#255133 - 30/04/2005 01:17
The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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I'm actually not going to put spoilers in this particular post, but I figure others may do so lower down, hence the thread title.
My verdict:
Film was good. I could find no fault with it. It was a faithful treatment of Douglas' work. Even where it differed from the written work, it differed in a faithful and logical way.
Its only real problem is that Douglas' humor works best in print, so it wasn't uproariously funny, just grin-and-chuckle worthy. But they were faithful to his jokes and all the best lines are still in there.
In the places where major plot elements were modified, they were done in order to tie things together more cohesively. I think they did a very good job of that.
The actual animated "book" segments were beyond perfect. They were precisely what I'd hoped they would be. It was the one thing that they absolutely had to get right in order to win me over. Not only did they get those right, they surpassed my expectations.
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#255134 - 30/04/2005 01:35
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 29/06/2002
Posts: 531
Loc: Triangle, VA
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I never read it but did enjoy the movie. Was wondering if it was like the book.
_________________________
-D
Modifying and Tweaking is a journey,
not a destination................................
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#255135 - 30/04/2005 01:45
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: SonicSnoop]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
Was wondering if it was like the book.
Very much so, yes. In reading the books, there's a certain tone, rhythm, and pacing that you hope the movie will capture. I think they succeeded. The movie's tone perfectly matches the book, I think, and it has the same sort of haphazard/scatterbrained kind of pacing and plotting. I find that interesting, because that's what some of the reviewers were faulting it for, and now that I see the film, I see it was done that way in order to be faithful to Douglas.
In some ways the movie even surpassed the book. For example, there are scenes in the movie where certain things happened and a good reason was given for the thing that happened. Sometimes, in the book, Douglas just says "this thing happens" and leaves it at that.
An example is at the beginning when Ford comes up to Arthur lying in front of the bulldozer. In the book, Ford merely talks to the construction foreman and convinces him to hold off on the demolition temporarily. In the movie, it's much more logical: Ford gives the entire construction crew beer to drink, thus making Arthur feel comfortable with walking away from the house. I think the movie version was a) much more logical and believable, b) much more visually impactful, and c) funnier.
The movie is full of examples like that. There are a lot of places where it was "show me, don't tell me", something I knew would be needed if they ever wanted this to be a true Hollywood film. They did a good job of that, making sure that we saw something happen as opposed to watching people talk cleverly about it.
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#255136 - 30/04/2005 01:59
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Oh, I just realized another place where they gave a good reason for something that was never in the books. And I had to think about the movie in retrospect in order to notice this... Oh this is clever....
In the book, the name "Ford Prefect" is a throwaway joke. He says something along the lines of how Ford, in his initial research about Earth, somehow thought it would be an inconspicuous name. Never really detailing why. I mean, it's funny because Ford Prefect is the name of a model of car in England (or at least it was around the time Douglas wrote the first radio play), but we're never told why Ford would want to name himself after a car.
In the movie, there's an actual scene where we see Arthur and Ford's first meeting, as a flashback. And Ford's explanation of that moment is (now that I think back on it) the reason he chose the name "Ford Prefect". It's all so clear now.
Wow, that was damn clever of the writers. I wonder if that one was Douglas' idea.
There's a bunch of other places like that in the script, where they've taken things and connected them up like that. In that example, the reason Ford and Arthur met is also the same reason Ford chose the name he did. There's a bunch of other examples just like that, where there are connections that never existed before. And when you see them in the movie, they seem like such logical connections, like they were meant to be there all along.
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#255137 - 30/04/2005 02:41
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14496
Loc: Canada
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Do keep in mind that HHG was originally a Radio Series, not a book. The book and then the CDs, followed. Each was slightly/more different from the others.
cheers (can't wait for the movie to appear on DVD!)
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#255138 - 30/04/2005 04:00
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: mlord]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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Buy the original TV episodes on DVD. Far (far) better than the movie.
See my commeents in the other (non-spoiler thread). I thought the movie was terrible - in every way. Tony, you should go back and read the first book again as you're giving the movie far too much credit. Most of the movie made no sense at all - it was just convenient random stuff slapped together. It was a comedy without comedy. In fact, the non-humorous TV spots are a close approximation of the movie. The trailers, unfortunately, are not (the narrated one is brilliant - about the closest thing to the spirit of HHG to come out of this entire fiasco).
The movie is just typical hollywood treatment. And I wouldn't even say it was theater-quality. More like direct to video or Sunday Night movie. Blech. But, plenty of reason to read the books again.
Bruno
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#255139 - 30/04/2005 04:23
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: mlord]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
Do keep in mind that HHG was originally a Radio Series, not a book. The book and then the CDs, followed. Each was slightly/more different from the others.
Completely aware of that. But the filmmakers were specific in saying that they were basing the film version off of the book, rather than off the radio plays or TV series.
I still think Douglas' humor works best in print. The radio show, to me, always sounded like someone reading lines from a novel.
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#255142 - 30/04/2005 14:04
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 13/06/2000
Posts: 429
Loc: Berlin, DE
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I'm going to post-up and support tony on this one.. the movie was good. The book was perfect, far better than the original TV version. Marvin was better.. fits way better with the "brain the size of a planet" Deep Thought was WAY better. The style of design, look, and attitude. I think the whole don't vote for stupid thing was a great political comment... but that's a whole separate thread we've beaten to death. 
_________________________
80gig red mk2 -- 080000125
(No, I don't actually hate Alan Cox)
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#255143 - 30/04/2005 22:05
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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enthusiast
Registered: 05/09/2000
Posts: 210
Loc: Ipswich, MA
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I agree with Tony on this as well! The movie was a faithful "movie" version of HGG.
I laughed my ass off!
Though I don't think that many people would get it enough if they didn't know the books.
_________________________
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John Turner
"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission"
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#255144 - 01/05/2005 01:05
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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I loved it. I made my girlfriend and my friend, Scott, read the first book before they saw the movie. They both thought the movie was very good. My only gripe about it is that it finished too quickly. They went on that side-track and never returned to the main track. They did end up getting to a different track that happened to be going in the same direction as the main, but not quite the main itself.
I absolutely loved the intro and the song that accompanied it. The Vogon ship fanfare had me rolling.
There were several lines to jokes that I thought could/should have easily been squeezed in.
I loved seeing one of the creatures that the Vogons sit on being used as a throne (sorry, she still has the book so I can't look up the name) and the way Ford kept using the word 'Belgium' made me giggle.
I could go on, but I will spare you. Suffice it to say that I liked it.
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#255145 - 01/05/2005 02:25
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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veteran
Registered: 21/01/2002
Posts: 1380
Loc: Erie, CO
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I just read the books recently, and I have to say the movie seemed to be faithful to the books. Alan Rickman was great as the voice of Marvin. I think that the narrative was crucial to understanding what was happening, and a lot of the humor in the books was transferred in the narrative and the animated HHGTTG parts - I loved those. I liked it a lot, realizing that a book != screenplay and some changes have to be made to make it work on the big screen.
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#255146 - 01/05/2005 09:42
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1919
Loc: London
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Quote:
Its only real problem is that Douglas' humor works best in print, so it wasn't uproariously funny, just grin-and-chuckle worthy.
I find the best medium for Hitchikers to be the original radio series, the books are good as was the TV series but the radio's still the best for me.
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#255147 - 01/05/2005 11:42
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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This was yet another Sifi movie that backed up the fact I don't like Sifi. I read the book when I was a little younger and loved it, I found the film frankly quite boring, the casting was weak and the humor seems to be missing, I remember laughing out loud at parts of the book? It's a shame, I really wanted to like this film, but it just turned out to be yet another yawn-tastic Sifi flick that I will never see again  Cheers Cris.
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#255148 - 01/05/2005 14:11
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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member
Registered: 09/03/2003
Posts: 121
Loc: Iowa
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Quote:
In the movie, there's an actual scene where we see Arthur and Ford's first meeting, as a flashback. And Ford's explanation of that moment is (now that I think back on it) the reason he chose the name "Ford Prefect". It's all so clear now.
I agree this made much more sense, but it made me realise that when Zaphod and Ford meet on the spaceship, Zaphod should not know him as Ford. Since Zaphod didn't know he was there and the name Ford Prefect was one he chose specificly to blend in on Earth.
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#255149 - 01/05/2005 14:17
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: SuperQ]
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member
Registered: 09/03/2003
Posts: 121
Loc: Iowa
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Quote:
Marvin was better.. fits way better with the "brain the size of a planet"
Disagree big time, because later in the books Marvin sticks his head in a bucket of water, The New Head won't fit in a bucket of water. The only thing I liked better about the new Marvin were the eyes.
Did anyone besides me spot the original Marvin robot from the TV series?
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#255150 - 01/05/2005 14:40
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Gleep]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Quote:
I agree this made much more sense, but it made me realise that when Zaphod and Ford meet on the spaceship, Zaphod should not know him as Ford. Since Zaphod didn't know he was there and the name Ford Prefect was one he chose specificly to blend in on Earth.
Adams writes somewhere (the radio scripts book?) that he wrote an explanation of how Ford paid lots of money to a name-unpicking service for them to go back in time and patch all the places he'd used his earlier, pre-Hrung name, so that they now said "Ford Prefect" instead. But apparently he couldn't make it sound interesting enough to put in the book, even as a footnote.
Peter
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#255151 - 01/05/2005 16:30
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
I absolutely loved the intro and the song that accompanied it.
I'm currently on a mission to find some sort of version of the song online, and learn the words and music to sing at a gathering two weeks from now. Anyone got any ideas?
I suppose I could bring a tape recorder into the theater if I was really desperate.
Quote:
and the way Ford kept using the word 'Belgium' made me giggle.
Drat. Saw the film a second time yesterday (enjoyed it even more the second time) and still I didn't notice that. I should have.
Some things I noticed the second time around that I hadn't caught the first time:
- Arthur not realizing that "Humma Kuvala" was a person's name, thinking it was just Zaphod swearing in space-language.
- The gesture Humma Kuvala uses at the end of his sermon, sort of a waving of the hand away from the nose. Something about the delivery of that gesture is just hilarious.
- Ford seeing a towel in the wreckage of Arthur's house and deliberately grabbing it for him before activating the thumb.
Some things I appreciated more the second time around:
- Zooey Deschaniel's fantastic performance. The sincere wide-eyed playful sense of wonder in the scene in the Heart of Gold's galley. "We're on a spaceship, Arthur. In space." But even better, the scene where her love for him is revealed in her eyes alone as she repeatedly shoots Zaphod wtih the POV gun. She doesn't say a single word, yet we see it dawn on her just by watching her eyes, as it's simultaneously dawning on Zaphod.
- The utterly perfect delivery of every one of Slartibartfast's lines. Each of those lines were clever when Douglas wrote them. And previous actors who played Slartibartfast did "OK". But those lines never really came alive until Bill Nighy said them.
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#255152 - 01/05/2005 16:57
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Cris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
This was yet another Sifi movie that backed up the fact I don't like Sifi
Well, I think it is difficult to like or not something as wide as SciFi movies. Is it SciFi comedy you don't like (like this one, but how about, say, Dark Star?), or more or less cartoonesque shoot'em-ups (like Star Wars or Firefly/Serenity being discussed elsewhere), or SF of Spilbergian kind (which is diverse enough itself), hommages to previos work (e.g. Outland - High Noon set on Titan or Forbidden Planet based on Shakespeare's The Tempest), or more "cerebral" works by Kubrick, Tarkovsky, Godard... ? I can't believe you wouldn't like anything of these. 
_________________________
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Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#255153 - 01/05/2005 17:24
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Gleep]
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addict
Registered: 13/06/2000
Posts: 429
Loc: Berlin, DE
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hrm.. possibly.. but marvin literaly sticking his head in a bucket of water is less funny than just saying it. and more funny because his head wouldn't fit in a "normal" bucket.
Oh yes.. I wanted to jump up and down screaming when I saw the old marvin.. it's not like they were subtle about it.. there were atleast 5 shots with him in it.
_________________________
80gig red mk2 -- 080000125
(No, I don't actually hate Alan Cox)
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#255154 - 01/05/2005 19:18
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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Well put it this way, I haven't seen a Sci-Fi film I have liked or enjoyed yet, there have been plenty that I have sat there and watched but none which I would want to watch again. For example I have never watched a full episode of Star Wars, I always get bored and go do something else before I get to the end. Don't get me started on Star Trek and I love some of Kubrick's work, but 2001 is almost enough to put me in a Coma  Don't get me wrong I can see why people like Hitchhicker's, I just prefer other movies, and this one isn't good enough to make a convert of me. I have to agree partly with Bruno on this one, this is a fancy TV movie. Cheers Cris.
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#255156 - 02/05/2005 06:15
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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Quote:
Hm, interesting.... Out of curiosity, would you care to provide some examples of films you do like (Kubrick's (I like almost all of them) or otherwise)?
I think the most recent film that really impressed was Sideways, as for Kubrick it would have to be The Shining, of all time it has to be Leon and comedy wise just about anything
Oh Oh I did quite like Space Balls, does that count as Sci-Fi ??? 
I think the major reason I dislike Sci-Fi in general is the lack of imagination, most of them dress aliens up but they still have 2 eyes a nose and a mouth, yawn. And I think it also come from years spent with geeky friends at school discussing how teleportation will be soon possible, kinda put me off the whole scene, I wanted something a little more human for my entertainment.
I'm not knocking Sci-Fi one little bit, it's just Hitchhickers was a little too, dare I say it, "Quirky" and "British" as well as being Sci-Fi for me to enjoy
Cheers
Cris.
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#255157 - 02/05/2005 08:10
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Cris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Have you seen the Fifth Element ?
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Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday
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#255158 - 02/05/2005 10:56
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andy]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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Actually, have you seen Bladerunner? I'd put that down as my favorite SciFi film of all time. It still looks fresh today, some 20 years after it was released. The acting's good, the plotline is good (especially the director's cut), and the cinematography is fantastic.
-Zeke
_________________________
WWFSMD?
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#255159 - 02/05/2005 11:11
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andy]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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Not all the way though, I must pick that up on DVD or catch it on TV when it's next on, it's a little different from Leon! Never seen Bladerunner either, I'll add that to the list too Cheers Cris.
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#255160 - 02/05/2005 11:30
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Cris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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I'm not too fond of the Fifth Element, possibly because Bruce Willis is in it. I've never forgiven him for Look Who's Talking. Bladerunner however is one of my favorite films considering when it was made I think it still looks fresh, unlike Stars Wars Eps. 4,5 and 6 which seems to reek of late 70's early 80's.
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Andy M
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#255161 - 02/05/2005 12:27
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andym]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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I thought Fifth Element started strong, but then fell apart towards the end. Everything that happens after they leave the Earth I thought was pretty poor. My impression was that it was too comic-book-ish after that. However, the female lead (Milla Jovovich) is excessively easy on the eyes, which makes watching bearable.
-Zeke
_________________________
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#255162 - 02/05/2005 12:28
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: hybrid8]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I largely agree with Bruno, but I still found it vaguely entertaining.
My main problem with the movie is that it's a random collection of scenes with little joining them together. Of course, that's largely what you get when you hire music video directors to direct your movie.
And I recognize that the books were somewhat like that, but it becomes more cohesive when you have dozens of scenes instead of six.
Honestly, the only things I really laughed at in the movie were the fairly slapstick things, like the ... ummm ... slap sticks.
And what makes it a little worse is that it felt like there could have been so much more. I thought the acting was largely really good. The Arthur/Trillian love story was actually nice, but they spent about two minutes on it. And the timing was off in a lot of places. The "I'm already a woman" line should have been great, but the timing of the editing was so poor that it didn't have any impact at all, for example.
Anyway, I thought the movie was okay, and I'm not sorry I saw it, but I'm still disappointed.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#255163 - 02/05/2005 12:49
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
And the timing was off in a lot of places. The "I'm already a woman" line should have been great, but the timing of the editing was so poor that it didn't have any impact at all, for example.
Oo. Good point. Know why? There's a reel change there. Her punch line happens after the reel change. So the timing isn't going to be exactly the same at every theater. At mine, the timing was off on that line, too. Other contributing factors are the subtle changes in picture quality and color balance, the cigarette burn reel markers, and the skip in the soundtrack, all of which happen at the cusp of a reel change, all of which distract you from the joke.
Note to self: When you become a big film director and you do comedies, don't put the reel changes near jokes.
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#255164 - 02/05/2005 13:03
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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Our projectionist must have rocked, we were roaring at that line.
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#255165 - 02/05/2005 13:26
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 658
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I've read the trilogy of books a couple of times now and after seeing the movie can say that I enjoyed it, but I don't think it was as good as it could have been. I think you summed it up with "Douglas' humor works best in print."
My main question/fear at this point is, will the movie do good enough in the general public for Restaraunt at the End of the Universe and the rest to come out? I wonder how far along they are on sequels.
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#255166 - 02/05/2005 15:49
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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new poster
Registered: 07/01/2004
Posts: 13
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Quote:
Note to self: When you become a big film director and you do comedies, don't put the reel changes near jokes.
Noted.
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#255167 - 02/05/2005 16:18
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Cris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
I think the major reason I dislike Sci-Fi in general is the lack of imagination, most of them dress aliens up but they still have 2 eyes a nose and a mouth, yawn. And I think it also come from years spent with geeky friends at school discussing how teleportation will be soon possible, kinda put me off the whole scene, I wanted something a little more human for my entertainment.
I see what you mean. "Human-centric" SF is the best. See, for example, how several people mentioned Blade Runner (and I would add Stalker, Gattaca, early works like Logan's Run, lighter stuff like that made by Spielberg, and 2001 does not put me in coma ) That said, I admit to also enjoy, albeit in different way, techno-thrillers with SF element like The Abyss (featuring very different, at least physically, aliens) or good shoot-them-up special effects porn like Serenity promises to be.
Leon is one of my all time favourites, too, and, judging by its IMDB entry, Sideways might also be my kind of movie (reminds me of Cassavetes' Husbands).
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#255169 - 02/05/2005 16:57
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Have you seen the short-lived Firefly TV show that Serenity is a movie version of? It's also quite human-centric. I'd be very surprised if the movie wasn't, too. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, I'd suggest it, based on what you've said you like. There's also a lot of action, too. (It's available on DVD in the States, but Amazon.fr only shows it as a Region 1 import.)
I'd like to include Solaris in that list of movies, too, as what it tried to be was a solid interpretation of Stanislaw Lem's work, which was quite human-centric, but it's too damned slow to be even remotely entertaining. It makes 2001 look like Star Wars. It also forgot to actually get around to the elements that made it human-centric. I suppose the lack of either action or drama is what makes it feel so slow.
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Bitt Faulk
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#255170 - 02/05/2005 17:24
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Cris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Quote:
I think the major reason I dislike Sci-Fi in general is the lack of imagination, most of them dress aliens up but they still have 2 eyes a nose and a mouth, yawn.
Two problems I can think of going to true "alien" aliens in SciFi movies that use them.
1. Actors. Change the alien too much from a humanoid shape, and you move more towards CG stuff. And we all know how much we love CG acting (JarJar).
2. If the aliens don't look somewhat human, most people have a hard time associating with them.
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#255171 - 02/05/2005 19:19
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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Quote:
techno-thrillers with SF element like The Abyss (featuring very different, at least physically, aliens)
Now there IS a good film, I wasn't classing that as Sci-Fi, but now I think of it I'm not sure what else it would be in, I stand corrected!
Quote:
Leon is one of my all time favourites, too, and, judging by its IMDB entry, Sideways might also be my kind of movie (reminds me of Cassavetes' Husbands).
Have you seen the full uncut version of Leon ??? I think it is the Superbit release that has the extra 12 minutes of content that were cut out for the cinema release, it's well worth getting hold of a copy if you are a fan of the movie. It answers a few questions I held about the film from the first time I saw it. It can be hard to get hold of, I got mine via amazon.co.uk from a Canadian seller in the market place, you can tell if you have the full version if it has all the bits with Matilda knocking on doors for Leon during their training
Sideways is a little like hitchhikers, only in the way it is getting mixed reviews
Cheers
Cris.
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#255173 - 02/05/2005 19:55
Re: General SF movies ramblings
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Did it convert you to Scientology yet?
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Bitt Faulk
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#255174 - 02/05/2005 20:04
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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Regarding The Abyss...I enjoyed the movie until the resuscitation (sp?) scene. CPR didn't work, the defibrillator didn't work, but slapping and yelling 'Live damn you, live!' brings the person back? Please! It was downhill after that. I thought the end was pretty weak. After they resurface from 1000's of feet down and don't die a horrible decompression death: "It must have been something they did!"
I'd heard they ran wildly over budget and the director (James Cameron) was put under heavy cost pressures part way through filming, hence the sharp right turn in film quality, although I don't know for sure.
That said, I think my opinion is in the minority on this one.
-Zeke
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WWFSMD?
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#255175 - 02/05/2005 21:06
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Ezekiel]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
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Did you see the director's cut? It adds several critical plot elements that make the undersea aliens' behavior almost make sense.
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#255176 - 02/05/2005 21:39
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Ezekiel]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
Regarding The Abyss...I enjoyed the movie until the resuscitation (sp?) scene. CPR didn't work, the defibrillator didn't work, but slapping and yelling 'Live damn you, live!' brings the person back? Please!
Allow the guy a bit of licencia poetica (though, something like third hit by defibrilator, adrenaline into heart or something similarly desperate would work better; perhaps not for all of the audience...)
Quote:
It was downhill after that. I thought the end was pretty weak. After they resurface from 1000's of feet down and don't die a horrible decompression death: "It must have been something they did!"
Hey, remember that "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". Deus ex machina is a time honored dramatic device. After all, those luminous chaps built their spaceships from water - what is a little manipulation of nitrogen bubbles compared to that?
BTW, I just watched the first part of a most unusual work: film of catastrophe that got its science right, so I was not anoying my friends with constant harping about nonsensical physics. Producer is, no less, BBC with Discovery channel and couple of others. Acting is decent, dramaturgy typical for such type of movies, but, as I said, science looks right.
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#255177 - 02/05/2005 21:41
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
BTW, I just watched the first part of a most unusual work: film of catastrophe that got its science right, so I was not anoying my friends with constant harping about nonsensical physics. Producer is, no less, BBC with Discovery channel and couple of others. Acting is decent, dramaturgy typical for such type of movies, but, as I said, science looks right.
You'll probably want to look through http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/ then
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#255179 - 02/05/2005 23:06
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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When they start nitpicking things that are obviously supposed to be fantastic, I stop listening. Sure, The Core, their "worst physics movie ever" is rife with insultingly bad physics, but it's supposed to be. It's intentionally absurd. Even worse, they nitpick Reign of Fire, a movie about dragons, for god's sake.
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Bitt Faulk
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#255180 - 03/05/2005 01:47
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
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It does bother me, somewhat, when movies or TV shows abuse the laws of physics, but I'm always more bothered when they start taking liberties with how computers or spy stuff might work. 24, lately, has been quite the offender. There's no such thing as a hand-held gizmo that can precisely track the location of a cel phone, 1km away, over previously unseen terrain. All of their crypto and security stuff starts to approach Star Trek-like levels of incomprehensibility. An "override device" that might let you melt down nuclear reactors across the country if only you could borrow enough CPU power? First off, I don't think so. Second off, if you're the engineer who built the first one and you're evil, you could have built a backup at the same time, rather than going to such great trouble to steal the MacGuffin device. And, somehow, I'd have to imagine (or hope) that a solo agent couldn't social engineer his way into the cockpit of an armed stealth fighter as easily as they did it on the show. And don't even get me started on the EMP device. Yet, somehow, I'm still watching.
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#255181 - 03/05/2005 02:20
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: DWallach]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I'm not saying it doesn't bother me. I'm sure I sometimes bother my wife complaining about such stuff, especially on the same technology front as you, but there's a point at which it's obviously not intended to be real.
I mean, how much further is it to point out that there's no Nakatomi building in LA or a NYC cop named John McLean?
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Bitt Faulk
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#255182 - 03/05/2005 04:13
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Daria]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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I realize this might make me look stupid(er), but I didn't get that joke. Someone explain it to me?
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#255183 - 03/05/2005 04:14
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: drakino]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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Quote:
And we all know how much we love CG acting (JarJar).
What about Gollum?
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#255184 - 03/05/2005 04:35
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
I'm not saying it doesn't bother me. I'm sure I sometimes bother my wife complaining about such stuff, especially on the same technology front as you, but there's a point at which it's obviously not intended to be real.
I mean, how much further is it to point out that there's no Nakatomi building in LA or a NYC cop named John McLean?
Agreed, we are supposed "suspend our disbelief" to a certain degree and agree to the rules in the author's universe, and that works if applied consistently. However, what irritates me are details where injuring the reality plays no dramatic purpose (or could have been achieved by alternative, more realistic plot device) - it is just author's lazyness. I cannot find now a good example, so instead a nearly universal "irritant": computer interfaces: one would think that by now most of the audience has seen one or two, so why keyboards still beep or click on every keystroke? In relatively realistic CSI series of shows (apart from amount of luck investigators have looking for evidence) XREF, IR spectrometry or cromatography instruments and their displays and printouts look quite plausible; so why is the program that tries to match fingerprints or searches this or that database emiting annoying beeps and buzzes as it works? Why is it flashing images it is comparing (that would certainly make it slower), instead of, say, displaying the count of objects processed or suitably impressive progress graphics or something like that, only displaying tentative matches for human confirmation? Surely dramaturgy would not be hurt if GUI in use were recognisable? Bah!
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#255186 - 03/05/2005 06:52
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 02/06/2000
Posts: 1996
Loc: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Quote:
Have you seen the short-lived Firefly TV show that Serenity is a movie version of? It's also quite human-centric. I'd be very surprised if the movie wasn't, too. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, I'd suggest it, based on what you've said you like. There's also a lot of action, too. (It's available on DVD in the States, but Amazon.fr only shows it as a Region 1 import.)
If regions are a concern, play.com has Firefly as Region 2...
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/Michael
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#255187 - 03/05/2005 07:47
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: mtempsch]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
If regions are a concern, play.com has Firefly as Region 2...
More than twice cheaper at sendit.com (ex-BlackStar). Hmm, that's cheap enough to actually buy it.
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#255188 - 03/05/2005 08:03
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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(Saw it with Jen last night. Disappointing) Quote:
In the movie, it's much more logical: Ford gives the entire construction crew beer to drink, thus making Arthur feel comfortable
Which is why I didn't like that scene. I thought it was much funnier when, in the book, Ford uses some kind of backwards mixed up logic to confuse the foreman into lying in front of the Bulldozer in Arthur's place. Much funnier; more Douglas Adams' style.
To me, just handing the crew a trolley full of beers was a cop-out.
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-- roger
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#255189 - 03/05/2005 08:06
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: jwtadmin]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Though I don't think that many people would get it enough if they didn't know the books.
For me, it was less funny, precisely because I do know the books. Because I knew in advance what was going to happen, it was going to take supreme comic timing and directing to make it funny. This was sorely lacking.
Oh, and Mos Def. Did he have to mumble his lines all the way through the movie? No wonder I didn't notice him mention Belgium.
_________________________
-- roger
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#255190 - 03/05/2005 10:06
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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I'm still amazed by their image enhancement software which can take 5 fuzzy pixels and regenerate the original high resolution image from it. Who needs JPEG, PNG or any other image compression system if all you need is 5 pixels and their super duper quick software?
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#255191 - 03/05/2005 10:57
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: DWallach]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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It does not bother me at all when spy shows take liberties with physics. You just sort of laugh when someone comes up with a device you can put on a computer monitor and it allows you to override the scurity system on the computer's network. Especailly in shows like "Alias" you know they aren't even trying to be serious. What has been a mild irritant in "Alias" for me (we're still on season 3) has been CIA clearance of all things. I mean seriously, how many laws do these people have to break? I love that at the beginning of season 3 Jack is under such tight lockdown that no one can talk to him, and then Sydney gets him released by threating to destory something important. It's a stretch that they'd even release him at all or allow her to continue working as a CIA agent, but they actually let Jack go back to his CIA post as if nothing had happened. Another episode Jacke and Vaughn are taken into custody by their superiour, who is then murded ans suddenly they are free to go, no questions asked. For whatever reason I can buy that these guys have all of these impossible technologies, but it I draw the line when it comes to security clearance! 
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-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
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#255192 - 03/05/2005 11:54
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: TigerJimmy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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The point of the "gun" was to make the person shot understand the feelings of the person shooting it. The joke is that, as a woman, she already understands the feelings of other people. Or, alternately, men need a technological solution to do something that women do as a matter of course. Or, even more alternately, the gun is turning men into women.
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Bitt Faulk
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#255193 - 03/05/2005 13:27
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: wfaulk]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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Thanks, but this isn't funny to me. I guess there wasn't anything more to get.
Jim
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#255194 - 03/05/2005 15:09
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 21/05/1999
Posts: 5335
Loc: Cambridge UK
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I can't hate this movie because it is far more faithful to classic Douglas Adams than I was expecting, but I also can't get too excited because it has been Americanised (or maybe Hollywoodised) just that bit too much. A lot of the understated British humour is gone and the "more believable explanations" utterly miss the point in most cases.
The TV cast were almost entirely superior to the movie cast, in particular David Dixon as Ford (Mos Def is utterly devoid of acting talent), Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod (although Sam Rockwell is passable), and Alan Rickman just did Alan Rickman and could not live up to Stephen Moore's Marvin. Martin Freeman gave us a slightly different type of Arthur - a good performance ruined by the love interest plot that Hollywood ran away with. Bill Bailey was a pretty good whale, and Stephen Fry can do no wrong (but was no better than Peter Jones, who will always be the definitive Guide).
So, the love interest. NO! This was in no way Adams. I'll bet this is the bit that was holding up production until Adam's untimely demise. The Arthur/Trillian love interest was the main plot line for the movie, and that is just wrong.
I think the fundamental problem is that this material simply doesn't translate well into a 110 minute movie format. There is a certain relaxed pace to the madness in the radio and TV series that has to be sacrificed if the little kiddies are not to become bored (not that kids seemed to think much of it anyway judging from the constant chattering coming from the back of the cinema).
Rob
PS Yes I know it was a British made movie, but only in the same way Star Wars was.
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#255196 - 03/05/2005 22:14
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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Finally!
A big thank-you to Bitt, Roger & Rob for chiming in with some reason. I thought I was going "completely mental" over the past few days. I imagined they must have been handing out crack at US showings of this film - or at least piping something into the ventilation.
A shopping cart full of beer? That's only more "convenient" for a script writer. WTF was Ford doing running around with a trolley full of beer? It could have been he wanted to take it with him on the Vogon ship - but they gave no indication of that. It was simply to allow the script writer to omit the original dialogue.
I'll watch the movie again, but I'm pretty sure I'll never think it lives up to the books. At this point I'm just hoping it will be bearable to sit through a second time. If memory serves me, there just aren't any redeemable qualities in this movie.
The people that put this movie at number one are likely the same ones who keep the worst POS performers in shows like American Idol. :P
Bruno
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#255197 - 03/05/2005 22:20
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: hybrid8]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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Quote:
The people that put this movie at number one are likely the same ones who keep the worst POS performers in shows like American Idol.
Namely ... you?
Unless you mean something else by 'the people that put this movie at number one'.
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#255198 - 03/05/2005 22:48
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: hybrid8]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
WTF was Ford doing running around with a trolley full of beer?
The shopping cart was also full of peanuts. His intent was to drink the beer and eat the peanuts with Arthur. When he arrives, the first thing he starts doing is handing Arthur peanuts and beer and tells him "here drink this, you're going to need it." It's just that in order to distract the construction crew and thus get Arthur's full attention, he has to give up that particular stash and go for the next best thing, the pub down the street.
The book's explanation of why peanuts and beer are important is missing from the movie, though. As was the explanation of how they could get picked up by the Vogons, when the Vogons hate hitchhikers. But they can only cram just so much exposition into one movie. I was fine with those two bits of information deleted.
(For those who never read the book: 1. Peanuts and beer offset the terrible side effects of teleportation, and that's how they got onto the vogon ship was by teleportation. 2. The Vogons weren't the ones to answer the Thumb, it was the ship's cooks, a species called the Dentrassi, who liked to deliberately irritate their Vogon bosses by picking up hitchhikers.)
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#255199 - 04/05/2005 00:29
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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No, I got my money back at the box-office on the way out. And purposefully screened the film at a small theater that doesn't get counted toward the box-office totals anyway. I'm in Canada - our ticket sales don't count toward US box-office totals. I don't know which movie ranked #1 this past week in this country. I can tell you that the seats weren't even half filled for HHGTTG though. Bruno
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#255200 - 04/05/2005 00:52
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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You're too forgiving Tony. A cart full of beer? Still doesn't make any sense except as a contrived plot device ensuring he'd have enough for the entire construction crew. This was not something that had to be changed from the book to have that scene work effectively in the movie. In fact the book lends itself to a two hour movie fairly well - if one wants to take the time to do it right.
On the brighter side of things, I see that a Wallace and Gromit feature-length production will be released later this year. And neither Wallace nor Gromit have been replaced by American actors it seems. There were rumors that Paul Walker might play Wallace and Gromit's role would be given to the dog from Air Bud. Though Walker has the personality of a motionless plasticine figurine, I just don't think he could capture the depth of the lovable animated character.
Should we start taking bets now on whether Hotblack will do an animated song and dance in the next movie? With what they changed in this movie they might as well of not had an English Arthur. And they could have had the movie start from his apartment in L.A. or something. But I suppose that's what you get when you have someone that's never read the books nor had any HHGTTG experience write a new screenplay. And then hand off direction duties to a couple of guys that are one step above McG on the totem. And it's all as if they had George Lucas make final approvals. Makes me wonder where marvin's Jamaican accent was.
Bruno
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#255201 - 04/05/2005 02:21
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: hybrid8]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
A cart full of beer? Still doesn't make any sense except as a contrived plot device ensuring he'd have enough for the entire construction crew.
Perhaps he was in a hurry, didn't know what kind Arthur would like just to drink then, and filled the cart from the beer aisle. Money was no object of course, as it was going to be all worthless in a matter of minutes.
Quote:
This was not something that had to be changed from the book to have that scene work effectively in the movie.
I think it did need to be changed.
In the book, Ford's conversational tactic was weak at best. And I never bought that Arthur would have walked away from his house just because Ford temporarily confused Prosser. Yes it was a clever little conversation, yes it was classic Douglas Adams, but it was one of those things that works better in print than on the screen.
It's just better on film to *see* something happening than it is to watch to people have a clever conversation.
Don't get me wrong, I like clever conversations. Almost all of Kevin Smith's films are clever conversations. But they aren't action sci-fi movies either.
I enjoyed the clever conversation when it was in the book. Okay, so I saw and enjoyed that joke the way Douglas wrote it the first time. Now I can see an enjoy a completely different joke at that point in the story because the delivery context is different. I don't see a problem with that.
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#255202 - 04/05/2005 05:44
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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It's just better on film to *see* something happening than it is to watch to people have a clever conversation.
Throughout all this discussion, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the audiobook as a bridge between the written book and the movie.
Having neither read the original book, nor seen the movie, I'm not really in a position to judge, but having listened to my audiobook multiple times, I can see where it might well be the best of both worlds, retaining the cleverness of the writing, and at the same time capturing the essence of the movie experience, substituting imagination for the filmmakers visuals.
For those of you who have not listened to the audiobook, it is not a straight read of the book; rather, it is a performance of the book, with different folks reading the different characters, sound effects, etc.
I think, after the audiobook, the movie could only be a disappointment to me.
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#255203 - 04/05/2005 06:36
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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The sequel started on BBC4 yesterday and is available worldwide on BBC Radio player for the next seven days - I haven't actually listened myself.
Forgive me if someone's already pointed that out, but I thought that I wouldn't read this thread in detail, 'till I've seen the film, so that I don't start with a prejudice!
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#255204 - 04/05/2005 07:16
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Quote:
Throughout all this discussion, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the audiobook as a bridge between the written book and the movie.
Having neither read the original book...
Unless I'm much mistaken, your "audiobook" is the original radio series, from which the subsequent books, records, stage shows, towel, computer game, and film were derived. A lot of stuff ("He only had the one head and the two arms and called himself Phil") worked IMO better as throwaway radio jokes than as visual jokes with all the mechanism that entailed. It's like Seagoon paying Moriarty with fifty thousand hussars and receiving twenty thousand hussars as change: seeing it is less funny than imagining it.
Peter
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#255205 - 04/05/2005 07:39
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: peter]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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Quote:
seeing it is less funny than imagining it.
A very succinct expression of a common argument that I make about radio programmes: Particularly true, in my opinion, not just here, but in "Little Britain" and "Dead Ringers", two series in recent history which worked much better on the radio. Your analogy with the Goons is particularly apposite: Just not a possibility, visually!
In the last couple of months, I've gone forward and backwards, technologically: I'm convinced that music programmes sound better on my Revox, even if they technically don't: I'm sure that it's watching the reels going round! I'm also sure that moving from a bedside radio to a bedside notebook PC is the way to enjoy the wealth of, particularly spoken word, material from BBC 4/7, I get much better value out of the BBC than following the timetables.
_________________________
Politics and Ideology: Not my bag
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#255206 - 04/05/2005 12:10
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Quote:
I'm currently on a mission to find some sort of version of the song online, and learn the words and music to sing at a gathering two weeks from now. Anyone got any ideas?
http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/games/dolphin.html
So long and thanks for all the fish,
So sad that it should come to this,
We tried to warn you all oh dear,
You may not share our intellect,
Which may explain your disrespect,
For all the natural wonders that grow around you,
So long, so long and thanks for all the fish,
The worlds about to be destroyed,
There’s no point getting all annoyed,
Sit back and let the planet dissolve around you,
Despite those nets of tuna fleets
We thought that most of you were sweet,
Especially tiny tots and your pregnant women,
So long, So long, So long, So long, So long,
So long, So long, So long, So long, So long,
So long, So long, and thanks for all the fish,
If I had just one last wish,
I would like a tasty fish.
If we could just change one thing,
We would all have learned to sing.
Come One and All,
Man and Mammal,
Side by side in life’s great gene pool.
So long, So long, So long, So long, So long,
So long, So long, So long, So long, So long,
So long, So long, and thanks for all the fish.
_________________________
Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday
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#255207 - 04/05/2005 13:33
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: boxer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Meanwhile Amazon's synopsis seems to indicate that the fifth radio series doesn't stick very closely to the book... Peter
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#255208 - 04/05/2005 13:34
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Wow, cool, I didn't think to look at their own web site!! Thanks! That's an exceedingly bad little flash animation, but it DOES have the song in there. I could use TotalRecorder to get a rewindable audio file out of it, but does anyone have a more direct way of editing the audio track out of a flash file?
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#255209 - 04/05/2005 15:31
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Was I the only one who thought that song was wildly irritating?
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#255210 - 04/05/2005 16:37
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Was I the only one who thought that song was wildly irritating?
No, you're not the only one.
_________________________
-- roger
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#255211 - 04/05/2005 17:27
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Quote:
Unless I'm much mistaken, your "audiobook" is the original radio series, from which the subsequent books, ... were derived.
Yeah, the audiobook I have and am currently listening to in the car is Douglas Adams reading the book. He does an ok job with differing the vocies, but it is definitly all done by him alone.
Relistening to the book, I am seeing the jokes that did indeed get cut short in the movie. Some wern't all that critical to have the full version (like the whale identifying more then just his tail), but other jokes definitly needed to be left alone for them to be really funny.
In any case, I enjoyed the movie enough not to shun it out of existance. Though this might be due to my experiece with Douglas's works somewhat limited. I've only read/heard the first book, never read any of the others yet. I've never seen the older film, nor heard the radio show. I have played Starship Titanic (and am looking for a copy, my disk 2 is scratched badly), and read that book.
If anything, the movie has reminded me of his works, and has me wanting to read the other 3 books.
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#255212 - 04/05/2005 17:39
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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Quote:
and has me wanting to read the other 3 books.
FYI, that's actually 4 more books for the hitchikers series. And I don't know what others think, but I enjoyed the Dirk Gently books a lot.
_________________________
-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
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#255213 - 04/05/2005 19:24
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: JeffS]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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Well I liked it.......
Having not never read the book, listened to the radio series or watched the TV series I found it most enjoyable. There were very few things I disliked about it, maybe I'm easy to please.
By my own admission I don't read many books (manuals, specs and RFCs aren't really books are they) in particular, fiction. For some reason I've never got on with it.
Now here's the really sad question, would I be branded uber-geek by naming my next linux box DeepThought?
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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#255214 - 04/05/2005 23:37
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
Now here's the really sad question, would I be branded uber-geek by naming my next linux box DeepThought?
No, but the "cleverness" window on that one closed decades ago.
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#255215 - 05/05/2005 01:02
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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Good name for an empeg though . . .
_________________________
-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
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#255216 - 05/05/2005 01:33
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: andym]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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You could name your box Jack Handy and pick up the double reference points. In the forward to "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" compendium Adams explains the complete history of the radio show, TV shows, books and movie. The first paragraphy pretty much sums it up, Adams-style: Quote:
The history of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is now so complicated that every time I tell it I contradict myself, and whenever I do get it right I'm misquoted. So the publication of this omnibus edition seemed like a good opportuinty to set the record straight- or at least firmly crooked. Anything that is put down wrong here is, as far as I'm concerned, wrong for good.
This book is prominently displayed at most big bookstores to promote the movie, so take a minute and read the whole introduction if you have the chance.
-Zeke
_________________________
WWFSMD?
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#255217 - 10/05/2005 17:03
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: Ezekiel]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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Sorry Gang, I thought it was trash!!!
It never seemed to decide whether it wanted to be a blockbuster or to satisfy Hitchhiker geeks. "Should we have a love interest, well we'd better play it down, so we don't upset anybody"
Mrs. Boxer fell asleep, although that may have been the chinese feast and booze we had on the way to the cinema, rather than boredom; The boxette, presumably representing the target audience and having not even heard of hitchhikers until a week or so ago, couldn't get anything out of it and I, having been through radio and TV series, just found it very disappointing - if I wanted to be constructive, it worked better serialised, half an hour at a time. That's my opinion, for what it's worth!
_________________________
Politics and Ideology: Not my bag
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#255218 - 10/05/2005 17:43
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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The movie was better than I expected, but less than I'd hoped for. I've read all 5.01 trilogy books, and seen all but one or two of the TV episodes. Of course, there were disappointments, but those were all explainable by the fact that the movie all of the hardcore h2g2 fans really wanted would have gone straight to video in around the time it took for the sperm whale to come to terms with his mortality. They needed to "dumb it down" a little, pass on a lot of the subtle humor, and change the emphasis of various plot points in order to get fannies in the seats in a time of $10 tickets and extreme fickleness in the moviegoing population.
There aren't many franchises like Star Wars that can shit on a plate and have millions eat it up regardless, and we all know H2G2 isn't in that league. So, if the compromises made on this movie means I'll see a Restaurant at the End of the Universe film that's at least as good as this one, I'll be pleased.
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#255219 - 11/05/2005 07:37
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: tonyc]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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I really enjoyed it. A pretty decent adaptation of the radio show.
And Zooey Deschanel has just the most amazing eyes
_________________________
Mk2a RioCar 120Gb - now sold to the owner of my old car
Rio Karma - now on ebay...
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#255220 - 11/05/2005 16:45
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: furtive]
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veteran
Registered: 19/06/2000
Posts: 1495
Loc: US: CA
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Quote:
And Zooey Deschanel has just the most amazing eyes
Yes! That was part of the reason I wanted to see the movie. Though, when her eyes were on screen it was hard to do anything but stare and get lost in them, and I think I missed a bunch of the movie because of that.
_________________________
Donato MkII/080000565 MkIIa/010101253 ricin.us
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#255222 - 11/05/2005 20:09
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: furtive]
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veteran
Registered: 19/06/2000
Posts: 1495
Loc: US: CA
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You have an obsession with eyes too?
_________________________
Donato MkII/080000565 MkIIa/010101253 ricin.us
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#255223 - 20/05/2005 16:21
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: boxer]
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addict
Registered: 24/08/1999
Posts: 564
Loc: TX
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I saw it yesterday at an Alamo Drafthouse The first 30-40 minutes were, wow this is pretty good, maybe the missing some of the best humor but maybe it will be replaced by something else. As soon as the vogons reappeared for no apparent reason, it started to go downhill for me (and SWMBO) The movie jumped around just like the books and the TV series, but at least the old stuff kept it together. The movie still jumped but it didn't have enough of anything else to still hang together. Utilmately they seems to lose the soul of the radio/tv/books while keeping faithful to the parts that didn't really matter. The whole trillian/vogon thing was a complete waste of time. Vogons are supposed to be so tied up in paperwork that they get almost nothing done, when did they become the galactic police. But I suppose they couldn't waste all those cool costumes I could even have lived without the whale, just to get some more soul to movie. The final nail in the coffin is the "other end of the universe" gag which totally missed the point to the restaurant name. It just left us with a Duh! at the end. Oh well.....
_________________________
==========================
the chewtoy for the dog of Life
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#255224 - 20/05/2005 17:11
Re: The official Hitchhiker's Movie thread (possible spoilers).
[Re: ashmoore]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Okay, you've got a point about the restaurant thing. That bugged me, too.
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