Peril-sensitive sunglasses.

Man, I loved it. I think I expected the worst, and was pleasantly surprised that even a little of the Brit-wit survived. True, alot of the patented Adams philosophy was glossed over. But, Hitchhiker's is a subject material that has got to be difficult to compress down into two hours. Something had to give.

As for the love story, it didn't phase me in the least. I mean, it's damn near exactly as it was in the book: Arthur meets Trillian at a party, Zaphod sweeps her away, Arthur has pining moments of wishing he was as "cool" (READ: American) as Zaphod, and not trapped in the 'British mold' (akin to Cleese's stuff in A Fish Called Wanda). Yes, rushing it for them to get together was, albeit, very much Hollywood (especially as they never actually hooked up in the books). But, given the idea that there may have never been another movie (and might not be), it's understandable that they would go ahead and do that. And, really, if that's all they altered just to make it "appeasing" to an American audience, then, I'm fine with that.

Douglas Adam's himself has always, always changed and altered Hitchhikers to fit into whatever medium he was going for, whether it was the book, radio, television, computer game, etc. So, any real alterations are a given with this franchise. And, in the end, it was still the Hitchhiker's I love.

Cameo tidbits:

-The voice of The Book in the movie, was the same guy from the radio show and the television series (Simon Jones, I think?)

-The hologram of the Magrathean announcer was the same actor that portrayed Arthur in the radio series and the television show (and that hologram was filmed in 3-D...get some 3-D glasses and try it. I'm serious. It's great.)

-The theme music was still the same theme from previous incarnations.

-The original Marvin robot from the television series was in the Vogon waiting room with all the other aliens.

-Douglas Adam's face can be seen as a star system in the planet factory. His full visage can be seen as the final 'improbability form' when they launch off for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe in the last frame of the movie. It's quick, but, it's him.

-Douglas Adam's wife and daughter are sitting at the table behind Ford and Arthur in the pub scene.

All in all, damn excellent. Can't wait for some DVD extras.

BTW, best new line:

ARTHUR: "Ford...I'm a sofa..."

FORD: "I know how you feel..."