Post by Hobbit-eyes on Apr 29, 2005 6:23:12 GMT -5
People can put reviews of the summer blockbusters here. Feel free to post a review of a film which has already been reviewed - the more opinions, the better.
Here's the first one.
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (what else?)
This film was as good an adaptation of the book as I could have hoped for. It may have diverted from the plot slightly - OK, a LOT at some points (*coughHumma Kavulacough*) - but it kept the spirit of the book and the parts which we all know and love.
Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent was great, a lot more human than the guy in the original TV series - you really felt for him, and he was very, very English.
Mos Def as Ford Prefect... errr.... well, he was good, but not as I imagined him. One point where I preferred the TV series. Non book fans will love him, but I thought him a bit too serious at some points. Little too deadpan.
Zooey Deschanel as Trillian was PERFECT. In my opinion, anyway. She was a complete opposite from Trillian, Space Bimboette from the TV series, and a lot nicer.
Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox - I personally loved it, but some people will find him annoying. And some fans out there will dislike the head thing, but remember the polystyrene head from the TV series - it always looked as though it was about to drop off. You would need several Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters to like that damn head. And I liked the 'Rock Star meets Homer Simpson' way he played him, just as I imagined.
And finally, Marvin.
MARVIN.
BEST THING EVER. Alan Rickman has done it again. I laughed soooo much at that bit at the end where the Vogons saw the world through Marvin's eyes for a moment - in fact, soooo much doesn't even cover it, unless soooo much means 'giggled hysterically for at least a minute in a very loud and embarrassing manner'. Which was just what I needed after nearly crying...
The cameos were great too. John Malkovich was very memorable as WTF Humma Kavula, one of the best characters in it - in my opinion, preferable to Mos Def. I didn't like Bill Nighy's way of playing Slartibartfast at first, but he soon grew on me, and by the end I thought he was great.
And Stephen Fry as the Guide was fantastic. No-one else could have done it as well. And personally, I want Eddie the Ship Computer to teach me Latin. He'd make it exciting. Helen Mirren was surprisingly perfect as Deep Thought, and the Vogons were suitably non-evil-and-yet-the-bad-guys.
OK, now, onto the plot...
Opening sequence was my favourite opening sequence to a film EVER, except for 'Fellowship of the Ring'. The song 'So Long and Thanks for the all the Fish' has been stuck in my head ever since.
I thought the film began brilliantly, but after a while started to become a little off-tempo - it was zooming quickly through the plot, too quickly at some points (never quite explained the Zaphod brain thing, or where the Vogon fleet disappeared to just after they had all turned up in pursuit of the Heart of Gold) but kept the spirit of the book alive. And when it took that half-hour plot discrepancy (going to Humma Kavula's planet and Vogsphere) I surprisingly didn't mind. It was still all typical Douglas Adams. But the Point of View gun was kind of 'Red Dwarf'... not that it was bad, but it didn't seem to have much point overall.
I couldn't help laughing whenever the doors sighed happily, and Marvin and Zaphod together meant that I was giggling almost non-stop. One of my favourite moments had to Ford fighting off the Vogons with a towel ("Look out! He's got a towel!!") and finally defeating them by locking the gate after them ("Oh no, he's locked the gate! We'll have to go round the other way now!"), and also all the different forms they have to fill in on Vogsphere to get Trillian released ("Oh no, you need a PRESIDENTIAL prisoner release form... that's blue.")
I was kind of disappointed they cut out Ford's twisted logic when talking to Mr Prosser, and Marvin making the ship commit suicide. But then they added in Ford and Arthur's meeting, which was great, and Ford talking to the giant woman in the bar ("I've been stranded on an alien planet for fifteen years, I haven't been avoiding you... you're doing well, you look great... you've grown...")
But overall, I loved it, and was hyper for ages afterwards... until we had to go to a UCAS evening at school and was bored within an inch of my life. Seriously, I was trying to bite my hand off I was so bored.
And I will definitely see it again, and will never again underestimate the importance of towels. You should see it too. RESISTANCE IS USELESS!
Here's the first one.
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (what else?)
This film was as good an adaptation of the book as I could have hoped for. It may have diverted from the plot slightly - OK, a LOT at some points (*coughHumma Kavulacough*) - but it kept the spirit of the book and the parts which we all know and love.
Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent was great, a lot more human than the guy in the original TV series - you really felt for him, and he was very, very English.
Mos Def as Ford Prefect... errr.... well, he was good, but not as I imagined him. One point where I preferred the TV series. Non book fans will love him, but I thought him a bit too serious at some points. Little too deadpan.
Zooey Deschanel as Trillian was PERFECT. In my opinion, anyway. She was a complete opposite from Trillian, Space Bimboette from the TV series, and a lot nicer.
Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox - I personally loved it, but some people will find him annoying. And some fans out there will dislike the head thing, but remember the polystyrene head from the TV series - it always looked as though it was about to drop off. You would need several Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters to like that damn head. And I liked the 'Rock Star meets Homer Simpson' way he played him, just as I imagined.
And finally, Marvin.
MARVIN.
BEST THING EVER. Alan Rickman has done it again. I laughed soooo much at that bit at the end where the Vogons saw the world through Marvin's eyes for a moment - in fact, soooo much doesn't even cover it, unless soooo much means 'giggled hysterically for at least a minute in a very loud and embarrassing manner'. Which was just what I needed after nearly crying...
The cameos were great too. John Malkovich was very memorable as WTF Humma Kavula, one of the best characters in it - in my opinion, preferable to Mos Def. I didn't like Bill Nighy's way of playing Slartibartfast at first, but he soon grew on me, and by the end I thought he was great.
And Stephen Fry as the Guide was fantastic. No-one else could have done it as well. And personally, I want Eddie the Ship Computer to teach me Latin. He'd make it exciting. Helen Mirren was surprisingly perfect as Deep Thought, and the Vogons were suitably non-evil-and-yet-the-bad-guys.
OK, now, onto the plot...
Opening sequence was my favourite opening sequence to a film EVER, except for 'Fellowship of the Ring'. The song 'So Long and Thanks for the all the Fish' has been stuck in my head ever since.
I thought the film began brilliantly, but after a while started to become a little off-tempo - it was zooming quickly through the plot, too quickly at some points (never quite explained the Zaphod brain thing, or where the Vogon fleet disappeared to just after they had all turned up in pursuit of the Heart of Gold) but kept the spirit of the book alive. And when it took that half-hour plot discrepancy (going to Humma Kavula's planet and Vogsphere) I surprisingly didn't mind. It was still all typical Douglas Adams. But the Point of View gun was kind of 'Red Dwarf'... not that it was bad, but it didn't seem to have much point overall.
I couldn't help laughing whenever the doors sighed happily, and Marvin and Zaphod together meant that I was giggling almost non-stop. One of my favourite moments had to Ford fighting off the Vogons with a towel ("Look out! He's got a towel!!") and finally defeating them by locking the gate after them ("Oh no, he's locked the gate! We'll have to go round the other way now!"), and also all the different forms they have to fill in on Vogsphere to get Trillian released ("Oh no, you need a PRESIDENTIAL prisoner release form... that's blue.")
I was kind of disappointed they cut out Ford's twisted logic when talking to Mr Prosser, and Marvin making the ship commit suicide. But then they added in Ford and Arthur's meeting, which was great, and Ford talking to the giant woman in the bar ("I've been stranded on an alien planet for fifteen years, I haven't been avoiding you... you're doing well, you look great... you've grown...")
But overall, I loved it, and was hyper for ages afterwards... until we had to go to a UCAS evening at school and was bored within an inch of my life. Seriously, I was trying to bite my hand off I was so bored.
And I will definitely see it again, and will never again underestimate the importance of towels. You should see it too. RESISTANCE IS USELESS!