw it as I had what I guess was originally a tv series on two tapes. I read that they completely left out the Rastaurant at the End of the Universe, The "B" Ark, and made up a whole new ending. *sigh* Thats why Im trying to look at it as a "new" movie rather than a "remake" of what I have always known...cause it never needed to be remade in my opinion.

Ah, but the TV series on two tapes wasn't the first book - the first book comprised episodes 1-4 of the TV series, and episodes 5 & 6 were the second half of the second book.
Although there was no good reason for changing the ending so drastically in the film.

It's a pity they never televised all five books - perhaps they'll filmise (like televising, but with films - I'm copyrighting the word "filmise"© 😀) all of them this time around...

 

[nessonite1]

yes, the original composed of the first two books, I should have mentioned that. 😛

 

[Budweiserbob!]

Ok!

 

[wanto1]

Warning: Spoiler alert for the Uninitiated!

I they would have been better making two movies. That's the way I always saw it as I had what I guess was originally a tv series on two tapes. I read that they completely left out the Rastaurant at the End of the Universe, The "B" Ark, and made up a whole new ending. *sigh* Thats why Im trying to look at it as a "new" movie rather than a "remake" of what I have always known...cause it never needed to be remade in my opinion.

Really, my only problem with it was that is seemed like they tried to cram a 4 hour plot into a 2 hour movie. If they had just stuck to the book for the most part and added the new ending, it would have fit into 2 hours and been ok. However, as if the plot of the book (or the radio drama) was not material enough, they felt the need to add in a completely new and separate plot-line. The addition of the second plot line made very little time to properly explore either. Instead, it dashes madly from scene to scene hoping to death that it will not only finish in the alloted time, but make some kind of sense while doing it. In most cases, just as one joke is coming to completion at least 3 more jokes are being poised to be completely missed altogether due not only to the audiences muffled laughter, but to the films apparent assumption that speed in editing is infinitely more important than comedic timing. So a lot of what would otherwise be wonderful jokes are missed and the audience is left with the opinion that the story is not nearly as funny as they were lead to belive.

I hate to say it, especially given my sig, but I have to agree with Alchemy. In addition, per Nessonite's previous suggestion, I think this picture would have benefited from a serialization approach. I.E. a trilogy like LOTR , Star Wars, Matrix, et al. Too little time was given to developing each plot point.

Personally, I think the best elucidation was the original BBC radio episodes. The TV series could have used a bigger budget, FX-wise.

Sorry to be a downer. Overall, though, I felt the film mostly worked. This is particularly true when you factor in the vexing problem of trying to translate books/radio into a visual medium like film. Some choices were interesting (casting, certain plot-specific things, the "Henson Creature Shop" aliens, etc.), others were spot on, and a few things I wouldn’t have added (I think the movie tried too hard to develop a love story between Trillian and Arthur. Also, Earth Mark II should have been scrapped. The story probably should have ended with Ford and Arthur landing on prehistoric earth with the Golgafrinchans on the “B” Ark. It was a funnier scene).

It’s my two and a half cents. Still, I hope there’s a sequel in the works.

 

[nessonite1]

I will probably finally get to seeing the movie later today.
On a totally seperate (and legal) note...I love bit torrent.

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

I will probably finally get to seeing the movie later today.
On a totally seperate (and legal) note...I love bit torrent.

What wasn't legal about the rest of the conversation?

 

[nessonite1]

Just asserting that my use of bit torrent is entirely legal and has nothing whatsoever to do with the movie in question. cause pirated movies are bad, mm'kay?

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

...yes, of course pirate movies are bad. 🙄

***Shifts a stack of DVDs surreptitiously behind a conveniently placed large object***

 

[nessonite1]

I have seriously got to buy a dvd-r now. Ive got some files that were 8 gigs when Ive downloaded them. Fortunately something that big is usually multiple episodes of something so it can be split. 😛