q re Hitchhiker's Guide film

sanvean

Does anybody know how far in the book of The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy does the film go up to? The whole thing, or just the first book? I need to know, as I've only read the first book (for shame) and kind of don't want to see the film if it's going to go through the other three (four?) books.

Goodshape

Think it's just the first one, not 100% sure on that though.

Read the other books anyway. They kick arse and are fairly short. No excuses.

moshpit77

as far as I know it's the first book, the first book is called the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. the rest of the books in the 'series' have different names

DMC

Its "based" on book 1, so you are safe there.

The reviews of the film are very mixed. Still don't know if I should go....

monkeyfudge

Does it not go as far as the Restaurant at the End of the Universe like the TV series did?

Jim

monkeyfudge wrote:

Does it not go as far as the Restaurant at the End of the Universe like the TV series did?

I doubt it. Why would they squezze two books into one film when they can make endless money making sequels.

Still though, looking forward to seeing it.

Goodshape

monkeyfudge wrote:

Does it not go as far as the Restaurant at the End of the Universe like the TV series did?

Think it's just the first one

as far as I know it's the first book

Its "based" on book 1

:eek:

humanji

I'd say it's only the first book with maybe one or two bits from the second. I doubt they could have put much more of the books in as they added an entire new section with John Malkovich that isn't in the books.

I'm still looknig forward to it, no matter what the critics say.

BlitzKrieg

i heard it starts off where the 1st book did and then goes off on its own tangent...comes back briefly to the first book and then ends differently.

Stark

BlitzKrieg wrote:

i heard it starts off where the 1st book did and then goes off on its own tangent...comes back briefly to the first book and then ends differently.

Just like every Hitchhikers adaptation so then.

DMC wrote:

Its "based" on book 1, so you are safe there.

The reviews of the film are very mixed. Still don't know if I should go....

You shoud go, it's the only way you'll know for yourself.

Goodshape

Wildly inaccurate. Just as it should be.

So long as it's also funny and clever (like every Hitchhikers adaptation) I'll be happy.

monkeyfudge

BlitzKrieg wrote:

i heard it starts off where the 1st book did and then goes off on its own tangent...comes back briefly to the first book and then ends differently.

It's been a while since I read it... but the first book didn't have the greatest of endings... it leads right into the second book doesn't it?

And apparently all the new tangents were writen by Douglas himself...

From what I've read it's a somewhat loose adaptation of the first book. It takes the story and adds in new characters and situations, but stays loyle to the book through out.

The one fear I had was that they would try to fit all five books into two hours. Im acutually really looking forward to seeing it. I hope its an adaptation thats even a tenth as good as the Lord of the Rings.

p~b

just saw it today, it was'nt too bad, the story kept you interested

Saruman

Going later tonight.. won 2 free tickets at ster century... Im signed up to their email news letter and i got email telling me i won (did not enter anything) so went along yesterday and picked up tickets.

Crap seats if its assigned seating... But it was free so not going to complain.. will just look for some nice seats

Goodshape

Completely forget it's actually been released 'back home'. Just checked the dates for Czech Republic and it's feckin June 2nd.

You bastards

Saruman

Lol... if i see you in Prague next weekend (will be there from sat to tues) then ill tell you all about it

Ill be on the lookout for a turtle with an orange headband thing.

sanvean

Goodshape wrote:

Read the other books anyway. They kick arse and are fairly short. No excuses.

Oh, I will. It's just that I probably won't have read them by tomorrow, so was wondering if watching the film would ruin them for me. I guess it seems like it's just the first book, so I should be grand.

Am I the only person in the world who's only just read the first book? It kinda seems like that.

hussey

Seen it last night - enjoyed it
Mostly 1st book - with some added plots/char's

enjoyable anyway

penguinbloke

I saw it and liked it, I thought it was close enough to the book and the new bits kept the interest up.

that said it was about as true to the books,as the books were to the radio plays.

There are a few bits that i really liked though

1. it explained why ford bothered to save arthur
2. it had the original tv marvin in the queue on vogonisphere
3. many references to things in the book like the jewelled crabs and the deer with the horribly crushed backs

There are a few bits that i didn't really like though

1. Arthur and Trillian hooked up
2. Something about Zaphod didn't quite work. Good to start with but slightly too bipolar, might have just been me though.

all in all i thought it was pretty good, and while it could have been better it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Sarky

Pretty much what Penguinbloke said. I'm rather a massive fan of the books/radioplay/tv series, and I ended up quite satisfied with the film. It's close enough to the original stories.

I thought Martin Freeman could have done a little better as Arthur, and Zaphod was a little bit... odd... but all in all a good take on the story. I'd certainly recommend it.


Oh, and do stay til the very end, there's another entry from the Guide about halfway through the credits...

Saruman

A lot better than i thought it would be.. i thought it was great.

Oh and i went back in to get my drink which i decided i wanted and just as i got in.... as above there was an extra thing with the guide all about the attack on earth by the thousands of ships that were swallowed by a dog

Sarky

Also, the title tune is horribly catchy. I've been humming So Long And Thanks For All The Fish since I left the cinema last night...

BlitzKrieg

liked it. but felt 2 points let me down.

marvins lines seem to be dumbed down a bit which was really disapointing, and the whale had (and this is a tiny bug) that extra line "Hello Ground" which was totally unnecasary

Rhyme

Was at the 12:35 showing at the UGC... quite good. They changed quite a lot which got a bit annoying, Bill Nighy as Slatibartfast was excellent... almost all of the casting was excellent, and the small little touches like the crushed deer seat and the original Marvin on Vogsphere... the mice were a little too aggressive for my liking

Giblet

Anyone notice that at the end

The Heart of Gold turns into Douglas Adams?

Sarky

Giblet wrote:

Anyone notice that at the end

The Heart of Gold turns into Douglas Adams?

Ah, I SUSPECTED as much. Rather interesting way to praise him...

Rew

Personally I thought it was pretty bad, they took elements of the first book and made up bits to fill in, funny in spots and over all not great.

Crucifix

Probably a lot better if you haven't read the books. My definition for this film is "Good, but there was something missing". This applies to Marvin's bits, Martin Freeman and Mos Def's performances, and the film in general. I thought Rockwell did a good Beeblebrox, although I didn't like

the second head thing. The arguments with himself just didn't do it for me. I definitely felt better when the second one was gone.

Best thing about the film? It's made me want to read the books again.

Phil_321

Fell asleep during it. I know it's supposed to be a comedy but I didn't find it funny it all, eccentric isn't automatically funny. Some decent special effects, but crap story.

Redhairedguy

Me and my friends went to see it last night... I absolutely loved it (because I have the mental age of an eight year old). However, my friends weren't in the least bit sceptical (sarcasm :rolleyes: ) They all hated it.. no one found the idea of a manic depressive robot in the least bit humorous. I am ashamed that I have not read ANY of the books, but I'm gonna

Anyway, in my view I reckon it was pretty damn good!

Sarky

http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/games/dolphin.html

If I can't get that damn tune out of my head, I'm sure as hell not suffering alone!

invincibleirish

i saw it on friday thought it was reasonable,but have to say out of the 4 of us who went,the two that hadnt read the books liked it the most,whereas the other 2 (myself included) thought it was ok but obviously based it all against the books and lets b honest movie versions are never going to be as in depth as the book/s

mike65

Hitch-Hikers...topped the US box office over the weekend taking 21 million dollars. If it can sustain that for a few weeks then it'll be "a hit" and we can expect a sequel.

Mike.

spudington16

The film is just the first one - "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". You might notice that the other four books in the "trilogy" have different names ("The Resteraunt At The End Of The Universe", "Life, The Universe and Everything", "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" and "Mostly Harmless"), so you had no reason to believe that material from any of them would be in the film.

Dont be at yourself

mike65 wrote:

Hitch-Hikers...topped the US box office over the weekend taking 21 million dollars. If it can sustain that for a few weeks then it'll be "a hit" and we can expect a sequel.

Mike.

Hurrah!

projectmayhem

i was very happy with the film. sucks you in at the very start, and doesn't let you go. also, marvin r0x0rs teh s0x0rs

Fysh

I dug it quite a lot, considering the brutal reviews around the place. I have to say, I made a point of re-reading the first book before going to see it and was only really disappointed about the mangling of one line - Arthur's abridged description of going to find the plans for the new bypass ("on display? I had to go down to the cellar!" as opposed to an extended exchange leading to :
ARTHUR : "On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them." PROSSER : "That's the display department."
ARTHUR : "With a torch."
PROSSER : "Ah, well, the lights had probably gone."
ARTHUR : "So had the stairs."
PROSSER : "But, look, you found the notice didn't you?"
ARTHUR : "Yes, yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory, with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."
*silence for a few seconds*
PROSSER : "It's not as if it's a particularly nice house.")

A couple of the changes did seem somewhat annoying (the "how they met" scenes were a bit irritating, although for someone not versed in other versions of the whole thing I suppose they were pretty much necessary, and changing Zaphod to have his two heads argue, when the whole point of Zaphod's two heads was that they don't argue was a bit annoying as well), but overall I was pleasantly impressed. The different plot worked well enough for me and I was particularly taken with the Point Of View gun (although I suspected what it might end up being used for, having recently also listened to the radio version of Life The Universe and Everything). I was also satisfied by the way the romcom aspect was compressed into about 5 minutes, rather than being annoyingly dragged on all over the place as could easily have been done.

Trivia bit - not only did the Heart Of Gold turn into Douglas's head at the end, but there was also a planet in the assembly floor shaped like his head (it was at the bottom of the screen towards the middle, but only for a second or so - I only spotted it because it was mentioned in another review so I was looking for it).

All in all, yay. Far better than it was made out to be. And yes, the dolphin song won't get out of my head.

Ruu_Old

didnt read the books, but watched the old BBC series before going and prefered the old Arthur to the new one. I liked the film, poor marvin:)

RE*AC*TOR

Only read the first book. Which I didn't really find THAT funny, more quirky and silly really.

The movie? Piece of Crap.

I laughed once (same as most people in the cinema). A guy in the same aisle as me fell asleep (this was during an early showing too).

Unfunny, unexciting... complete waste of time and money (eventhough I have a UGC unlimited card).

Saruman

RE*AC*TOR Everyone has different tastes i guess... When i was there on preview night EVERYONE laughed at the same time, must have been full of fans... The movie was excellent. the books were fantastic... I need to watch the old TV series now, never managed to see it.

By the way only reading the first book is no good, you need to at least read the first 3. Its not the funniest book in the world... its not supposed to be.... Its very hard to explain though so i wont bother

bounty

it was like a long episode of red dwarf

michaelanthony

Absolutely shocking stuff.

Praetorian

I thought it was only okay. 5.5/10

That is all.

fun bus

Went to see it with two die-hard fans of the books. even thay were confused! after much deliberation,they seemed to decide that it focused on the first book, but included numerous elements from all five, making sequels extremely complicated! but whatever you do....DONT PANIC!!
PS-did everyone spot the cameo from the original bbc series?!

ionapaul

Wasn't impressed at all. Like Reactor, only laughed once or twice, like the rest of the packed audience (UCG last Sun afternoon). Pity, as it had an awesome cast, I have enjoyed all of them before (well, other than Mos Def) in great movies.

JCDenton

I know it's been less than a week since this was posted in these very boards but

http://www.media-file.net/hhgg/zaphod.mov

(I haven't managed to see the film yet, but how can it be that bad after this?)

gandalf

Saw it today and enjoyed it but felt a bit let down and couldn't figure out why? Never read the books and only have slight memories of the TV series

Might go see it again thou?

CathyMoran

Planning on seeing it some day this week, but am nervous at the thought as the reviews are so mixed plus I have heard that they have changed some of my favorite bits. Listening to the CD of the radio series again - now if they can do half as well as that...remember listening to it in the car with my brother when I was younger, great memories...just hope that I do not regret seeing it.