The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Garth Jennings

Writers (WGA):

Douglas Adams (book)
Douglas Adams (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Don't Panic

Plot:

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."

Plot Keywords:

Spaceship | Alien | Meaning Of Life | Everyman | Planet

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Bill Bailey	...	The Whale (voice)
Anna Chancellor	...	Questular Rontok
Warwick Davis	...	Marvin
Mos Def	...	Ford Prefect
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

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, action and mild language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Spain:7 | Taiwan:GP | Argentina:Atp | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:MG6 (DVD rating) | Iceland:10 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Hungary:14 | USA:PG (certificate #41593) | Canada:PG | South Korea:All | Australia:PG | Brazil:10 | Canada:G (British Columbia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Philippines:PG-13 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Beehive Pub, Hare Street, Nr Buntingford, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Oliver Postgate auditioned for the voice of the Book.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Ford is running to rescue Arthur and the gang as they are being shot at outside Humma Kavula's temple, Ford starts running to the rescue and is supposedly screaming but his mouth is clearly closed.

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...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

So Long & Thanks for All the Fish

Do Panic!

If you're a Hitchikers fan, no one can stop you from watching this movie, so I'm not even going to try. But for anybody who hasn't read this book, I strongly urge you to do so before watching the movie.

As an adaptation from Douglas Adam's widely popular book, and seventies BBC radio script, this movie can be classified as poor. On the other hand, as a movie in its own right, this can be classified as awful, and somewhat damaging to your senses.

What were they thinking? Didn't they bother to see the completed movie before it was released? Is this the very movie that Douglas himself helped create?

I couldn't believe that this is the much longed-for movie version of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. I had my doubts that Hollywood would ruin it eventually, and they have done so.

When I first read the book, I thought that its plot was indeed 15 billion years in the making, summing up civilisations and humanity in the most beautifully crafted way, making you laugh, making you cry, sometimes at once, showing you how minuscule you really were while simultaneously teaching you how to fly, forcing you to revisit every idea and belief that you ever had or were going to have. The wit, comedy, the spontaneity, the urgency, the characters, the absurdity, the wisdom, the inventiveness, the satire, the adventure has been a part of me for close to 2 decades.

So what's in the movie? It's a colourful outer-space romp that plays like a Jackie Chan travelogue. Never waiting for that essential pause between the beats, the movie moves on in a dazzle of spectacular Hollywood special effects without any rhythm, elegance or comic rhyme. Yes, they have forgotten to include some of the best parts and dialogue from the book, i.e. Arthur describing to the Heart of Gold's computer, the art of making tea, and numerous other examples, which have robbed the story of that intimacy that's so required for any kind of character development. True, that in transitioning to an artistic medium such as cinema, we must be selective of what we want to adapt and we must provide new and appropriate material . Yet, I seriously think that the choices made were wrong, and the overall content was aimed at a audience that surely the book wasn't. If I were to dedicate this to the memory of Douglas Adams, I would think twice.

Martin Freeman is the lovable Brit, who in my opinion was well casted as Arthur Dent. Stephen Fry's exceptional voice as the Guide, went a long way in trying to bring in some of the unique wisdom from the book, and its laptop-like display panel opening up with an explanation at times when you thought you were losing it. As for the other characters, I didn't find anything more than a visual manifestation for names in the book. There were some good performance, yet there was nothing in there that was memorable.

In conclusion, the movie failed miserably. I wished it could have tried a little harder. What disheartens me most, is that I'll probably have to wait decades before anyone ever attempts a remake. And till then, I'll have to try ever so hard to forget that this movie was made.