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

Don't we see the HoG do a u turn?

Deb

No, they fly off screen and then we see them flying the other way, although a U-turn is implied.

Maybe a female is steering.

(Ewe-turn, get it? )

I've only just got round to seeing the film & reading this thread.
Overall I thought it was great, with enough of the old favourite combined with some new features to make it good watching.

I did like the song at the beginning, but perhaps that went on too long & I was beginning to worry that they weren't going to use THE music.
Arthur was maybe too smart & Ford too much in the background, but that made Arthur a more likeable protaganist. I would have liked the book to feature a bit more & I agree that the scenes with Deep Thought were too superficial. However, some great innovations & I felt that modern techniques weren't used for the sake of gimmicks, but were really effective in creating the atmosphere.

The DVD, when available, will definitely go in my collection.

And I did think they should have had Arthur tying up the ship's computer making his cup of tea - especially after Trillian had shown him how.......

I missed hearing the ship's computer sing show tunes.

I hope they'll let him sing them on the DVD.

There are lots of parts of the movie that I enjoyed, loved, laughed at, mouthed the words to, predicted (talking about the new bits here), was disappointed at, etc.

Overall I have to say that I was quite a bit disappointed.

Being a long time H2G2 fan (since the beginning), I went to see it twice already and will probably go see it again, and will buy the DVD too. This is why they are making money on the bad rendition, because crazy people like me will still spend money on it.

The song at the beginning was great I thought (unlike many here), but too long. In fact, there were several bits that I thought took time away from other bits they should have spent more screen time on.

I wanted to shout for joy when the SMALL portion of "Journey of the Sorcerer" was played, but the timing didn't lend itself to that really.

Although I like the actor that played Arthur and how he played him, the fact that he wasn't tall enough bothered me (am I being too picky?)

I actually like all the actors, although I agree with other reporters here which posted earlier that they thought that Ford mumbled too much.
Ford was good in many parts, but by far the worst of them all. I too did love the fact that he used his towel as much as he did throughout the movie...very good that was. But I was disappointed that they didn't go into the towel bit (for non H2G2 folks).

Trillian I thought was a good choice, but why american? She was much more of what I pictured than the Trillian of the TV series.

Zaphod was perfect and I DO like what they did with his extra head and arm. I have to say though, that I noticed a family in the theater with small children who were quite distraught over the whole cutting out of his head bit.

Marvin was GREAT, but I would have preferred the original voice. When I first heard who it was going to be I did think that he would definitely be my second choice.
How anyone could NOT notice the cameo of Marvin from the TV series in the movie is beyond me, in fact I thought it was a bit too obvious...but I liked that he was there.

The POV gun was great, but as soon as they brought it up it was obvious to me that Marvin was going to use it at some point in the movie, thus doing what it did. [but I tend to see things like this ahead of time in movies all the time and my daughter always gets mad at me for that ]

I expected Marvin to be left behind on Magrathea, but they will probably work that joke in on some other planet in the next movie as it doesn't have to be on Magrathea in my eyes just because that's what they did on the TV series.

The Vogon Planet stuff was good, but again, they used up too much screen time that I think they could have used elsewhere.

I know that DNA liked to change things in each iteration of the story, but there are certain parts that I like too much for them to leave out or change...

For instance, the whole bulldozer scene and Mr. Prosser and his famous last line...it was extremely disappointing not to see/hear that.

The missing Dentrassi was also a disappointment. [no explanation as to how they hitched the ride] Although I did like the gadget on Ford's thumb.

Arthur tying up the computer to try to figure out how to make tea was something I hoped they'd reinstate, but they didn't.

I did LOVE the construction yard in Magrathea!!

I also very much enjoyed the knitted gang (I'm actually in the process of making a knitted Marvin for myself)

Well, I actually have tons more to say, but I'm tired right now and I've gone on too long already, and I will write more some other time.

P.S. I think I would rather they try making this one over again before they make the other two I've heard are in the works.

That would mean we'd see So Long and Thanks For All the Fish sometime in the mid 23rd century.

But I'll be an old man by then.

humanversionofmarvin, I enjoyed your review of the movie.

In fact, you're about the only one who has noticed the discrepancy of Marvin not being left on Magrathea. Good work! I *thought* that Marvin was left on the Frogstar in the books, but maybe I'm remembering wrong . Anyway, I thought Marvin's demobilizing of the Vogons with the Point-of-View Gun was the best thing in the whole ovie. You are named after a hero!

No, you're right. Marvin was left of Frogstar World B.

B

I'm re-reading the books at the moment, I'm on So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, and there's a bit in there that sort of soothes my irritation at them making Arthur & Trillian a love match in the film to rest: Chapter 25 < quote> What, they want to know, about all that stuff off in the wings with Arthur & Trillian, did that ever get anywhere? To which the answer is, of course, mind your own business

So DNA didn't entirely rule out the possibility.

Still rankles, though.

Deb

In the fifth book of the trilogy, Arthur had a teenage daughter, but I don't remember who the mother would have been.

Erm... Trillian? After she became a reporter.

See, that's why the romance between Arthur and Trillian in the movie was plausible.

Trillian didn't know Arthur was the father... He was paying his way across the galaxy by donating his VERY rare human sperm.

Hence why their daughter was named Random Frequent Flyer Dent.

That still makes me laugh.

Trillian did know, didn't she? The Dent might have been a giveaway. But that's why she dumped Random on Arthur, cos he was her dad. It was Arthur who had no idea. From what I remember, anyway. It's been a while since I read the books, although coincidentally I just started re-reading Mostly Harmless this morning.

Deb

She found out after she got herself knocked-up.

I uess I'll get all of that figured out when they do the fifth movie in the series.

Marvin *does* get left behind on Magrathea, in at least one version - they all arrive at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe (having travelled through time but not through space, and so still being on Magrathea), and Marvin phones up from the car park, where he's been parking cars for several billion years. He was originally left behind on the surface of the planet (complaining about oceans, sand etc etc) with Arthur, and then Arthur went off with Slartibartfast .. and some other stuff happened which I really can't remember any more.

Marvin also gets left behind to deal with the depressingly stupid robot on Frogstar B (I think) - one of the funniest scenes of the whole lot.

There wasn't enough Marvin in the film. And what there was, didn't sound funny, except for one completely brand new line about "those of you still in possession of all your arms". So it did occur to me, that it was the delivery of those lines familiar to me that I disliked, and perhaps Alan Rickman was rather good after all - but only when saying things which I didn't associate with Stephen Moore's delivery.

Mol