Customer Reviews

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've noticed that this movie has received mixed reviews from critics and fans of the books, but if you're like me and you've never been exposed to Douglas Adams' universe, then you'll love "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" for what it is: a wacky, fun, sci-fi comedy!

I found it to be so unlike most run-of-the-mill comedies that are churned by Hollywood year after year. It was totally fresh and original, with a surprising amount of intelligence. The general tone of the humour reminds me slightly of The Monty Pythons, so if you enjoy the group's style, I'm sure you'll like this, too. Also, as a person with a passion for physics, I can't stop laughing at how the laws of physics are totally abused in this film! And the theme song with the dolphins... it's TOO funny!

The cast was absolutely fantastic. I adored Martin Freeman as the sweet but spineless Arthur Dent (yes, I do like my men sweet and spineless! ^_~), Zooey Deschanel is perfect as the bright and assertive Trillian (a great female role model; no doubt one of the very few who isn't turned into a sex object in the realm of sci-fi), Sam Rockwell's Zaphod Beeblebrox is wonderfully over-the-top as the incompetent and dim-witted President of the Galaxy, and Mos Def is fun as the cool, street smart Ford. Marvin (voiced by the legendary Alan Rickman) is the cutest robot I've ever seen and should be the posterboy for unipolar depression! (As a psychology student, I'd like to point out that he does NOT suffer from manic depression, a.k.a bipolar disorder. Douglas Adams and the screenwriters should've researched this a little bit more!)

In terms of extras, the DVD includes deleted scenes, fake deleted scenes (I wish they made more than two; they were REALLY side-splitting!), an additional guide entry, a sing along to "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish", a featurette, 2 audio commentaries and a Marvin's Hangman. I actually got addicted to the last one, and it's quite challenging because the word you have to solve is only 4 letters long.

So, over-all, I give this movie two (or three, if I had enough arms) big thumbs up! b^_^d

If you haven't listened to the BBC radio-play, this isn't bad! Purists, no doubt, will dispute my verdict but the fact of the matter is THGTTG (see title) does have Douglas Adams' mark on it, and in my opinion is a good introduction to his fascinating if not comic book series!

Welcome to the universe! It is bigger than it seems!! I am glad that this motion picture has been made and am quite impressed with its cast, especially Bill Nighy, who rarely if ever gets a chance to play funny. In Adams' grand style, tongue firmly in cheek, nothing is sacred, not even his own story. You are invited to come along for the ride to take a few turns not in the book and arrive at a conclusion that only hints at a sequel.

To the guy below, "darkgenius," you do know the screenplay was written by Douglas Adams don't you? that pretty much destroys your entire rant. if you knew anything about this movie or the writing god that is Douglas Adams, you would have done your research before writing that pathetically ignorant essay.

Anyways, the books are masterpieces, the tv show is dated, but still great. This movie had perfect casting, but the tone kind of fell short and they left a lot of the source material out. great movie though and worthy of the hitchhikers name. could have been better, but still great.

I've seen this movie on TV and wanted to add it to my collection. I couldn't find it locally so when I saw it on amazon and on Blu-ray, I picked it up. I must admit, watching the movies I love on Blu-ry (and on the right TV) are more enjoyable. Watching Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on Blu-ray was a great experience. It is well worth the purchase, in my opinion.

I will not recommend this movie for people who haven't read at least two or three of Douglas Adams' books on hitchhiking. For people who don't read, this will bring minimum amount of satisfaction; for the movie just doesn't have enough time to make you experience Adams' universe.

OK, you want to buy this stuff and not read the book? Fine, I'm sure you'll meet lots of people like you in the movie. But don't complain that it was cheesy :)

I mean, get the books! Read them first, then get the movie, hey, where's your towel anyway?

The filmmaker's reverence for Adams' legacy? What kind of rubbish statement is that? As a loyal fan of Douglas Adams for more than a quarter of a century, I was appalled and horrified by this incredibly unfaithful and singularly unfunny adaptation of his masterful work. Maybe if you've never even heard of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or the ingenious Douglas Adams, you might accidentally enjoy one or two seconds of this putrid cinematic mess (doubtful, but possible), but I don't see how any Adams fan can watch this thing without standing up and shaking his/her fist at the screen and muttering various unmentionable words throughout the entire hour and forty minutes. I mean, this film is absolutely horrible. I don't even consider it an actual adaptation of Adams' story because half of this movie is original, badly written material - and the other half is a sloppy mish-mash of Adams' vision. I had my doubts that I would like this film, which is why I waited so long to watch it, but never did I imagine that I would hate it with every fiber of my being.

This feature film never made it to development during Adams' life. There's a reason for that: Adams wasn't going to let his definitive story be ruined by a bunch of writers who thought they knew more about Adams' vision than he did. Adams' death allowed these script butchers to go ahead and sacrifice Adams' legacy at the altar of their own profit. These guys took the funniest novel ever written and transformed it into a film without one remotely funny moment. They got every character completely wrong. What's this folderol about Trillian actually falling for Arthur? And Zaphod's second head (and ridiculously fake third arm) - horrible, horrible, horrible. And why the heck does Zaphod look like Tom Cruise and talk like Bill Clinton doing an Elvis impersonation? Ford basically disappears halfway into the film. And Marvin - I had hopes for Marvin (my favorite character) because Alan Rickman would be supplying the voice - those hopes were dashed to pieces. Even the Hitchhiker's Guide graphics were abysmal - downright cartoonish, even when compared to the low-budget visuals of the classic BBC Hitchhiker's production (which, by the way, is actually faithful to the story and - more importantly -funny).

I could go on forever about how terrible an adaptation of Adams' ingenious work this movie is. This cinematic travesty will likely drive away a lot of people who will now never go near an actual Douglas Adams novel, as they will likely expect each one of them to contain the same kind of hopeless drivel that is this movie. Loyal Adams fans can only hope and pray that there will not be a sequel.