Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy...

[Princess Ivy]

Originally Posted by The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Ford Prefect's original name is only pronouncable in an obscure betelgeusian dialect, now virtuallly extinct since the Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid/Year 03758 which wiped out all the old Praxibetel communities on Betelgeuse seven............
.....................Because Ford never learned to say his original name, his father eventually died of shame, which is still a terminal disease in some parts of the galaxy. The other kids at school nicknamed him Ix, which in the language of Betelgeuse Five translates as 'boy who is not able satisfactorily to explain what a Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven'.

is that any help?

[TheManInTheBowlerHat]

Zaphod was horribly f**ked up. He wasn't *cool*! He was supposed to be cool! Cool as in 'what's the most non-chalant chair I can be found working in' cool, not 'southern cowboy with a mental disorder' cool, which frankly I don't find very cool. Trillian was terrible too - the point was missed by several thousand miles - the relationship between Arthur and Trillian was real in the books/radio series, in the film however it was so ... hollywood - it just made me want to vomit.

[The Master™]

Look, BowlerHat dude, don't beat around the bush - SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!!! Jeez, there is nothing worse than someone pussy-footing about!!!

You have an amazing way with words, and there ain't a lot else can be said...

And Ivy, thanks for that sweety... I need to read the books again...

[Raven]

ManInTheBowlerHat - in the books, there was no relationship between Arthur and Trillian, because although he loved her, it was unrequited.

But film-Trillian, as I said above, is a very different character, much more like Fenchurch than Trillian (quirky artist-type rather than rational scientist-type). There is at least a basis for a relationship there that simply doesn't exist in the books.

As for Zaphod, at least Zaphod was much cooler than Ford. Now film-Ford, that was not a cool guy. Can you imagine anyone describing film-Ford as a 'hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is'?

[TheManInTheBowlerHat]

Originally Posted by The Master™

Look, BowlerHat dude, don't beat around the bush - SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!!! Jeez, there is nothing worse than someone pussy-footing about!!!

People get very touchy on the subject of opinions - you've got to have like, decorum.

Originally Posted by The Master™

You have an amazing way with words, and there ain't a lot else can be said...

Hurrah! You're my new best freind.

[TheManInTheBowlerHat]

Originally Posted by Raven

As for Zaphod, at least Zaphod was much cooler than Ford. Now film-Ford, that was not a cool guy. Can you imagine anyone describing film-Ford as a 'hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is'?

Yes - they managed to turn Ford into such a dork! He was all over the place!

[Princess Ivy]

i'm re-reading the book, and just to note, 1. zaphod had two heads, with two brains, not one brain split into two faces. 2. zaphod wasn't voted in by mass vote, the imperial council is not a democracy. he was voted in by the council only!

i think though, raven, that they may very well have confused fen with trillian. she does seem more a composite character in the film.

i wish hollywood could just leave well enough alone!

[Raven]

Ivy: well, DNA always said the different versions of H2G2 were supposed to be alternate versions, not the same story in different formats. As such, it seems unlikely that even his original script 'left well enough alone', and any deviances from the book can be explained as part of the 'alternate version'.

Heck, some people complained bitterly about aspects of the conversion from radio to book...

[monkeydude]

I found it very funny, but didn't find myself much into the story like I am with the books. Maybe it is because it is so short.

[Hypes]

I went into the movie armed with few expectations and my trusty towel and I came out quite pleased, actually. I greatly enjoyed the movie, though I do feel they failed to exploit a lot of the opportunities offered by Douglas, but it was nonetheless far better than I had hoped.

[dwndrgn]

Originally Posted by Princess Ivy

i'm re-reading the book, and just to note, 1. zaphod had two heads, with two brains, not one brain split into two faces. 2. zaphod wasn't voted in by mass vote, the imperial council is not a democracy. he was voted in by the council only!

i think though, raven, that they may very well have confused fen with trillian. she does seem more a composite character in the film.

i wish hollywood could just leave well enough alone!

I read a great deal about this movie as they were making it. It seems that Adams had already written the script and made many changes to the story himself. He wanted it to be different. The movie wasn't supposed to be an exact copy of the books. I can't say how faithfully they went by his original script but I do know that it wasn't faithfull to the books per Adams' desire.

[The Master™]

For all those that liked the Dolphin song... Go here: http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/games/dolphin.html

[Princess Ivy]

Originally Posted by dwndrgn

I read a great deal about this movie as they were making it. It seems that Adams had already written the script and made many changes to the story himself. He wanted it to be different. The movie wasn't supposed to be an exact copy of the books. I can't say how faithfully they went by his original script but I do know that it wasn't faithfull to the books per Adams' desire.

oh i do know that babe, its just agravating. when you're expecting a certain something, and its not delivered. One thing that forever prejudiced me against the project, was a comment that i read, in which the new director said he'd stay faithful to the 'spirit' of the original. Adams himself was infamous for not meeting deadlines and then having to be shut in a hotel room for a few days to complete a work. is why 'the salmon of doubt' was never finished. i'm a fan of the books. unless the film was faithful to the original book (not its spirit), i would have been prejudiced against it. which is precisely what has happened. and its no good telling me that DMA had made changes himself. that doesn't bother me. its those fundamental changes to the characters and basic storyline which are bothering me.

[Raven]

Ivy: yes, but...

The spirit of the books was precisely that kind of spirit that has no problem with the changes. We're not dealing with Tolkien here, but an anarchic, free-spirited entity. That's the whole ethos of the books.

The point about DNA making the changes is that he had no problem with 'being faithful' to the books, he didn't view it as important or necessary, any more than he felt he had to stay faithful to the radio series when writing the books!

I went into the movie without expectations, because I knew that those expectations were a trap. At no point were we going to get a 'faithful' rendition of the books, and I'd have been rather disappointed if we had. And so, I suspect, would DNA. He wouldn't have seen the point.

[Darken Rahl]

Saw the film with the missus, who has never read the books and won't watch the old TV version either. She gives it a four out of ten. However, I loved both the books and the TV show, as I would assume most here did. Pushed to rate the movie, somewhere around a six. (See Dolphin song notes above) Go see it for the visual effects, but don't plan to laugh too much. Whoever told that actor to play Zaphod as a George W wannabe needs to be shot, it was PAINFUL to watch. The Arthur / Trillian romance really ticked me off, it just wasn't right. Ford definitely not cool enough. The visuals were GREAT, but couldn't overcome some rather weak Hollywood ideas about the storyline and did I mention how BAD Zaphod was to watch?