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What about those of us, me included, that have not read the book. Will we enjoy it as a movie?

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I went to the 12:01AM premiere this morning at Universal Studios. That was interesting, we showed up with our towels... and several others showed up wearing pajamas and with their towels as well.

If you have read about Douglas Adams' views on this series, he WANTED the series to change as it went into different medias. For example, it started off as a radio series, then became a book. It made a big change there. Now we simply see another change. (For example, the addition of the special gun and the new character) Plus, many little changes to help keep the story going better in movie form. They kept the heart of the story, and made it incredibly amusing still.

I happened to like the love story, because it was a spoof too. The casting was very, very well done. Eddie the Computer was perfectly jolly, Marvin was perfectly sad. The Vogons as a whole were absolutly hysterical. The sperm whale scene was very well done. Etc. etc. etc. You have to be open minded if you read the book, it's very different in many ways, but is a wonderful piece of work. I really hope people support this movie enough and we see the whole series made into movies. The ending of this movie definitly hinted that we may be seeing Restaurant at the End of the Universe in the near future.

People who have read the book and haven't will love the movie I think. Several friends that haven't read the book loved it. The fans of the book will notice little things like photos of Douglas Adams in certain scenes and other little easter eggs thrown in here and there. But, the movie is hilarious to everybody

A must see, definitly go out and see it guys. You won't regret it. Just make sure you Don't Panic!

Also, don't forget your towel.

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Well I went out and saw it and I have never read the book.
Frankly I wasn't impressed.
I mean it was amusing and inventive and all but it came off as rather smug when I didn't see any reason for it to be so. Like Kung Fu Hustle it's this manic craeation that reels forward without any purpose than to be and for the sheer spectacle of it all it's great but for what I was expecting I was let down. I'll take Monty Python and the Holy Grail any day or Time Bandits for that matter.
This one was a bit of a dissapointment to me.

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I want to see it because I read the books, but I really don't want to spend $9.75x 2, gotta be a gentleman and pay for the date, plus the $5.50 for a drink and tiny pop corn.

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Some of us from the team went out and saw it last night too. Some of them liked it, but I don't think it lived up to what the book was. Definitely a disappointment.

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Ok if you haven't read the book, its stilll a high quality film. Actually its a very good film, with the quirkiness that Douglass Adams was known for in his writing. Does anyone see The Restaurant at the End of the Universe coming to theaters? I actually loved the film and i'm still laughing over some parts, like Marvin at the End of the Blaster, even though it wasn't in the book if i'm correct, it may of been one of the 3 funniest scenes in the book. If you like comedy this is a must.

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Went with my towel and friends. Both those who'd read the books and those who hadn't enjoyed it. Those expecting a remake of the books will be dissapointed, the movie wasn't intended to be a remake, and roughly half the story line is not from the book. I love this series (and enjoyed the movie) for their sheer randomness, with the plot having no actual plot line, other than to see what random situation Arthur Dent can be thrown into next. The movie kept nicely to Douglas' humor style.

My only complaint? The love story. Douglas Adams was never one for happy endings where things work out perfectly good. I was hoping for an ending where it would look like it was going to be one of those typical "everybody lived happily ever after" endings, only to have something more bizzare and inexplicable show up and just make a general mess of things.

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I really do agree, the whole love story made the movie just a little cheesey. Still great though, and really funny. [edit: and at least now more people might understand exactly why forty-two is the answer]

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I thought that it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It could have been improved if the romance between Arthur and Trillian were kept off to the sides and not replaced the ultimate reality of Life, the Universe, and Everything as the central theme. Also, time is not a valid excuse for cutting a lot of the good lines - the movie only ran 1 hour 50 minutes, so putting back some of the good bits that got cut would have not forced the runtime to be excessive. I’d still recommend seeing it, but it doesn’t meet the usual “See it as many times as you can” rating that I usually give to Hitchhiker’s.

I also posted a really thorough review at http://www.goobergunch.net/index.php...chhikers-movie - just be warned, it contains a lot of spoilers.

And yes, I did bring a towel. ;)