I just watched the movie, and honestly I was feeling bad because obviously I missed all those previews and test screenings but everyone else had seen them, and made different comments about how bad the movie was. And why? Because the content was totally different from the book..
When there is an adaptation at hand, not just a book but a comic, a song, a TV series, or the Holy Bible, there has to be some changes. Change is inevitable. And whenever there is a change, there will be people stating their initial reactions about the change: it sucks.. This is not an emotion, but a programmed reaction to any kind of change.
For Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, I always wondered how it can be fitted into a 1.5 hour movie without losing the structure. It never occurred as the meaning of life popped into the mind of Fenchurch. there had to be something trimmed.
Karey Kirkpatrick? Who the hell he was? I guess that was my reaction when I first heard of the production. A little jealous obviously, which made me think "Oh, he will blow it up" And as the release date approached, I started hearing more comments on how the movie was totally different then the radio series, the book, the BBC TV series, the comics, the towel..
And finally, when the movie started with a quote from the middle of the book, I didn't feel mad. I liked it. And throughout the movie it was a nice mix of the story that readers of the book knew already. Furthermore, it was an appropriate way to tell the story of Arthur Dent to those who didn't read the books.
Casting was great. Freeman makes a good Dent, he is not on the spotlight unfortunately. Mos Def is promising; he had some eeriness of Ford Prefect, but not entirely. He was funny in most occasions. Rockwell rocked as Zaphod, Deschanel was cute but nothing more was available to express her talent, Bill Nighy was beyond words as Slartibartfast; what a render! And last but not least Alan Rickman's voice fitted perfectly, damn we love that guy don't we? And did you notice John Malkovich? I didn't. Perhaps because we don't see him in the movies anymore. Sad.
Imagery was great. Concepts, designs, planets, and of course the Earth-2 scenes were beautiful. The thing with the dolphins in the beginning was sweet.
Story was.. well you know it's good. Changes were kind of disturbing but still bearable. Humma Kavula thing was obviously added by Adams himself, the love story between Arthur and Trillian was brain scratching but on the other hand didn't we always felt bad for Arthur losing Tricia to Zaphod? Here, he gets his revenge. So, another hurray. Actually story was cut, after the escape of Arthur's brain, to a happy ending. It was sweet, but I would like to see the restaurant at the end of the universe too.
To sum up: I think movie was funny. Even though many of Adams' cunning jokes were "polished" one cannot argue with that since movie goers don't have the dominating percentage of high IQ. I believe movie was conducted nicely to introduce a great novel to those who wouldn't read it in a million years. I enjoyed it, and I seriously don't believe that Douglas Adams had something else in his mind when he wrote the HHGG: make people enjoy. It was a hard project to complete, but they did not ruin it, and that's why it deserves a high rating.
When there is an adaptation at hand, not just a book but a comic, a song, a TV series, or the Holy Bible, there has to be some changes. Change is inevitable. And whenever there is a change, there will be people stating their initial reactions about the change: it sucks.. This is not an emotion, but a programmed reaction to any kind of change.
For Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, I always wondered how it can be fitted into a 1.5 hour movie without losing the structure. It never occurred as the meaning of life popped into the mind of Fenchurch. there had to be something trimmed.
Karey Kirkpatrick? Who the hell he was? I guess that was my reaction when I first heard of the production. A little jealous obviously, which made me think "Oh, he will blow it up" And as the release date approached, I started hearing more comments on how the movie was totally different then the radio series, the book, the BBC TV series, the comics, the towel..
And finally, when the movie started with a quote from the middle of the book, I didn't feel mad. I liked it. And throughout the movie it was a nice mix of the story that readers of the book knew already. Furthermore, it was an appropriate way to tell the story of Arthur Dent to those who didn't read the books.
Casting was great. Freeman makes a good Dent, he is not on the spotlight unfortunately. Mos Def is promising; he had some eeriness of Ford Prefect, but not entirely. He was funny in most occasions. Rockwell rocked as Zaphod, Deschanel was cute but nothing more was available to express her talent, Bill Nighy was beyond words as Slartibartfast; what a render! And last but not least Alan Rickman's voice fitted perfectly, damn we love that guy don't we? And did you notice John Malkovich? I didn't. Perhaps because we don't see him in the movies anymore. Sad.
Imagery was great. Concepts, designs, planets, and of course the Earth-2 scenes were beautiful. The thing with the dolphins in the beginning was sweet.
Story was.. well you know it's good. Changes were kind of disturbing but still bearable. Humma Kavula thing was obviously added by Adams himself, the love story between Arthur and Trillian was brain scratching but on the other hand didn't we always felt bad for Arthur losing Tricia to Zaphod? Here, he gets his revenge. So, another hurray. Actually story was cut, after the escape of Arthur's brain, to a happy ending. It was sweet, but I would like to see the restaurant at the end of the universe too.
To sum up: I think movie was funny. Even though many of Adams' cunning jokes were "polished" one cannot argue with that since movie goers don't have the dominating percentage of high IQ. I believe movie was conducted nicely to introduce a great novel to those who wouldn't read it in a million years. I enjoyed it, and I seriously don't believe that Douglas Adams had something else in his mind when he wrote the HHGG: make people enjoy. It was a hard project to complete, but they did not ruin it, and that's why it deserves a high rating.