| ANYWAY>>>As you all know, when I see a movie I review it. My reviews are my own personal opinion and I am not a professional movie critic...just so you don't get confused. I give it 4 out of 5 thumbs up. I truley believe that you have to read the book to appreciate this movie. If you don't read it first, you are not going to understand some of the jumping around and events that take place. There is also some stuff in the movie that was not in the book, like the visit to see John Malkovitch's character and the Vogons. I feel that it added to it, but I was upset that some stuff was left out. Mr. Adams added this himself, so you PURISTS out there (and you know who you are), just get over it. Remember, the story has changed a little each time: from radio to book, from book to tv, from everthing to FINALLY movie. The movie started off with a corny song from the dolphins entitled, "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish". I will see if I can locate a clip of it and let it annoy you while you read the page! It's corny, but catchy and I found myself humming it for the rest of the afternoon....The film starts, as the book does, by Arthur waking up and finding that his house is going to be demolished to make way for a by-pass. Not to worry though, because Ford has come to take him away since the Earth itself is being demolished to make room for a galaxy by-pass. Ford drags Arthur to the pub for 3 pints bitter each & some salted peanuts....and this is where it really get's interesting.... I think they did a great job with the casting. I like Martin Freeman, he was cute and likeable as Arthur. Sam Rockwell was sexy and er, well, not charming...but egotastic...is that a word? I didn't know who Zoey was, but she made a good Trillian. I wish they would had left her as brainy as she was in the book though. POWER TO THE NERDS! THE GEEKS WILL INHERIT THE EARTH! Oh, sorry, got side tracked. I'm not a Mos Def fan, but he didn't do a bad job at all...I liked him in Something the Lord Made also...rapper turned actor?? Alan Rickman *drool* was the lilting voice of Marvin the depressed robot (bless his little heart, er, components). Any of you avid readers know I have this aching in my bones for Alan Rickman *drool*. Anyway, I liked the movie. If you haven't read the book though, read it first and then rent the movie later....you won't be sorry. Here is a professional critics response: You'll have to know 'Hitchhiker' to pick it up.Only those familiar with author Douglas Adams will be able to understand humor. By Roger Ebert / Chicago Sun-Times GRADE: C Rated: PG for thematic elements, action and mild language Running time: 110 minutes It is possible that "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" should be reviewed by, and perhaps seen by, only the people who are familiar with the original material to the point of obsession. My good friend Andy Ihnatko is such a person, and considered the late Douglas Adams to be one of only three or four people worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as P.G. Wodehouse. Adams may in fact have been the only worthy person. Such a "Hitchhiker" master would be able to review this movie in terms of its in-jokes, its references to various generations of the Guide universe, its earlier manifestations as books, radio shows, a TV series and the center of a matrix of Web sites. He would understand what the filmmakers have done with Adams' material, and how, and why, and whether the film is faithful to the spirit of the original. I cannot address any of those issues, and I would rather plead ignorance than pretend to have that knowledge. If you're familiar with the Adams material, I suggest you stop reading right now before I disappoint or even anger you. All I can do is speak to others like myself, who will be arriving at the movie innocent of "Hitchhiker" knowledge. To such a person, two things are possible if you see the movie: 1. You will become intrigued by its whimsical and quirky sense of humor, understand that a familiarity with the books is necessary, read one or more of the "Hitchhiker" books, return to the movie, appreciate it more, and eventually be absorbed into the legion of Adams admirers. 2. You will find the movie tiresomely twee, and notice that it obviously thinks it is being funny at times when you do not have the slightest clue why that should be. You will sense certain desperation as actors try to sustain a tone that belongs on the page and not on the screen. And you will hear dialogue that preserves the content of written humor at the cost of sounding as if the characters are holding a Douglas Adams reading. I take the second choice. The movie does not inspire me to learn lots more about "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or the book's sequels. Like "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," but with less visual charm, it is a conceit with little to be conceited about. The story involves Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), for whom one day there is bad news and good news. The bad news is Earth is being destroyed to build an intergalactic freeway that will run right through his house. The good news is his best friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), is an alien temporarily visiting Earth to do research for a series of "Hitchhiker's Guides," and can use his magic ring to beam them up to a vast spaceship operated by the Vogons, an alien race that looks like a cross between Jabba the Hutt and Harold Bloom. The Vogons are not a cruel race, apart from the fact that they insist on reading their poetry, which is so bad it has driven people to catatonia. Once aboard this ship, Arthur and Ford are hitchhikers, and quickly transfer to another ship named the Heart of Gold, commanded by the galaxy's president, Zaphos Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), who has a third arm that keeps emerging from his tunic like the concealed arm of a samurai warrior, with the proviso that a samurai conceals two arms at the most. Zaphos is two-faced in a most intriguing way. Also on the ship are Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), an earthling, and Marvin the Android (body by Warwick Davis, voice by Alan Rickman), who is a terminal kvetcher. There is also a role for John Malkovich, who has a human trunk and a lower body apparently made from spindly robotic cranes' legs; this makes him a wonder to behold, up to a point. What these characters do is not as important as what they say, how they say it, and what it will mean to Douglas Adams fans. To me, the movie was more of a revue than a narrative, more about moments than an organizing purpose, and cute to the point that I yearned for some corrosive wit from its second cousin, the Monty Python universe. But, of course, I do not get the joke. I do not much want to get the joke. It is not an evil movie. It wants only to be loved, but movies that want to be loved are like puppies in the pound: No matter how earnestly they wag their little tails, you can only adopt one at a time. Although the radioshow/tv series/book/movie is a work of fiction...the GUIDE itself is REAL :D Douglas started it himself. It is online and ever-changing...even YOU can contribute. I am a member, you can find me there under the name of CrazyPagan. See you there..... |
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| YES! It's finally complete! It's finally in the States! I've finally SEEN it! Today I saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! I first read HHGG (aka H2G2) in 1983 when I was 13 years old . A friend of mine, Anita, had read it and told me it was the best book she had ever read. I read it in two days. At that time I was un-aware that there were other books by wonderful Mr. Douglas Adams. I lived in a very remote, rural area at the time, and the nearest book store was about 100 miles away (yes, there still are places like that in America). She had gotten it from a visiting relative who left it by mistake. His mistake was our fourtune! Sine then, I have read and own all of his books. Unfortunatly, living in the States, I have never heard the radio show or seen the television program. We have the AmericanBBC, but they don't show the re-runs from that show :( |
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| <-------The man himself |