Comments on: They both took towels to school today

By: Harry

Harry — Thu, 19 May 2005 16:22:29 +0000

I agree about the radio play. Brainster, you missed the invasion fleet? It was there.

Matt—both the girls I took are extremely out-of-touch with contemporary standards—my daughter’s freind has only once before been to the theater, and was scared by Finding Nemo. They are 8, I acknowledge. The Vogons are scary (you can judge for yourself on the movie’s own site) but after a while stop being. There is a lot of slapstick. No-one dies… well, except for the invasion fleet that gets swallowed by a dog, and the entire human race apart from Trillian and Arthur. I am very risk-averse about these things, but think it would be fine for a 5 yr old boy that you describe, as long as you think he can take the Vogons.

By: sanepete

sanepete — Thu, 19 May 2005 12:29:03 +0000

The Radio Play will always be the original and best.

By: ogmb

ogmb — Thu, 19 May 2005 05:51:15 +0000

No.

By: mottyl

mottyl — Wed, 18 May 2005 21:39:38 +0000

You’re not going to like it.

By: nnyhav

nnyhav — Wed, 18 May 2005 20:44:09 +0000

After deep thought, I believe the next comment will provide the final verdict.

By: Vanya

Vanya — Wed, 18 May 2005 20:30:46 +0000

I didn’t love the movie, but my 5 and 7 year old did so I’m happy with that. For all the criticisms you could make, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. In fact I went back to watch the old BBC TV series and discovered that was nowhere near as good as I remembered – Trillian is god-awful, Ford Prefect overacts and is too impish, and Zaphod’s ridiculous second head is distracting. The radio series is still the best version out there, followed by the books. And for the record, the Belgium joke originated in the radio series even if the American edition of L,TU&E put it where it didn’t belong.

By: Brainster

Brainster — Wed, 18 May 2005 19:25:52 +0000

Some parts were good, some parts were bad. The romance was indeed dreadful; part of the point of Arthur making a big deal out of being aced out at a party was to highlight what a schnook he was. Marvin was horrific; they made him look like a sports team mascot. Where was the Vogon guard intrigued by Beethoven’s fifth? Where were the sensitive cops? Where was the invasion fleet that was swallowed by a dog?

By: JohnGalt

JohnGalt — Wed, 18 May 2005 18:14:19 +0000

I don’t suppose Wowbagger, the Infinitely Prolonged makes an appearance?

Just curious. I too, have a far too intimate attachment to those books as a result of a vociferous reading habit as a young boy.

By: matt

matt — Wed, 18 May 2005 16:51:27 +0000

For those of you who (1) have seen this movie and (2) have young children: would this be ok for a five year old boy who has been to movies many times? I’ve read all the books, and seen/heard all other incarnations, so I have some idea going in, but I like to (at least try to) keep him away from overt violence in movies. Slapstick is ok, though. [He’s seen the Shrek movies and the Incredibles, the latter of which was a little past what I’d like him to see at this point.]

By: BingBong

BingBong — Wed, 18 May 2005 14:45:03 +0000

There was only one requirement for the movie: to be damned funny. But while it sometimes raised a smile and a chuckle, damned funny it wasn’t.

The director has a good visual sense, sure, but he has little feel for how to direct comic dialogue.

Verdict: Botched.

By: maurinsky

maurinsky — Wed, 18 May 2005 13:14:27 +0000

I enjoyed the movie even though it wasn’t entirely true to the book (which was my first exposure to the series). We have the original TV production on DVD, and my complaint about that was that it was too faithful to the book – I thought it was kind of plodding and I didn’t care for a lot of the actors, particularly Zaphod.

What I liked about the movie: Martin Freeman was less peevish and pissy than Simon Jones. Mos Def seemed more alien than the guy in the TV series – and he really worked the towel, which I enjoyed. I really love Sam Rockwell, so I’m sad to say I was slightly disappointed with Zaphod, but I guess I enjoyed Zaphod so much in the books that it would be hard for anyone to meet my expectations. Zoey Deschanel was about a trillion times better than the blonde Betty Boop who was in the TV series, but something was missing from her performance.

And the Vogons were awesome, but I think they were overused in the movie.

By: nnyhav

nnyhav — Wed, 18 May 2005 12:50:59 +0000

For Simon Jones to have gone from the Question of Life, the Universe and Everything to The Meaning of Life (for the two Terrys) was a nice segue; thence, Brazil and 12 Monkeys ... But, frighteningly, it looks as if SJ is now doing a weird, scary version crossover SF. But then he's had his 15 minutes of Hamlet ... (though I only got to see him doin' The Real Thing).

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 18 May 2005 12:32:49 +0000

Robin: she didn’t spend much time “on stage,” but is instumental to the conclusion of the plot of the third book while Arthur panics, Zaphod looks in the mirror and Ford looks for a party. She also is meant to hold a degree in mathematics and astrophysics, although that’s really only used as a joke about job prospects in those fields. (The parallel universe version in the fifth book is a TV presenter, but with the same qualifications.)

She doesn’t come across as dumb to me: rather the reverse. But she’s just not core to the story, mostly.

By: andrew

andrew — Wed, 18 May 2005 12:16:57 +0000

That was in the TV series, which was horrible. She didn’t do much in the books, either, but she wasn’t dumb. Haven’t seen the movie yet, but I thought Zooey Deschanel was an inspired choice.

By: Robin Green

Robin Green — Wed, 18 May 2005 10:16:41 +0000

and add a dollop of Hollywood-standard sexism

Hmm… wasn’t Trillian a dumb blonde who didn’t say or do much of anything in the book, or does my memory deceive me? From that perspective, I think it was a slight improvement.