# HitchHikers Guide official trailer online!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 16, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334 "2005-02-16T08:08:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/1 "2005-02-16T08:08:10Z")

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[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html)

I think it loooks very promising. A good mix of CG and “real” effects. Not too sure about Mos Def as Ford, but I’m probably just too influenced by the TV series.

Go take a look!

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/2 "2005-02-16T08:12:57Z")

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I think it may’ve just gotten through to me that this movie is really happening. I thought it did, but apparently not. Looks fine to me, since I’m not into the nitpicking haircolor or judging from a trailer kind of thing. 😉 Mos Def did seem to be talking funny, but we’ll see.

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**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/3 "2005-02-16T08:26:51Z")

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Maybe it’s just me, but that link leads me to an Amazon page that says, “Now playing on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com): The Hichhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” but it doesn’t say where to view it. Help, please?

Adam

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/4 "2005-02-16T08:27:30Z")

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It’s right there on the main page. Maybe the player isn’t showing up in your browser?

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**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/5 "2005-02-16T08:28:54Z")

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Tried it with both Mozilla and MSIE. Nothing.

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**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/6 "2005-02-16T08:35:26Z")

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… :: wipes major sweat from his brow ::

I had faith in this production, and it actually looks damm good, a lot more faithful to the books than I thought it would be, with enough twists and differences to keep me surprised… Arthur looks right, Ford looks cool, Zaphod reminds me of “Flash” from Blackadder, which is a good thing, I could marry Trillian, Marvin looks nowhere near as silly as I thought he would and the Vogon’s? Cool! Most of the advance reviews are fantastic, so all I can say is that THIS GEEK IS HAPPY! (Now bring on the Red Dwarf movie! )

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/7 "2005-02-16T08:37:27Z")

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Doesn’t work in Opera, either.

I dug through the source, though, and can provide a [direct link to the flash movie](http://images.amazon.com/media/imdb/01/ads/hhgttg42/AmazonFilms.swf) for folks who don’t use Vogon-designed web browsers.

Looks great!

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**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/8 "2005-02-16T08:40:47Z")

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It plays from a little Shockwave/Flash applet that appears below the text you can see.

Maybe you don’t have the Shockwave plugin and/or you are behind a restrictive corporate firewall?

I haven’t found it posted anywhere else yet, but if anyone has a link to an mpg/avi/mov, mirror, please post it here.

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**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/9 "2005-02-16T08:42:11Z")

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:smack: Should have previewed, cheer **Larry**

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**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/10 "2005-02-16T08:44:01Z")

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Thanks for the help, **Larry**!

I thought Mos Def sounded okay. I was a little disappointed in how Ford and Zaphod looked, though…they looked way too human. I thought Ford would look like a guy in his 50’s with combed-back thinning hair and yellowish, almost jaundiced skin. And Zaphod…I can’t even describe how I thought Zaphod looked from the book. Oh well, should be an entertaining flick, nonetheless. 🙂

Adam

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/11 "2005-02-16T09:06:23Z")

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Thanks for the link, **Larry**! Looks like I’ll have to see that movie. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/12 "2005-02-16T09:55:25Z")

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Well I now feel quite a bit better about this than I had.

One quibble tho. In the Books, Marvin is described as “sleek”. That escapee from spaceballs is NOT sleek.

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**Author:** ![James\_Westphal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9bd4f/32.png) [@James\_Westphal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Westphal)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/13 "2005-02-16T10:01:47Z")

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Oh my god. It looks f—in terrible.

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**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/14 "2005-02-16T10:21:35Z")

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I am amazed, it looks like it might not suck! With CGI there’s now a chance the scenery will be (nearly) as good as in the radio series.

**GSV** IMHO the TV series did HHG no favours, the animated book sequences were great but the live action and FX just weren’t up to the concepts.

Bring on Slartibartfast.

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**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/15 "2005-02-16T10:34:48Z")

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clanger, you’re right about the TV series. The FX of the day were really not up to the job.

I watched it again a couple of years ago and I was surprised by how ropey it was. I guess I was at an impressionable age when I first saw it.

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**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/16 "2005-02-16T11:27:20Z")

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Oh dear.

I don’t know. I could see Ford Prefect being black but I just can’t deal with hime being…American. By which I mean having an American accent. If he thought adopting an American accents was normal, doesn’t that kind of ruin the whole joke about him thinking Ford Prefect was a normal name?

In fact there shouldn’t be any Americans in HGTG. It’s quintisentially English. To do that would be like…I dunno…casting Keneau Reeves and John Constantine!!!  
What’s that?..oh, bugger… :smack:

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**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/17 "2005-02-16T11:35:52Z")

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> [@betenoir](#):
>
> Oh dear.
> 
> I don’t know. I could see Ford Prefect being black but I just can’t deal with hime being…American. By which I mean having an American accent. If he thought adopting an American accents was normal, doesn’t that kind of ruin the whole joke about him thinking Ford Prefect was a normal name?
> 
> In fact there shouldn’t be any Americans in HGTG. It’s quintisentially English. To do that would be like…I dunno…casting Keneau Reeves and John Constantine!!!  
> What’s that?..oh, bugger… :smack:

From what I’ve read, Douglas Adams didn’t consider any of the characters other than Arthur to be necessarily “British”. I don’t have any problem with an American Ford or Zaphod. In fact, I have a lot of faith that Sam Rockwell will make an excellent Zaphod. He has a kind of piratey look in the trailer that I think could work.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/18 "2005-02-16T12:10:13Z")

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I… don’t like that trailer. It’s not cut right, the comic timing is way off. I hope that isn’t indicative of the whole movie.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/19 "2005-02-16T12:20:02Z")

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Trailers are edited by people who otherwise have nothing to do with the movie.

> [@](#):
>
> From what I’ve read, Douglas Adams didn’t consider any of the characters other than Arthur to be necessarily “British”.

He said exactly that. It really doesn’t matter. Is Ford any less of an alien if he pretends to be an American living in Britain instead of a guy born in Britain? If anything that’s better cover for his odd behavior. I forget who posted this thought, or which movie thread it was, but there have been so many different versions of Hitchhiker’s that it’s not a good idea to think of this as the movie version of the book. Think of it as a separate thing that’s going to have its own changes and qualities, just like the radio series is different from the books and so on.

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**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334/20 "2005-02-16T12:23:18Z")

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The effects, particularly Slartibartfast’s factory floor and the Vogons, look great. I also am dubious about Americans in the cast, but we shall just have to see.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitchhikers-guide-official-trailer-online/290334.md?page=2)
