h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Okay, if we're equating British sci-fi to low budget, good scripting and US sci-fi to high budget, passable scripting, could I do the ultimate geek thing and use Star Wars as a model?

Classic Trilogy - Low budget (not that it shows), some dodgy costuming, good scripting.

Prequels - High budget, amazing SFX, patchy scripting.

Is anyone seriously going to argue that the prequel's technical excellence is any substitute for the qualities of the low-budget originals?

I know these are all-american examples, but the attributes seem to equate nciely to the debate.

On the other hand, if Hollywood attempts at 'clever' scripting are all going to end up like the Matrix:Reloaded, I'd rather they stuck to the SFX....

Spot on about Star Wars. Mind you, i'll still be watching episode III when it finally drops steaming out of the Great Beardy One's rear end. Give me lightsaber fight and something big blowing up in space and i'm happy. (But a quick Note to George: i don't care how much you paid for your THX sound effects studio, just stop and think for a minute: SOUND DOESN'T TRAVEL IN A VACUUM).

I liked Reloaded, though. The problem is, whereas everyone came out of the first film unable to believe what they'd just seen, the reaction to the second was pretty much "well, yes, pretty and all that, but it's just more of the same".
Somebody said to me something fairly insightful about that: You can only have your mind blown once.

And one last point - a lot of people didn't like Empire when it first came out. Now, a lot of the same people say it's their favourite original StarWars film. Part 2 in a trilogy's always a bugger, there's more loose ends than on a nudist beach. So i'll wait til i've seen the lot before passing judgement.

I agree with your comments on the No 2 slot in a trilogy - however reloaded is the one film that has made me think more over the past couple of months, than any other film. Everyone thought thay 'got' the Christ analogy in the first film, but the second blows that theory out of the water. A little searching on some choice terminolgy brought forth a wealth of information on the Gnostic belief system. Which is a fascinatin subject. Actually, I haven't thought to check if there is anything in H2G2 on the subject. Will have to put that right ......

I don't have high hopes for Episode III myself.

I've had a look at the treatment for it (not the script, but pretty much everything that happens) and it's not looking any better than AotC. I got the same thing from a couple of different sources, so I'm fairly confident it's genuine.

Still, the final script could be better than the treatment suggests.

Bez