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Hitchhikers Guide Movie Might Become a Trilogy
Noiser writes "The BBC reports that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie could be turned into a trilogy. I wonder if they mean that it might turn into a trilogy in five parts, just like the book? I wish it did - unlike some people, I liked all of them..."
ok, I think we can start panicking now.
Come on, where's the Dirk Gently movie/TV series? I know, I know, it was a lot like Dr Who (in fact, I can't read DG without picturing Tom Baker in the role) but frankly it was brill and should be done at once.
The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul (despite having a great title) wasn't so good but the first one (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) was excellent.
I am a leaf on the wind
Of course, one of the redeeming properties of the movie is that Douglas Adams wrote the script himself, before he passed away.
Unless he personally wrote out the additional scripts, or at least laid out an extensive outline (plot/characters, etc), I don't think any more movies would be as successfull as the first, which couldn't really be considered a blockbuster per se.
Robert Bindler
A Computer Science student's views on technology.
I would stop panicing.
I have freaks! I did something right...
I just can't see mostly harmless as making a very good movie. 'Restaurant At the End of the Universe', 'Life the Universe and Everything' and 'So Long and Thanks for All the Fish' could be very easily made into two movies... they have a kind of natural flow.
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain
Close, but no cigar. You're looking for the word pentateuch.
While Alan Moore's "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" wasn't exactly a classic, it was a tremendously disappointing adaptation of a densely layered and rather subtle work. That "LXG" crap was an abomination.
Oh, and "I, Robot". Couldn't they have made their silly action thriller with SF spray painted on the top without robbing Asimov's grave to do it?
And they're going to fuck up "Watchmen" next. Ugh. Stab stab stabbity...
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
I actually thought it was very true to the book, except for a few minor things. I saw it on Saturday and reread the book today. As far as movie adaptations go, I was impressed, several passages were taken word for word from the novel
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Those two are both MUCH more adaptable to film than any of the Hitchhiker books and were just as good. And personally, I enjoyed Long Dark more than HDA, but they were both some of the more entertaining reads I've had. - Jellisky
Will they make Arthur into a romantic lead again, instead of the hapless bumbler he was meant to be?
Oh, oh! You know how whenever Hollywood is making a romantic comedy, someone thinks, "hey! This movie needs explosions to draw in the boys!", and adds some shit blowing which makes no goddamn sense? No?
Well, then why the fuck did they insert a turgid romance into the middle of a darkly ironic SF comedy of non sequiturs? To wit:
Arthur Dent, as the romantic lead, is playing opposite Trillian. And when the small white mice are about to carve up his head (they left out the "DICED!" line, but that's a minor quibble), he cries out that no question has ever brought him happiness, and that for him there's only been one question ever, and it's "Is she the one?" and the answer is "Yes!---It's always been yes!".
And then he uses his superheroic strength to break through his bonds and smush the small white mice. Slartibartfast smiles. Earth Mark II having been recreated and all the people on it restored, Arthur and Trillian go off in the Heart of Gold, happily ever after.
And that is why I wish to piss in the Cheerios of whoever made the choice to smear that shit on the movie. That's all.
Oh, and when the characters are all waiting in line, keep an eye out for the Marvin from the original BBC television series. He makes a cameo. I thought that was cute.
And the Earth is made whole again and no one's really dead and... ugh. It wasn't true to the spirit of the books, and it didn't even manage to be true to the letter in a lot of places.
And those of us who liked the original work are left sort of gesturing and lamely telling disappointed fellow filmgoers that, really, it wasn't like that at all.
Pfah. Take your sequels and shove 'em.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
I'm outraged! They don't support OGG vorbis or-
wait, what are we talking about? I'm not sure what we're being outraged about today.
Why does everyone keep saying "This was the same as the book", "This was different" etc. etc.
Surely you all know very well by now that Adams changed the story to suit the medium (and his own fancy). The radio play, books, TV Show and now movie are ALL DIFFERENT.
They share a LOT in common, but why people get all ansy(or is that antsy) about what's different in the films compared to the books is beyond me.
Keep in mind that the book wasn't even true to the book. Or something like that.
Really! The radio plays, the book, the BBC TV series, and the towel all had slightly different and often contradictory story lines. Having the movie differ is just another evolution in the story.
Posted from the wireless couch.
****Movie Spoilers, read at your own risk****
The whole thing that drove the books on was the fact that Arthur was alone and lost in hostile universe, with more and more of his home Earth ceasing to be. At the end of this movie, Earth is restored and Arthur gets the girl. What's the point in continuing? To see Arthur fly around the galaxy sight-seeing, with a great girl by his side, knowing all along he can return to his home whenever he gets sick of it? That's not Hitchhikers.
They'd have to re-blow-up the Earth and set up another love triangle with Trillian or something.
dinner: it's what's for beer
Wow, that would be interesting. But does Terry actually like HHGTTG? I would imagine definitely YES, but it is hard to be sure about these things.
...fire everyone but the artists and Slartibartfast.
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Spoken like... well, like a man who didn't get the joke.
You might want to check out BBC Radio 4's webpages - the new series of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Quandary Phase) starts Tuesday 3rd May. You can listen online using Real Audio, or wait for the Beeb to sell you a CD later in the year. More info on BBC Radio 4's Hitchhikers pages.
A swell foop? A foop like the noise of a hundred thousand people saying "foop"? A foop like the sound of a departing Krikkit Warship?
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
I thought the movie version was hilarious.
:)
All DA's versions were different, so why not this one?
What DA did with plots in the different media versions must make SF-ST/SW-canon-geeks heads asplode
My girlfriend hadn't read the books before because she thought they were nerdy, but she pissed herself in the movie and will be reading the books as soon as she finishes LOTR.
Her quote:
"Oh, I thought the H2G2 were just for nerds."
I think the movie will make a lot of people read the books for the first time.
http://pcblues.com - Digits and Wood
Seriously, the movie feels like bureaucratic Vogons produced, directed and finished the screenplay. There was no understanding of the humor of Douglas Adams.
... locked file cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on it saying 'beware of the leopard'"
I know people have poo-poo'd the often repeated criticism of the change in an early line where Arthur Dent is telling the head of the (human) demoltion team about the trouble of finding the plans for the bypass. But that change says a lot about the movie.
Line from book/tv series:
"It was in the basement
Line in the movie:
"It was in a cellar"
The book showed the level of absurdity that bureaucracy causes. This basis of the joke in the book then continues when the Vogons use similar bureaucracy when telling humans where the plans for the hyperspace bypass are. But with the movie killing the basis of the bureaucracy joke, the Vogon part is far less funny as that joke is no longer built on anything previous.
I am not a "fanboy" wanting an exact word for word duplication of the book. The ridiculousness of bureaucracy could have been shown or stated in several ways in that eary scene, without quoting the book. But the fact that there was no emphasis on ridiculous bureaucracy shows a total lack of understanding of the whole scene. Unfortunately, the entire movie is the same lack of "getting it".
I want a coherent cohesive story that carries jokes forward and understands that humor relies heavily on context. No context means no humor. And the people/Vogons who made this movie clearly had no understanding of the context of Douglas Adams jokes. I hope to god that these same people have nothing to do with any further Hitchhikers movies.
Alas... I've mocked someone for being a dumbass only to be proven a dumbass myself. Truly, this day I am a slashdotter.
After pulling in $21 million and ranking number one for the weekend I am not surprised that Disney is talking sequels. My largest concern is that the script felt a bit lackluster, though I enjoyed the movie. I just didn't think that many of the actors brought their characters to life. And Trillian's role was reduced to a damsel in distress who lowered her expectations in order to find love since her beau never truly overcame his cowardice.
If they do more, I'd want to see more sarcasm and wit brought into the dialog. I'd like to see Ford be less of a tree hugger and more of a pithy saw with his comments. Zaphod and Ford were far too kind to Arthur in this version, IMO...
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
If you're looking for commentary on the madness of bureaucracy, look no further than the scene on Vogsphere, when Arthur was trying to get Trillian released. It was a fairly brilliant sequence, IMO. Also note the cameo by the original Marvin the Paranoid Android in the queue.
Overall, I thought the movie was quite good. It's not a classic for the ages, but it was an enjoyable movie, and I hope they at least make the first three books into movies. The fourth and fifth are dodgier, and I wouldn't lose any sleep if they didn't do them.
Oh hush. I'm an avid fan of Douglas' work, and even though they removed some of his dialog, the stuff they replaced it with was suitably funny, and there was enough stuff changed and added that I was laughing throughout much of the movie, instead of mildly chuckling as each of Douglas jokes in the book is repeated verbatim.
Christ, even Douglas himself said that there was no such thing as the official Hitchhiker story. This movie is just another take on the whole Hitchiker idea.
It wasn't perfect. But it was a hell of a lot better than I expected it to be. And defeniatly a lot better than that godawful BBC miniseries.
I'm the guy with the unpopular opinion
One of the things I really liked about the movie was that it was nice and cheery unlike the last book in the series. The magic of HG2G is in the lighthearted humor and fun style if they try and copy the depressing last book it would ruin the movies even more than it did the books.
If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:
"Why make a sequal?"
Because a lot of people liked it and we're alloweed to have differing opinions?
"Derp de derp."
"I don't see this as being a big money maker like the Lotr or Matrix series."
It doesn't need to be. It only needs to make a profit. It had a budget of $45 million and in 3 days it made half that. That's ONLY in the US.
"Derp de derp."
Unfortunately, absurd humor is only half of what gives the novels and the radio series their charm. The other half is the witty, irreverant, biting commentary on the nature of humanity, which the movies did away with entirely--probably so as not to "offend" anyone.
...ok, I'd watch them anyway.
Eddie was great, though. Even if they were terrible, I'd watch the rest of the movies just for him. >8)
I thought that Mos Def nailed Ford Prefect in about ten seconds. I liked Zaphod as well. Arthur was great, and Trillian was, well, around way too much. I could really have done without the love story, although Zooey Deschanel is easy to look at.
I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. I didn't think for a moment that they'd do the sperm whale joke, but they did. I was happy.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
- There should have been bulldozers reflected in the mirror when Arthur was brushing his teeth
- What happened to "beware of the leopard?!"
- Even worse, why didn't Mr. Prosser end up lying in the mud?
- Vogon ships are supposed to be yellow, and for a reason: they're supposed to resemble the bulldozers.
All in all, it was a movie that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike The Hitchhiker's Guide."[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
*********SPOILERS***************
:D
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They left the earth intact at the end of the movie. This, to mean, implies that they've given themselves a perfect opportunity to take after the original radio show and destroy the earth in every single installation of the movie trilogy, in a different way. I hope they take it
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
When I saw that the vogon ships were not yellow. I almost ran out of the theater. I was SO pissed off. IT RUINED THE MOVIE FOR ME!!!
Flamebait + 1.
I know what you are saying. I agree with you on some accounts. From dicussions with the director which I've read on slashdot, and other places, they kept on saying that things were edited for pacing issues. This was one of the things that I noticed in the beginning of the movie. The pace was fast, really fast. When the vogons were reading the poetry, it went by so fast, that the joke was lost. That is where the pace should have slowed down to halt to show just how bad the vogon poetry is. It's supposed to make the audience cringe, and then pick up the pace again. It seemed like everything was just flying by. So yes, I see what you are saying. Then again, on the other hand. The opening credits with the Dolphins singing a broadway musical about thanks for all the fish was brilliant. I absolutely loved it.
Even though some of the classical jokes from before were glossed over, I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Also the field of slapping shovel creatures was great. That is something that wouldn't work at all in the book, or radio series, but worked really well in the movie.
Also remember that lots of the changes where douglas' idea.
Treat me like a marketing stat, and I'll treat your movie like a series of ones and zeros