He's got a towel! Run away!

[vovat]

I watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie for the second time last night. I already reviewed it way back when it was new, and I find that my opinion is still largely the same. I know a fair number of fans hated the film, but I would say there were quite a few things they did well, even while admitting that some of the new stuff was really annoying. It was a mixed bag, really. I remember reading one particularly scathing review that said Douglas Adams' main strength as a writer was in comic dialog, and cutting or altering so much of it was a very bad idea. Incidentally, the deleted scenes on the DVD include the great Guide bit about the Babel Fish being used to disprove the existence of God, but even it removes the end part about mankind going on to prove black is white and getting killed at the next zebra crossing. I wonder how many of the cuts and changes were done in order to tack on a love story and a happy ending. Maybe the writers (and possibly even Adams himself, who was said to have come up with some of the changes before his untimely death) felt mainstream movie audiences would demand these things. If so, it must have backfired, as I don't think the movie was very successful. If it had been, I'm sure there would have been talk of a sequel.

While the deleted scenes on the DVD were pretty cool, I thought I remembered reading that they were going to include a few other ones, like Ford trying to talk the Vogon guard into a career change. Did they end up not including them after all, or are they hidden somewhere on the disc?

In other news, I had yet another back-at-college dream last night, this time with a scrupulously clean roommate who straightened up all my stuff while I was out (but, for some reason, left a porno magazine lying on the bed). bethje was also staying in the dorm, but in a different room.

Comments

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I find it ironic that so many people complained about changes from the book, when the book was just a complete remake of the radio series, and then there was a TV series in there somewhere too that was totally different also. Apparently Adams was really into it all being fluid and changeable, but the ironic thing is scifi geeks such as the majority of his audience are all about memorizing every detail and pointing out inconsistencies in the things they love, so it sort of works against him audience-wise. Eh, but that's one of the few moments when I actually feel like telling the Geek Masses (of which I am one) to Grow Up and Stop Taking It So Seriously! I did hear the most major script changes were Adams's doing, and the other script writers were really nervous about changing anything themselves. I mean, iconoclasm was what Adams reveled in-- it makes sense he should do it to his own work!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The plot is pretty fluid, although some of the elements have remained more or less in place between versions. But when there are jokes that are pretty much exactly the same in the radio, book, TV, and record versions, but shortened or changed in the movie, I can see fans being upset about it. But then, everyone I've seen discuss the movie was already a fan of the story in at least one other medium, so they knew a fair number of the jokes by heart. I've seen people say that they didn't think a non-fan would really get the film, and I tend to agree, but I haven't seen any actual proof of this.

[yosef.livejournal.com]

I've seen people say that they didn't think a non-fan would really get the film, and I tend to agree, but I haven't seen any actual proof of this.

I'll let you know if I ever see it! It's something I would like to see, so hopefully I will... I want to get Netflix when I go back home, since it seems to be the easiest way to see a lot of movies (legally).

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I'd actually recommend reading the book or listening to the radio show first, but I WOULD like to see the opinion of someone who hadn't done either of those things, so hey. And if you do get Netflix, you should be Netflix friends with bethje and me!