Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy...

[TheManInTheBowlerHat]

As for Zaphod, at least Zaphod was much cooler than Ford. Now film-Ford, that was not a cool guy. Can you imagine anyone describing film-Ford as a 'hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is'?

Yes - they managed to turn Ford into such a dork! He was all over the place!

 

[Princess Ivy]

i'm re-reading the book, and just to note, 1. zaphod had two heads, with two brains, not one brain split into two faces. 2. zaphod wasn't voted in by mass vote, the imperial council is not a democracy. he was voted in by the council only!

i think though, raven, that they may very well have confused fen with trillian. she does seem more a composite character in the film.

i wish hollywood could just leave well enough alone!

 

[Raven]

Ivy: well, DNA always said the different versions of H2G2 were supposed to be alternate versions, not the same story in different formats. As such, it seems unlikely that even his original script 'left well enough alone', and any deviances from the book can be explained as part of the 'alternate version'.

Heck, some people complained bitterly about aspects of the conversion from radio to book...

 

[monkeydude]

I found it very funny, but didn't find myself much into the story like I am with the books. Maybe it is because it is so short.

 

[Hypes]

I went into the movie armed with few expectations and my trusty towel and I came out quite pleased, actually. I greatly enjoyed the movie, though I do feel they failed to exploit a lot of the opportunities offered by Douglas, but it was nonetheless far better than I had hoped.

 

[dwndrgn]

i'm re-reading the book, and just to note, 1. zaphod had two heads, with two brains, not one brain split into two faces. 2. zaphod wasn't voted in by mass vote, the imperial council is not a democracy. he was voted in by the council only!

i think though, raven, that they may very well have confused fen with trillian. she does seem more a composite character in the film.

i wish hollywood could just leave well enough alone!

I read a great deal about this movie as they were making it. It seems that Adams had already written the script and made many changes to the story himself. He wanted it to be different. The movie wasn't supposed to be an exact copy of the books. I can't say how faithfully they went by his original script but I do know that it wasn't faithfull to the books per Adams' desire.

 

[The Master™]

For all those that liked the Dolphin song... Go here: http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/games/dolphin.html

 

[Princess Ivy]

I read a great deal about this movie as they were making it. It seems that Adams had already written the script and made many changes to the story himself. He wanted it to be different. The movie wasn't supposed to be an exact copy of the books. I can't say how faithfully they went by his original script but I do know that it wasn't faithfull to the books per Adams' desire.

oh i do know that babe, its just agravating. when you're expecting a certain something, and its not delivered. One thing that forever prejudiced me against the project, was a comment that i read, in which the new director said he'd stay faithful to the 'spirit' of the original. Adams himself was infamous for not meeting deadlines and then having to be shut in a hotel room for a few days to complete a work. is why 'the salmon of doubt' was never finished. i'm a fan of the books. unless the film was faithful to the original book (not its spirit), i would have been prejudiced against it. which is precisely what has happened. and its no good telling me that DMA had made changes himself. that doesn't bother me. its those fundamental changes to the characters and basic storyline which are bothering me.

 

[Raven]

Ivy: yes, but...

The spirit of the books was precisely that kind of spirit that has no problem with the changes. We're not dealing with Tolkien here, but an anarchic, free-spirited entity. That's the whole ethos of the books.

The point about DNA making the changes is that he had no problem with 'being faithful' to the books, he didn't view it as important or necessary, any more than he felt he had to stay faithful to the radio series when writing the books!

I went into the movie without expectations, because I knew that those expectations were a trap. At no point were we going to get a 'faithful' rendition of the books, and I'd have been rather disappointed if we had. And so, I suspect, would DNA. He wouldn't have seen the point.

 

[Darken Rahl]

Saw the film with the missus, who has never read the books and won't watch the old TV version either. She gives it a four out of ten. However, I loved both the books and the TV show, as I would assume most here did. Pushed to rate the movie, somewhere around a six. (See Dolphin song notes above) Go see it for the visual effects, but don't plan to laugh too much. Whoever told that actor to play Zaphod as a George W wannabe needs to be shot, it was PAINFUL to watch. The Arthur / Trillian romance really ticked me off, it just wasn't right. Ford definitely not cool enough. The visuals were GREAT, but couldn't overcome some rather weak Hollywood ideas about the storyline and did I mention how BAD Zaphod was to watch?

 

[dwndrgn]

I finally saw the movie yesterday. I must admit that the dolphin song was rather uninspired.

Zaphod wasn't cool enough. Ford wasn't smug/smart/cool enough. The new plotline regarding the kidnapping of Zaphod was really dim...didn't seem to have the heft that a normal plotline should.

I have to say though, the biggest disappointment of all? The doors in the Heart of Gold. They sighed. Huh? How does that show they are happy in their jobs? It made me feel like they hated their jobs.

It was entertaining but not nearly as funny as it could have been.

 

[nemogbr]

Read the book
Enjoyed the series
Saw the film

I was disappointed, but then I knew it was from hollywood.

Became bored and went to sleep halfway through the film.

 

[Hestia]

I generally don't enjoy the movie version of books i have read, as i am constantly picking out the errors, or whole parts that have been missed out.

For this reason i have so far avoided watching this.
However after reading the feedback here, i think i will check it out for myself after all. Actually i loved the character Marvin and would really like to see how he was portrayed in the movie.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I love the books, and I really enjoyed the film! A scene in wool!!! Oh that made me laugh so much!
Ok, I agree Mos wasn't the best choice for Ford...but I loved Martin freeman as Arthur (but then I love Martin Freeman full stop and was overjoyed to hear that he was playing arthur).
I love Zaphod though! Authur will always be my favourite character, but Zaphod came a close second in the film!
Ah...loved it...
Oh, one thing to have a moan about...the supercomputer was a bit strange...I do imagine it as a computer rather than that strangely shaped creation. And I didn't like how the mice tried to steal Arthur's brain back in his house, with everyone drugged around him...and I really hate that soppy moment...but other than that...brilliant! And Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast! Excellent!

 

[lordoftime]

Of course the series of books this film is based on were concieved and written by Douglas Adams, who was a Script Editor for Doctor Who during the late 1970s.

 

[Simon Haynes]

I waited for the DVD and knew I was in trouble the minute I saw that damned dolphin song.

I loved the TV series, enjoyed the first book but not the rest, and never heard the radio series.

Aside from the singing dolphins, I felt they tried to cram too much into a short space of time, missing or skimming all the best bits.

Never mind, I still have the TV series on DVD and I still have the books. The movie can just gather dust.

 

[Starbeast]

I've haven't read the book or seen the tv series, nor have I heard the radio play before I watched the movie, but when I saw the film, I became an instant fan. Today, I have seen the tv series and heard the radio play, now I have to read the book.

 

[The Ace]

The guy playing Zaphod should be shot.

 

[Vladd67]

My main view of the film was that all the good lines seem to have been lifted straight from the original radio series.

 

[Rodders]

I've haven't read the book or seen the tv series, nor have I heard the radio play before I watched the movie, but when I saw the film, I became an instant fan. Today, I have seen the tv series and heard the radio play, now I have to read the book.

And now that you've seen and read all the versions, how do you rate each one?

Personally, i love the book and the radio drama. I didn't care much for the film, but that's not to say that it was a bad movie. I saw it expecting it to be bad because i love the original. I should try and dig it out and try and watch it more objectively.