View Full Version : Douglas Adams was right...
DeepIron
03-12-08, 09:52 AM
How presumptive of Homo Sapiens to think it's the only sentient species on the planet:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/nz.whales.ap/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7291501.stm
Funny how a little "good news" can come from the most unexpected quarter.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
kiwi_2005
03-12-08, 10:12 AM
Douglas Adams wasn't he the author of Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy? I just watch for the first time the movie of the book few months back and thought it was damn funny.
DeepIron
03-12-08, 10:17 AM
Douglas Adams wasn't he the author of Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy? I just watch for the first time the movie of the book few months back and thought it was damn funny.
Yes he was and one of my favorite authors too! BTW, if you enjoyed the movie, which wasn't bad considering all the stuff they had to show, you should read the book(s) (there are actually 5 of them).
A true Hitch hiker fan like me would never watch that dreadful film, for years DA wanted a film made and Hollywood said no but not long after his death they made the film and I bet DA would hate it.
DeepIron
03-12-08, 12:25 PM
Aw, c'mon... you gotta admit the "tour of Magrathea" was pretty cool... :rock:
Blacklight
03-12-08, 12:28 PM
The Hitchiker's Guide movie (The new one)... All I have to say is... :nope:
Read the book.
The BBC TV movie was better and caught the flavor of the book a heck of a lot better than the Hollywood movie. The Hollywood treatment of The Hitchikers guide was an abomination ! I think the writers thought that American's wouldn't understand the witty British humor so they removed it ALL and put in a whole crapload of side plots and a stuped love story to inject seriousness into the story where seriousness didn't belong, and none of the stuff they added was in the book ! :nope:
Sailor Steve
03-12-08, 12:28 PM
Adams was also a writer and long-time script editor for Dr. Who. My local library has a great writer's quote from him: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."
Respenus
03-12-08, 12:34 PM
A true Hitch hiker fan like me would never watch that dreadful film, for years DA wanted a film made and Hollywood said no but not long after his death they made the film and I bet DA would hate it.
When I saw the movie, I said to myself, like Zaphod's grandad said to him (Zaphod the Fourth I believe, some time accident involved): You know why Betelgeuse has a steep angle? You're grandmother and I are turning in our graves!
I apologise if I missquoted it, I have only read them in Slovene and I forgot the exact lines, so it's an approximation.
Story relevant: It's such a wonderfull story, makes one believe that there is still good in one form or another.
Adams was also a writer and long-time script editor for Dr. Who. My local library has a great writer's quote from him: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."
Yeh, I love that one too. I didn't know he died until the Salmon of Doubt was translated into Slovene. I remember, it was December 6th. A sad day in any man's book. God, I felt horrible. We really lost a great man.
The Hitchiker's Guide movie (The new one)... All I have to say is... :nope:
Read the book.
The BBC TV movie was better and caught the flavor of the book a heck of a lot better than the Hollywood movie. The Hollywood treatment of The Hitchikers guide was an abomination ! I think the writers thought that American's wouldn't understand the witty British humor so they removed it ALL and put in a whole crapload of side plots and a stuped love story to inject seriousness into the story where seriousness didn't belong, and none of the stuff they added was in the book ! :nope:
I agree 100% with you. :yep:
Blacklight
03-12-08, 12:41 PM
It's not quite the same workover that Hollywood gave Starship Troopers. When they made that one, apparently the people who wrote the movie didn't even take time to actually READ the book. It wasn't even the same STORY !!! And they changed the sex of one of the characters just to have a romance element in there (and the co-ed shower scene :nope: ).
It was as if the people who wrote the script only read the description on the back of the book, tossed the book in the trash, and wrote the movie (which also should be tossed in the trash and burned). :/\\x:
Torplexed
03-12-08, 07:53 PM
The BBC TV Movie had a lot of background information and tidbits from the book and radio series in the form of shorts and animated bits.
Who can ever forget the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation....;)
http://neptoon.homestead.com/SiriusCyberneticsCorp.jpg
FIREWALL
03-12-08, 07:57 PM
A true Hitch hiker fan like me would never watch that dreadful film, for years DA wanted a film made and Hollywood said no but not long after his death they made the film and I bet DA would hate it.
When I saw the movie, I said to myself, like Zaphod's grandad said to him (Zaphod the Fourth I believe, some time accident involved): You know why Betelgeuse has a steep angle? You're grandmother and I are turning in our graves!
I apologise if I missquoted it, I have only read them in Slovene and I forgot the exact lines, so it's an approximation.
Story relevant: It's such a wonderfull story, makes one believe that there is still good in one form or another.
Adams was also a writer and long-time script editor for Dr. Who. My local library has a great writer's quote from him: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."
Yeh, I love that one too. I didn't know he died until the Salmon of Doubt was translated into Slovene. I remember, it was December 6th. A sad day in any man's book. God, I felt horrible. We really lost a great man.
I saw BETTLEJUICE :rotfl:
lambda*sqrt(u*x)
03-12-08, 08:59 PM
A true Hitch hiker fan like me would never watch that dreadful film, for years DA wanted a film made and Hollywood said no but not long after his death they made the film and I bet DA would hate it.
I watched the Hollycaust movie and since then, what you just wrote is religion. :yep:
Knipper
03-12-08, 09:32 PM
Listen (no pun intended), IMHO, the best way to enjoy the Hitch Hikers Guide is to listen to the original BBC radio series, c/w music from The Eagles (best thing they did - it was short). In the late 70's, a mate of mine told me about this programme that the BBC obviously didn't know what to do with. It was (I think) on Radio 2 at 11.30 at night. It was well weird. I was hooked immediately. I'd go round to his house and we'd have a couple of drinks and a couple of (ahem) cigarettes and wait for this radio show to happen. It was nothing short of brilliant. I have read the books and fantastic though they are, it was great to have someone read them to you. The TV show and film? Forget 'em IMHO. Mere shadows of the original, not even that in fact.
I saw something really funny the other day on the BBC website. It was Stephen Fry talking about his friendship with DA (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7283155.stm) and the secret behind why the number 42 was the answer etc etc. Fry says, "Of course, it would be unfair for me to comment," he confides. "Douglas told me in the strictest confidence exactly why 42. The answer is fascinating, extraordinary and, when you think hard about it, completely obvious. Nonetheless amazing for that. Remarkable really. But sadly I cannot share it with anyone and the secret must go with me to the grave. Pity, because it explains so much beyond the books. It really does explain the secret of life, the universe, and everything."
I bet the dolphins know. And while we're on the subject, this is pretty amazing too..... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7291501.stm
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Sailor Steve
03-13-08, 12:15 AM
It was as if the people who wrote the script only read the description on the back of the book, tossed the book in the trash, and wrote the movie (which also should be tossed in the trash and burned). :/\\x:
That was almost word-for-word what I said about the 1994 Disney version of The Three Musketeers.
As for the 42 problem, I thought Adams answered that himself with the "What is 6 times 9?" It all makes sense.
And while we're on the subject, this is pretty amazing too..... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/7291501.stm
Wasn't that what started this thread in the first place?
Forget the recent movie and even the TV series.
I'm with Knipper. Get a CD copy of the original radio play as broadcast on BBC in stereo back in 1977! My first introduction to HHGTTG was one Sunday afternoon when it came onto ABC radio here in Australia. I'd never heard anything as funny or as amazing on radio in my then short life.
I've got the lot including an additional radio play broadcast after Douglas' death which was put toether from part finished scripts and ideas and used the voices of a number of the original cast where possible.
StarFox
03-13-08, 01:02 AM
Give it time. When we go extinct, Dolphins will inherit the earth from us. Give it about 20,000 years, they Will have office buildings in new york :P
Come to think of it, maybe thats why we cant find atlantis, the Dolphins built it
Sailor Steve
03-13-08, 01:41 AM
Don't be ridiculous. The dolphins didn't build Atlantis.:nope:
They just destroyed it and then hid it from us.
They're much less benign than they would have us think. It's a conspiracy, I tells ya!
Kapitan_Phillips
03-13-08, 04:36 AM
I enjoyed watching the movie, actually (then again, I'm only on book three)
I liked the little Guide segments voiced by Stephen Fry :yep:
seafarer
03-13-08, 09:09 AM
Douglas Adams wasn't he the author of Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy? I just watch for the first time the movie of the book few months back and thought it was damn funny.
Adams also wrote the very excellent book "Last Chance to See" - a 'round the world tour with zoologist/photographer Mark Carwardine to look at some of the worlds rarest and most threatened species (komodo dragon, yangtze river dolphine, white rhino, etc). It was also a BBC special or series, I think.
Biggles
03-13-08, 11:24 AM
Truly, a real HHGG fan should get their hands on the BBC radio series. That's how it all started! It's not just a person reading the books, it's an radio act, and the damn funniest one I've heard too!
Besides, I liked the movie. Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin was by far the best choice.
-FREEZE!
-Freeze? I'm a robot, not a refrigerator....
And remember folks: 25th of May is the international Towel Day!
http://blogs.macbay.de/static/bazillus/images/panic_9259.jpg
Rose and I just watched the BBC television series on DVD. It was ok I guess but they must have had a seriously low budget!
Biggles
03-13-08, 11:49 AM
You know what I really like about the books?
The fact that Adams sometimes took use of things that had happened to him in RL.
For example, remember the part where Zaphod found a spaceship that had been stranded for 900 years while waiting for it's delivery of lemon-soaked paper napkins? He got inspiration to that from the time that he had to wait about 3-4 hours in an airplane on Heathrow for a similar reason. He took the plane to get to Manchester (or something like that) somewhat early so he didn't have to rush, but since something rather unimportant was missing from the planes cargo, they had to wait, and he didn't earn any time at all.
It's a mad world we live in.
Zayphod
03-13-08, 12:13 PM
The Hitchiker's Guide movie (The new one)... All I have to say is... :nope:
Read the book.
The BBC TV movie was better and caught the flavor of the book a heck of a lot better than the Hollywood movie. The Hollywood treatment of The Hitchikers guide was an abomination ! I think the writers thought that American's wouldn't understand the witty British humor so they removed it ALL and put in a whole crapload of side plots and a stuped love story to inject seriousness into the story where seriousness didn't belong, and none of the stuff they added was in the book ! :nope:
I'll agree with that. I still have the BBC version on tape, and I'd have to say it beat anything that has ever come out since, including that poor excuse for a movie. For me, the only "movie" is the full set of 6 episodes back to back.
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