174 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    The morning that Arthur Dent's house is demolished to make room for a bypass, the Earth is destroyed to make room for another bypass.  Dent finds that one of his friends is not from Earth, and they make a wild trek into space, accompanying Zaphod Beeblebrox and a handful of odd characters.
    I saw this when it reached theaters, and I remember being charmed by it.  The sensibilities brought to the production remind me of Terry Gilliam, not just in the sense of humor, but the scale of everything we see.  The design of the Vogons looks a lot like Gilliam's imagination.
    There are a few surprises for me this time through.  The plot seems far less random, and comes across much more linear than I remembered.  I liked hearing the "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" theme reprised a little throughout.  The only thing that seemed out of place was the insertion of the romance between Dent and Trillium.  While the movie doesn't dwell on it most of the time, it shows up during a few scenes, and seems most conspicuous during the mice scene.
    Still… like Watchmen, it's a movie that will never satisfy the most ardent fans.  But, also like Watchmen, I like it quite a bit.  Within the context of making a movie, it's hard to blame them for making a movie that adjusts a few things that won't translate well.