Just a little light fare amongst all the angst and anger here tonight.
My fiance, my daughter, and I just got back from seeing Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was GOOD.
Details, but no spoilers, below...
Casting-It's great. The characters work in their roles. Zaphod is annoying and obnoxious, but good-looking enough to get away with it. Ford is a bit soft, but true to the spirit of the part. Arthur is perfect. Trillian was cute but a tad bland. And my favorite casting in the movie was Slartibartfast. He was just right. And of course, Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin (watch for a cameo appearance by the original Marvin from the BBC series!) was spot-on.
Special Effects-Darned Good. In places, a bit weird and deliberately cheesy, but spectacular and very well done where they needed to be so, especially the scenes on Magrathea. Extra props to Jim Henson Studios for the puppet work.
Truth to the Tale-It's different. It's not verbatim to the books, at an hour-forty-nine, it couldn't be. It's not as expansive as the BBC TV series, again, time constraints. It changes some things, leaves out some things, adds in some other things, but you can feel Douglas Adams' input and influence throughout. All in all, very true to the spirit of the story.
The Guide Itself-Not as knock down-drag out funny as the BBC series was, but again, time constraints had something to do with that. The Guide was well done but could have been more in the story.
Overall grade-Eight and a half out of ten stars. It gained a half a star at the very very end for a beautiful and fleeting tribute to the creator. A well done movie.
Anyone else see it yet? Thoughts? No spoilers, please, we don't want to mess it up for those who haven't been.