One Aging Geek

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

OK, I enjoyed the heck out of the new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2). I didn't get to see it at the theater but just got it in via NetFlix. I'll admit, though, that it's probably an acquired taste. I loved the old BBC TV miniseries which was my intro to H2G2. Since then I've read all five books in the trilogy. And reread them. And had my omnibus edition More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide: Complete & Unabridged book swiped.

One of the first few DVDs I got via NetFlix was the DVD of the TV series.

The new movie remains pretty true to the original story. As much as anything can given that the story has evolved from radio to TV to books back to radio and probably some other versions I haven't heard of. But it's not slavishly trying to recreate the original. I liked Sam Rockwell's Zaphod better than Mark Wing-Davies. But Simon Jones' befuddlement is the essence of Arthur Dent. Martin Freeman didn't try to carry that to his version of Arthur. Zooey Deschanel's Trillian was an actual character instead of set dressing intended to attract teenage boys.

All in all a very creditable job. I'll keep this one a few more days and watch it over again. And maybe I'll hum "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" at the office tomorrow.