Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Darren thinks the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie forgot to bring the funny
He liked it, and he's right, it's difficult to pull off translating humour that works well in book to the big screen.
The Babel Fish
The Babel Fish as final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God is my favourite Douglas Adams moment
Sya liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie
She read Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul Before H2G2? Heresy!

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the theatre.

I liked it, but probably won't be seeing again any time soon. It rewarded my two readings of the book series, especially in the beginning, but it missed two of my favourite bits: the part where the Babel Fish is used to prove the non-existence of God, and Ford's reaction to Arthur meeting Zaphod for the 'first' time. As Darren states, well-executed, but forgot the funny.

A Contrivance Justifier Machine

Karey Kirkpatrick on the hardest part about writing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie script: “One day, I found myself addressing a note from the studio to ‘clarify the concept of the infinite improbability drive.’ As if it were something that actually existed and thus, needed clarification. And sadder still, I tried to clarify it and soon discovered how little I knew about laws of probability. Actually, Garth and Nick and I spent an entire day sitting poolside at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles discussing the infinite improbability drive and how to make more sense of it and better use of it as a plot driving device. This was tough because what I always assumed about the I.I.D. was that it was basically a plot contrivance machine. Writers are always struggling with contrived plots, the old ‘would this really happen?’ problem. And I thought this was yet another stroke of brilliance from Douglas to create something that allows a finite probability to become an infinite improbability — all at the touch of a button. It’s a contrivance justifier machine.”