The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Movie

from JoeUser Forums
When I was a pre-teen I enjoyed a lot of the world that Douglas Adams created. I read all of his "Hitchhikers"-related books. I watched the BBC TV series. I played the Zork-like text adventure game on my Commodore 64. I also listened to the radio play based on the book. That was all good stuff!

Being a fan, I was surprisingly late to see the recent movie. (I think it came out in 2005.) The movie was shown on one of the STARS channels the other day, so I scheduled it to record. I watched part of the movie on Tuesday, and the rest on Wednesday.

All I can say about that movie is: "What a mess!"

The best things about the book (and related materials) are the guide itself, cool characters, humor, and bizarre situations. The recent movie wasn't funny, the Guide's animations were stupid, beside Zafod the characters weren't particularily interesting (especially Ford.), it wasn't funny, and the whole thing ended up to be a major disappointment.

Worst of all, there was a lame love story subplot. They could have dropped that, and spent more time trying to make the rest of the movie interesting.

In a nutshell: I don't recommend this movie.
entertainment
9,340 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

While I didn't particularly care for the books either, I agree, the movie was pretty bad.

The love story between Trillian and Arthur was lame, too many of the funny aspects of the books simply don't translate to the screen, the characters were entirely unlikable and uninteresting (I found Zaphod to be just irritating as could be).  All in all, one I won't be seeing again.

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Love a book, hate the movie.  Wait a few years.  It will grow on you.  I hated the Godfather when it came out.  Now, it is ok.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
I agree! What a disappointment. I was so excited to see the movie and the previews looked so good. There was huge opportunity to have some truly awesome special effects.

Oh well.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
HHGG the movie is not the Godfather. It's not even Tomcats.

While I love the books, and I am not a "book always better than movie" snob, the movie was a mishmash of a mess, too fast and intentionally quirky. The trailer with Stephen Fry talking about what makes a good movie trailer was more entertaining than the film.

However, my kids love the Hitchhiker's movie and we own the DVD. They know it was one of dad's favorite books and they like the funny parts with the whale and Marvin's hilarious.

And when I tried to sit my wife down and watch the original TV show with her, she said it was too wordy and walked out after twenty minutes.

So I gotta say that though the HHGG film was bad from a fan's perspective, it may have created a new generation of fans who liked the film and want to know more. And we, the converted, can lead them to the books and the TV show.

And point out the original Marvin who is in line at the Vogon DMV.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
I haven't read the books yet. For some reason I've never read some of the more popular books (ie Loard of the Rings/Flies) I am a book person.

So is the movie a good place to start, or should I ignore it and go straight for the books?
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
The only thing I liked was the theme song.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
So is the movie a good place to start, or should I ignore it and go straight for the books?


Yes, Please.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Thank You!!!!

Not for not liking the movie, I am one of the few who absolutely loved it!! Yes, it could have been funnier, and definitely could have done without the love story and stuff... but I still loved it!

Thank you for at least reviewing the film itself and not telling us how "it wasn't enough like the books" or "Douglas Adams is rolling over in his grave"... I got so tired of hearing that, since the movie wasn't based on the books, and never was intended to be. Douglas Adams himself made sure each installment of the stories contradicted each other (part of his special brand of humor). Douglas Adams wrote the screenplay for the film, so "love story" and the "Empathy Gun" were his ideas).

As for the film, I loved how it was shot in old school Sci Fi. The whole cinemagraphic feel to it was pre-Star Wars... I mean, the lighting, angles, colors, everything. I do like CGI when it is used to do things that can't be filmed any other way, but I think Hollywood in its laziness has over used CGI to the point that most action scenes are rediculous. If I see one more "Matrix" style fight scene I'm going to puke.

I also liked that the only character that was overplayed was Zaphod... to me the only rule that an actor playing Zaphod should go by is, "the more over-the-top the better". I liked how they did the two headed situation, but I wish they had have done more with it. I hated how they did the two heads in the BBC episodes.

Sorry you didn't like the film, but hey, that doesn't mean I can't. Thanks again for a fair review of it though. ;~)
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
I loved the movie and thought it was great! I've seen it several times now, and my daughter and I have half-a-dozen spots on the DVD where we rewind repetitively and kill ourselves laughing....

It's always interesting to read reviews that are totally opposite of my own opinion.

oh, and I changed my icon about 3 min. before reading your article. Sheer coincidence!
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

oh, and I changed my icon about 3 min. before reading your article. Sheer coincidence!

No, Just Karma!

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
I actually watched the movie first, thought it was pretty mediocre, and then read the book based on the recommendations of friends. To be honest I thought the book was as mediocre as the movie. The whole concept relies too much on wordplays and stupid names that in my view just aren't funny.
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
You know. . . I'd bet that the book would seem much less funny after seeing the movie. (If that were to be the order that you watched/ read.)

Seeing the movie first, one would have to deal with preconceived characters. Since the movie (in my opinion) wasn't all that good, the effects of that may taint what you read. (Especially the Guide excerpts!)

Maybe I should read the book again in order to see if it was as good as I always thought it was.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top

Maybe I should read the book again in order to see if it was as good as I always thought it was.

I did that with Dune (although with Frank herbert having a hand in the movie, I did not expect it to be that different - it was not).  I have neither seen the movie or read the book for this one, just read all the reviews by you guys.  I will see the movie soon enough I guess.

Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
speaking of zork, i was playing it the other day. i still didnt finish it. the dang thief stole my torch!

http: slash slash www.xs4all.nl slash ~pot slash infocom slash

also this is pretty funny if you havent seen it:

http: slash slash www.homestarrunner.com slash sbemail94.html
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
Funny! I went to that site, and started playing ZORK. I'd bet that I haven't played that for twenty years, but I still know what to do! I might have to do some more of that some day!
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
I liked the movie and I liked the book.

There, that wasn't so difficult to say. Just let go and enjoy things for what they are. It's mindless escapism. Escape, damn it!
Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
I forgot about it's sense of humor too! I can't believe how many hours I plugged away at that game and Frobozz without any help or guides. I'd heard of the help guides about 2 years later! Kids (and myself) these days have the internet to help them through "Vice City". We had it rough back in the day!