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EmailH2G2 lands top slot
May 02
Sure, most of the reviews I read of it were hardly complimentary, but I’m happy to see it still came out on top in its opening weekend.
Box Office Mojo > News > ‘Hitchhiker’ Beams, ‘XXX’ Reamed
Hollywood tried to start the summer movie season early with two big budget spectacles, to no avail. Instead, the industry came up with a solid weekend in a time frame which is usually used as a dumping ground. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy blasted off as expected, but XXX: State of the Union stalled well below industry forecasts. [...]
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an adaptation of the books by Douglas Adams that fans have been waiting more than 20 years for, thumbed a ride to the top with an estimated $21.7 million at 3,133 locations. The opening was in line with such spring sci-fi releases as The Fifth Element, Lost in Space, Mission to Mars and The Time Machine in terms of raw grosses, but sold fewer tickets.
May 02, 2005 @ 11:27:06
Tedious.
The movie was tedious. It was an awful lot of sitting around waiting for something to happen.
May 02, 2005 @ 15:44:48
The movie was very good. Not great, but very good. Certainly worth seeing, even if you know nothing about the source material. It’s a fun ride. I’m thrilled it managed to come in at #1. I’m going to see it again next weekend to do my part to keep it at #1, because I wants me some sequels. I’m a bit biased; it’s my favorite book. Still, I firmly believe that most people will find it enjoyable. It’s a nice distraction from everyday life. And nothing beats seeing a beanie baby man throw up yarn!
May 02, 2005 @ 17:00:31
I didn’t love the film, but I certainly didn’t hate it.
May 03, 2005 @ 11:58:10
I found it to be about half and half. The beginning was brilliant. The introduction of the guide with Journey of the Sorcerer (old HGTTG theme) was perfect. But I thought they completely missed Marvin. He seems more angry at the world in this, and not so much depressed. I think they should have gone with the original voice here.
Also wasn’t fond of Zaphod, thought they nailed the supercool personality but also made him WAAAAAAY too dumb. That’s also my problem with the movie, it just all seems a bit more dumb than it should.
For instance, there’s the sequence where the missiles are streaking toward the Heart of Gold. In the book, radio drama, tv series, and, I think, comic, the computer started singing “When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high.” while giving the crew updates on how long they had to live. It was an inspired piece of insanity. In the movie, the song has been removed and the scene plays like a very conventional action scene. The climax is still funny, but it’s not as nearly as enjoyable as before. For another instance, the vogon poem is pretty well butchered by the guide’s digression on vogon poetry. While the guide entry is funny by itself, that poem is a work of comic genius. It’s so bad I nearly die every time I hear it. I would have preferred to have been able to hear at least a good sized part of it.
It’s certainly not all bad (and some parts are, as said, absolutely brilliant. I loved the Vogons themselves, the church of the Arkleseizure, Pan-galactic Gargle Blasters, etc), I did enjoy myself. I just feel a bit disappointed and dejected when I consider that I’ll likely to have to wait twenty years or so before someone tries again.