Panic
Okay, it doesn't rise to anything like that level, the header being an appropriate amendment of the "Don't Panic" cover notice for The Hithchiker's Guide to the Galaxy... soon to be released as a major motion picture. There's a great deal in Douglas Adams' work to produce a fun, rapid-patter comedy adventure, so when I found out that we'd be getting a motion picture version of it this year I was looking forward to it. When I saw the first wave of previews, my reaction hadn't changed much -- one can't tell anything about the pacing of a film from a trailer, and the opening was recognizable. It had been presented as both radio and television productions for the BBC before, so one would think that most of the difficulties had been worked through. A big screen, 2005 production should have had as its central task bringing the scope and special effects to it that couldn't have been done earlier -- and certainly not on a BBC budget. With some reasonably good casting and a competent digital effects team it should have been cake.
More recently I was surprised to see a new commercial for it (and seeing it repeatedly) pitching the film as a senses-blowing adventure, complete with a "nothing you've seen before could prepare you for..." line, and almost no sign of anything comedic. Oookay. Well, sure, we've seen selective pitches before, angling the commercials for the same film by playing up one aspect or another of it to reach the audience they believe is watching that tv show. They'll play up the action to pull in the men, and the romance to draw in the women. Still the same movie, and - hopefully - neither target will be disappointed with the rest of the film.
However, an advance screening of "a substantially complete version" was shown to a group of journalists on March 31st, and at least one of them took the time to write both a safe review and an extended, spoiler-filled one. The problems appear to be a mix of one or more people in a controlling position not understanding the nature of the source material, and perhaps a relentless dumbing-down of humor they were afraid would fly over the heads of middle America. Maybe it was as pin-headed a reason as newer screenwriters wanting to just make changes so as to make it their own? Almost certainly we can check off the "All of the above" box.
So, while the movie hadn't been a must-see item for me, based on what I'm reading this is most likely something I'll wait until it's released on DVD. I'll (casually) watch for credible, contrary reviews in the meantime.
All of this is also reminding me of a bit I stilll chuckle over each time I think about some interview material with Stephen Spielberg concerning the upcoming War of the Worlds remake. He said that it was something he'd been thinking of doing over the length of his career, but as the years went past and various films cherry-picked elements from it he wasn't sure if it warranted a remake. So, he reread the novel and realized it still needed to be done... and then he shot a Tom Cruise vehicle where a man and his family attempt to survive a devastating invasion. If you've read the novel you may get a laugh at that, too.
Chances are, a big Hollywood production would never do a reasonably faithful version of the novel. My experience has been that most of the people who say they've read the novel have gotten no closer than watching the 1953 version of the film, and will be watching for God to get the credit for halting the invasion.
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