Friday, April 29, 2005
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
So, last night I went to see Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy. I've read the books several times over the years, and love them, but never heard the radio show or seen the TV series.
The film is absolutely superb, though :)
Al got there first this morning, and has already written a good long review, but I had to say something myself too!
Firstly, the casting is excellent. Martin Freeman reprises his put-upon Tim From The Office role and looks suitably bewildered as Arthur, Alan Rickman provides the despondent drawl of Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Jim Henson's Creature Workshop and the League Of Gentlemen combine forces to create the thoroughly unpleasant but comically officious Vogons.
There are many differences from the book, some more important than others. I always imagined Zaphod having two heads side-by-side, but in the film his second head pops out from under his chin (as a continuation of his first) when the more manic elements of his personality manifest themselves. (Otherwise, I have to say, Zaphod's charisma, hair, clothes and whiter-than-white cheesy grin are perfect.)
More important are the plot amendments - but don't worry, they were mostly the work of Douglas Adams himself, who always wanted a film version to be made. If the book were followed to the letter, I don't think the resulting film would have worked - certainly it would appeal to hardcore fans only. The actual film is tidier, with a nice neat Hollywood ending and with many of the book's verbal gags replaced with different visual ones, often quite Pythonesque in nature. The opening song is brilliantly cheesy, too.
Small quibbles: the speed of the plot is variable - sometimes it lurches about very quickly and without warning, possibly leaving the uninitiated bewildered; and sometimes it drags a bit (oddly, these places are often those where the book is followed the most closely - and this includes some of Stephen Fry's narrative asides, well-animated though they are). Also, I thought the planet maker Slartibartfast (played by Bill Nighy) was a bit dull (although the visual sequences inside the planet factory are pretty astounding!).
But anyway. To summarise: GO SEE! Now!
The film is absolutely superb, though :)
Al got there first this morning, and has already written a good long review, but I had to say something myself too!
Firstly, the casting is excellent. Martin Freeman reprises his put-upon Tim From The Office role and looks suitably bewildered as Arthur, Alan Rickman provides the despondent drawl of Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Jim Henson's Creature Workshop and the League Of Gentlemen combine forces to create the thoroughly unpleasant but comically officious Vogons.
There are many differences from the book, some more important than others. I always imagined Zaphod having two heads side-by-side, but in the film his second head pops out from under his chin (as a continuation of his first) when the more manic elements of his personality manifest themselves. (Otherwise, I have to say, Zaphod's charisma, hair, clothes and whiter-than-white cheesy grin are perfect.)
More important are the plot amendments - but don't worry, they were mostly the work of Douglas Adams himself, who always wanted a film version to be made. If the book were followed to the letter, I don't think the resulting film would have worked - certainly it would appeal to hardcore fans only. The actual film is tidier, with a nice neat Hollywood ending and with many of the book's verbal gags replaced with different visual ones, often quite Pythonesque in nature. The opening song is brilliantly cheesy, too.
Small quibbles: the speed of the plot is variable - sometimes it lurches about very quickly and without warning, possibly leaving the uninitiated bewildered; and sometimes it drags a bit (oddly, these places are often those where the book is followed the most closely - and this includes some of Stephen Fry's narrative asides, well-animated though they are). Also, I thought the planet maker Slartibartfast (played by Bill Nighy) was a bit dull (although the visual sequences inside the planet factory are pretty astounding!).
But anyway. To summarise: GO SEE! Now!
# posted by Pgd @ 8:17 am 
