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Feb. 13th, 2006 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taleyaOK, I did it.. Despite my trepidations and the deep feeling I had that it would be liking watching my pet kitten get anally raped....I watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie.
I shall put this up with a waffle icon as soon as I can find where I put the bloody waffle icons the gorgeous![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madscot made for me....
Ok. There are two ways to look at this film. One is rather nice, the other...not so nice.
Just to explain. I grew up on Hitch Hikers. It's one of the many BBC Series that were the staple viewing diet of my childhood. And more. I remember taping the Radio Plays as a kid (And still have them!) I grew up reading the books - hell, every book I own is an original cover, I went out and bought Mostly Harmless at a gift shop in Sorrento as soon as it came out on paperback (I was 13!). The first ever hormonal stirring of "oh...oh... i like that...I don't know what this feeling is, but I like it" was courtesy of David Dixon. (Shut up, I was five. And those eyes still do it for me)
Bear all this in mind. I'm bearing this in mind as I write this, but I know it will still colour my perceptions.
What did I think of it? It struck me as, if anything, the kindest thing I can say in relation to the whole Hitchikers universe, as a childs version. Packaged up, dumbed down, and aimed at kids. A fun romp. It's definitely Adams, oh hell it's loaded with Pure Adams, but it's a kid's version. (I'm not slamming him at all. Eh, I didn't like Dirk Gently, different fish for different bears, and all that) And while it may be a great intro for kids, as a 27 year old adult with all that blabbering I stuck in the introductory paragraph in my mind....I was disappointed. Very disappointed.
It's an explosion of hollywood, with a loose, jumbled plotline trying to follow the original, failing miserably and stuffing a few romantic subplots in for reasons that completely escape me. And Mos Def? You are not Ford Prefect.
The new take on Trillian was rather good - Adams himself has stated he's not good at writing female characters. I'm guessing his co-writer expanded that bit, or he's definitely beefed up on it (Mostly Harmless and the Quandry/Quintessential Phases suggest slightly the latter with Tricia, but Trillian still got raw'ed.) But Trillian/Arthur? She wants excitement. She wants to explore. to escape a dull life. He just wants somewhere quiet and a good cup of tea. He likes mediocre.
Zaphod on crack? ok, that DID crack me up. Rockwell did a fucking good job there. I liked that.
One thing? Ok, i'm a sad sad fangirl, but THE THEME Yes, I squealed quite loudly when the original radio theme got played :D In fact I'm quite sure I scared the shit out of the rats. I got terribly excited at just hearing strains that hinted at it, then went nuts when it started in full. And I grinned at the original Marvin in the queue, and Simon Jones got due applause and hoots of "BRING BACK THE REAL ARTHUR!"
But apart from that? From a Hitchikers point of view, it was something to look at, then delete off my hard disk.
BUT
From another point of view - Take away the HitchHikers element - it was very much like Galaxy Quest. I love that farking movie. Fun Romp takes on a whole new dimension when you're not looking at it with 27 years of mythos behind it. It was insane, gloriously insane, pure Adams and a great watch. I might get it cheap on rental and pull it out when I need a good laugh, much like I did with Galaxy Quest.
Would I write about it if I'd never been exposed to the original media? If I'd never read the books? Seen the series? No more than I would write Blazing Saddles fanfiction - in fact, less likely.
Soooooooo, I have an interesting little dichotomy in my brain. Realistically? I think I'll burn my downloaded copy, stick it in my DVD case and not look at it for four years. Unless I'm drunk.
Disagreements? Thrown items? Flames? Flame away, I have a soggy Ford I can roll all over >:D
I shall put this up with a waffle icon as soon as I can find where I put the bloody waffle icons the gorgeous
madscot made for me....Ok. There are two ways to look at this film. One is rather nice, the other...not so nice.
Just to explain. I grew up on Hitch Hikers. It's one of the many BBC Series that were the staple viewing diet of my childhood. And more. I remember taping the Radio Plays as a kid (And still have them!) I grew up reading the books - hell, every book I own is an original cover, I went out and bought Mostly Harmless at a gift shop in Sorrento as soon as it came out on paperback (I was 13!). The first ever hormonal stirring of "oh...oh... i like that...I don't know what this feeling is, but I like it" was courtesy of David Dixon. (Shut up, I was five. And those eyes still do it for me)
Bear all this in mind. I'm bearing this in mind as I write this, but I know it will still colour my perceptions.
What did I think of it? It struck me as, if anything, the kindest thing I can say in relation to the whole Hitchikers universe, as a childs version. Packaged up, dumbed down, and aimed at kids. A fun romp. It's definitely Adams, oh hell it's loaded with Pure Adams, but it's a kid's version. (I'm not slamming him at all. Eh, I didn't like Dirk Gently, different fish for different bears, and all that) And while it may be a great intro for kids, as a 27 year old adult with all that blabbering I stuck in the introductory paragraph in my mind....I was disappointed. Very disappointed.
It's an explosion of hollywood, with a loose, jumbled plotline trying to follow the original, failing miserably and stuffing a few romantic subplots in for reasons that completely escape me. And Mos Def? You are not Ford Prefect.
The new take on Trillian was rather good - Adams himself has stated he's not good at writing female characters. I'm guessing his co-writer expanded that bit, or he's definitely beefed up on it (Mostly Harmless and the Quandry/Quintessential Phases suggest slightly the latter with Tricia, but Trillian still got raw'ed.) But Trillian/Arthur? She wants excitement. She wants to explore. to escape a dull life. He just wants somewhere quiet and a good cup of tea. He likes mediocre.
Zaphod on crack? ok, that DID crack me up. Rockwell did a fucking good job there. I liked that.
One thing? Ok, i'm a sad sad fangirl, but THE THEME Yes, I squealed quite loudly when the original radio theme got played :D In fact I'm quite sure I scared the shit out of the rats. I got terribly excited at just hearing strains that hinted at it, then went nuts when it started in full. And I grinned at the original Marvin in the queue, and Simon Jones got due applause and hoots of "BRING BACK THE REAL ARTHUR!"
But apart from that? From a Hitchikers point of view, it was something to look at, then delete off my hard disk.
BUT
From another point of view - Take away the HitchHikers element - it was very much like Galaxy Quest. I love that farking movie. Fun Romp takes on a whole new dimension when you're not looking at it with 27 years of mythos behind it. It was insane, gloriously insane, pure Adams and a great watch. I might get it cheap on rental and pull it out when I need a good laugh, much like I did with Galaxy Quest.
Would I write about it if I'd never been exposed to the original media? If I'd never read the books? Seen the series? No more than I would write Blazing Saddles fanfiction - in fact, less likely.
Soooooooo, I have an interesting little dichotomy in my brain. Realistically? I think I'll burn my downloaded copy, stick it in my DVD case and not look at it for four years. Unless I'm drunk.
Disagreements? Thrown items? Flames? Flame away, I have a soggy Ford I can roll all over >:D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 06:35 pm (UTC)When BBCAmerica first came out, all they played was Python, Are you Being Served, and Black Adder - nothing current, and nothing that hadn't been played endlessly on PBS already. It was BBC for Dummies, nice safe Britcoms. They've branched out a bit since then - newer shows, at least - but it's still a bit patronising, like 'Hey, you stupid Americans, here's some British stereotypes for you!' :p
And I've come to the conclusion that I severely need a Ford icon... ^_^
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 06:50 pm (UTC)It was Geoffrey McGivern :DDDDD
I rewatched the section of the episode with him in about ten times and made a .wav of it. Love *_*~
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 06:50 pm (UTC)*pets icon*
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Date: 2006-02-12 06:52 pm (UTC)British television is NOT just Are You being served? or Blackadder, or a handful of fucking Tom Baker DW eps. And shut the hell up about Red Dwarf. Talk to an american about python, they'll start screaming NI! I much preferred Life of Brian. Now that was fucking hilarious. (and Meaning of life...and And now for something completely different...) What about The Goodies? Goodnight Sweetheart? Minder! Britass? The Professionals! Tomorrow People! Blake's 7! Vicar of Dibbley! Drop the Dead Donkey! Ballykissangel! Hamish MacBeth! Heartbeat! Stop giving me blank stares and saying NI!
ARGHHH!!
(not directed at you, that rant is something I've experienced over and over and over...)
Want a Dixon!ford icon? I can cap from the series for you :D There's also
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 07:47 pm (UTC)Look - Ford goodness! ^_^
I've got a DVD of the *real* Hitchhiker's series (not the movie!) so I think that'll be my spring break project, making some animated Ford and Arthur.
And here I thought I was the only one who thought Dixon was strangely cute...
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 07:59 pm (UTC)Look at Scrappysexkitty's icon (http://community.livejournal.com/guideslash/84376.html) (and yes, she has said she doesn't mind if someone snarfles it)
Get a DVD burner. They're worth their weight in Glod. Or if you don't like fucking about with DVDs, do what I did and build a fileserver *pets enigma lovingly* 1,000gb storage space on her, with room for another 6 HDDs. oooh my precioussss yesssssssssssssss.....
You're not the only one with Dixon. Oh hell no. :P
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Date: 2006-02-12 08:02 pm (UTC)Maybe it's heresy to say so, but when I look at the singer Clay Aiken I see a faint resemblance between him and Dixon...
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Date: 2006-02-12 08:07 pm (UTC)Checked out
Personally, I always stuck on the fact that he wears the same sort of plimsolls as Ford as Davison!Doc did. And one day I will write that fic where he steals them off the Doc...
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Date: 2006-02-12 08:08 pm (UTC)...........
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Date: 2006-02-12 08:14 pm (UTC)If they follow this chain of thought to its bitter end, would it be Trillian who gets lost at the start of Mostly Harmless and not Fenchurch?
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Date: 2006-02-12 08:15 pm (UTC)I like smiles...and he has a really nice one ^_^
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Date: 2006-02-12 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 08:49 pm (UTC)I wonder if the movie would've been much better if Hugh Laurie had ended up as Arthur Dent, and that general scheme. I think it was the one that was almost in place before Douglas Adams died. As it was, I have a feeling he was rolling in his grave over this.
Don't get me wrong, I rather liked Martin Freeman in a I'm-a-rather-adorable-chap kind of way, but everything else felt so wrong...
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 09:25 pm (UTC)(interestingly enough, someone put forth Fry & Laurie as Aziraphael and Crowley in a movie of Good Omens. I was rather "meh"...until this post (http://community.livejournal.com/lower_tadfield/477508.html))
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Date: 2006-02-13 04:44 am (UTC)And I loved the movie, of course. Laughed my pants off while watching.
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Date: 2006-02-13 04:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-13 06:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-13 06:48 am (UTC)Testatment to his acting ability
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Date: 2006-02-13 06:50 am (UTC)I've heard he wants to play Joker in the newest Batman and people are like 'SR? No way! I can't see him being a villan!' *coughs* Excuse me! *waves* Charlie's Angels!?
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Date: 2006-02-13 06:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-13 06:54 am (UTC)Me eyes started to bleed about 10 minutes into the movie. The only reason I watched it was Sam. BadbadbadBAD movie! :/