Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ::
by William the Bloody
Don't Panic. The Earth is doomed, due to be demolished in about twelve minutes to make way for a hyperspatial express route. Oh, don't act all surprised; the plans for this have, after all, been on display for fifty years in Alpha Centuri. Ford Prefect, not a native of Earth, picked up a transmission to the impending demise of the planet he was currently situated on, and sought out his best friend, an ape-descended Earth native, Arthur Dent, in order to promptly hitch a lift for the both of them off the doomed planet. They're picked up (towels in hand), by one of the ships on the wrecking crew. They are discovered stowing away, are tortured with bad poetry (the third worst in the universe) and get ejected out the air lock. With a lungful of air, one can survive in the vacuum of space for under a minute, but the odds of a rescue within that time are improbable. Very improbable indeed. Lucky for them, the ship the Heart of Gold has an Infinite Improbability Drive, which makes the improbable, probable, and they are rescued, not by the residents of the ship, former Earth resident Trillian and President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox, but by the ship itself. Now these four, along with their perpetually depressed and melancholy robot, Marvin, start their adventures together on a quest for the answers to Life, the Universe, and Everything. But then, you already knew that. I'm not going to get into more detail, or else I'll be here all day, so just read the book, would you? You'll be glad you did.
The Good: I want to say right off that they picked a lovely selection of actors for this. They were all just perfect for the parts: Zaphod, all pretty-boy and arrogant and Arthur, your normal every-man, were particularly well chosen in my eye, even if Zaphod was a tad more over the top than necessary at some parts. John Malkovich was an unexpected delight, even if his part was small, as was Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin. The alien puppets and costumes by Jim Henson's people were as wonderful as ever, and the computer generated space craft and effects were very well done. Zaphod's second head and third arm were also done well, even if in an odd and unexpected way. I was VERY pleased that much of the book's humor had survived into the screenplay, including especially what the nuclear-bomb-turned-whale thought as it was rushing to ground to its unknown doom (I couldn't believe that managed to make it in! Woo-hoo!). The excerpts from the Guide in the film were wonderfully done and also added much needed background information to many of the odd circumstances you miss out on without the narrative of a book. The depiction of the Infinite Improbability Drive was perfect. Really, spot on. I couldn't have asked for better, but audience members unfamiliar with the book may have been scratching their heads at that one. The song over the titles, "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" was an added bonus that had me laughing like you wouldn't believe.
The Bad: Why, oh why did they have to add on so much romance? Granted, there wasn't all THAT much, but more than we really needed, come on. This is a Sci-Fi comedy, we're NOT here for romance! Yes, there WAS a little something between Arthur and Trillian at that party, but that was the extent of it in the books. The torture-by-poetry scene felt a tad forced. That scene could have been done slightly different and been much funnier. There were a few things in the film that probably weren't explained satisfactorily to the viewer who is unfamiliar with the books.
All in all, I enjoyed it thoroughly. A classic novel long over due for the proper big screen treatment, finally gets its due and gets it done RIGHT (probably in no small part to the late author of the books, Douglas Adams, writing the screenplay). I would recommend this to all sci-fi comedy lovers, but with a small warning of dumbfoundedness if you aren't ready to open your mind to the , ahem, improbable. An appreciation of the English sense of humor might also help, too.
A
