Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy purists may well despise the new film, but I don’t see how there can be such a thing as a HGG purist. Purist to what? The original BBC radio show? The books? The record? The TV series? Each different, each with story variations, each with its pluses and minus.
The pluses of the new film, which Kath and I saw this morning, is the look of it. Armed with sumptuous designs and the full might of Disney and the Henson Creature shop, HGG the movie has a budget and look to it that the makers of the TV series can only salivate over enviously.
The dialogue is kind of hit and miss, but it might seem that way to me because I’m familiar with the previous incarnations, and it’s difficult for me to step back and view it with an undiscerning eye. To me, the sequences that are most evocative of the source material are the Arthur/Slartibartfast scenes. Why? Two British actors. I understand that casting Brits wasn’t necessary save in the case of Arthur, but the moment you bring in Americans, the cadences are going to shift and the Adams dialogue isn’t going to work. So you have to rework the dialogue to match the Americans, and things can get a little schizo.
Which isn’t to say the film’s not well cast. It is. Martin Freeman is satisfyingly bewildered as Arthur, Zooey Deschanel–looking uncannily like a young Karen Allen–is lovable as Trillian, and Sam Rockwell’s Zaphod is a cross between prime Burt Reynolds and Elvis, guaranteeing a plethroa of Beeblebrox costumes at summer cons. The one problem is Mos Def as Ford Prefect. It’s not entirely his fault. Ford is the least formed, least interesting character in the story, serving mostly to be a guide and a foil. If you already know all the stuff Ford is going to explain, then that leaves him pretty dull. Which means you need a strong actor to instill the role with some of his own life and personality to beef things up. Mos Def, from my POV, brings nothing to the party. If they wanted to cast Ford with a black actor, fine. Craig Charles. Lenny Henry. Hëll, even Chris Tucker, Someone with strong comedic sensibilities which, if Mos Def has them, aren’t on display.
And in the absolutely perfect department are Alan Rickman providing the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android (admit it: The moment you found out about the casting, you could HEAR HIM saying, “Oh, God, I’m so depressed”; Stephen Fry as the ever calm voice of the book (accompanied by brilliant animated illustrations) and a cameo by Simon Jones, the original Arthur, as the recorded message from Magrathea. For the hardcore fans, in the additonal cameo department are appearances by everyone from Douglas Adams himself (good trick, that) to individuals from the TV series, including the original Marvin. The original theme music shows up, and even a rubber duck which–although I could be completely misremembering–I think was on an album cover. And stay through the credits for another famed book entry about halfway in.
There are different plot tracks that will no doubt incense those who have forgotten that every version of HGG has different plot tracks, and there’s a sort of ultimate weapon introduced that’s used to hilarious effect. And I don’t mind the Zaphod/Arthur/Trillian romance triangle, particularly when one remembers that Adams had Arthur hitting on Trillian at a party before Zaphod whisked her away, so it’s not as if the groundwork isn’t there.
A theme song “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish” almost makes one wonder if Disney is trying to position this as their next Broadway musical endeavor. Since I’m reasonably sure musical theater is the one version that hasn’t been tried yet, I suppose it’s just a matter of time…which we all know to be an illusion, and lunchtime doubly so.
PAD
• 
I’m with the “too much was cut out from the earlier incarnations for the fans to enjoy and the non-fans to follow” group.
I also agree that if more copies of the original books and radio plays are sold to non-fans as a result, HOORAY!
Unfortunately, I don’t take much stock in this happening. If most movie-goers were readers, they would have picked up the books before the movie came out, as a large number of SF readers tend to pick up novelizations of Star Trek and Star Wars films before THEY’RE released.
Maybe the DVD release will be more satisfying if there are restored scenes, that were left on the cutting room floor, installed.
“I also agree that if more copies of the original books and radio plays are sold to non-fans as a result, HOORAY!
“Unfortunately, I don’t take much stock in this happening.”
Remember when Paul Verhoeven’s horrid mutilation of Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” came out? At the time, I’d read my second copy of the book to pieces, and decided, after reading something about the film’s contents, that I’d stand outside my local theater reading the book in protest.
There wasn’t a copy to be had. Not Waldenbooks, not Barnes & Noble, not the local comics shop, not even the used bookstores – everyone was sold out.
I have faith that at least some of those books were actually read, not put on coffeetables for display…
Well, I got to see the movie a couple of days ago and have had a chance to mull it over, and I have to say that I really rather enjoyed it. I went into it with the mindset that it WASN’T going to be absolutely true to the book (or radio play or TV series, neither of which I’ve seen or watched yet) just as none of the other versions are absolutely true to each other. If anything, I expected no more and no less than I’ve expected of the Harry Potter movies, a barebones version of the story which serves as a wonderful visual aid to the books. I love seeing how what’s on the screen stacks up with what I’ve only seen in my head up until that point. And I have to say, honestly, I actually got a bit misty-eyed when they hit the Magrathean factory floor. Also, I have a hard time disagreeing with a comment my brother made. “The airlock scene, best site gag EVER.”
As to the acting and dialogue, I wasn’t as disappointed as I was afraid I would be, probably since I was expecting it to be more stripped down than it was. *shrug* Sure, my opinion will likely be dismissed by many because I’m not “hardcore” enough to have pored over every version of the story available, but the sense of giddiness I felt when they left in the sperm whale was practically worth the price of admission alone.
-Rex Hondo-
“Remember when Paul Verhoeven’s horrid mutilation of Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” came out? At the time, I’d read my second copy of the book to pieces, and decided, after reading something about the film’s contents, that I’d stand outside my local theater reading the book in protest.”
There wasn’t a copy to be had. Not Waldenbooks, not Barnes & Noble, not the local comics shop, not even the used bookstores – everyone was sold out.
I have faith that at least some of those books were actually read, not put on coffeetables for display…” I suppose the significance of this depends on where you live, where you saw the film, if Ebay or its equivalents existed back then, and if there were individual sales of those books or if it was the work of a group of dealers who were “prospecting” for an upcoming convention or “true believers” buying a large number of copies to tell their friends, “Look! There was a good story in there somewhere! Here’s what it looked like before Verhoven and Co. destroyed it!!!”
I was just saying that most movie-goers aren’t “readers.” Even worse, some of them are PROUD if it! While I have no doubt that there will be a few “converted” HGTTG fans after this film, I won’t hold my breath for a TORRENT of them.