Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[MadScientist]

Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

By Darren Waters
BBC News entertainment reporter
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif

Verdict on the new big-screen version of Douglas Adams' much-loved science-fiction novel.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41052000/jpg/_41052191_hitchhikers_four203.jpg
Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel and Mos Def play lead roles

Don't panic - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is not as bad as I had feared. Then again, it is not as good as I had hoped.

Stuck in development hell for the best part of 26 years, Douglas Adams' book has finally reached the big screen - four years after the author's death.

Adams' deceptively complex novels are crammed full of witty erudition, great gags and lengthy digressions, so it was always going to be a struggle to turn it into a neatly packaged two-hour movie.

Understandably perhaps, huge swathes of the novel have been cut in order to make a consistent, story-led film.

At the same time, director Garth Jennings tries hard to retain the comedic essence that so defined Adams' originals.

Beguiling

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy centres on the hapless Arthur Dent, who awakes one morning to find his best friend is an alien, his planet is about to be destroyed and that he is somehow central to a galactic scientific experiment to determine the meaning of life itself.

What marked the book out as more than a mere comedic romp was the density of ideas that Adams managed to distil in the text - everything from handheld computing to existentialism to musings on cricket and maths.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41052000/jpg/_41052193_hitchhikers_three203.jpg
Rockwell (centre) plays Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the galaxy

The key characters are all present in the film, with Dent played note perfect by The Office's Martin Freeman.

Sam Rockwell does a great turn as Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed president of the galaxy; Mos Def is passable as Ford Prefect; while Zooey Deschanel is beguiling as Trillian.

As the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android, Alan Rickman perfectly conveys the character's world-weary disdain, despite being woefully underused.

A lot of effort has gone in to keeping the film as faithful to Adams' vision as possible. But somewhere in the production process the crew has lost sight of the fundamental aspect of the books - they were immensely funny.

Truncated

The film burbles along at an amusing canter, occasionally rising to levels worthy of a chuckle. But unlike the books and radio series, it rarely makes you laugh out loud.

Some of the original gags find their way into the film version, but they feel neutered or truncated.

Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, who continued the adaptation work started by Adams, has had to make a number of sacrifices to get the text into cinematic form.

Unfortunately, one of the elements sacrificed is sense.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41045000/jpg/_41045385_hitchhikers_freeman203.jpg
Martin Freeman (left) plays the befuddled hero, Arthur Dent

Hitchhiker fans will know what is happening, but newcomers will be left scratching their heads at a story that flits from one unpronounceable planet to another - each one populated by equally exotic-sounding characters.

Did I say characters? Hmmm. While Dent is a familiar cipher, audiences will be left clueless by Ford Prefect, bemused by Zaphod Beeblebrox and indifferent to Trillian.

Despite outstanding production design and some fantastic visual effects, overall the film is a bit of a mess. A charming mess, maybe, but a mess all the same.

Did the script veer too far away from the source material or tie itself in knots trying to keep faith with it? Bizarrely, I think the answer is both. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is out in the UK on 28 April.




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4461899.stm

[Elimare]

Right, I've just scrolled past that and looked a the pictures.

Should I read it? or not?

[The Smircher]

I've read it.....and I'm still going to see it.
Can't wait !

[MadScientist]

Right, I've just scrolled past that and looked a the pictures.

Should I read it? or not?Nope. I didn't!!

[birdbath]

fuck the reviews. i'll be seeing this - i suspect more than once.

[AeroPhile]

"Zooey Deschanel is beguiling as Trillian."

http://fan-sites.org/zooey/4images/data/media/54/gq3.gif

[Griffin]

It'll be hard to keep me away from it, I'd always suspected that large parts of the book were unfilmable as they're inner monolgues but, still, can't wait !!!

[stretchneil]

I'm very nervous about this - the last film I started to get excited about, and was then left bitterly disappointed by, was I, Robot. That said, there's no way this can be THAT bad!

[AeroPhile]

I'd always suspected that large parts of the book were unfilmable as they're inner monolgues

Well, with Stephen Fry narar... narra... narat... doing the voice over they took that on too...

[AeroPhile]

I'm very nervous about this - the last film I started to get excited about, and was then left bitterly disappointed by, was I, Robot. That said, there's no way this can be THAT bad!

I waited for this to come out on DVD before seeing it, but all in all I thought it was a fantastic movie.

[jobwelldone]

Am I the only one who thought this book was kinda crap?

[AeroPhile]

Probably.

[Elimare]

So will people be bringing their towels?

[birdbath]

So will people be bringing their towels?

where's my poindexter gun?

[Elimare]

heh.

I didn't mean ME. I meant the other geeks.

[JoJo]

I already have the babysitter lined up so we can go and see it.... it had *better* be good !!!!

[Little Imp]

Mmm ... towels. Interesting, now that you've mentioned it I don't think I'll be able to go without one. DAMN YOU.

[stretchneil]

I waited for this to come out on DVD before seeing it, but all in all I thought it was a fantastic movie.
Really?? Hmm, maybe it's just a personal dislike of Will Smith movies. Actually no, even as I typed that I knew it wasn't true - worst adaptation possible of what was a truly remarkable book, IMHO of course!

[AeroPhile]

Yeah I agree it wasnt true to the books, but as with most modern sci-fi adaptions (Minority Report being a good example) the works they are based on dont tend to be very hollywood. Brilliant concepts but with underlying sinister tones that might be unpalatable to american audiences. And thats who the big studios are selling to.

A good example of this would be The Time Machine by HG Wells. What a brilliant read. But the book dealt with class divisions seen from a victorian perspective and how the perpetuation of upper class rule ultimately led to the human race evolving into two seperate species, and regardless of their distaste for each other, they were utterly dependant on one another for survival, accentuating the need for a greater understanding between people to avoid the development of an almost symbiotic co-dependancy and ultimate stagnation of the species as a whole.

Where as the movie boiled it down to boy meets girl, battles monsters, big explosion and happily ever after.

Or maybe I thunk about it too much....

[vibe666]

how could you not go and see it.

I'll be looking out for the towels now! :D

[Spanky]

I hope it's good, but I don't like the look of Marvin. I think they took the whole "brain the size of a planet" thing a bit too literally. Is his whole left side swollen too?

[Griffin]

Wonder if they'll release towels as part of the merchandise ? Be mad not to...

[Ida Lovett]

Maybe the BBC will use the excuse of the release of the filum to show it's series (from the late 1970's / early 1980's) again.

I've seen a trailer of the filum - wasn't too impressed with it.

[mmcg]

Is his whole left side swollen too?
That's probably down to his sore diode.

[TheFunkeyGibbon]

I bet they dropped the really good banjo theme from the radio show.

[jumpy]

My sunglasses just went black.

I cant see anything through them.

[Griffin]

My sunglasses just went black.

I cant see anything through them.
Man, I bought HHGTTG game for the amiga (or was it the 64). It was the super delux edition that came with danger sensitive sunglasses (made from black cardboard) in the box... memories... :)

[Spanky]

My sunglasses just went black.

I cant see anything through them.
Are you a cyclist?

[julia]

I don't think I've been this excited about a movie since Star Wars.

I can't wait to see this. I'm trying to avoid the reviews, good or bad.

[blastman]

Talking about the theme, as we almost were, did you know that the theme of the TV series (not sure if it's different to the radio series) is an Eagles tune?

[Grumblefish]

"Life? Don't talk to me about life...."

The banjo theme tune WAS brilliant.

SO how fucked off is Grumble to find out that while I can't find anywhere on th'interthingy to download the tune, I DO find out iit was based on a fupping EAGLES song....

I fuppin hate hate hate the Eagles.

*sigh*

Life is one long smelly indian takeaway induced excuse for a turd...

[Rowche Rumbler]

Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41052000/jpg/_41052193_hitchhikers_three203.jpg
Rockwell (centre) plays Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the galaxy



doesn't Zaphod look liike Artic Blather

[shimjimminy]

artic?
http://www.pro-mod.co.uk/promod/images/products/small/PRO227%20Volvo%20Artic%20BT%20Grey%20Piper%20small.jpg

[Rowche Rumbler]

i knew it was wrong as i was posting it but i like to let the spelling fashists (sic) get their moment of glory ;-)

[shimjimminy]

hardly fashist. i was simply making a humourous comparison. architects are people too *sob*

[Rowche Rumbler]

architects are not people - if they were they wouldn't leave you hanging for 2 months and then watch as your dream home slips into the mud *sob*sob*and*double*sob*

[shimjimminy]

i can dig it
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/weather/0501/gallery.storms/gal.02.sinking.house.ap.jpg

we all have our issues, but some of us are just cunts.

[joon]

Has anyone seen this yet? Snorky and I are going on Sunday, I've just booked the tickets. I even got the best seats. We're in the back row at the top of the aisle so we can see the whole screen, he's got room for his legs and tall people can't sit in front of me. And there are all the other benefits of being in the back row at the movies, of course.

[BlueChip]

Tonight Tonight..Tonight's the night

Just booked the tickets.

[Rowche Rumbler]

going tonight meself. slight trepidation

[joon]

Cool, have fun. It'd be fab if you could report back, but no spoilers please!

[Elimare]

bah! and bah!

[Griffin]

Going tonight. Introducing a 10 year old to the wonders of Douglas Adams

[joon]

What's up, Eli?

[The Bakerman]

Am I the only one who thought this book was kinda crap?
Probably the only one in the universe mate...

[divisman]

I always check rottentomatoes.com to get a sense of how the critics view new films.

HitchHikers is getting a fair result - but the trouble is that American reviewers come in two categories on this one - those who know the story and expect the same magic on celluloid, and those who haven't read the book and expect some Star Wars-esque flick. Fuckin' lose-lose situation, if you ask me.

My biggest fear is that the flick gets too Disney-fied. but here's hoping.

[stretchneil]

Saw this yesterday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it - witty, entertaining way to spend a couple of hours

[BlueChip]

I heard some snippets of it last night on Dave fanning and they played the same clip from the Radio series before hand, the radio sounded so much better, but then again i suppose it had to.

[BlueChip]

Okay, Seen it and as you can see from my avatar Marvin is my new god. Firstly the Film isn't the books and i didnt expect it to be, as films go it's a decent film.

Plenty of laughs, Marvin is the star of the show IMHO. There isnt a lot of 'The book says this and the book says that' bits which i was slightly dissapointed in.

Stay in the cinema through the credits there's a bit of an extract half way through.

If you dont know what the film covers look away now I hope they do the other 2 books cause i really want to see the Restraunt at the end of the universe

[Griffin]

Damn. Bluechip, what happened on the credits ? left before the end of them.

My review. Loved it (mostly) DNA would have been proud.

[joon]

Great, I'm seriously looking forward to it now. I'm happy as long as we don't totally hate it and end up sitting in a bar afterwards ripping it apart, and it looks like we're going to enjoy it.

[BlueChip]

Damn. Bluechip, what happened on the credits ? left before the end of them.

My review. Loved it (mostly) DNA would have been proud.


You know how they display how the book tells you about stuff, well in the middle of the credits the book tells of the piece "It is of course well known that careless talk costs lives"..where the alien race attacks earth and is eaten by a dog just rounded it off nicely

[Ida Lovett]

Is it as good as the BBC TV series from the 1980's?

[BlueChip]

Cant say, never really saw that.

[joon]

Apparently Slartibartfast was originally going to be called Phartiphuckborlz. Which is fine for the books, but really wouldn't work on the radio series, so DNA changed it.

[Ida Lovett]

Cant say, never really aw that.

A friend had it on videotape untilthe machine ate it. We alwaysmeant to copy it but never got around to it. It was a splendid altogether.

This might be useful:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/

[Biggyrotten]

Slartibartfast was originally going to be called Phartiphuckborlz.
Passionfruit everywhere, brilliant. Thanks, first time I laughed today :laugh:

[Griffin]

The original Marvin makes a cameo too

[JoJo]

Is it as good as the BBC TV series from the 1980's?

Unfortunately not ! But still an entertaining movie.. I'd give it 7/10

Stephen Fry is excellently cast as the narrator and I very much enjoyed the "So long and thanks for all the fish" song - Neil Hannon has the perfect voice for it. Marvin and Arthur worked well - the other three main cast.. Zaphod, Trillian and Ford just didn't do it for me. Trillian could have been replaced with a plank of wood without any discernable difference ! The Vogons were great and Bill Nighy (last seen in Love Actually) made a reasonable Slartibartfast. I hated Zaphod's second head - much prefered the old wobbly one that the BBC made him in the original series :toothy:

Overall it was good fun - a fair few laughs. I'm probably too big a fan of the books, the radio and the tv versions to give this movie a fair review, but it's definitely worth going to see it. Enjoy !

[shimjimminy]

and the babby? well?

[BlueChip]

Have to agree with the second head but I thought Trillian was good.

[JoJo]

and the babby? well?

Still in bump. Looks like it will get away without being named Marvin or Trillian !

[shimjimminy]

be careful you don't go to see "the assassination of richard nixon" any time soon. no child wants to be called "dick".

[Rowche Rumbler]

can't see how people who didn't read the books would 'get it.' It seems like they tried to cram a little too much in to the film

[dellarocca]

Paramount Comedy 2 tonight. From 9. The 80's tv show. I'm gonna miss it. Shit. Can't see the Jamaican housemate to sit through about 4 hours worth of it just because I want it recorded.

[joon]

The whole thing? Cool, I'll get himself to Plus it before he comes over. We're off to see it tonight, yay!

[dellarocca]

6 episodes anyway (http://www.paramountcomedy2.co.uk/PCC2whatson/whatson_PC2.asp). I can't remember how many there were.

[joon]

Just the six, I think. I'll check the BBC/cult website

[joon]

Definitely just the six. Though if you buy the DVD, episodes 2, 4 and 6 are longer than those originally broadcast.

[Spanky]

It's 192 minutes, so that would probably be 6 episodes.

I think I'll go and watch them right now.

[joon]

We saw it yesterday evening and really enjoyed it. Loved the factory floor on Magrathea, absolutely LOVED it. It was beautiful. The planet shaped like Douglas Adams' head was fun.

[ickabod147]

Tonight Tonight..Tonight's the night

Just booked the tickets.


Now I've got that awful Phil Collins/Genisis song stuck in my head.

http://www.arellanes.com/archives/phil_collins.jpg.jpg

[BlueChip]

Sorry, i wasnt even conciously thinking of that as i posted the message

[PinkNFluffy]

You know how they display how the book tells you about stuff, well in the middle of the credits the book tells of the piece "It is of course well known that careless talk costs lives"..where the alien race attacks earth and is eaten by a dog just rounded it off nicely

I liked that little bit during the credits - we were just about the only people left in the cinema for it. Loved the film, though its about 16 years since I read the books so I could do with a refresher. I much prefer the Creature puppetry over cgi anyday, I've always had a place in my heart for Jim Henson creatures. Someone might have mentioned it on the thread already, but there were also interesting cameos including Marvin and yer man Jones who played Arthur Dent from the original BBC series. Was that Jason Schwartzman in an interview about Zaphod? The bloody opening sequence song is stuck in my head like shit to a blanket though <singing>"So long and thanks for all the fish"</singing>.

[Elimare]

Now it's stuck in mine. Saw this yesterday, didn't know about the end credit thing so missed that.

And didn't the Heart of Gold change into DNA's head right at the very end?

[joon]

Eli, yes it did. Nice touch, I thought.

[BlueChip]

Yes Eli it did, The song is catchy alright.

[BlueChip]

Feck Ye all , I walking round now singing 'So Long and thanks for all the fish...'

[dellarocca]

The first episode of the TV series was on BBC last night. Cheesy stuff all together (but good). Hadn't seen it in ages. The narration is the biggest load of toss though.

[Mentok]

really loved this film as did my companion who hadnt read any of the books. Dont think the rest of the audience were as keen though judging by the way they rushed out at the end. The narration which is vital to the radio and book versions was handled excellantly which i had been worried about as this is where some of his the best humour lies.
The whole thing had a nice lo-tech feel to it aswell (the string puke!)

Fingers crossed for 'The Restaurant at the end of the Universe' anyway

[Elimare]

yeah, the ball of wool was a good bit.

[Rudy]

Can't wait for it to arrive here (probably about 20 years time).

I was never a big fan of the TV series, but I loved the radio series and (naturellement) the bukes.

[Lori]

Love this story:
Hitchhiker's Guide to netting £4.2m

Colin Blackstock
Wednesday May 4, 2005
The Guardian

To fans of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy it will come as no surprise. They've always known the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42. But in a "delightfully improbable coincidence", the film has taken £4.2m in its opening weekend.

..snip..

Hitchhiker's Guide to netting £4.2m

Colin Blackstock
Wednesday May 4, 2005
The Guardian

To fans of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy it will come as no surprise. They've always known the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42. But in a "delightfully improbable coincidence", the film has taken £4.2m in its opening weekend.

The film version of Adams' cult classic went straight to the top of the British film chart over the bank holiday weekend. In the US the film has done the same, knocking the Nicole Kidman thriller The Interpreter off the top spot.

Article continues
------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------

A spokesman for Buena Vista, the Disney company behind the film, said the £4.2m figure was "a delightfully improbable coincidence".

"I'm sure the fact that the film's opening gross was £4.2m would have delighted Douglas Adams," he said.

In the story, the supercomputer Deep Thought finally reveals that the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42.

Adams fans put forward various theories as to what it all meant. But the writer later admitted: "The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base-13, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do'. I typed it out. End of story."

The film features The Office star Martin Freeman as reluctant hero Arthur Dent, who wakes up one morning to find the Earth is being demolished to make way for an intergalactic bypass.

Adams' story started life on the radio and was turned into a TV series and several novels before making it to the big screen.

The film surprised American pundits when it went to the top of the chart and took more than $21m (£11m).

Whether fans will make anything of this figure is debatable, but it's unlikely to go unnoticed that it's half of 42.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1475869,00.html

[TheFunkeyGibbon]

I really liked this. Yes i already knew the best jokes but like a worn old jumper that you still love, this is the same feeling.

The 'Infinite Improbability Drive' was really excellently realised and while the book is far, far, far better (so is the radio series) this was still a lot of fun.

Did anybody else notice the planet in the shape of DNA's head in Magrathea? I also loved the original TV Marvin in the Vogon queue and Simon Jones as the Magrathean announcer.

Generally it held together well and I suspect it'll shift enough on DVD to get a sequel made.

[Sappy]

I can't wait to see this. I'm currently watching the BBC series DVD set in preparation.

Does it compare well?

[TheFunkeyGibbon]

I can't wait to see this. I'm currently watching the BBC series DVD set in preparation.

Does it compare well?

Well the effects are better. Trillian is anoying in both and the choppi-ness of the film is a bit odd but yes, generally it's not too bad.

[Sappy]

That will do for me.

The actress from the film can't have anywhere near as annoying a voice as Trillian from the series...

[TheFunkeyGibbon]

That will do for me.

The actress from the film can't have anywhere near as annoying a voice as Trillian from the series...

No not that bad, but she has a pretty good go.

[Sappy]

eeep - why would they do that!!!!

[Anouilh]

The Radio 4 version is worth listening to. Passes the time nicely while working on e-mail.

There is a lively website at:

http://globelogger.com/item.php?id=378


The surreal nature of Adams' work is truly amusing.

[magicbastarder]

New Hitchhiker's author announced

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7619828.stm

[Griffin]

Hmmmm... Don't know about that....

The "collection" that was released had a lot of potential - Salmon of doubt (http://www.amazon.com/Salmon-Doubt-Douglas-Adams/dp/0345460952/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221667750&sr=1-1), but I lost it before I got to where DNA had finished & I never picked up another because I didn't want it to finish, but that was all "Dirk Gently" stuff.

There was another book called "Starship Titanic (http://www.amazon.com/Douglas-Adamss-Starship-Titanic-Terry/dp/0345368436/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221667625&sr=8-1)" which was a spin off from one line in one of the hitchhiker books which was written by Terry Jones which was excellent & very similar to DNA. I wish they'd got him to finish the salmon book