Originally Posted by Sexy Celebrity
This movie was soooo boring. What was this movie about? I couldn't get into it - couldn't grasp the plot. I was just watching images. This movie was supposed to be funny, right? It was a strange and surreal experience - because I know I went to the movie theatre and saw a movie, though when I left it didn't feel like I had. Seriously - nothing clicked. I was ready to hitchhike to the House of Wax! Paris Hilton, pick me up.
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I don't necessarily believe that Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is a bad movie - though maybe a lot of other people who are fans of the book/TV show think it is - I had no prior knowledge of the Hitchhiker universe when I went to see the film yesterday.
And I'm still not sure if I do now!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is primarily satire, IMHO. The genre is "comedy science fiction" (in the words of the author, Douglas Adams). It was originally written in the tradition of Monty Python--it's the same sort of comedy. In fact, the author was a close acquaintance of the Monty Python crew, especially Graham Chapman, with whom he collaborated on several occasions.
Basically, you have to see this movie as a trip--it satirizes science fiction and science and makes a number of powerful comments on the human condition. It's loaded with irony and subtlety but not everyone is able to appreciate the humor. If you get the jokes (and there are plenty of them), it's the most hilarious, witty and insightful thing you ever saw (or read or listened to, depending on the medium). On the other hand, if you don't, it could come across as boring and pointless.
Hitchhiker was originally conceived as a radio play broadcast on BBC radio. Subsequently, it was adapted and expanded into a series of novels. The radio play was also released in album form and subsequently made into a TV miniseries, with many of the original cast. Only much later, and after the author's death in 2001, was the first novel finally made into a movie.
I agree with many that the movie does not capture the full Monty Pythonesque quirkiness and wit of the original TV show, radio play and novels. Still, to the average newcomer to the series, it is hilarious in its own right. It's a slightly dumbed down version of the original (which is why it suffers in the wit and irony department, when compared with the original) but, on the other hand, the special effects are a lot better thanks to CGI!
The TV show is pretty good, but the crude special effects kind of undermine it (the reason being that the visual effects are so important in this genre and, especially, in this piece). Actually, the TV show comes across kind of like a televised play. The acting is also pretty shoddy, to be honest. What I'd really like to see, though, is the entire series of novels made into a new TV series with up-to-date visual effects and some good acting for a change--acting that captures Douglas Adams' vision, wit, irony and insight! Just my two cents' worth!
Anyway, until then, the movie was fun to watch in it's own right! Not quite the same as the original, but not too bad for a Touchstone film! Enjoyable, entertaining and mildly hilarious!