The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, journeyman Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Director:

Garth Jennings

Writers:

Douglas Adams (book), Douglas Adams (screenplay)

Stars:

Martin Freeman, Yasiin Bey, Sam Rockwell

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Bailey	...	The Whale (voice)
Anna Chancellor	...	Questular Rontok
Warwick Davis	...	Marvin
Yasiin Bey	...	Ford Prefect (as Mos Def)
Zooey Deschanel	...	Trillian
Su Elliot	...	Pub Customer (as Su Eliott)
Martin Freeman	...	Arthur Dent
Stephen Fry	...	Narrator / The Guide (voice)
Richard Griffiths	...	Jeltz (voice)
Dominique Jackson	...	Fook
Simon Jones	...	Ghostly Image
Thomas Lennon	...	Eddie the Computer (voice)
Mark Longhurst	...	Bulldozer Driver
Kelly Macdonald	...	Reporter
John Malkovich	...	Humma Kavula

Storyline

Everyone has bad mornings. You wake up late, you stub your toe, you burn the toast...but for a man named Arthur Dent, this goes far beyond a bad day. When he learns that a friend of his is actually an alien with advanced knowledge of Earth's impending destruction, he is transported off the Earth seconds before it is exploded to make way for a new hyperspace motorway. And as if that's not enough, throw in being wanted by the police, Earth II, an insane electronic encyclopedia, no tea whatsoever, a chronically depressed robot and the search for the meaning of life, and you've got the greatest adventure off Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

male alien | galaxy | friend | spaceship | alien | 

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Taglines:

Don't Panic

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, action and mild language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

H2G2: le guide du voyageur galactique

Filming Locations:

Canary Islands, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,092,974 (Australia) (29 April 2005)

Gross:

$51,085,416 (USA) (21 July 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Everyman Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arthur lives in Cottington.

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Goofs

When Mr Prosser is talking to Arthur you can see Ford Prefect in the background with a trolley full of beer, before he has actually arrived.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Book: It's an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, Man had always assumed that he was the most intelligent species occupying the planet, instead of the *third* most intelligent. The second most intelligent creatures were of course dolphins who, curiously enough, had long known of the impending destruction of the planet earth. They had made many attempts to alert mankind to the danger, but most of their communications ...

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Crazy Credits

"For Douglas" -- precedes the closing credits, after the final action sequence.

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Connections

Referenced in The Big Bang Theory: Pilot (2007)

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Soundtracks

So Long & Thanks for All the Fish
(End Title Version)
Written by Joby Talbot, Garth Jennings and Christopher Austin
Produced by Joby Talbot
Performed by Neil Hannon
Neil Hannon appears courtesy of Parlophone/EMI Records

User Reviews

This movie is Mostly Harmless...

It's a known fact that the movie adaptation of Hitchhiker's has been up in the air for some years now. Passing from the hands of one director to the next (James Cameron, Spike Jonze and Jay Roach), it wasn't until the idea landed in front of Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith that things truly started to take shape.

Douglas Adams died from a heart attack in 2001, but after reading the books, watching the film and drawing a comparison, it's clear that Adams would've accepted this adaptation of the TV series of the computer game of the radio series wholeheartedly.

Martin Freeman is an inspired choice as the face of Arthur Dent. He's an everyman, his slightly vacant, permanently confused facial expression (which we've all come to recognise from his role in The Office), truly becoming from a man who's trying to make sense of what's Out There, which happens to be similar to, though on a slightly larger scale than what's Down Here. And stupider.

Admittedly, it would've been nice to see more English talent taking on the roles from Adams' well loved creation. Steven Fry is THE Guide, the quintessential voice of logic and good-humoured reasoning in the Universe. Bill Nighy makes a great Slartibartfast, coming across as the kindly, if a little absent minded, genius that I've always imagined. And Alan Rickman providing his nasal drones to Marvin the Paranoid Android worked to near perfection.

That's not to say that the American cast isn't great. Mos Def and Zooey Deschanel are excellent as Ford Prefect and Trillian, but it's obvious that it's Sam Rockwell who's having all the fun, relishing his role as the over-excitable, reminiscently hippie-rockstar Ex-President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox.

So all in all, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a great experience. Non-Adamites will love it, as will the die hard fans. It's such a shame that its creator had to bow out before his beloved creation came to life, but due to his input into the movie script (the character Humma Kavula, played by John Malkovich, was written by him especially for the movie), his enthusiasm still lives on.

Want to go to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe now, please.