Saw Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this evening. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. You know it's bad when the high point is spotting the old Marvin robot (from the BBC TV series) queuing in the Vogon office. And to those who say that it's what Douglas would have wanted - yes, I agree, it's full of things that exemplify his weakest tendencies. Douglas's strength was satirical dialog, skewering pompous bureaucratic gobbledygook and content-free marketing pablum with equal energy. However, he was also a geek, always fascinated with shiny toys - even if he didn't know how to use them properly. Giving Douglas a large SFX budget was like giving a bipolar wine-taster the keys to the cellar. He was (admirably) obsessed with the environment, and endangered species; his book Last Chance To See is wonderful. But that doesn't mean turning HHGTTG into a "green" manifesto. It's a comedy, dammit! (But I noticed that hardly anyone in the cinema was laughing - including me.)
And whoever wrote that stupid theme song should be forcibly re-educated and compelled to take up a new line of work.
Posted by geoff2 at May 5, 2005 01:01 AMActually, I quite liked it... Some of the metaphysical imagery was particularly effective.
(spoilers here)
Okay, no - you definitely have points. I saw the film just last night, and have been thinking about it. I felt that a lot of the scenes which had also been in radio series, books, tv had had their dialogue massively dumbed down to suit the (American?) audience, which was a shame. For example, there's no reason why Ford couldn't have argued Mr Prosser into lying in front of the bulldozer - there's lots of examples like that throughout the film unfortunately, which didn't do it any favours.
I'm still trying to make my mind up about the casting as well - don't think Arthur was terribly well cast, not frantic enough but Ford worked quite well imho. Stephen Fry as the book was perfect, as were the book animations : so glad they kept them simple.
The special effects in general were very good, but not to the point that they got in the way. I can't help but think that were Douglas still alive (or perhaps if Hollywood weren't involved and a British studio was) that the film would have turned out a whole lot better.
All that said, I think I probably had a smile on my face for the entire film, and I left feeling that on the whole, it was a good thing : if there's a sequel, I'll definitely go to see it. (though maybe I'll listen to the radio series a few more times to remind me how good it could have been)
Posted by: Tim Foster at May 5, 2005 03:17 AMOK, the morning after, what worked? Some stuff did. Bill Nighy. The vogon design from the Jim Henson studio - but a little goes a long way. The Magarathea factory floor effects conveyed the scale beautifully.
I actually blame the director for most of it. Don't send a callow boy to do a man's job. (No sexism implied.)
Somewhere I have not only the BBC TV version on VHS, but a "making of" VHS that came out at the same time.
Posted by: Geoff Arnold at May 5, 2005 08:19 AMHow about don't send a first time director and a screenwriter who's never read the books to adapt a cult classic?
Posted by: juicycat at May 7, 2005 11:26 PM