@tredlow I liked the casting but do you really find Mos Def the deffinitive Ford? I hope I don't appear rascist, but I never saw Ford as black. Based on appearances I found David Dixon to be a closer Ford in my minds eye.
@tredlow I liked the casting but do you really find Mos Def the deffinitive Ford? I hope I don't appear rascist, but I never saw Ford as black. Based on appearances I found David Dixon to be a closer Ford in my minds eye.
The definitive one? Maybe not (David Tennant's Doctor is the definitive Ford Prefect for me), but Mos Def got pretty close in terms of appearance, in my opinion. What I didn't like was that Ford was less "Party Animal"-ish in the film, and was more of the "airhead".
"Thanks for all the fish" is the single best opening to any movie. Ever.
Agreed. Not only is it great fun in and of itself, it signposted how the audience ought to view the rest of the film - as something FUN, not as a slavish (or not, as the case may be) and tired retread of the same old stuff.
That's what's good about the Hitchhiker's Guide - all the different versions are, well, different. The radio series doesn't match the books and they don't match the film either. I enjoyed the film for what is was. I can see past whatever flaws people see in stuff like this. Toss up between the radio series & the books though. Each have their own charms. I'll be keeping an eye on what Hothead are doing with interest. Though I agree with what someone else said earlier (I think someone did anyway) that they should get someone like Dirk Maggs to consult on it as I feel he did a great job in producing the newer radio series.
The problem with the Hitchhiker's Guide film isn't that it's different. I went into the theater EXPECTING something different. The problem with the film is that it contains next to no humor. The original stuff is dull and uninspired, the stuff ripped from other Guide stories is either truncated or displayed in a way that entirely misses the point of the joke, and many of the special effects solutions are from decisions based on limitations that existed back when the script was first written, but didn't exist at the time of the film's creation many years later. This is most notable in Zaphod's case, where the second head being "in his neck" was a special effects compromise due to being unable to animate a second head to cinema standards that existed NEXT to Zaphod's primary head.
Having seen the movie before I read the book, I did find the movie to be reasonably entertaining and often funny, but just the sort of light smile funny and not laugh-out-loud funny. I actually kind of liked the film's interpretation of Zaphod's heads, since it caused the second head to be more of a minor running gag (as it was in the text- and audio-based versions) and less of a constant distraction. I was never a fan of the largely unexplained presence or absence of his third arm though.
Attempts to rewatch it after reading the books have usually ended with me getting bored and turning it off during the plodding middle act, so I do agree that the joke density could stand to be a lot better.
The movie was a mishmash of gags which actually originate from the same way of thinking Douglas Adams himself had used for his books, but offers just a hint of what Douglas Adams ultimately came up with. The movie does not take itself seriously, which is a REAL problem since the humor seen in book series kind of sprouts from the idea of seriousness; in the indetermined improbable infinite universe anything may actually happen and anything that actually happens is serious business, so nothing is silly and alas, nothing should be taken too seriously either. This kind of laidback attitude and the general atmosphere is seen nowhere in the movie except the narrations and so forth.
If you get beyond that, movie does offer you some good laughs, though.
Yeah, see, it's funny, but it makes no sense. Why would you have a lightsaber toast knife if you already have a machine that instantly materializes any food you're craving?! I read somewhere that even the writers thought the same when they wrote it!
Then again, it's Hitchhiker's, so, what does logic even mean?
This is fantastic news! Can't wait to hear more about it. I just saw that a new Deathspank is coming soon too (soon as in now to be exact). This years E3 is really exciting.
According to the new issue of SFX, "The New Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" launches on 11th August and promotes Simon Jones to the roll of the Book. But, as at least one website has pointed out, it's not actually clear WHETHER THIS IS EVEN A GAME! The website and facebook pages tell you nothing, and although I diligently entered my email for updates, I've had nothing.
Does anybody know anything more? Dammit, even a bit of informed speculation would be good.
I've watched the TV series, the movie and read the first 3 books of the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide. I've also listened to the unabridged audiobooks of said books as read by Adams himself.
To be honest, I liked the movie. Sure, it had its faults (like the mud scene) which I do take issue with, but I thought the spirit of the books was still there. So the same for Lord of the Rings. My wife is a purist with LOTR and, despite it being one of her favorite movie series, loves to nitpick at the problems it has (such as Faramir's character being ruined) but I still enjoyed it. We do, however, make a point to only ever watch the LOTR Extended Edition or the Fan Edit by Kerr.
I remember playing Starship Titanic, and really s*****g myself when John Cleese came into the game as the bomb, I spent hours trying to stop it. I never once even considered that it was just a joke, and I wasn't actually going to die..
I'm looking forward to it, as long as they don't stray far from the original radio/tv/book series, and stick very close to Douglas Adams' unique sense of humour.
That does it! I have had it up to HERE (my hand is currently hovering at forehead level) with anticipated games and ports being revealed as mobile apps at the last minute.
Wait, it's not even a game!? Did I read this properly, or is this pretty much an interactive encyclopaedia, much like the ACTUAL Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy?
If so, I'm astonished! Everyone was worried the developer was doing something too different and it might not turn out very good? Looks like they're creating a novelty toy. Oh dear.
Guess I'm alone in thinking this is kind of cool? I love having fictional objects turned into real-world objects. I didn't have high hopes for them making a particularly good Hitchhiker's Guide game, but this seems like something that I trust they'll be able to excel at.
Guess I'm alone in thinking this is kind of cool? I love having fictional objects turned into real-world objects. I didn't have high hopes for them making a particularly good Hitchhiker's Guide game, but this seems like something that I trust they'll be able to excel at.
This.
Next thing you know is when someone announces they're making a BTTF game and it turns out to be an iOS recreation of the Delorean that lets you actually travel in time everyone will complain.
Next thing you know is when someone announces they're making a BTTF game and it turns out to be an iOS recreation of the Delorean that lets you actually travel in time everyone will complain.
Next thing you know is when someone announces they're making a BTTF game and it turns out to be an iOS recreation of the Delorean that lets you actually travel in time everyone will complain.
Damn right I will, I can't afford no iPhoneamajigger, time machine or not.
Easy kill a man with the new app steal his iphone and then laylow in a different century till it all blows over. The plans perfect unless they come up with somekind of time police.
Guess I'm alone in thinking this is kind of cool? I love having fictional objects turned into real-world objects. I didn't have high hopes for them making a particularly good Hitchhiker's Guide game, but this seems like something that I trust they'll be able to excel at.
Actually, the book's description of the Hitchhiker's Guide itself is less like an iPad or iPhone, but more that of an ebook reader--in the style of Kindle (ie. it has physical buttons) though the Guide's hardware displays in color; reads entries to you aloud in a still, quiet, measured voice (as opposed to our modern mechanical sounding text-to-speech) while the text appears on screen; has an extremely large memory capacity by 1979 standards (when HHGG was first published); and has only one ebook on it--the Guide software itself.
Not forgetting the plastic cover with the words "Don't Panic" on it, but I could probably get one of those for my Kindle.
a device that looked rather like a largish electronic calculator. This had about a hundred tiny flat press buttons and a screen about four inches square on which any one of a million “pages” could be summoned at a moment’s notice. It looked insanely complicated, and this was one of the reasons why the snug plastic cover it fitted into had the words DON’T PANIC printed on it in large friendly letters. The other reason was that this device was in fact that most remarkable of all books ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor—The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The reason why it was published in the form of a micro sub meson electronic component is that if it were printed in normal book form, an interstellar hitchhiker would require several inconveniently large buildings to carry it around in.
“You press this button here, you see, and the screen lights up, giving you the index.”
A screen, about three inches by four, lit up and characters began to flicker across the surface.
“You want to know about Vogons, so I entered that name so.” His fingers tapped some more keys. “And there we are.”
The words Vogon Constructor Fleets flared in green across the screen.
Ford pressed a large red button at the bottom of the screen and words began to undulate across it. At the same time, the book began to speak the entry as well in a still, quiet, measured voice.
Comments
Could be worse.
The definitive one? Maybe not (David Tennant's Doctor is the definitive Ford Prefect for me), but Mos Def got pretty close in terms of appearance, in my opinion. What I didn't like was that Ford was less "Party Animal"-ish in the film, and was more of the "airhead".
Agreed. Not only is it great fun in and of itself, it signposted how the audience ought to view the rest of the film - as something FUN, not as a slavish (or not, as the case may be) and tired retread of the same old stuff.
Attempts to rewatch it after reading the books have usually ended with me getting bored and turning it off during the plodding middle act, so I do agree that the joke density could stand to be a lot better.
If you get beyond that, movie does offer you some good laughs, though.
Why? My people thinks it's funny. We even used it in OUR own space parody.
That is funny. What is wrong with you?
Yeah, see, it's funny, but it makes no sense. Why would you have a lightsaber toast knife if you already have a machine that instantly materializes any food you're craving?! I read somewhere that even the writers thought the same when they wrote it!
Then again, it's Hitchhiker's, so, what does logic even mean?
Does anybody know anything more? Dammit, even a bit of informed speculation would be good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojydNb3Lrrs
Also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
OUR space parody hasn't got lightsabers... but it does have about everything else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZlwW_OJVbo&t=4m01s
To be honest, I liked the movie. Sure, it had its faults (like the mud scene) which I do take issue with, but I thought the spirit of the books was still there. So the same for Lord of the Rings. My wife is a purist with LOTR and, despite it being one of her favorite movie series, loves to nitpick at the problems it has (such as Faramir's character being ruined) but I still enjoyed it. We do, however, make a point to only ever watch the LOTR Extended Edition or the Fan Edit by Kerr.
I'm looking forward to it, as long as they don't stray far from the original radio/tv/book series, and stick very close to Douglas Adams' unique sense of humour.
That does it! I have had it up to HERE (my hand is currently hovering at forehead level) with anticipated games and ports being revealed as mobile apps at the last minute.
So what in the planet of hell is the point of all that? Belgium, man, Belgium....
If so, I'm astonished! Everyone was worried the developer was doing something too different and it might not turn out very good? Looks like they're creating a novelty toy. Oh dear.
This.
Next thing you know is when someone announces they're making a BTTF game and it turns out to be an iOS recreation of the Delorean that lets you actually travel in time everyone will complain.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flux-capacitor/id391862376?mt=8
It does get a bit old. Hopefully the H2G2 app will have enough entries that I won't go through them all in one sitting.
Damn right I will, I can't afford no iPhoneamajigger, time machine or not.
The BBC hasn't shut down H2G2, it's been under refurbishment and is now here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/
Actually, the book's description of the Hitchhiker's Guide itself is less like an iPad or iPhone, but more that of an ebook reader--in the style of Kindle (ie. it has physical buttons) though the Guide's hardware displays in color; reads entries to you aloud in a still, quiet, measured voice (as opposed to our modern mechanical sounding text-to-speech) while the text appears on screen; has an extremely large memory capacity by 1979 standards (when HHGG was first published); and has only one ebook on it--the Guide software itself.
Not forgetting the plastic cover with the words "Don't Panic" on it, but I could probably get one of those for my Kindle.
EDIT: also, there's this: