Hitchiker’s Guide to Battlestar Friday

Well today is the day the Hitchicker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie opens across the United States. I have absolutely no expectations what so ever for this film. I read a review… nay an account of ‘religious experience’ that some slobbering fan boy over at Aint it Cool News wrote. The same Aint it Cool News that ranted and raved about Sky Craptain and Toilet Bowl of Tomorrow.

You'd think I would trust the review of a fellow fan. A fan I personally know... maybe, but some fan boy from the Internet, not hardly. I have seen two big city newspaper reviews for HHGttG, neither good, but big city newspaper film critics always hate what I like, so I take what they say with much salt. I have seen the trailers and the TV commercials with the out of context quotes of "Spectacular!" (to me this raises the red flag of lots of eye candy and no substance) and "A Thrill Ride!" (what I want to know is was it a thrill ride getting to the theatre or fleeing from it?) Decades of Hollywood hype followed by major disappointments – Star Wars Episodes I and II are prime examples – have worked to turn me into one seriously jaded science fiction and fantasy fan. So far only Peter Jackson’s LotR movies have satisfied beyond what I thought was possible. Back to HHG, I love… LOVE the books. Combined I have read them over forty two times. I was a teen that loved to read. The first book, the one the movie is based on, has been read by me over twenty times alone. It’s a quick and very enjoyable read. Anyway, I have no expectations going into this movie other than the expectation than it will likely disappoint. I know, I know, this is all very pessimistic and so unlike me, but it is also a personal mental safety device. Allow me to explain. If I go in expecting the worst and I get it than I am not as disappointed had I gone in believing the hype and expecting the best and then getting the worst. If I get the best after expecting the worst than I am pleasantly surprised – nay, greatly surprised – and happier than I would have been had I expected the best and got the best. There is a formula here somewhere. Anyway, if you didn't get ti the first time go back and read it slowly and it makes sense, trust me. What I am hoping for here is a repeat of my Battlestar Galactica experience.

It’s pretty well known that I expected the re-imagined Galactica to have a high suckage potential. The original wasn’t that great and by episode four they had a malfunctioning Cylon who thought he was a cowboy (I know, I just can’t let that one go… hey, I have issues and I know it). Other TV scifi was mediocre and not since Star Trek TNG did any of the Star Trek shows hold my attention. So it’s easy to understand where my mind set was with the new BSG. Instead of schlock what I got – what we got – was a show beyond our wildest hopes. I would like to believe that will happen with HHG. We will see.

Concerning my BSG withdrawal I need to give a big shout out and mucho props to Steve K for providing me with DVD copies of all of the episodes he downloaded from the official Sci-Fi Channel web site. THANKS DUDE!! Yes, folks, you can go online and watch the episodes in their entirety with deleted scenes too! You can even download them. Now before you go screaming that I am a video pirate know that I am not making copies for anyone and I am not loaning my copies out. You are more than welcome to come over our place and watch them with me… bring beer. As soon as the official region one encoded DVDs are released, I will be the first in line to buy them. If they had them out now they would have my money now. :-P PLBT! Personally I feel that the producers of the show and the Sci-Fi Channel missed out on a huge marketing and money making opportunity and that was to have the season one DVDs available for sale the day after the season one finale. I would have been first in line to buy a set that very day. But nooooooooo, they are making us wait and rumors are that it will be until the Christmas season. Damn I hate that. Why not sell the DVDs now and at Christmas too? The Brits can buy their region two encoded BSG DVDs right now!! NOT FAIR!! As Jenne would say, ‘damn limmies’.

So say we all.