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Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy TOTALY RULES

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Burger

Burger

Member
Totally the BEST movie I've seen in ages. It's like a movie thats not wearing any pants, it's not serious, and it doesn't care.

Sam Rockwell (Beeblebrox) totally stole the show, this guy is amazing.

Martin Freeman was... well, Martin Freeman, that guy from The Office but still entertaining none the less. Marvin the android was amuzing to a degree, but I found the audience was laughing more at his lines than I was.

Reading the books (like a few weeks ago) really helped. I thought there wouldn't be enough content from the 1st book to fill a movie, and there is filler, some weird storylines (much more Vogons, a made up character for John Malkovich). Beeblebroxes 2 heads don't make too much of an appearance (it doesn't look great when they do), and is kind of explained away by new story.

Ship designs are awesome, narration is awesome, the guide itself is awesome, and the opening... oh god the opening is like having your brain smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a rather large brick.

Basically, whatever was in the books that is in the movie is awesome (Magaretha rules) and whatever is extra isn't so awesome.

But do go see it, if only for Sam Rockwell.
 
Burger

Burger

Member
Yeah, I am aware that Douglas Adams (with help) penned the screenplay (it's in the credits at the start). Perhaps it was because I came fresh out of the books. I'd be interested to hear what someone thinks about the film who hasn't read them..
 
G

Gazunta

Member
Just got back from seeing it now, work kindly got us a session to see it on an IMAX screen this morning.

I really liked it. I've read all five of the books (and would rather pretend that the last two didn't exist) and I got through it just fine. Marvin rocked. Arthur was perfect. Zaphod wasn't the Zaphod I knew from the other source material, but still works in his own way. I was more worried about Zaphod being annoying rather than different, but he worked just fine.

And golly, Trish is so cute.

So cute.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Well today I watched it with a friend, I'm a big fan of the books and he's never even heard of them but we both loved it. He could not stop laughing at all at the start with the dolphins and he was singing the song in the packed elevator on the way back downstairs towards home - getting puzzling looks from a few but quiet chuckles from the rest who had seen it.

Fans of the book will love it cause it's just complete and utter Douglas Adams humour. Does not make any sense whatsoever but who cares? It's fun.
 
R

RevenantKioku

PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
Seven of us went to see it, 6 had read the books, and two of us have seen the TV series. I nearly died when I saw the TV show's Marvin in the queue. And when Zaphod saidBelguim, well I plain nearly laughed my head off. It was so great. But I can see most of the film's brilliance going straight over your head if you hadn't read the books, which is okay, because if you haen't, fuck you haha. My friend who hadn't read them enjoyed it but felt like he was missing something.
Oh well, I fucking loved it.
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
DOUGLAS ADAMS IS ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE

It's like they took the first 30 minutes of Adam's script and then flushed the rest down the toilet for a movie that while entertaining is NOT Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

FUCK DISNEY

They took all the funny jokes from the book/radio drama and replaced them with dead air. Most of the time the joke is set up and you never hear the punchline, just a moment of dead air. There are tons of moments where a character will start a line that is a hilarious joke from the book (and radio drama) and then just stop before getting to the funny part.

There is also dead air where some of the funniest guide entries (beer?) are missing.

The first half hour is awesome...then it goes downhill into dogshit. It IS entertaining here and there, and Marvin is perfect, but it is not Hitchhiker's Guide. It's like making a LOTR movie where Sam's a girl and Arwen is part of the Fellowship.

There's the whole WTF trip to Vogsphere along with the WTF Trillian/Arthur romance that feels like a Disney focus test addition.

They also never explained the mice well enough. Someone who went with us who had no idea what Hitchhiker's Guide was enjoyed the movie but asked "Why DID the mice want the question?" They mentioned fame, but the joke was that the mice just wanted the question so they could go on the talk TV circuit to debate it and ride the gravy train for all eternity. None of that is in there, and the mice just magically show up on the ship.

But the biggest and most braind dead fucking retarded thing is the super happy Disney ending that was slapped on the movie to completely invalidate the entire catalyst for the story.

Spoiler:
The rebuild Earth and DO NOT dismantle it and everything on the planet is reset to before the Vorgons destroy it. SUPER HAPPY ENDING. FUCK YOU DISNEY.

They also hint at the problem with Earth's destruction, but never explain that the question was on Earth but it takes 10 million years for the program to run but the Vorgons destroyed the planet 10 minutes before the program finished, thus the irony in the story.

Does not make any sense whatsoever but who cares?
Click to expand...

Uh, people who actually have read the books? That's part of the problem with the movie. The humor in the books makes perfect sense when the dialog isn't chopped up and butchered like it was in the movie.
 
Burger

Burger

Member
I didn't want to agree with anything you said in your post manabyte, but...

I do. With pretty much all of it. I had read the book, I knew what was missing, what was added and the answers to the unanswered questions. All of which is a bit of a shame.

But...

I still enjoyed it sooo much. Beeblebrox blew my mind, so entertaining. I could care less if some hack wrote a movie just about him. I'd go see it.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
ManaByte said:
DOUGLAS ADAMS IS ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE

It's like they took the first 30 minutes of Adam's script and then flushed the rest down the toilet for a movie that while entertaining is NOT Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

FUCK DISNEY
Click to expand...

Like you said yourself, Adams wrote the script. While I don't know specifics, but I've read more than once that the final working script actually had elements of the book added back into it, so it would seem most of the divergence from the original source may have been Adams' doing.
 
P

pestul

Member
levious said:
Like you said yourself, Adams wrote the script. While I don't know specifics, but I've read more than once that the final working script actually had elements of the book added back into it, so it would seem most of the divergence from the original source may have been Adams' doing.
Click to expand...
Exactly. From comments I've heard, this is exactly how Adams wanted it.. do we go and kick down his gravestone now (he'd probably laugh at that thought)? ;)

Kidding.. seeing it tonight and I know I'll enjoy it.
 
L

Littleberu

Banned
ManaByte said:
DOUGLAS ADAMS IS ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE

It's like they took the first 30 minutes of Adam's script and then flushed the rest down the toilet for a movie that while entertaining is NOT Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

FUCK DISNEY

They took all the funny jokes from the book/radio drama and replaced them with dead air. Most of the time the joke is set up and you never hear the punchline, just a moment of dead air. There are tons of moments where a character will start a line that is a hilarious joke from the book (and radio drama) and then just stop before getting to the funny part.

There is also dead air where some of the funniest guide entries (beer?) are missing.

The first half hour is awesome...then it goes downhill into dogshit. It IS entertaining here and there, and Marvin is perfect, but it is not Hitchhiker's Guide. It's like making a LOTR movie where Sam's a girl and Arwen is part of the Fellowship.

There's the whole WTF trip to Vogsphere along with the WTF Trillian/Arthur romance that feels like a Disney focus test addition.

They also never explained the mice well enough. Someone who went with us who had no idea what Hitchhiker's Guide was enjoyed the movie but asked "Why DID the mice want the question?" They mentioned fame, but the joke was that the mice just wanted the question so they could go on the talk TV circuit to debate it and ride the gravy train for all eternity. None of that is in there, and the mice just magically show up on the ship.

But the biggest and most braind dead fucking retarded thing is the super happy Disney ending that was slapped on the movie to completely invalidate the entire catalyst for the story.

Spoiler:
The rebuild Earth and DO NOT dismantle it and everything on the planet is reset to before the Vorgons destroy it. SUPER HAPPY ENDING. FUCK YOU DISNEY.

They also hint at the problem with Earth's destruction, but never explain that the question was on Earth but it takes 10 million years for the program to run but the Vorgons destroyed the planet 10 minutes before the program finished, thus the irony in the story.



Uh, people who actually have read the books? That's part of the problem with the movie. The humor in the books makes perfect sense when the dialog isn't chopped up and butchered like it was in the movie.
Click to expand...


worstmovieever.jpg
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
levious said:
Like you said yourself, Adams wrote the script. While I don't know specifics, but I've read more than once that the final working script actually had elements of the book added back into it, so it would seem most of the divergence from the original source may have been Adams' doing.
Click to expand...

Adams turned in his final draft and then that fucktard Karey Kirkpatrick re-wrote it several times until it got to the point where it wasn't Hitchhiker's Guide anymore. You can tell that by fucking watching the piece of shit. There's no way in hell that Douglas Adams wrote the retarded
super happy Disney ending
.
 
K

Kabuki Waq

Member
i cant believe Manabyte the man who is the biggest starwars Fanboy on this board is actually complaining about the script in a movie :lol
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
Burger said:
I didn't want to agree with anything you said in your post manabyte, but...

I do. With pretty much all of it. I had read the book, I knew what was missing, what was added and the answers to the unanswered questions. All of which is a bit of a shame.

But...

I still enjoyed it sooo much. Beeblebrox blew my mind, so entertaining. I could care less if some hack wrote a movie just about him. I'd go see it.
Click to expand...

Even at the very beginning of the movie they remove some of the funnier jokes. When Mr. Prosser tells Arthur the plans were on display, Arthur just says "I had to go to a celler to get them." That's not Adam's joke. It's the set up, but not the punch line and there's just dead air and they just right to the bulldozer bit.

The actual joke is:
"But the plans were on display..."
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
"That's the display department"
"With a flashlight"
"Ah, well, the lights had probably gone"
"So had the stairs"
"But look, you found the notice, didn't you?"
"Yes, yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinent stuck in a disued lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

Then when the Vorgon reads them poetry they just end at the part where Arthur tells him that he writes poetry just to be loved when there's dead air where the punchline ot the Vorgon joke goes:
"No, well, you're completely wrong. I just write poetry to throw my mean callous heartless exterior into sharp relief. I'm going to throw you off the ship anyway."

After that, the movie spirals off into something that is completely not Douglas Adams and is the work of the fucktard Karey Kirkpatrick. John Malkovich's character was created by Adams and is obviously there to set up the
gun
that was never in any of the books but feels like a Douglas creation.

Like I said, it was entertaining but it wasn't Hitchhiker's Guide because all of the best jokes from the book were removed and they replaced the stuff they removed with retarded things like the
super happy Disney ending
.

Oh and anyone who complains that they couldn't include all of the dialog because of the running time is an idiot. The first book equaled the first four hours of the BBC radio drama and that was PERFECT and exactly two hours. The movie was 90 minutes partially because of the dialog they removed.
 
W

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
anyone ever notice that people are always willing to point to RT until it disagrees with their opinion, then all of a sudden its like "OMG Critikz r dum"
 
P

Prospero

Member
I have to say that I was considering passing on this until I heard a clip on NPR this afternoon of Alan Rickman doing the voice of Marvin.
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
Prospero said:
I have to say that I was considering passing on this until I heard a clip on NPR of Alan Rickman doing the voice of Marvin.
Click to expand...

Marvin is the best thing about it. Rickman was perfect for him.
 
Crowza

Crowza

Member
ManaByte said:
Adams turned in his final draft and then that fucktard Karey Kirkpatrick re-wrote it several times until it got to the point where it wasn't Hitchhiker's Guide anymore. You can tell that by fucking watching the piece of shit. There's no way in hell that Douglas Adams wrote the retarded
super happy Disney ending
.
Click to expand...

Hate to burst your bubble, but
they do rebuild Earth in "Life the Universe and Everything".
 
Crowza

Crowza

Member
Here is my fanboy -non spoiler- review.

A lifelong dream just came true for me. I finally have gotten to see a big screen version of the novel/radio series/videogame, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Besides being my favorite book ever written, Douglas Adams (the author) also happens to be my favorite writer that has ever lived. Yeah, you can keep your James Joyces and your Stephen Kings, because to me - Douglas's powers of perception and description were greater than anyone else. Douglas Adams worked for the last few years of his tragically short life, doing everything in his power to make this movie come true.

This is my spoiler free review.

The first thing that most people ask me, "Is it true to the book?". Well, for Douglas this is kind of a funny question, since no one single version actually is the defined canon of the series. You see, with each alteration of the story, things changed and were manipulated. However, the movie is the one product that probably has changed the most over the change in medium. In short, the movie is a much better movie than the book would be if it were literally translated to the screen. Does that make it better than the book? Certainly not. But, it's simply different.

Did I like the film? Yes, without doubt I loved the film. While there were a lot of things that are left out of the film, changed or simply made different, all together it worked for me. A lot of people have stated that they disliked anything about the film that wasn't the book, I must disagree. Film is a visual medium and you don't have to describe everything as you would in a radio drama or book.

Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, steals the show. Not just a little of the show, but the entire show. I could watch the film over and over again simply for his character. He was brilliant and perfect in the role of Zaphod. Trillian's character is fleshed out better than in any previous version of the series. Ford had me worried the most, since early clips that I saw I felt that Mos Def didn't portray Ford Prefect correctly. I was wrong, dead wrong. His character has the quirkyness and personality that I expected of Ford Perfect. Arthur Dent, is Arthur and that's about all you can ask.

Will it work for you? I don't know and I can't possibly begin to tell you. You see, I've been a huge Hitchhiker fan since I discovered the radio series over 18 years ago. I've collected and maintained every book ever written by Douglas Adams. I've played, listened, and read every single version of the story that I'm aware that has ever been made. I cannot fathom how anyone who hasn't heard or read a previous version of the film will react. It's wacky and it's far out and far different than pretty much any other movie you've ever seen. If you want my recommendation, read all of the books before you see the film.

Yes, there are things missing and the dialog isn't exactly the same as the BBC Television version or the radio drama. But, for the most part, this isn't a novel or a radio dramatization. This is a Hollywood film and must be treated as such.

There are things that I thought could be done better than they were. But, I expected that. I felt Marvin was a bit underused, and I wanted the Deep Though scene stretched out a bit longer and there were a few guide entries missing that I would have liked to see. But this is nit-picking. If you are a fan, go and see it on the big screen and take it all in. Love it or hate it, it's the film I've been waiting decades for. I just hope a sequel can be made, as it was teased.

"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".. Let's just hope that I don't have to wait another 18 years to see it.
Click to expand...
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
Crowza said:
Hate to burst your bubble, but
they do rebuild Earth in "Life the Universe and Everything".
Click to expand...

Yes, but
they dismantle it. They don't hit a magic reset button like Disney does with the movie to give it a happy ending.
 
T

Tamanon

Banned
Try saying some of the dialogue in the book aloud and you'll see why it was probably cut:p A lot is quite humorous in written form, but spoken just doesn't have any way to create the delivery needed for the humor.

That being said, on my way to see it now:)
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
Tamanon said:
Try saying some of the dialogue in the book aloud and you'll see why it was probably cut:p A lot is quite humorous in written form, but spoken just doesn't have any way to create the delivery needed for the humor.

That being said, on my way to see it now:)
Click to expand...

Listen to the BBC radio drama. It's perfectly fine when spoken and still funny as hell.
 
S

SpoonyBard

Banned
Really, the radio play was actually much better than the books. And the last two books, that were not based on the radio play, were shit compared to the rest.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
ManaByte said:
Yes, but
they dismantle it. They don't hit a magic reset button like Disney does with the movie to give it a happy ending.
Click to expand...

but the whole reset thing as you put it was the start and premise for So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish... and really, unless you know what Adams did and did not want in the movie, you shouldn't pass blame and just critique the movie as a whole.

Or, how about this, it was Adams' vision, he made the changes HE wanted, it's HIS creation... who are you to question his changes!??

karma



edit: oh, forgot to mention, I really liked the movie.
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
levious said:
but the whole reset thing as you put it was the start and premise for So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish... and really, unless you know what Adams did and did not want in the movie, you shouldn't pass blame and just critique the movie as a whole.

Or, how about this, it was Adams' vision, he made the changes HE wanted, it's HIS creation... who are you to question his changes!??

karma



edit: oh, forgot to mention, I really liked the movie.
Click to expand...

Because Adams final script was re-written numerous times by Karey Kirkpatrick. The only "changes" Adams actually put in was the placement of the 2nd head (and was a change he made when doing his script as a cost-saving measure), and the addition of Humma Kavula. The addition of the love story and the ending were things Disney requested Kirkpatrick add in, and the way the ended the movie messes up something that happens in "Mostly Harmless" if they end up going that far with the movies.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
those were certainly not the only changes he made. Nearly everything new in the movie came from him, and Kirpatrick was responsible for many book things being put back into the script. I don't dig the love angle either, I preferred Dent not to care much about it, but oh well.

What exactly messes up a potential Mostly Harmless movie? I may have missed soemthing. If the reset is considered the beginning more less of the 4th book, then what's the potential problem?
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
levious said:
those were certainly not the only changes he made. Nearly everything new in the movie came from him, and Kirpatrick was responsible for many book things being put back into the script. I don't dig the love angle either, I preferred Dent not to care much about it, but oh well.
Click to expand...

Only about 30% of Adams original draft still exists in the final movie. The rest was Kirpatrick and Disney's focus tested retard ideas. Disney's viral marketers trying to drown out the scathing Planet Magrathea review will try to make you believe differently though.
 
S

smirkrevenge

Member
you do realize that making THIS particular book into a film is pretty difficult? especially with all the crazy, subtle humor in it? and you do realize, details will always be lost in the shuffle?

as an adams and hitchhiker's fan, i loved the movie. i respect it separate from the books/radio show/etc.

mana, DON'T PANIC. =)
 
L

Litigation Manuel

Member
Just saw it, hated it. Passionately. All the actions of the characters seemed very forced, especially the romance. The story flowed very poorly, seemed very jumpy and poorly written. I have not read any of the books. I went to this viewing it as a movie, and I was very disappointed. Funny parts here and there, but overall all it did was fail at anything it tried to do. I don't care it Douglas wrote it this way, if he did, he's an idiot. It's like he raped himself.
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
smirkrevenge said:
you do realize that making THIS particular book into a film is pretty difficult? especially with all the crazy, subtle humor in it? and you do realize, details will always be lost in the shuffle?

as an adams and hitchhiker's fan, i loved the movie. i respect it separate from the books/radio show/etc.

mana, DON'T PANIC. =)
Click to expand...

I would agree with you if Adams' BBC radio drama wasn't perfect and they could've used that script and the movie would've been perfect.

But Disney is too concerned with melding the movie with their fucked up point of view and decided to destroy it in the process. Then they invited one of the biggest Adams experts on the planet to see the movie, he trashed it for pretty much the same reasons, and then they hired an army of viral marketing kids to spam internet boards and blogs to discredit his review and force him to shut down his site because how dare the biggest Adams expert anywhere give Disney's big movie a bad review.
 
Burger

Burger

Member
Litigation Manuel said:
All the actions of the characters seemed very forced, especially the romance. The story flowed very poorly, seemed very jumpy and poorly written.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more... Loved it.
 
B

border

Member
ManaByte said:
and then they hired an army of viral marketing kids to spam internet boards and blogs to discredit his review and force him to shut down his site because how dare the biggest Adams expert anywhere give Disney's big movie a bad review.
Click to expand...
You were hyping and defending the shit out of this movie for months....do you really find it that hard to believe that people upset with the reviewer were legitimately upset?
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
smirkrevenge said:
you do realize that making THIS particular book into a film is pretty difficult? especially with all the crazy, subtle humor in it? and you do realize, details will always be lost in the shuffle?

as an adams and hitchhiker's fan, i loved the movie. i respect it separate from the books/radio show/etc.

mana, DON'T PANIC. =)
Click to expand...
So fucking true that it is not funny.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
ManaByte said:
and then they hired an army of viral marketing kids to spam internet boards and blogs to discredit his review
Click to expand...

when hiring Kevin Smith would have been enough!
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

Member
Hey I will say something good about it, it could've been much worse. The first half hour was great, if the rest of the movie was like that I would've loved it.

What I did like:
Marvin
Zaphod
Arthur
Trillian
Ford
The Pot of Gold
Original TV Marvin
Original theme song when the guide first appears
Two spoilers:
The knitted characters scene.
The image of Douglas Adams being the final image in the movie.
 
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