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Hitchhiker's Guide Film Reports

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the it's-coming-people dept.

wakaranai writes "The BBC reports that the new "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" movie will star Martin Freeman (Tim from The Office) as Arthur Dent. According to the Internet Movie Database filming starts early 2004, and Marvin's voice will be Stephen Moore, reviving his role from the classic 1981 BBC TV version." If you haven't seen The Office, it takes the subject matter Dilbert has bored us with, and makes it utterly hysterical. This is a good bit of casting. I'm still available to play Zaphod.

50 of 518 comments (clear)

  1. So, Taco . . . by GnrlFajita · · Score: 4, Funny

    . . . are you saying that you're a two-headed alien, or just look like one?

    --
    When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
    Mark Twain
    1. Re:So, Taco . . . by beacher · · Score: 3, Funny

      If cloning were as simple as posting, I'm sure there would be dupes of him floating around. It's just a matter of sewing on the other head.....
      B

    2. Re:So, Taco . . . by blowdart · · Score: 5, Funny

      No no, the second head is a dupe head, which appeared 3 days after the first head was posted.

  2. Word twisting by andyrut · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A film version of Hitchhiker's may be interesting, but I think it's safe to say that a film simply cannot pick up on the wordplay of Douglas Adams. Adams is simply a master of twisting words that can make the reader laugh out loud.

    Unless the director chooses to use lots of narration, which could ruin a film.

    1. Re:Word twisting by Threni · · Score: 5, Informative

      > A film version of Hitchhiker's may be interesting, but I think it's safe to say > that a film simply cannot pick up on the wordplay of Douglas Adams.

      Given that the original was a radio show, which contained one or two words....

    2. Re:Word twisting by ikoleverhate · · Score: 5, Informative

      The "voice of the guide" narration in the bbc TV series worked pretty well - when the audience was confused as to what was happening in the main story, a calm voice would start to explain... and leave you even more confused but in fits of laughter.

      "after disproving the existance of god, man goes on to prove 1=2, black=white, and gets run over on the next zebra crossing"

    3. Re:Word twisting by andyrut · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Given that the original was a radio show, which contained one or two words....

      With radio, the audience isn't shown what's going on, thus there has to be a certain degree of narration to give them some idea of what's going on.

      With a movie, the audience sees the action for themselves so narration wouldn't have to be used.

    4. Re:Word twisting by Silverlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just a few days ago I found a DVD of the 1981 film version in a video store. Of course, I immediately grabbed it. The special effects and graphics are horrible but it's still Hitchhiker's.. I enjoyed it immensely.

      I bring this up because the original has a ton of narration (accompanied by bad graphics) but, hell, it could be a starfield screensaver with some guy reading the entire text in the background and I would still love it. I think it's too good of a book to be ruined by a change of medium. It's been a radio show, a book, a film, an Infocom text-adventure game, and who knows what else. There's a reason for that...

    5. Re:Word twisting by eln · · Score: 3, Funny

      You know, when I first read the book, when I was quite young, I came to the part about the zebra crossing and became very confused. I couldn't imagine any place in England where there was such an abundance of zebras hanging around that they would have to put in zebra crossings.

      Then of course, the idea of someone getting run over by a zebra, or perhaps a herd of stampeding zebras, made me laugh, so I thought maybe the author was just going for some kind of absurdist humor.

    6. Re:Word twisting by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Funny

      The "country" of "England" is absurdist humor.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    7. Re:Word twisting by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You know, when I first read the book, when I was quite young, I came to the part about the zebra crossing and became very confused.

      As would most Americans, when we call them "crosswalks". "Zebra" is an essential part of the humor there. Also, the "I'm in the car park" joke just doesn't have the same punch with "parking lot".

      But then we got the bit about the word Belgium inserted in our edition of the books to offset the sanitizing of the Rory for The Most Gratuitous Use of the Word "Fuck" in a Serious Screenplay. (Also "arsehole" was replaced with "kneebiter".)

      Still, everyone got revisions about probability of rescues and the name of the writer of the worst poetry in the Universe due to problems of people calling phone numbers and the writer actually being a former classmate of Adams who wasn't amused (though in exchange for changing the name, we did get the actual poetry about dead swans).

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    8. Re:Word twisting by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Just a few days ago I found a DVD of the 1981 film version in a video store.

      That would be the TV series.

      There is also at least one comic book series.

      And the radio play is the original, though there came a point where multiple versions were being made simultaneously, then more radio episodes to finish out the book adaptions, and only now a movie.

      "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" has almost as many adaptions as has "The War of the Worlds". I wonder if they'll come out with an arcade game version next (Cinematronics did TWotW as an arcade game). Or pinball?

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    9. Re:Word twisting by jandrese · · Score: 3, Informative

      I remember playing HHGTTG on my old Commodore 64. The box came with a bunch of extras (including Peril sensitive sunglasses--they were just black cardboard, a miniature invasion fleet in a baggie, some lint, and a few other things). It was one of those annoying "adventure" games where you have to try 6000 different bizarre things before you stumble across the one that lets you advance the story, because the programmers never bothered to account for the obvious solutions.

      For instance, instead of just cupping your robe in front of the Babel Fish vending machine (because they are too slippery to catch and the vending machine shoots them out at high speed for no particular reason), you have to hang your robe on a hook, put a towel over a drain, move a bag over a door, and pile mail on the bag to get the fish and advance the storyline. Garrgh!

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
  3. Sequel by stanmann · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What about the other 4 books in the trilogy???

    --
    Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  4. Stephen Moore by mccalli · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Stephen Moore's TV version was already a revival. Stephen Moore is the original voice from the radio series, which predates the books, TV series...anything. To my mind remains the best incarnation, though I'll accept an argument in favour of the books.

    He'll probably be quite pleased. Marvin, on the all.

    Cheers,
    Ian

    1. Re:Stephen Moore by corbettw · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, well, that sort of thing wouldn't happen if you had a brain the size of a planet. Not that you care.

      --
      God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  5. Hopes for Zaphod by dpille · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hope they'll spend some serious CGI money on Zaphod- I was always somewhat disappointed that on the TV series, the 2nd head mostly looked asleep or simply turned from side-to-side. I've always thought there are sections of dialogue in the books that make much less sense or are less funny if you can't imagine each head speaking its own mind.

    1. Re:Hopes for Zaphod by fruey · · Score: 5, Interesting
      They don't have to spend serious CGI. He just has to play the part twice, and then stitch them together, rather like in "Death Becomes Her" where the body and head parts were filmed separately, and the results were far more realistic than a completely CGI head like TPM or AotC. The plot of the film wasn't great, but it won the 1993 Oscar, BAFTA and Saturn awards for special effects.

      The key part is how to get a decent neck on him so that the two heads work. You could get twins or a pair of similar looking actors to play each part separately, then CGI them into one. Kinda like by tying them together before shooting and stuff. Way too many cool ways to do it, but don't make him 100% CGI!

      --
      Conversion Rate Optimisation French / English consultant
    2. Re:Hopes for Zaphod by cjpez · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bah. I hope they use as little CG as possible. HHGTTG isn't supposed to be some glitzy high-production thing; it's B-movie camp, and B-movie camp at its finest. Zaphod's plastic-head-attached-to-his-shoulder thing from the BBC TV series was outstanding. CG could ruin a good movie like this.

      --
      Al Qaeda has ninjas!
    3. Re:Hopes for Zaphod by belroth · · Score: 3, Interesting

      In the stage show they had two actors playing Zaphod, at the same time in the same costume.
      One actor was behind the other - the clothes went round both actors so 'zaphod' had two double thickness legs, one double thickness arm and two normal arms (and two heads of course). The shoes were two paris of normal shoes on plates fixed heel to toe. Obviously the actors need to be of the same height and twins would be ideal.
      The two actors on stage split the lines and did some nice business with both arms on the same side doing a task together,like feeding the 'opposite' head while the near head spoke. It was very effective.

      --
      I hereby inform you that I have NOT been required to provide any decryption keys.
  6. Poor Synopsis by Afty0r · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If you haven't seen The Office, it takes the subject matter Dilbert has bored us with, and makes it utterly hysterical.
    That's an utterly terrible synopsis. Dilbert and The Office share only their setting (an office) and very little else. In contrast to Dilberts "engineers banging heads against the system" the office chooses to explore primarily the relationships and personalities of people in a small office and the lack of authority or system which allows an incompetent boss to reign supreme.
    1. Re:Poor Synopsis by pacman+on+prozac · · Score: 3, Insightful

      He was a standup comedian for years and is still going with it so he does do a few other things.

      It's meant to make you cringe, thats the point of it really. They deliberatly avoid obvious gags, its not that kind of show. I guess you could see it as one of those shows thats main point is to make you feel better about your own life because its not as bad as theirs, although I have worked in offices with worse bosses & atmospheres so I could be wrong on that.

      I'd say its a very individual thing as to whether you find it incredibly funny or just annoying as hell, and perhaps a very thin line. For years I just thought the former, now I'm hooked. My girlfriend hates it and cannot sit for more than 30 seconds with it on the tv.

      If you do appreciate their humour then it is hysterical, they are more down-to-earth than most other comedies on the TV so it seems a fair statement. It wouldn't have run for 2 series plus xmas special if nobody liked it either.

    2. Re:Poor Synopsis by TwistedSquare · · Score: 3, Informative
      Depends on what sort of humour you appreciate really. Tim's expressions while the crazy world happens around him are hilarious, Keith can even make exhaling funny, and Brent so perfectly picks out all the terrible boss characteristics that some find it amazing, and many find it too close to home...

      Also, not on a hysterical note, your sympathy for Brent grows more and more towards the end of the series (last 2 included), including the amazing scene where he is fired and then stands up to reveal his costume :)

  7. Movie go'ers who haven't read the book.... by eggoeater · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...will be pissed when they find out that the Ultimate question about life, the universe, and everything, is never revealed.
    I remember after the end of FOTR I overheard people saying "What happened to the ring?". Were these people living in a cave before going to the theater?? ....but hey...screw 'em.
    This is going to be great.

    --
    $7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
    1. Re:Movie go'ers who haven't read the book.... by corbettw · · Score: 3, Informative

      ...will be pissed when they find out that the Ultimate question about life, the universe, and everything, is never revealed.

      What are you talking about? The Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything is "What is 6 times 9?"

      The answer, of course, is 42.

      (For the humor impaired, the joke is that 6*9 is not, actually, 42, implying there's something seriously wrong with the Universe when it can't even answer its own question correctly.)

      --
      God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
    2. Re:Movie go'ers who haven't read the book.... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 3, Funny

      (For the humor impaired, the joke is that 6*9 is not, actually, 42, implying there's something seriously wrong with the Universe when it can't even answer its own question correctly.)

      Actually, the Earth matrix that was calculating the question got irrevocably screwed up by the arrival of all the telephone cleaners, hair dressers, and other useless beings from another planet. Thus, depending on how you interpret it, either the question of Life, the Universe and Everything is 7*6 or the question is simply lost forever.

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  8. I'd pick... by Xpilot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sean Connery for Slartibartfast!

    --
    "Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
    1. Re:I'd pick... by Baby_with_a_nailgun · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sean Connery for Slartibartfast!

      Would that make him Shlartibartfasht?

  9. The Office by grandmofftarkin · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of you who have never seen 'The Office' it is a BBC comedy filmed in a semi documentary format (though it is all fictional). On the BBC website linked above there is a clips section to give you a taste of what it is like. Though to really 'get it' you have to watch a couple of episodes. You can buy the complete first series online from PlayUSA.

    1. Re:The Office by Aardpig · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's always amusing to compare the people in American soap operas to the people in English ones like, say, EastEnders...

      That's because American soaps are aspirational, while English ones are cautionary. Dallas: you, too, can be a millionaire with hot chicks if you work hard. East Enders: if you don't work hard, you'll end up as one of these drunk, ugly, poor peasants.

      Australian soaps sit in the middle: the people are poor but beuatiful. Not sure what the message is, but it sure looks nice...

      --
      Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
    2. Re:The Office by Malfourmed · · Score: 3, Funny
      Australian soaps sit in the middle: the people are poor but beuatiful. Not sure what the message is...

      Everybody needs good neighbours.
      --
      a world in progress...
  10. The Office by squirrelpants · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Office puts a more realistic spin on Dilbert. It really is one of the more original and best shows out there. They're still showing episodes on BBC America or you can pick up the first season on DVD. David Brent is truly a classic character.

  11. Picture by klocwerk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    here's a pic of him.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38281000/jpg/_3 8281639_office300.jpg

    looks like he could pull it off. never seen that movie though.


    --

    "You worthless post!"
    -Shakespeare, 2 Gentlemen of Verona, 1. 1. 147
  12. Anyone who liked Marvin the paranoid android.... by mgpeter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Check out Marvin the Web Server.

  13. It's a joke! by shadowj · · Score: 5, Informative
    Trilogy relates to 3. Sorry, just being technical.

    I think the word you're looking for is "pedantic", not "technical".

    You obviously haven't read the books. The fourth and fifth books both have a blurb on the cover that says something like "fourth in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy". It's a joke, very much in keeping with the late author's sense of humor.

    --

    --Larry

    Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence

  14. It would be interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    To see how well this does here in the States.
    It might gain a crossover audience for special effects (they do go to many weird places, after all), but I don't think it'll get good critical reviews. The Hitchiker's Guide doesn't have a three-act movie structure, it bounces around from episode to episode. It's really more suited to be a TV series.
    It's also peculiarly British. Think about it: Arthur Dent's home is destroyed (twice) by bureaucrats. (Here it would have to be corporations.) They spend time looking for a cup of tea. The end of the universe comes, *and it's no big deal*: people go to a restaurant to watch it happen. (As they say, in England, death is imminent, in Canada, death is inevitable, and in California, death is optional.) The frat-boy Zaphod is a figure of fun and the hero is the mild-mannered Arthur Dent.
    I'm also disappointed that they're probably going to make Trillian into a bimbo again; she was supposed to be an astrophysicist. Nobody seems to like nerd women, except for Slashdot, Harvey Pekar, and Howard Dean ;)
    And I wonder how well the nerd community is going to rally around it: THHGTTG has been out for a while, and some younger nerds have never heard of it. Hey, I never knew about the Goon Show until I read they were part of the inspiration for Python (I'm 24).
    Oh well, I hope it's good...

    1. Re:It would be interesting... by siskbc · · Score: 3, Interesting
      It's also peculiarly British. Think about it: Arthur Dent's home is destroyed (twice) by bureaucrats. (Here it would have to be corporations.) They spend time looking for a cup of tea. The end of the universe comes, *and it's no big deal*: people go to a restaurant to watch it happen.

      Right, but all these lovely stereotypes are why we Americans love to poke fun at the British. Also, remember that the Hitchhiker series as as beloved by geeks on the left side of the pond as the right.

      I'm also disappointed that they're probably going to make Trillian into a bimbo again; she was supposed to be an astrophysicist. Nobody seems to like nerd women, except for Slashdot, Harvey Pekar, and Howard Dean ;)

      It would be a disappointment if she were *just* a bimbo...but she *is* a bimbo.

      And I wonder how well the nerd community is going to rally around it: THHGTTG has been out for a while, and some younger nerds have never heard of it.

      Who? Let me go kick their asses. I think the standards will be high, meaning it will either be reviled or loved by the geek community.

      --

      -Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat

  15. Deep Thought by CelticWhisper · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe the Deep Thought supercomputer will be played by Virginia Tech's Power Mac G5 cluster! I'm sure Apple would state that if any computer can tell us the meaning of life, it's the G5. How's 'bout it, guys?

    --
    Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
    http://www.tsanewsblog.com
  16. Wouldn't Cmdr Taco make a better by 3.5+stripes · · Score: 4, Funny

    Vogon ??? :)

    --


    He tried to kill me with a forklift!
  17. It's the guy in the "high noon" graphic by c4miles · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you're getting the same image at the top of the article as I am, the guy in front of all the christmassy ladies is Bill Nighy, the actor lined up for Slartibartfast.

    On a related note, Slartibartfast was originally a working name for the character, which Adams chose just because he didn't like the typist the BBC had assigned for him whilst he was writing the scripts.

  18. Re:Come on... by Bertie · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's an absolutely ridiculous comparison to draw. Dilbert takes a sledgehammer approach to a load of heartbreakingly unfunny material about the minutiae of office life, and in my book it's usually rubbish. The Office has absolutely nothing in common with it other than that it's set in a boring office. It's about people, not procedures, and as a result it's touching as well as hilarious, and like so many other great comic characters (Fawlty, Rigsby, just about everybody in Porridge), David Brent is essentially a tragic figure.

  19. Re:Dilbert is funny, witty. by CaptainBaz · · Score: 5, Funny
    The Office is pretentious and boring. Is one of those things that only Brits get I guess.
    American huh?

    This may help.
  20. Noir it up, beeyatch. by fenix+down · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Blade Runner-style, g.

    Instead of a narrator, you just have the Guide chip in with an internal monologue every once and awhile. That's what Fight Club did to keep all their clever wordplay in. Admittedly, they had it easier since FC's first-person to start with, but most of the good stuff in H2G2 is cleverly-worded exposition, so it's no problem to just have the Guide say most of it.

  21. This has everything to be great by rcastro0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I hope they have a good budget and don't spoil it. BTW, I don't know that actor, and haven't seen "The Office", but his puzzled face in the picture someone posted looks perfect. If this works perhaps more people will get to know where the names "DeepThought", "Trillian" and "BabelFish" first appeared.

    Anyway, Douglas Adams fans should know that his computer works are now abandonware, and available for free download:

    Last Chance to See -- The CD ROM, multimedia version of his book about endangered species

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- the text adventure game adaptation (by Infocom)

    Bureaucracy -- the original text adventure game (by Infocom)

    Cheers.

    --
    Quem a paca cara compra, paca cara pagará.
  22. WHY is this being entrusted to a newbie director!? by vapid+transit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    WHY!? For the love of god. I've never heard of Garth Jennings. Its not like this guy's even worked his way up to director. IMDB does not have him listed as crew or writer for any major motion pictures. I hate to be negative but I'm truly anticipating disappointment from this film.

  23. Zaphod played by... by Popageorgio · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Clearly, Johnny Depp would make a kick-ass Zaphod. I'm thinking the same attitude he gave to Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and Hunter S. Thompson in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

    All the film's creators should keep Oscar Wilde's words in mind: In an absurd play, no character can acknowledge the absurdity, or it all breaks down. Thus, the new screenplay should omit lines like the "these guys are ridiculous!" parts in the Shooty and Bang-Bang scene (where the heroes are trapped behind a computer bank on Magrathea).

    As for the bit parts, there are dozens of chances for cameos. For example, Bill Murray and Steve Martin should play Magikthies and Vroomfondel.

  24. Fitting, actually... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It would be fitting to noir it up a bit, as it really is a very cynical work. When I read H2G2 back in the early 80's I thought it was a stitch. The last time I read it, about 1995, I realized it was cynical and very biting, though appears humorous and whimsical on the surface. What DNA was saying about things though his characters and story line is unfortunately true enough about Britain if not other parts of the world, the USA prominently included. Sirius Cybernetics == Microsoft? That would have been some foresight, but that SC would be some company or companies was inspired by something.

    Read the books again and look beyond the humor. It's probably only the humor which will appear on the screen, which could be a bit of a let down. Include some of that cynicism from the books and it could be better than just another light british comedy.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  25. "bad graphics"??? by rpjs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Bloody hell, I remember when that series was first shown on the Beeb, we were gobsmacked at the quality of the computer graphics!

    Of course it turned out that the computer graphics weren't computer generated at all 'cos the kit to do them didn't exist then (or if it did was way out of the Beeb's pricerange).

    Ah, those were the days.

  26. Re:6 * 9 = "42" (base 13) by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Except the real Ultimate Question wasn't in that form at all. Marvin knew it. Eddie knew it. And both said it in the third book:
    "I gave a speech once," he said suddenly, and apparently unconnectedly. "You may not instantly see why I bring the subject up, but that is because my mind works so phenomenally fast, and I am at a rough estimate thirty billion times more intelligent than you. Let me give you an example. Think of a number, any number."

    "Er, five," said the mattress.

    "Wrong," said Marvin. "You see?"
    And again here, more blatently:
    "That's a pity," said Arthur. "I'd like to hear what he [Prak] had to say. Presumably he would know what the Ultimate Question to the Ultimate Answer is. It's always bothered me that we never found out."

    "Think of a number," said [Eddie] the computer, "any number."
    Now that's bloody Informative!
    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  27. What it's really like... by halfsad · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...is a Christopher Guest phony documentary -- "Waiting for Guffman", "Mighty Wind", etc. They work on the Excruciating Awkwardness principle of comedy: Put your characters into situations so embarrassing, pathetic, and all-around squirmy your audience wants to scream. Then any joke gets a big relief laugh. Fortunately the jokes in the Office are pretty good, but what's really strong is it's minute observation of characters and cubicle life.

    The Office is hilarious but you'll need some time to get through it on DVD -- it's hard to watch more than one episode at a single sitting.

    I'm excited -- Martin Freeman's beleagured Tim bodes well for a great Arthur Dent.