strredwolf: (Dual)
STrRedWolf ([personal profile] strredwolf) wrote2005-10-13 10:20 pm
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HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2) movie review

Yesterday, I was dining at a McDonalds before a Linux Users Group meeting (note to self: install tb-sshdfilter) and I found myself wondering several things:  One, how well RedBox DVD is (I'm one of the rare few who's used the origional RedBox) and how bad H2G2 really is.

First, $1/day plus tax for DVD rentals, return at any participating McD's?  I'll try it.  You need a credit card to do it, of course, but they give you the option of emailing your receipt.  Eh, not too bad.

Second, H2G2.  Some folks don't like the movie, but I bet they haven't:
  • Read the books (all of them)
  • Read, or heard, the radio play
  • Saw the BBC 6-episode TV series
Now who's done all that?

(raises hands) Guilty as charged. 

Of course, Doug Adams (the author of H2G2 and it's series) wrote all of them and the movie's script.  If you've read all of the above, you'll know that Doug Adams rewrote H2G2 for each medium.  So you're watching the movie fully knowing it's going to be different and you're froody like that. 

The movie's variation matched everything all the way up to when Author and Ford are picked up by Zaphod and Trillian in the Heart of Gold.  Marvin looks much better than in the BBC series, I hate to admit, but he just does.  Zaphod could of used some work, but it elegantly works around the deficencies with it's own quikiness worthy of H2G2... and finishes with our heroes starting a trip to Milliways, having done six impossible things before lunch. 

Now, given I know H2G2's quirky history, I kinda liked this version.  I would say it's a worthy buy if you're qualified.  I know my brother-in-law and sister aren't.

[identity profile] kinkyturtle.livejournal.com 2005-10-14 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
I'm gonna have to dissent. I did, in fact, read the books, hear the radio play, and see the TV series... but I didn't like the movie. The movie was the only version that made me think "I'm not laughing at this. Something is wrong."

One thing I didn't like was the lack of narration. There was some, but not nearly as much as in all the previous versions. Showing a Vogon constructor fleet hovering over the Earth is pretty cool, but describing the ships as "[hanging] in midair exactly the same way that bricks don't" is very funny. The movie just didn't have enough *words*.

Another thing I didn't like was how Zaphod Beeblebrox was turned into a complete idiot. In previous versions, he's always been basically an irresponsible lout, but this movie had way too many scenes of him acting like a child and having to be physically kept from pressing any buttons.