HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy. *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

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STOMP FREAKIN' TASTIC!
Just watched HitchHikers at my local UCI.

I've got to admit, after seeing the trailers and watching the original series i was pretty hyped about seeing this film. But, after seeing it i feel a little disapointed.
But i don't know why.

Sam Rockwell as Zaphod, in my opinion made the movie, his comedy and general acting in this film kept me entertained and amused.

Martin Freeman was good as Arthur. I've been a fan of MF since The Office and he didn't let me down here.

Bill Bailey as The Whale, pure class. Just like watching him in stand-up.

Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok seemed to be a pointless character. I didn't even know it was Anna until the credits rolled up..... i thought it was Davina McCall.

Marvin the Depressed Robot was just basically getting on my **** by the end of the film.

Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast was superb. I might be being biased here as Nighy is my favourite actor, but IMO he just rules in the albeit short period of time he is in this film.

****SPOILERS****





Favourite part of the film was the Planet Building Factory. Superbly done. It just looks freakin' great.

I think they could have done a better job with the imagery of the actual guide. Considering it's supposed to be the bestest book in the universe sort of looked a bit cheap.

Absoluteley detested the opening and ending music number. Ok, so it was a nice start with the dolphins but that song is jus so.... Urrrrgh!







****End SPOILERS****

I like the film but there's just something there, niggling away about it and i can't put my finger on what but there is someting about the whole film i just didn't like.

So to sum up.... I like the film but at the same time don't.
So i've go to be fair and give it 5/10



Hilarious movie. I thought it did the book justice! I'd like to see the sequel(s)--the adaptations of the rest of the books in the series!

Actually, I thought the song was kind of catchy... "So long and thanks for all the fish..." pretty funny song and had a nice beat to it... but then, that's just me speaking.

All in all, a very enjoyable movie-going experience--I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone, esp. to Douglas Adams afficionadoes!



Saw it last night. I thought it was terrible. Mabe only 2 scenes throughout the entire movie that made me chuckle. From the trailers I figured it was going to be crap and was hoping from all the hype about this film, i would be surprisingly wrong. I was not in the least. I just couldn't wait for this painful experience to end and was all too happy when it did. I'm actually amazed at anyone who considered this a funny movie. It was childish if anything.

4/10 at best.



I thought it was great myself.
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I thought it was pretty good too, story didn't flow altogether that well though. Probably because they were trying to put in as much from the book as possible, so each scene didn't really jell together that well. It was pretty funny overall, decent acting and compelling characters (Go Marvin!). I'd give it 3.5/5.

Fav Part: When the little crab alien is jumping and doing little cheers, for about 10 seconds then gets cunched by the door opening Ok it's kind of stupid humour but was right up my alley



Originally Posted by SpoOkY
I thought it was pretty good too, story didn't flow altogether that well though. Probably because they were trying to put in as much from the book as possible, so each scene didn't really jell together that well. It was pretty funny overall, decent acting and compelling characters (Go Marvin!). I'd give it 3.5/5.

Fav Part: When the little crab alien is jumping and doing little cheers, for about 10 seconds then gets cunched by the door opening Ok it's kind of stupid humour but was right up my alley
The funniest scenes in the movie to me were:

WARNING: "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" spoilers below
When they had bodies of wool or yarn and the guy also puked wool. The other one was when they were getting slapped in the face by those hidden sand creatures with their fly swatting hand thingies.



And this is my BOOMstick!
Originally Posted by SpoOkY
Fav Part: When the little crab alien is jumping and doing little cheers, for about 10 seconds then gets cunched by the door opening Ok it's kind of stupid humour but was right up my alley
I loved that part!

Wee! Wee! Wee! Wee! Wee! *splat*
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The thing I liked best about the movie was the dry wit and philosophical insight of Douglas Adams that parts of the movie captured very well--I thought it did a great job in presenting the actual "Hitchhiker's Guide". As for the rest of the movie, well, admittedly it compromised on the contents of the book, but even so, I think it did an exceptional job of adapting it to the screen. The only thing I found kind of silly were the typical Hollywood add-ons that are inevitable in this sort of project, but which the movie could really do without. I thought Zaphod was dead-on--the portrayal of his character was way better in the movie than in the TV show. I also liked the effects and the randomness of the plot (which is the idea, I guess--I mean the movie begins with the world blowing up and so randomness and chance is one of the themes of the movie, I'd say--satirizing science fiction and science fact).

All in all, I came out of this show liking it a lot. I'd say, go for it, if you're interested!



i still think that if you want to capture douglas adams dry wit and philosophical insight, then stick with the books or the bbc series...the movie took too many liberties with the material...and i didn't think that the film was bad, just a little disappointing...



Neutral Milk Hotel
I thought this movie would be good but when i saw it I was very dissapointed. I think that maybe if I saw it again i might enjoy it more.
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having not read the book for about 10 years, i think its quite good,
didn't really like john malkovich's character, but the love triangle thing ended up working well.
can anyone find the lyrics to "so long and thanks for all the fish" that song is hilarious
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STOMP FREAKIN' TASTIC!
Originally Posted by Uncle Rico
I thought this movie would be good but when i saw it I was very dissapointed. I think that maybe if I saw it again i might enjoy it more.
Exactly what im thinking. Its out on DVD in September (my loacal HMV has already got the posters up behing the counter).
I'll maybe wait until then or just get the D/L Screener.

**** For The UK's out there****

Is it just me or did Zaphod remind you of Rik Mayall? (Lord flash-heart for looks and Richie, from Bottom, for sound)?
Or is it just me.



Originally Posted by The Sarge
Exactly what im thinking. Its out on DVD in September (my loacal HMV has already got the posters up behing the counter).
I'll maybe wait until then or just get the D/L Screener.
Awesome! I'll definitely be buying that one for all the extra features! Thanks for the info!



Originally Posted by Angel_of_Music
having not read the book for about 10 years, i think its quite good,
didn't really like john malkovich's character, but the love triangle thing ended up working well.
can anyone find the lyrics to "so long and thanks for all the fish" that song is hilarious
I agree--the song is outrageously funny! Made me laugh out loud!

John Malkovich was out of his element, I thought, but he was a nice touch.

I would really like to see the Restaurant at the End of the Universe on screen, though! That one should be awesome to watch!



Originally Posted by susan
i still think that if you want to capture douglas adams dry wit and philosophical insight, then stick with the books or the bbc series...the movie took too many liberties with the material...and i didn't think that the film was bad, just a little disappointing...
The books are authoritative, of course--there's no denying that!

The TV show is pretty good, but the visual effects are pretty crude and the acting is so-so. It has some nice touches, of course, but, on the whole, it was a pretty crude attempt at adapting the books. I enjoyed it, but it didn't quite capture the sophistication of the books. I thought the movie, for all the liberties it took with the material, did a better job of that!



I enjoyed the film, though what the hell happened with the Malkovich story, it seemed they forgot about it...

I pretty much agree with everything The Sarge said, spot on.

BTW, the BBC series is starting this tuesday on BBC2.

(I preffered xXx2)
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I found it really really painful. I didn't think any of Adam's philosophical strands made it in at all (let alone got brought to the surface - aside from the obvious '42'/mice-ruling bit). But that was to be expected - it's a streamlined sci-comedy.

My main prob was that the incidental humour they plumped for often jarred with Adam's more laconically-silly style. In the books/radio etc many of the jokes also back up his redemptive 'spiritual-athiest' world views, adding webs of structure and hope to the chaotic universe Arthur finds himself in, whereas here they were just throw-away lines for the most part.
WARNING: "Magrathea" spoilers below
I found the visual joke of the mushrooms being 'inflated' on Earth Mk2 really annoying as well for some reason. I think it's partly coz it belittled the creation process in a way Adam's never did specifically in the books - if anything he highlighted the care and attention that people like Slartibartfast went to etc. Having workmen was fine - even that guy painting Ayer's rock or whatever was fine, but that little scene just seemed so glaringly at odds with the spirit of Adam's messages and comedy-tone. It felt like the quick and easy CGI trick that it was


The cheapness itself was all fine by me (and very fitting), and there was even some cool design stuff - I thought the giant jelly-bean Vogons, Deep Thought and the Heart of Gold were all great. It just made it all the more annoying when some things showed no consistancy or real thought at all:
WARNING: "Zaphod" spoilers below
Like the way zaphod's heads didn't convince at all. Couldn't they at least of given his main head a beard that ran down his neck? That way at least the other head could have blended a bit more seamlessly, instead of looking so patently unworkable


I guess i was just hoping they'd have put a little more love into it, and maintained a bit more of the style of humour. But it was a tough ask to compress such a scattered and scatty work into a fast-moving feel-good film. It just lacked some breathing space to let the absurdity sink in amongst the rush of ridiculous events. It lacked the thoughtful feel of the originals - and it didn't pull off the irreverance in a consistant or enjoyable way (admittadly, some of my enjoyment was dulled by being familiar with the jokes/concepts )

Overall, i think trying to get the film made in his style was probably what drove Adam's to having a heartattack in the first place.

And i thought that song sucked big time.
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And this is my BOOMstick!
Once again all the critics are being total anuses and bashing this movie.



Originally Posted by Nitzer
Once again all the critics are being total anuses and bashing this movie.
Yes, they only bash it because they need something to ruin on the 364 days of the year that aren't Christmas, and puppies will only take so many beatings.
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