I just had problems with my connection so here we go again...

I have seen a few commercials for the Hitchiker's guide and I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about this. Will it suck..or will it be fantastic..or something in between?

It has great promise...to really, really suck or be fantastic, depending on who makes it

BTW I missed the Canadian debut of Dr Who...is it worth it?

L8R

Pete

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PJE

There's so much I don't know about astrophysics. I wish I had read that book by that wheelchair guy.

It used the screenplay that Adams wrote, but I don't know how much editing they did. Be warned, though, Adams always changed the plot somewhat when he changed medium.

If they tried to compress the entire trilogy into one movie, I have little hope. If they stick only to the first book, this movie could be awesome.

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Keeper of the Jabberwock

There is a review HERE that says it royally sucks (beware some spoilers, especially if you click through to the long review).

Spoiler-ised question below:

However, his argument that it sucks is based on the fact that so much has been changed from how it happens in the books, along with some serious slagging off of the film's writers for changing Adams' dialogue etc.

If Douglas Adams wrote the screenplay that would point the finger of "blame" directly at him rather than someone else. Do we have any idea how much of his original screenplay was left for actual shooting? Was it substantially his, slightly his, or just based on his?

Regardless, as a big, but not obssessive, fan of THHGTTG I will probably see it anyway.

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Dave

Anyone seen my marbles? Anyone ... ?

All,
Go and see the bl**dy thing before you decide if it "sucks" or not!
Make up your own mind!

Can you imagine Douglas Adams doing anything else?

John

dude, the movie is totally amazing. I haven;t seen it yet, but I seriously think it is my favorite movie ever. :roll:

but seriously... I have tried to read one of the books a few times, and everytime enjoyed it but only made it 2/3 through then just quit for no reason... and have heard a good chunk of the radio shows. I hope the movie retains the same 'tone' as the book and radio show.

I think if it does that, it should be pretty enjoyable. and the trailers look a'ok. time will tell...

I'll be going to see it. I love the radio series, the books, the tv series......
It's gonna be a very difficult film to pull off well.

I'm kinda glad Adams made some big changes to the story for the film. For one thing it gives us fans who know the story inside out something new. Plus the original radio show etc never really did have much of a plot. It was more of a series of bizarre improbable events happening to our hero Arthur Dent.

As for Doctor Who, I hear it is pretty damn good. Don't worry if you missed the first episode, apparently the second one is even better - ie they don't have to stuff around with any setting up the premise stuff which often ruins pilots.

Note for the Aussies, Doctor Who arrives on the ABC mid May!

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Time cube is evil.

I look forward to seeing it.

the originals were so funny.


by the way it's 6 parts not 3.

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-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

What, you mean you haven't heard the record or played the text adventure game? Shame on you! :wink:

Agreed. I'm fascinated to learn what the "point of view gun" is. This isn't a spoiler, I hope, as I have no idea myself. Ditto those flyswatters that appear in the trailer.

I loathed the second one - a poor rip-off of Hitch Hiker and Galaxy Quest - but the other episodes have been very enjoyable.

Well, all I know is the trailers look awesome! I'll be there on opening day. Yes, they have tinkered with the plot. Who cares? Adams did that as well.

http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/20...rs/trailer.php

Record? No. Played the game, yeah but I'm stuck on the bridge of the Heart of Gold. Been stuck there for around 20 years. I guess one day Marvin will let me in the sauna....


Yeah, I know, it's a red herring, at least I think it is.

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You're a coward and a liar and a thOOF - Bart Sibrel

Reviews so far say its simply not funny.

I couldn't get the babelfish thing to work. I even read the book WHILE playing and it STILL didn't work. Wow.. that was a long time ago... I miss my C=64! Hmmm... never finished Leather Goddesses of Phobos either.

CJSF

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Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

What reviews?

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Time cube is evil.

I don't have links on me, but it was released in England today (I think) so google should do the trick.

It doesn't officially open until 28 April.

But some critics have seen it already. From the BBC News site:

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Verdict on the new big-screen version of Douglas Adams' much-loved science-fiction novel.

Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel and Mos Def play lead roles
Don't panic - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is not as bad as I had feared. Then again, it is not as good as I had hoped.

Stuck in development hell for the best part of 26 years, Douglas Adams' book has finally reached the big screen - four years after the author's death.

Adams' deceptively complex novels are crammed full of witty erudition, great gags and lengthy digressions, so it was always going to be a struggle to turn it into a neatly packaged two-hour movie.

Understandably perhaps, huge swathes of the novel have been cut in order to make a consistent, story-led film.

At the same time, director Garth Jennings tries hard to retain the comedic essence that so defined Adams' originals.

Beguiling

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy centres on the hapless Arthur Dent, who awakes one morning to find his best friend is an alien, his planet is about to be destroyed and that he is somehow central to a galactic scientific experiment to determine the meaning of life itself.

What marked the book out as more than a mere comedic romp was the density of ideas that Adams managed to distil in the text - everything from handheld computing to existentialism to musings on cricket and maths.

Rockwell (centre) plays Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the galaxy
The key characters are all present in the film, with Dent played note perfect by The Office's Martin Freeman.

Sam Rockwell does a great turn as Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed president of the galaxy; Mos Def is passable as Ford Prefect; while Zooey Deschanel is beguiling as Trillian.

As the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android, Alan Rickman perfectly conveys the character's world-weary disdain, despite being woefully underused.

A lot of effort has gone in to keeping the film as faithful to Adams' vision as possible. But somewhere in the production process the crew has lost sight of the fundamental aspect of the books - they were immensely funny.

Truncated

The film burbles along at an amusing canter, occasionally rising to levels worthy of a chuckle. But unlike the books and radio series, it rarely makes you laugh out loud.

Some of the original gags find their way into the film version, but they feel neutered or truncated.

Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, who continued the adaptation work started by Adams, has had to make a number of sacrifices to get the text into cinematic form.

Unfortunately, one of the elements sacrificed is sense.


Martin Freeman (left) plays the befuddled hero, Arthur Dent
Hitchhiker fans will know what is happening, but newcomers will be left scratching their heads at a story that flits from one unpronounceable planet to another - each one populated by equally exotic-sounding characters.

Did I say characters? Hmmm. While Dent is a familiar cipher, audiences will be left clueless by Ford Prefect, bemused by Zaphod Beeblebrox and indifferent to Trillian.

Despite outstanding production design and some fantastic visual effects, overall the film is a bit of a mess. A charming mess, maybe, but a mess all the same.

Did the script veer too far away from the source material or tie itself in knots trying to keep faith with it?

Bizarrely, I think the answer is both.

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Time cube is evil.

Odd. The reviews I've seen seem to like it.
No.1
No.2
Regardless, I want to see it.

It was always gonna be one of those films you ever "get" or you don't. My prediction is it will do ok, to well in the box office, but get a bigger following on DVD.

It might take audiences a while to get why a whale falling out of the sky is funny.

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Time cube is evil.

While sometimes raising a smile I didn't think the Hitch Hikers Radio or TV series were that good. I couldn't even finish any of the books.
Give me the Dwarf Posse any day.

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All Moderation in Purple

The original Guide made sense?

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

As he was writing some of the episodes of series one as they were being recorded I don't see how it can make sense all the time. He threw the two of them out of the Vogon ship as a cliffhanger and then had to invent a way of saving them before the next episode was recorded.

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All Moderation in Purple