Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trailer 773
Rakkis writes "A new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trailer is available on the frontpage of Amazon.com. From IMDb: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy follows the travels of Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), who is saved from the demolition of the Earth by his pal Ford Prefect (Mos Def). Ford is really an alien doing research for an updated edition of the universe's ultimate travel companion, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy opens April 29th.""
Direct link to the movie (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:3, Informative)
Now when i have disabled adblock it plays, but at random places in the trailer it just stops playing. I can't remember when i last went to this much trouble to see a trailer, but i'm about to give up now...
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:5, Informative)
First, I had to click the FlashBlock [mozdev.org] icon to get it to play (since autostarting flash is a dumb idea when it's almost always an annoying ad). Second, my default Privoxy [privoxy.org] install helpfully blocked the flash movie from playing since there's a nasty "/ads/" redflag in the URL.
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:5, Interesting)
It is still a bit disappointing that Zaphod does not have his 2nd head on the movie. It was the source of much humour. And Marvin looks like just a guy in a robot suit, Teletubbie-style. I thought the whole "brain the size of a planet" thing was more like a metaphor for his immense intellect, not just a huge head...
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:3, Informative)
It is in one of the 2 reviews that were linked here, iirc, et which was quite dispointed by the movie. It was a preview not the final thing tho'.
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:5, Interesting)
When I first read the HGTTG stories, I thought the constant reminders that he had a brain that specific size would end up with a plot 'surprise' that Marvin was in fact the computer trying to figure out the question that results in the answer 42.
After all, no other computers in the story were described as that size except for Earth itself.
Another strange thing: Marvin in fact did know the Ultimate Question. He was brilliant enough to retrieve it from Arthur's brain but was completely ignored when he mentioned that fact.
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:4, Insightful)
After watching the BBC HitchHiker's Guide movie, I can forgive them for that.
"And Marvin looks like just a guy in a robot suit, Teletubbie-style. I thought the whole "brain the size of a planet" thing was more like a metaphor for his immense intellect, not just a huge head..."
Well.. I'm not sure what you're expecting, really. It's perfectly okay to have a guy in a 'robot suit'. Not sure if you're aware of this, but the actor who played Willow is inside that suit. I imagine once we see Marvin in relation to the characters, his dimensions will be a little more robote-esque. And, if that's not enough, eh well I just don't know what to tell ya. It's not like a real robot meant to interact with humans wouldn't look like somebody in a robot suit.
As for his big head... Man this is a symptom of a bigger problem. Movies are a visual medium, books aren't. The movie has to QUICKLY sell the idea to the audience that Marvin has a big brain. But if he says it, and his head is normal sized, does that even work?
I spotted something else with the trailer. Arther stuck his thumb out and a beam came from it. It didn't appear as though he was holding the special sub-etha device for that purpose. I was going to whine about it until I realized what that would look like on screen. It's one thing to say in a book "Thumb shaped device for Hitchhiking...", but then imagine the problem of communicating that exact same idea in a movie during a suspenseful event. I can see why they made that choice.
I think we're going to run into a LOT of issues like this. My advice is: Don't let it bother you. I don't think these are the choices of blasphemers, but rather the choices of somebody trying to solve a really really tough problem. In other words, don't get your expectations high that you're going to see a scene-by-scene reenactment of the book.
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Direct link to the movie (Score:3, Insightful)
Eight words:
Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun To Be With!
Sirius Cybernetics would have built Marvin to look friendly, lovable, cute and Fisher-Pricey. Unfortunately, since their programming isn't as good as their marketing, Marvin, the doors, Eddie, the elevators, and in fact just about every Sirius Cybernetics p
Re:Excellent quality and speed from Apple (Score:4, Funny)
Direct link to SWF and a download? (Score:4, Informative)
AmazonFilms.swf [amazon.com]
broken link to mov file
Re:Direct link to SWF and a download? (Score:3, Funny)
Damn Vogons. Well, time to update Earth's entry...
complete? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:complete? (Score:5, Insightful)
Humma Kavula (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:3, Informative)
According to IMDB:
John Malkovich's character, a religious leader, was created especially for the movie by Douglas Adams.
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:3, Informative)
I just read the book a week ago: Yes, these two are related. It's a very vague reference.
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:3, Insightful)
and the trailer looks pretty damn cool
MOD PARENT DOWN: UNTRUTH (Score:5, Insightful)
Everything in the movie has Adams' sanction,
NO HE DIDN'T! NO IT DOESN'T!
Every fucking
He wrote A screenplay, not this screenplay. He wrote what HE considered the final draft. And then, he died.
He had been fighting the studio for years to have a screenplay that he liked, and he managed to finally write one that had compromises from both parties, then, he died. And THEN the studio had "changes" made. We can't know what those are, but wanna bet that their compromises suddenly went away?
I'm so fucking tired of seeing your delusion about this being his words modded up. I used to reply with links to the statements of the parties invilved detailing the chronology of the rewrites, but my rebuttals went unnoticed and your wishfull thinking stays modded up. Shit!
Exaggerated exasperation (Score:5, Informative)
He wrote A screenplay, not this screenplay. He wrote what HE considered the final draft. And then, he died.
You should read the rather funny self-interview conducted by the guy who wrote the final screenplay [go.com]. It's apparent from that interview--without being explicitly stated--that Adams's final draft was never going to be filmed without further modification. That's just the way the movie business works. Even the "final" approved script gets changed during filming because of (A) inspiration of the director to expand a scene, add a new scene, etc., or (B) the discovery that a scene that reads brilliantly on the page just doesn't work when filmed.
Douglas Adams wrote a lot of great stuff, but he couldn't figure out how to structure it to make it work as brilliantly in movie form as it had in book and radio play form. The eventual screenplay consisted largely of reorganizing Adams's own material into a shootable script. Where changes deviating from Adams's own writings had to be made, they deferred to his intentions as much as possible, by referring to his notes, unfinished musings, half-written scenes, etc.
Is there some stuff in the script that wasn't written by Douglas Adams himself? Definitely. Did they likely cut out stuff Adams would have kept? Probably. Did they put back in stuff that Adams had cut? Definitely.
Unfortunately, due to his untimely death, we'll never know what Douglas Adams himself would have thought of this movie. If you'd asked me five years ago if a movie of HHGG could ever be anything other than horrible, I'd have answered with an unequivocal NO. But Peter Jackson's version of The Lord of the Rings has made me change my mind. I think it can be good. Will it? I don't know, but I'll withhold my judgement until I actually see it.
Re:Exaggerated exasperation (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Exaggerated exasperation (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Exaggerated exasperation (Score:3, Funny)
Uh... Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra?
No, but kudos for out-geeking me. ;^)
NOT ADAM'S SCREENPLAY! (Score:5, Informative)
For the zillionth time, no:
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:3, Interesting)
From watching the preview, my guess is that Humma Kavula/John Malkovich is the character sitting at the dining room table that stands up and has no body below the edge of the table, just a bunch of tiny little robot legs. It went by so quickly that I couldn't be sure that it was Malkovich, though.
Re:Humma Kavula (Score:3, Interesting)
It is fun watching some of the other people here posting their "Oh no! Dinsey hacks have ruined teh Hitchhiker!" opinions though
Leave it to Disney... (Score:4, Insightful)
Bite me, Eisner.
Re:Again, you miss the point. (Score:5, Funny)
You mean the Disney that closed down it's traditional animation studio? Disney has degenerated into a nightmare of suits and execs. I tell you: it's run by Vogons.
Re:Leave it to Disney... (Score:3, Insightful)
You really think so?? I guess it's a matter of personal opinion, but... it seems like rather a big deal to me.
I seem to remember the fact that Zaphod had two heads being _very_ prominently noticable in Arthur's introduction to him ( Arthur couldn't focus on what he was saying, didn't know which head to look at, etc ). The shot I saw in the trailer, it looked like there was maybe a big head that flopped back to reveal an inner small one or something? Not anything l
Sheesh. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sheesh. (Score:5, Insightful)
TZ
Re:Sheesh. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sheesh. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Sheesh. (Score:5, Funny)
Ford's Thumb? (Score:5, Interesting)
when did Ford's thumb become a magic hitchhiking device?!?
Beyond that, It's not as bad as I feared although not as good as I hoped. I think Marvin looks kinda neat, different from the comic book version. Arthur looks about right although Zaphod I think is gonna kill me. I think they're also gonna play up a Arthur, Trillian romance more which I think will hurt it.
My bum will definitly be in a theater seat the moment this hits theaters though.
Arthur, Trillian romance could work in the film. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you stick to the original at every instance, your final product might follow the rules perfectly, but not work as well. That's why they did the thumb thing... it looks good (IMO) and drives the story quickly. Anyone watching that will know that the thumb is a communication tool for hitchhicking, even if they don't know the books. It's an OK addition in my book.
I await fanboy flames.
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:3, Funny)
Thanks for the correction!
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:5, Informative)
Because of the crappy quality of the trailer, you can hardly see the electronic thumb he's wearing. Looks like a ring with an antenna.
To see it clearly, look here: http://www.h2g2movie.com/pages/february04.html [h2g2movie.com] and scroll down to the picture of the survival kit (with Towel, Babel Fish and Thumb).
Re:Ford's Thumb? (Score:5, Informative)
Not till April? (Score:5, Funny)
I find it slightly worrying... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I find it slightly worrying... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I find it slightly worrying... (Score:3, Funny)
From what I can recall, the locations of choice always used to be a disused chemical plant (a remake of Blake's Seven, anyone?); a clearing somewhere in Bracknell Forest; and the car park at Shepherds Bush studios.
And how come nowadays everything looks like Canadian tundra?!
Re:I find it slightly worrying... (Score:3, Funny)
Zaphod: Computer!
Zaphod: Oh, no!
Computer: Hi there! This is Eddie your shipboard computer, and I'm feeling just great guys, and I know I'm just going to get a bundle of kicks out of any programme you care to run through me.
Zaphod: Computer, tell us again where we're filming today.
Computer: A real pleasure feller, we are currently in an old quarry on the legendary planet of Magrathea.
Ford: Proving nothing, I wouldn't trust that compu
No sound at work.. (Score:4, Funny)
Skip to the ending . . . (Score:4, Funny)
"42"
Researcher (Score:5, Funny)
Belgium, my cover's blown. That's it, I'm off home. Your planet sucked anyway, monkeymen!
Except for the ale, of course. And the cheese biscuits, you know those octagonal ones with the sesame seeds on, they were quite nice too. Still, anyway, I'm back to Betelgeuse...
Bring a Towel (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Bring a Towel (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bring a Towel (Score:4, Funny)
Do you think the theaters will allow towels with sections of pre-soaked popcorn butter, nacho cheese and salsa on them? Maybe some hot dog grease?
Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd hate to have our inside geek joke be revealed to the world. It's always been sort of a secret code, if you knew what it meant, then you belonged to the tribe. Now every avid moviegoer in the world will know what it means.
Re:Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hmm, that may be true in the US. In Britain the TV series has been repeated so many times, and the books are so popular, I reckon at least 25% of people would know what The Answer is (which I'd consider high: something like 40% don't know what town Jesus was born in).
Obviously, far fewer would know The Question...
Re:Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:3, Funny)
Come on! Since the movie came out, EVERYONE knows it was Montreal!
Re:Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, but that's not the actual question, remember? Authur and Ford got shipped to earth 2 billion years in the past along with all those B-Class citizens from another planet, who subsequently, caused the actual earth-men to die out, which would have lost the question forever. When Aurthur and Ford conduct an experiment, which basically involved Arthur playing blindfolded scrabble, the question that came out was indeed "what's six times nine", but then again, Arthur wasn't technically descended from creatures created for the actual experiment, so it doesn't really count.
Later, in Life, the Universe, and Everything, the come across Prak, who had too much truth serum and goes on to tell the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth, most of which has a lot to do with frogs. Later, when he stops laughing at Arthur enough to be able to answer a question, he notes that the answer and the question are mutually exclusive, in that no one person can know both the question and answer at the same time, and doing so would cause the universe to vanish and be replaced by something even stranger, if indeed it hadn't already happened.
Just so happens, I read that part last night. Anyway, 'what's six times nine' is not the actual question.
Re:Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect that won't be the only place you see 42.
Re:Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Do they mention 42 in the movie? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, it was the original radio show which was later turned into a book, and thence a TV show.
Movie wont be an adaption of books at all (Score:5, Informative)
It's a little hard to believe, but the movie is actually one of Douglous Adam's last works.
One thing the movie wont be is an adaption of the books and radio play all over again, it's something fresh new and different in the Hitchhiker universe. I'm looking forward to it very much.
If you're curious about what the plans for the movie were, and the process heading up to it you might want to check out "A Salmon of Doubt" which compiles Adam's final works, along with several letters and coorespondencies leading up to this movie amoung other things
I'm going to be forever wondering what the story behind half a cat and the rhino will be though...
Straying too far from the path? (Score:3, Interesting)
For instance... in the preview, they show Ford introducing Arthur to Zaphod. In the book, the whole comedy of the scene is that they both play it cool. Not so in the preview.
It is my fear that Hollywood is going to ruin another perfectly good book. I'd like to go see it, but I'm going to be very sceptical.
Re:Straying too far from the path? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Straying too far from the path? (Score:5, Funny)
The hardest part I had was convincing the computer that I really wanted something that was printed using chared bits of coal smeared on mashed up, dried out bits of tree, held together by cow skin.
Hopefully it will stop processing in time...
A few thoughts (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A few thoughts (Score:3, Insightful)
The books were FUNNY. If the movie is funny, it is good. If it's not, it's bad.
Awesome B-day present! (Score:3, Informative)
I couldn't ask for a better present. DNA is probably my favorite humorist, (followed closely by Terry Pratchett). I'm really looking forward to this film. This is going to be my birthday party... going to see DNA's imagination on the big screen!
I thought it was great... (Score:4, Interesting)
But what about the towel? I didn't see him using a towel to flag down the ship... towels, as everyone knows, are a very important thing. =)
Generic Fanboy Reaction (Score:4, Insightful)
This is a piece of entertainment from my childhood! I somehow believe that I have "rights" as a fan to influence creative decisions by the studio and that this version might erase all love I had for the original, because appearently I can't hold two things in my brain at once. Blah blah blah!
Re:Generic Fanboy Reaction (Score:3, Informative)
March 78 BBC Radio Show
Dec 78 Christmas special
May 79 Stage play in london
Oct 79 The book is published
It goes on and on, with TV shows, more Radio shows, the classic text adverture game, up to Adams himself writing the draft screenplay a selling movie rights to Disney. It's been in his hands the whole time. A living breathing story, something that in this day and age of keeping perfect records (as we like to t
Zaphod looks a lot like Richard Branson (Score:5, Funny)
Recent DVD HHGTTG reveals insights into DNA (Score:5, Informative)
The background information about the making of the series, and about Douglas Adams is fascinating. It reveals some of Adams' manic-depressive personality. It talks about how Adams was not one to write a book and then want to translate that 100% to another format; he welcomed change and refinement with the TV series, and based on what I saw in the interviews, I think he enjoyed the opportunity to revise and rewrite HHGTTG yet again on the big screen.
Adams' only problem, according to the interviews and behind the scenes information, was an awful writer's block at the start of any project. The infamous line about loving deadlines, especially the sound they make as they go whooshing by, was very true for Adams personally.
Adams was a performer; he didn't really want to be a writer. He started out performing, acting, doing live comedy. At least with writing, his particular quirky sense of humor reached many thousands of people who revere him for what he accomplished, personal foibles aside.
If you saw the BBC series, Adams was featured in two different spots. One, he was in a suit counting money while walking out of the bank. The other, he was throwing his money away and walking into the water naked.
Dirk Gently (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems to me that "Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency" and "The long dark tea time of the soul" would be more suitable for a movie. More dialogue, less need for a narrator, better developed characters. Not a MIB-type Hollywood action movie, but a nice film nonetheless.
True direct link (Score:4, Informative)
One to the HUGE [vitalstream.com] trailer
One to the SMALL [vitalstream.com] trailer.
Quicktime format. See the site [go.com] for the in-between ones and read the source code on the pop-up.
Re:True direct link (correction) (Score:3, Informative)
Mirrors (Score:3, Interesting)
Enjoy the following mirrors:
-http://216.69.167.204/hitchhikersguide-1.mov [216.69.167.204]
-http://www.waxy.org/archive/2005/02/16/hitchhik.
-http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jkbrooks/pictures/hi
Re:so far not good ... (Score:4, Informative)
I think Zaphod's second head is inside his nostril, or something like that.
Re:so far not good ... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:so far not good ... (Score:3, Informative)
In this sense, when asked, "Where the hell is Zaphod's second head????", the answer, "I think Zaphod's second head is inside his nostril, or something like that," is true enough. His head isn't hidden in his nostril, but
Re:so far not good ... (Score:3, Informative)
Trillian's name is Tricia (sic):
See here [schule.de]
His head is IN THE TRAILER (Score:5, Informative)
Mos Def (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ford? (Score:3, Interesting)
A streetwise rapper just doesn't fit.
Re:Erm (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Erm (Score:3, Informative)
10 September 2004 - Roger Birnbaum: Co-Chairman and CEO of Spyglass Films
We worked with Douglas for a while in trying to get the script to a place where everyone was satisfied. I remember admiring Douglas' loyalty toward the fans and his total dedication to writing a movie that would live up to their expectations. It was tragic and heartbreaking when Douglas suddenly died. The movie came to an im
Re:Erm (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mos Def and Martin Freeman? (Score:3, Insightful)
Or could it be, perhaps, that your virgin image of characters in books couldn't possibly adapt to having a black man, let alone a "street-wise" black man, in a leading role?
Kill-O-Zap (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder how far down, theoretically, a post can be modded.
Re:Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster... (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh well. Nanotechnology anyone?
Re:Looks sucktastic- (Score:5, Insightful)
The trailer raised my hopes (Score:3, Interesting)
I have, for reasons I can't fanthom, misplaced that book (I have the other 4, where the helll id no1 go?), so I can't quote.
But I seem to remember a mention of his skin turning black when he becomes a penguin while onboard the Heart Of Gold. Maybe it was a comment from Arthur in the TV show or the radio series...
Anyway: Did he sound like an American rapper in the original radio show? No.
What did he look like in the TV series? It's not
Re:Theme Music (Score:3, Informative)
My brother is actually in the film scoring business, and this is the normal state of affairs. Once the real score is finished they'll start using it. The music hasn't been "stolen," but fairly licensed.