The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I have had Douglas Adams' famous book in my library for a long time, right next to the Red Dwarf series. While I revisit Red Dwarf in both TV and book format, and it still has a pleasant charm for me, I haven't been able to read the literary masterpiece that is "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" yet due to lack of time. Considering how negatively the movie affected me, it will gather dust for a while. It probably won't be months, but years, because the film left me with a desperately humorless, and even repulsive impression. The potential was there, but something went wrong; it needed a much more experienced filmmaker than the debutant Garth Jennings. Overall impression: 25%. (2017-03-15)

A crazy story built on individual jokes rather than constructive narrative pacing, but admittedly on jokes so ingenious and imaginative in places (Vogon poetry, a depressed robot, a planet that punishes over-thinking) that it is irresistible. Towards the end, the innovation runs out of breath and the tone is futile, but the good impression is again saved by the excellent voice over and, above all, by the actors, who have come together in really excellent form and, obviously, mood. There can hardly be a better way to kill a lazy afternoon after a big party. 65% (2016-04-23)

Much more enjoyable and especially funnier than the British series from the eighties. Marvin is effortlessly divine, Zooey or Rockwell a bit surprisingly annoying, and as a whole, it is a cautiously maturing and reliably absurd comedy that, unfortunately, was mostly unappreciated by viewers (including myself) at the time of its creation. (2006-08-13)

Quite decent considering the possibilities. I was fascinated by “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” (the book, the first part), but by “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, Adams’ style had saturated me already. I watched the film after reading the book and there’s a lot of the book in it, all the main jokes are there, but a lot of things are different… I think it could have been done better, but I don’t know how. I don’t know how I would mix fidelity to the source material and changes in order to produce a film that would be convincing on its own. One way or another, it would surely result in some absurd hybrid that everyone would perceive differently. (2011-07-29)

I really enjoyed this humorous sci-fi and it reminded me that I would like to read the book version sometime. Excellent cast, as the meeting of Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy in one scene was absolutely electrifying thanks to their acting abilities. Otherwise, it is a clever and entertaining sci-fi with excellent actors, even in voice roles. (2014-11-27)