12:01AM a local theatre showed Hitchhikers.

No spoilers. Zaphod was perfect. Worth seeing for that alone.

Jim

I may go see it tonight... And if Zaphod isn't the business, you'd better put on your peril-sensitive sunglasses.

I'm still a little ticked off about Ford. Now, don't call me prejudiced or anything but.... An American Ford? WTF.

Bruno

I'm going tonight as well. Fingers crossed...

Can't get....song....out of.....head!!! ARGH!

Yeah, I agree. I don't think he comes across as American in the movie, though. Another good performance.

Here's a question for you all. I never considered this before, but do you think that Zaphod was written to be an "ugly American"? I know he's supposed to be everything that geeks dread, sort of the anti-geek who always gets the girl, becomes president, etc., but watching the movie made me think of this New World / Old World dichotomy.

The song was nuts.

The whole thing was good, but not great, I'm afraid. I don't think anyone who hasn't read the books would follow it, or even understand much of the humor. The towel plays a prominent role (as was mentioned in one of the interviews), but the importance of the towel is never explained as it is in the book. Things like that.

We should start another "spoilers" thread for discussing the movie after people have seen it.

Jim

Saw it at 11:10am. I want my own Marvin.

OMFG. Worst movie ever. Really. For a Hitchhiker's fan, 0 out of 5. As a movie on its own, 1 out of 5 (that's being kind).

You didn't find Ford was overly American? And just pllain (what's the word) lame?

I don't think it matters if you're a fan or otherwise. There was no humor to get. I didn't laugh at all during the entire one hour and fifty minutes. I cracked only when Zaphod said "Fire."

I saw a few people walk out about 3/4 of the way through. I heard the same people laugh through-out the movie. They must have been 13 or 14 and obviously didnt know the book. On the way out my jaw was hanging and I felt that a little of my soul had been eaten away by this vile piece of garbage. On the drive home I actually felt really sad, that such a beloved story had been treated in this manner. To have the movie dedicated to Douglas (just before the credits at the end) is an insult of the greatest proportions. The movie just doesn't capture any depth of the book - it's barely even a veneer.

I'll tell people to watch it (if they want) only for the sake of having a fist-hand account when telling others how crap it was. I had a very hard time sitting through it. There was simply no story and the acting was extremely sub-par. I wasn't even that impressed with Bill Nighy. And I agree with most English people I've seen make the comment: Stephen Fry didn't make the best Guide.

The trailer, linked at the top of the original thread, is better than the movie in every respect.

And back to the first message of THIS thread. Zaphod... Bad. Just plain bad. The head... The third arm... (Rather the lack there-of). Completely out of character in nearly every respect.

The criitical review linked to in the other thread is spot-on. In fact I thought the author was a little too kind in some respects.

Bruno

Certainly, they neutered many of the textual jokes in the book and wimped out far too many guide entries, but they added several new elements of physical comedy. The infinite improbability drive was quite funny, in a visual way rather than a textual way. Zaphod's second head almost worked for me. The "great sneeze" ceremony was also quite funny. I also quite liked how they expanded out the role of the Vogons relative to the book.

I think the trick is not to compare it to the books or radio shows or whatnot, but to come to it on its own terms. They produced something entertaining, mostly funny, and (as Tony pointed out) with more story consistency in a few critical elements. Bonus points for the Star Wars references as well as the references to the original TV series.

But it was anything but funny. The physical comedy was crude, but not crude enough to be funny. What they "added" had little to no merit and reallly didn't help tie or link anything up except for shortcuts the also decided to take and restrung plot. I thought the Nose religious scenes were extremely UNfunny.

I simply don't think this holds up well at all on its own. If you don't know the books, this is about as good as Police Academy 6. If you do know the books then you just can't help but hang your head in shame. If you don't feel ripped off and a churning feeling in your gut, then you don't know the books or at least are forgetting the spirit of the comedy and story.

Hey, some people have had the balls to complain that the movie had too much dialogue and was too British. I'm wondering if they were watching the same movie I did. I thought it had far too little dialogue and wasn't nearly British enough. Zaphod simply didn't work. He was not cool. He was just an ass.

I won't be buying it on DVD. I *will* be buying the original BBC TV series. The movie just serves to show (in dozens of ways) why NOT to make a movie.

Bruno

I saw the movie last night with my girlfriend. She read the entire series in anticipation (she is better than I. I never read "Mostly Harmless.") I attempted to get her to watch the BBC series, but she was too busy to finish.

It was a very nice looking movie. Too bad it wasn't funny in the slightest. I think I chuckled slightly once... and that was because of an unexpected slapstick moment.

I really don't get what happened. It is supposed to be a comedy, right? Why did they cut out all the good jokes and break all the ones they left in? I just don't get it...

Just saw it. I have to disagree, I thought it was a great addition to the HHG series.

At the end of the movie the entire theatre erupted in applause.

Can't wait for the DVD with deleted scenes!

Personally, I don't care if Douglas has written the thing himself and given the final draft his seal of a approval. It wouldn't change my opinion and the fact the movie pales in comparison to every past incarnation of the story.

The saddest attempt I saw from an appologist-fan was to compare the treatment of HHGTTG to Lord of the Rings. Oh boy... One was a masterpiece of cinematography, direction, plot consistency and just an over-all entertaining series of films. The other was something picked up from Douglas Adams' waste bin.

I just remember Douglas being very excited back in 1993 posting on usenet about the movie. I just can't imagine he was thinking about what I just saw last night.

Bruno