posted
I may go check it out next week. I remember reading some of the book as a young teenager. Never finished it. Movie looks good.
From: Tampa | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Kid Psychout: Some friends have been worried that it could be too 'Americanized'*, but i think it's just gonna be funny.
Over here I'm hearing it will be too British for the American audience to get. Whatever. I still plan on eventually seeing it as I loved the books.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
My worry has been, that with Adams gone, the studio would try to turn it into just another generic sci-fi flick (references in the TV commercials I've seen to the main characters having to "save the galaxy" reinforce this worry). I expect I'll see it, but I may wait until it gets to the local second-run, $1.99 theater (as I've done with pretty much everything except Lord Of The Rings the past few years).
-------------------- "Gee, Brainy, what do you want to do tonight?" "The same thing we do every night, Bouncing Boy: try to take over the United Planets!!" They're B.B. and The Brain ...
From: Monty Python's Flying Circus | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
In The Times yesterday there was a DVD with a half hour little programme about the new film, and if that was anything to go by it looks pretty good. It's *very* different from the TV show, but the designer was told only to go from the books and not watch the tv series so that explains that. Also Adams had a lot to do with the concepts and the story and stuff before he died. He rethought Zaphod and his second head and made the love story between Arthur and Trillian more important. He aslo said he didn't care where any of the actors were from as long as Arthur was English, all of which they've followed. Marvin is very, very cute which I thought was goign to be a bad thing but I think it works. The look of it all is pretty darn good and what I saw of the actors makes me think they'll all work. Stephen Fry as the Book is perfect and the aliens look very cool indeed (well, what do you expect from the Creature Workshop?). Maybe not quite how I imagined it from the book (the Heart Of Gold doesn't look anything like I imagine, but does still look good) but still looks like it should be very enjoyable.
I think also because the books, radio series and tv series are all so completely different I won't be bothered if the plot is changed much. It does seem to be mostly the first book but wouldn't be surprised if they change the ending a bit.
-------------------- Truth and Justice shall Prevail! (Unless Tamper Lad Screws it up...)
From: Manchester, UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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It's been a while since I've read the books or watched the TV series (haven't listened to the radio plays), so a lot of dialogue popped back at ma once it was spoken, even though I'm sure there were some Adams purists in the audience that were criticising every minor digression.
Spoiler free (assuming you've read the books): I felt the movie was as good an adaptation as you can make of such a dense work given the constraints of the format. Some may find the addition of an arbitrary 'villain' and the amping up of the love story as unnecessary, but I didn't find them to detract from the movie at all. I was enchanted for a couple of hours by the imagery, the ideas and how they were translated to the big screen, and the varied yet all at least servicable performances by the actors. The SFX are top notch, which seems vaguely odd given my rememberances of the BBC TV series, and some of the designwork and rethinking of the sometimes largely undescribed portions of Adams' original book is truly inspired (Deep Thought is a standout - recast as a skyscraper-scale Mesoamericanoid monolithic golden idol mated with a desktop PC, trying to assume a pose that evokes 'The Thinker'). Martin Freeman from the Office is excellent as Arthur Dent, carrying off the bewilderment and supressed British outrage of the role with aplomb. Mos Def I felt was less impressive as Ford Prefect than he could have been, seeming a little more subdued than I remember him. This may be to avoid a clash of personalities with Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is over-the-top the the extreme; he did grate for me at one point, but this was followed by a radical event befalling the character that forced a radical personality shift. Trillian I thought was OK, but I suppose it's hard to compete when you're surrounded by such powerfully different characters. Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android (referred to as the Depressed Robot by a kid as we were walking out - he liked him best) was a skillful piece of voice acting... and you will believe a movie audience can care about the fate of a robot character after seeing the finale! The voice of the Heart of Gold put me in mind of Talkie Toaster from Red Dwarf, and the visual method they use to show the Improbability Drive was great! The Vogons were grotesque, especially the Vogon troopers in gimp suits, and their Deconstruction Fleet is awe-inspiring. An early scene where they show pan back from Arthur's shattered house along the flank of a Vogon vessel both manages to lampoon scenes like the opening of A New Hope as well as drive home the massive scale of what they are actually doing. Slartibartfast was great, and the scenes of the 'Planet Construction Yard' were excellently put together and really made a good stab at depicting their massive undertakings.
Some will hate it... but clearly I did not! Do yourself a favour and go along!
posted
Oh yeah... and the opening Dolphin number (prefaced by Adams' explanation of the 3 smartest species on Earth) is great! So long and thanks for all the fish indeed!
PS And how could I forget the Guide itself! Brilliant adaptation of the 'Book' to the multimedia age, with cute two-colour animations displaying the concept being described. They put me in mind of early 50s animations - very well done and quite whimsical and amusing. The voiceovers were perfectly done as well; I could have sworn it was the original voice from the TV show.
[ April 28, 2005, 02:44 AM: Message edited by: Star Boy ]
posted
Well I went to see it.... I liked it. It had some parts that made me laugh, some of the visuals were fantastic and I did enjoy the guide and its animations. I just did not get the excitement I got when I saw the previews. It seemed the previews showed all the really funny scenes. To tell the truth I could have waited for the DVD on this one. Just my opinion.
quote:Originally posted by Star Boy: The voiceovers were perfectly done as well; I could have sworn it was the original voice from the TV show.
Peter Jones was the voice in the TV show. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 80. I'm not sure but I think for the movie Stephen Fry was the voice of the book. Or maybe he was the narrator. Perhaps he was both?
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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I was getting kinda self conscious because I seemed to be laughing and snickering in places nobody else was. But it was pretty funny in places!!!!!! I can't help it if the rest of the audience didn't find it that humourous.
I was a little disappointed in it, though. I was just hoping for more. And was it me, or did they kinda mesh some of the books together. I was also miffed that they let the "ultimate answer" out of the bag so quickly. Granted, it's probably been 15-20 years since I've read all the books. (I think I re-read them when "Mostly Harmless" came out.)
I guess it's just hard to get all that lunacy ("lunacy" - heck, is that even a word???????) to translate to a visual medium. I was impressed with they way things were handled and explained via the guide. >snicker-snicker< And that bit during the closing credits.
Silly question ... did anyone else think part of the Guide interface looked a little ... "Next Generation"-ish? Just curious.
I enjoyed the movie. And I may get it when it comes out on video. But more than anything I wanna go back and re-read the series again.
-------------------- You can never quit believiing in your dreams ... or yourself. ----- You GOTTA listen to Levi Kreis.
From: Aggieland | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Oh yeah .... Did Zaphod remind anyone else of a certain sitting president?
Accent and cowboy boots and all?
-------------------- You can never quit believiing in your dreams ... or yourself. ----- You GOTTA listen to Levi Kreis.
From: Aggieland | Registered: Jul 2003
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![[Drool]](graemlins/drool.gif)
) over SW:ROS.
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Movie looks good.
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