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

Good film.
But as some of you have already mentioned...I think there were too many new bits not actually in the book. A good example of this is the Aragorn falling over a cliff moment...I mean...wtf was that all about?
And what happened to the Huorns?....they were supposed to be at Helms Deep as well.
Maybe I'm just being to anal...having read the book about 50 times or so.
What I found great about the first film is that it actually ended at the same point the book did....but this time it finished before; No Cirith Ungol..no Shelob....although I did enjoy the schizophrenic arguments of Gollum/Smeagol...very good

Personally...I think the people who would have enjoyed this film the most will be the people who haven't read the book...all the rest of us are too busy comparing

i liked it quite a lot, but did have reservations. One of my main nagging doubts was Gimli, in this second film he appears to have been reduced entirely to comic relief. I don't remeber him having one serious scene.

If Andy Serkis doesn't get huge amounts of awards for playing Smeagol/Gollom then there ain't no justice in this world. The little scene in the forbidden pool Smeagol was momentarilly cute - which is not something you would expect.

Some things need explaining though: how does Faramir that Boromir is dead, and why can't Smeagol argue back when Gollum accuses him of being a murderer. All explained in the books, I know, but just left hanging in the film.

Will we see these in the DVD?

Oh, it's so very likely.


Geggs

i hope so
as for the first film ending where the boko does, that's not stirctly true...boromir dying etc happens at the beginning of the two towers...
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*book
*strictly

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SPOLIER ALERT!!!!!


Well I've finally seen it today and I reckon I've read the book at least 51 times!

All I can say is

It was in fact more faithful to the book than I'd been led to expect from reading reviews and what was written here. The differences I can live with. Gollum was brilliant and I now think it was excellent the way they left the film before...

"Oh, she'll get them and then we can take back the preciousssssssssss"

Excellent cliff hange for those not in the know. "Who's 'She'?"

A lot missed out, the Palantir and Pippin, the Voice of Saruman, the parting of Merry and Pippin...

All in all it was an awesome spectacle. How on earth are they going to top Helm's Deep when the Battle of the Pellenor happens?

...and who said Eowyn was drippy? She was more or less exactly the way she is in the book, which plotwise is pretty essential I think. Watch the third film to see her get very very undrippy if you haven't read the book!

Top marks from me.

It was *me* who said she was drippy, and I'll take you on in a LotR quiz anyday, youmg-fellow-me-lad!

Waving a word about for a few seconds does not make you 'feisty' (possible exception to Catherine Zeta Jones in Zorro) for the rest of the time Eowyn seems to have her mouth hanging open, like a goldfish, which are pretty drippy creatures if you ask me...

"...strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings... fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring" (Book II, Chapter VI, but of course you knew that, Orcus )

Eowyn at this stage should be hard and cold and proud - not soft and wet!!!!

But maybe it's a hormone thing....

i think you mean book 3
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I'm going to be pretty rude and not read the backlog - as logs go, it seems pretty heavy, and I'm not sure my back is up to it.

When it comes to the book/film comparison, and your familiarity with the book, check this:

Flatmate no. 1, who read the books very recently, for the umpteenth time: Hated it.
Flatmate no. 2, who read the books fairly recently: "It was okay."
Me, who read the books about 8 years ago: It was ace!

So, there you go. Might prove something, with a bigger sample.

typo. ooops

yeah, yeah
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It was genius if you have not read the book. I believe it was a huge box office hit and an enjoyable film, the book is obviously superiour, although my memory of it is somewhat fragmened, can anyone tell me what happened in the end to the green thing that followed the hobbits, s.... oh i cant remember his name, my memory has deserted me....

u mean gollum? u wanna know what happens to him @ very end of book? i nt think should say cuz would give away ending.

omy

Go read them again, Miss. You'll enjoy it, I guarantee.

But watch out for the windmills.

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't stop laughing at the "dwarf tossing" comment ...

I was annoyed by Faramir being changed as well. He's one of my favorites, and the fact that *he* was the one having all the dreams about halflings would explain quite a bit about him trusting Frodo so much.

It was wonderful, and I can't wait for the next movie!

I thought that Smeagol was great too. A fne performance. The split personality thing was handled very well.

The ents were not quite what I had imagined either but how on earth can you depict a tree-like creature walking, anyway? I thought the film did a good enough job of that.

Dark tower was awesome!

Someone said "One of my main nagging doubts was Gimli, in this second film he appears to have been reduced entirely to comic relief. I don't remeber him having one serious scene."

Well, when he proudly challenged the leader of the Riders of Rohan for his name (when surrounded by armed warriors) probably does not qualify as one of the world's best comic moments, but I know what you mean!

Wasn't Gimli's "female dwarfs with beards" speech more Pratchett than Tolkein?

All in all a great film and just like last time around, I can't wait for the next one now.

Saw it last night... ... got to wait another year for the end


Backlog... what backlog

Wandered away from the book a little... but as PJ explained in the DVD there's no way they could stick to the book in its entirety without boring folks to death, so I'll forgive him for that.

Ents... Where was the rest... The development of the relationship between Quickbeam/Treebeard/Merry/Pippin was missing... although having watched the Extended version of the first film - most of the theatrical production cuts were of character relationship moments so I hope there's more we haven't already seen.

Smeagol/Gollum.. INCREDIBLE... Just as I'd imagined him, better in some ways at it really shows the duality of the character... The actor should win an Oscar for the voice and the special effects team should get one for the face.

Gimli... Not sure about that... he seemed to be being played for comedy value a little too much - but maybe that's just the purist talking... the 'toss me' joke was just fantastic

Legolas... Smartalec Gravity defying leaps onto horses and surfing down stairs on a shield...

Eowyn... Could have done with being a little stronger... but I suppose the whole idea was to show her falling for Aragorn.

Faramir... The whole section of the film around Osgiliath was a little strange... why did the wraiths just give up when they knew the ring was right in front of them? Not enough depth in the Faramir character.. it really didn't make his motives clear.

Grima Wormtongue... I must admit, i'd never really had a mental image of him when reading the book, but the 'Richard III' look really worked... Great character.

Wasn't too sure about the Aragorn/Arwen sections... seemed a little out of place and confusing to me

Mind you, I'm still impressed and now I've seen 2/3 of the film I'd still say that PJ has done the impossible. He's managed to create _the_ definitive film of Middle Earth.

Hmm. How many days until RotK opens?

I just think you're being harsh on Eowyn Cloviscat, what about the speech about fearing a cage and demanding to fight when the Warg riders were on the chase...?
...and she does rather fall head over heels with Aragorn in the book.

The Dwarf women stuff that Gimli epsoused was absolutely straight from Tolkien's own words. Not sure where it's actually from, either from the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings or from the Silmarillion but its definitely a passage from the Tolkien books.

Dwarf-women: it's in Appendix A, section III at the end of RotK:

"They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart. This has given rise to the foolish opinion among Men that there are no dwarf-women, and that the Dwarves 'grow out of stone'."

More on Eowyn in a bit

Don't think Eowyn does that much in the book either, really. Theoden won't let her. And who can blame him with the family tree hanging by a thread. She does more (in disguise) in ROTK.

Tolkien does state the only a third of dwarves are female at any time. And are not often seen by other races. So if you see a dwarf you would probably assume that it's male, cus males is all you ever see. But Aragorn's beard joke does seem more Pratchettian.


Geggs