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May 31, 2005 

Brain the size of a planet...

Having just been to see the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I would just like to say that I almost wish I hadn't. If I hadn't been with my hubby I would have walked out halfway through.

Good Things:

1. Alan Rickman as Marvin - excellently on the ball depressed at all times.
2. Martin Freeman as Arthur - totally bemused and confused, particuarly on the joyride through Magrathea.
3. Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast - exactly as I imagined the attitude.
4. The dolphins (got to say nice things about them!)
5. The Vogons - bodaciously ugly.
6. The point of view gun - fabulous idea, can I have one?
Bad Things:
1. Zaphod - annoying not funny
2. Zaphod's second head - should be beside the first, not below it.
3. Plot - I don't mind deviations from books to cut them down to film length (see HP and the Philosopher's Stone for an example of why this should be done!). I do object to removing great chunks of the story and throwing in an entirely different one instead. Particularly when there's a perfectly good one in the first place.
4. Love story between Arthur and Trillian - only believable because of Zaphod being such an annoying git, and unneccessary other than for the invented plot.
5. The Heart of Gold - not at all as described in the book. Certainly not a ship that Zaphod would fall in love with enough to steal just for kicks.
However, basically, I would have accepted all the changes if it hadn't been for the fact that I had to struggle to stay awake. It started very well indeed, and I wondered where all the bad reviews had come from... until they landed and went to meet John Malkovitch. It went downhill rapidly from there and never really picked up. Sorry. I had high hopes for this, but it strikes me as an opportunity wasted.

Douglas Adams was always about great lines and jokes, not plot, and my bit peeve is they bodged many bits of his dialogue.

Unlike Harry Potter, the book isn't where Hitch Hikers originated.

Fair enough, but the book is a good representation of the radio series - and the rest of the series were books first.

And I will accept that DNA was about the jokes. There just weren't that many in this film, and I know that he wouldn't have wanted his audience bored.

Thanks for the words, guys -

duly crossed off my list of "could see"s

Now, where can I get a dvd of the tv series?

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