I have to admit that I went in with some heavy preconceptions about this movie. The first review we saw was bad, the comments from the fans were variable to be very fair, and the chances of such an epic and very British story making it to a single movie without being altered heavily, and possibly ruined, were low. So, the question is, is it any good?
Well, I’m not sure. I was surprised how similar much of it is to the TV series, I say that as I never read the book nor did I hear the radio series. Yet does that make any difference? I’ll come back to that point in a moment. I did laugh, but there were more giggles than anything and many funny moments went quietly past with the audience. There were also quite a few moments which were just lost, someone mentioned the towel, we just go through the movie without even a glimpse of an understanding. Yet that isn’t a bad thing either, although the audience new to the series won’t know what it means, it just adds to the quirkiness and fans will know what it means straight away.
So did I like it? I’m still not sure. Sam Rockwell is superb as Zaphod, and he definitely got the warmest reception from the audience and the biggest laughs. Alan Rickman did a superb job as Marvin, and Bill Nighy was a scene stealer from the moment he revealed himself. Martin Freeman does a great job as Dent as does Mos Def as Prefect. Yet for all this there was something that just didn’t click for me, and something I find it hard to put my finger on. It didn’t have the same impact as the original series and it just tended to wash over me.
It comes back to the question of whether or not they should have changed the original material, before I saw the movie I would have said no, you can’t change the material, stick with the original. Now I’ve watched it I’m thinking it’s a good idea, and just give me a minute here, hear me out.
The original series was ground breaking, it really did show audiences something totally different and unique, a simple message but in a wild, amazing story. By repeating the original they are trying to break the same ground again, yet it’s already broken. The audience has been amazed, and the new audience is dazzled by special effects and huge explosions. It’s not a bad thing now, the movie is a great homage to the story, but it doesn’t affect the audience in the same way, and that’s the key. Never mind the history, the previous story, the author, it doesn’t affect the audience that much. The thing is, if they’d changed the story perhaps they could’ve found new ground to break and give us that feeling again.
That done, I did like the movie, but it wasn’t great. For me there should have been more with the guide itself, much more of the voyage with the group, and more of Nighy. However, it’s not amazing, it doesn’t match up to the original TV series and perhaps this is the biggest difficulty, the baggage this title carries in the form of the expectations and preconceptions that are brought to the audience. Perhaps it should have looked at new ground.
Okay, so that’s what I thought of it, what does everyone else who’s watched it think?
This was the singal worst film I have ever seen in my life If your a fan of the book or the series then dont go to see it you will leave angry at the compleat butchering they have made of the story.
May if you have not read the original it might be possible to laught at some of the film but personally i find this film an embarssemnet
I too felt that the film was rather bland. As an avid fan of the books I was apprehensive about seeing it, but ended up not hating it, not loving it, sort of “meh”. Against expectation I found Sam Rockwell totally hilarious. Mos Def I just found kind of bland, he lacked the real off the planet kookiness from other versions. Freeman also was a bit dull. He said in an interview that he wasn’t going to embrace the spirit of Arthur Dent’s character wandering around lost in the galaxy somewhat like at an English tea party, and I think he lost a vital part of Arthur’s character as a result.
Mostly, what was lost was subtlety and nuance,appreciated by hhgg fans, in favour of a plot narrative more geared to a movie audience which was probably not going to see the film anyway.
meh…
I was really excited to see this movie. I was so excited, having been a fan of the books and even the TV show, that I dragged my girlfriend to see this film. After the film ended, I wanted to apologize to her for wasting her time. The film deviated a lot from the book, which in of itself isn’t a crime, but they lost the essential tone of the book, which had a sharp wit and was often sarcastic and naughty in tone, and replaced it with a lot of effects (some pretty decent acutally), dumbed it down a lot, made it PC and sweetened it a lot, and replaced original stuff with some very boring and unfunny side plots. Very telling was that people were laughing in the theater when it came to material that was faithful to the book, but when the film veered off course with the love story or that ridiculous and pointless plot about the empathy gun, there was little or no reaction from the audience. The scriptwriters apparently thought they could cut out Douglas material and be equally as funny as the author. A few more gripes: Zaphod was just plain annoying. An unlikeable character in the book, but I recall that he wasn’t just that plain stupid, as he was in the film. The happy ending of the earth returning to the exact point prior to destruction was pure disney. Awful. I’m not against happy endings, but the Hitchikers series never struck me as a “happy ending” type story. Lastly, the theme song “so long and thanks for the fish” bored into my head and stayed there all weekend. One of the worst saccharin sweet theme songs ever. I really can’t wait to see how they butcher “Restaurant at the End of Universe”.
it was ok it WASN’T good and it contained only passing references to anything that was good in the original what i think was especially galling was that they removed almost all of the humour and specifically the part about “beware of the leopard” without that it was a digrace if it had that one joke it would have been almost worthy of being called crap but since it hasnt got that if you called crap youre insulting crap and thats disgraceful
I cannot believe how low the intelligence must be for anyone to have actually enjoyed this piece of shit!
It doesn’t require you to know the original story, read the books,etc, this movie is just a pure pile of shit regardless of the content.
Is THIS what we expect from Hollywood? Apparently to some it is.. A stupid public and their money are soon parted.
And I want to burn every freakin copy of this piece of shit.
Read the books. Watch the BBC television series. Listen to the Radio production, then watch the film again.
You’ll see! It’s a piece of shit.
and i want a stuffed Marvin doll!
i laughed my ass off! the previews do no justice for what to expect from this movie. i had no idea what the movie was about and i just thought it sounded cool then i saw a preview and i thought…hmmm, looks like crap, then i went for it and i saw it and i’m damn glaad i did cuz it was awesome and i want more more MORE!
Hgttg…
mmm…interesting. Feel good, easy on the brain and politicaly correct. Shooting, but no topless scenes….no car chase, dissapointing. Are towels very important? I’m not so sure now, I left mine a home today for the first time in 15 years…I blame the movie, I hope an situation doesn’t arrise where I find that I need it.
Zooey was wonderful and the only reason I saw this.
I wasn’t disappointed, and slightly surprised as it did manage to get a laugh or two (maybe even more) from me, which doesn’t happen that often.
(Meet the Fockers, par exemple, = 0, zilch, nada, rien)
I’ve only read the five books and that was a while ago.
The movie was disappointing and didn’t live up to its potential but it did give a few chuckles but not many big laughs like the books.
The story felt a bit anorexic, for a movie set in the galaxy, our troupe of characters didn’t really travel to many places. The romance between Arthur & Trillian seemed quite forced and the happy ending was just so typical of too many “love” stories.
Marvin was my favorite character but in the movie…he didn’t do much of anything until the end. Characters weren’t really delved much into either. Ford Prefect, “I’m an alien, Arthur (one flashback of how they met) and that’s it really. Other than acting a bit weird, if he didn’t say that, you would’ve thought Ford was just like any other human.
The segways into the Guide I thought were brilliantly done with the animation and narration. It’s a competent comedy but compared to the books, the movie’s humor is subpar.
The effects were all great except Zaphod’s double head. That wasn’t very convincing to me. Whenever the second head wasn’t showing, it just never looked like he had a second head.
If Adams made the changes (and I truly doubt he had anything to do with the love story and new “HAPPY” ending), it certainly wasn’t his dialog. All the wry humour, all the sarcasm was gone.
heh, most people I know thought it was very Americanised.
if this movie came out 20 years back it would have blown every one away. The story is a little dated now and I’m glad Adams made the changes that he did. I’m not 100% shore that he got to finish the script before he died, because the ending was a little lame (and very sudden).
I’ve a big fan of the first 4 book (the 5th book was a little lame), Radio Play and TV series, and I really loved this version too, very British. I hope this does well at the box office so we get a few more movies and they can finish off the story. Go see this movie and have a fun time with :)
“The ships hung in the sky much in the way that bricks dont” – Douglas Adams
NOT IN THE MOVIE!!!
***Some Spoilers, but big F–KING DEAL”
Just saw the film. I HATE DISNEY!!!! I REALLY HATE THOSE GUYS. This film was total garbage.
No EccentrIca Gulumbus the tripple breasted whore of eroticon 6.
No Golgafrigians.
No Restaurant at the end of the universe (only in passing).
A ridiculos love story with a diseyfied happy evereything is all right ending that made me want to puke.
A ridiculous side plot for a reverse perspective gun that has one of Zaphod’s head and his third arm amputated off.
Adams wonderful dialog completely gone, and I no longer believe that Adams wrote this script. This film was an insult to his memory.
PURE SHIT!!!!
It would appear that most of the changes and deviations in this film were not all part of the Americanizing and time cutting that most are blaming it on.
Apparently Mr Adams was working on a screenplay before the time of his death, and this is based more on that screenplay than his books or radio drama.
George can edit his orginal versions, so I guess Adams can too.
I havent seen the film yet, so I am reserving judgement. I have just recently re-read the “trilogy” and will be deciding later. Just thought that was interesting that Douglas Adams has screenplay credits, so at least some of this adaptation is his fault, or rather is intended.
“The ships hung in the sky much in the way that bricks dont” – Douglas Adams
Going to see it today.
I am a huge Hitch-hiker fan in all it’s carnations (I agree that the radio series was the best version, though I love the TV series and the books), so I have to see this film. However, from everything I am hearing, it seems to me that the film is “Mostly Harmless.”
“Sorry for the inconvienence.” – Gods final message to Allkind from “Mostly Harmless”, the fifth book in the Hitchhiker’s trilogy
it seems there is a familiar trend with this movie. it was ok, not great but not bad. up until the promotional blurbs in the papers about the movie, i hadn’t heard of the radio or tv series, thus my main reason for seeing HHGTG was for Martin Freeman. mainly because of his brilliant work in tv series The Office.
obviously, the towel jokes were lost on me, but i still chuckled at its complete ‘random-ness’. now knowing that the movie hadnt strayed hardly at all from the original story, i like it even more.
however, most jokes werent funny, some performances werent that great, Zooey Deschanel just seemed bland, and it just didnt blow my socks off.
overall, i think if it hadnt for Freeman, i wouldnt have liked it.
I liked it…but thought they could have done the Guide better…not sure how. I did like all of the casting…I think there needed to be more in the movie, but it would have been an hour longer.
I think the movie basically required everyone to have heard the radio show, read the book or to have seen the tv series…otherwise, it would be quite confusing.
Jim
I liked it…but thought they could have done the Guide better…not sure how. I did like all of the casting…I think there needed to be more in the movie, but it would have been an hour longer.
Jim
I’ve given this one a lot of thought. I was introduced to HHGTG in 1980 on a trip to London. That was the radio series (on record), which was the original form. And I’ve thought all the followons were inferior to that. Especially the TV series, which recreated the radio series dialogue and added pictures. And the pictures just showed what the dialogue had already told you, in many cases blowing the jokes.
There’s one thing missing in all the versions of HHGTG before this one: sympathetic characters with personality. Arthur is bewildered, Zaphod is self-absorbed, Marvin is depressed, Ford and Trillian aren’t anything at all. They’re all funny, except for Trillian. But they aren’t developed into anyone remotely interesting. (Well, maybe Marvin.)
And to me, that’s one thing the movie gave us. Arthur was a little bit more than bewildered. Trillian was more than eye candy. (Ear candy in the original.)
The movie couldn’t have the dialogue of the original; there wasn’t time. But it did have some neat representations, like the Infinite Improbability Drive effect. And the way the Vogons became plodding bureaucrats without a single original thought. And the fact that the cause & effect on Vogsphere wasn’t explained; it was up to us to figure out the connection.
Maybe I just fell for Zooey Deschanel. But I think there was more heart in HHGTG the movie than in all the other versions put together, if you ignore So Long And Thanks For All The Fish. And I think HHGTG the movie is as good a movie as it could be and still be faithful to the original material. If it had diverged more, it could have been even better. But the cries from the fans (including me) would have been even more painful than they are now.
One of the people I saw it with said that there were too many in jokes (for example, the towels)for newcomers to really get into the film, but it wasn’t close enough to the source material to satisfy the hardcore fans. i.e. Who is this film supposed to be for?
Like you I thought the film was pretty OK, not great, but not terrible, and that in itself was slightly dissapointing because all the other versions of the guide have been fantastic.