Into Nostalgia? Go Read the Book Again (Score 1)

If you've read the books, ask yourself why you want to see this movie. Most likely, it's for nostalgic reasons. You might want to bring back the feelings you got when you read it the first time. I never got excited when I heard they were making this movie. Having read the series, I don't feel the need to watch a condensed version where I'm required to check my imagination at the door.

One of the greatest things about books as a medium is that a lot of the audio/visual details are left up to the reader to figure out. Words can never completely describe someone's personality, what a landscape looks like, or the subtle tones and inflections used in speech. Words can get you in the general vicinity, but the reader's mind has to fill in the gaps.

In effect, each time someone reads a book, it's customized for that particular reader. It's tailored to a single imagination. Science fiction is read by people who tend to have great imaginations, and a well-written sci-fi novel lets its readers' imaginations play a major role in what they get out of the book.

HHGTTG is one of the best sci-fi books ever for this very reason. Adams didn't use pages of prose to describe things in minute detail. He left that up the reader.

(Side note: If you've read the Tolkien trilogy, you know how much work he put into description. This is one of the major reasons it translated so well to the big screen. This is also why the books were so long.)

Looks like my lowered expectations have avoided a major let-down.