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IMDbPro

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  • 20052005
  • PGPG
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
198K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,702
251
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Play trailer2:27
15 Videos
99+ Photos
AdventureComedySci-Fi
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... Read allMere 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."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."
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
198K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,702
251
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Garth Jennings
    • Writers
      • Douglas Adams(book)
      • Karey Kirkpatrick(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Martin Freeman
      • Yasiin Bey
      • Sam Rockwell
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Garth Jennings
    • Writers
      • Douglas Adams(book)
      • Karey Kirkpatrick(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Martin Freeman
      • Yasiin Bey
      • Sam Rockwell
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 1.1KUser reviews
    • 272Critic reviews
    • 63Metascore
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 10 nominations

    Videos15

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Trailer 2:27
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Trailer 2:23
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Trailer 1:19
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 0:56
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 0:55
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 0:57
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 0:26
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 1:19
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 1:52
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 0:59
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 1:40
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    Clip 0:32
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Photos139

    Zooey Deschanel in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    Sam Rockwell and Yasiin Bey in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    Helen Mirren in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    Bill Nighy in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
    Martin Freeman in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Martin Freeman
    Martin Freeman
    • Arthur Dent
    Yasiin Bey
    Yasiin Bey
    • Ford Prefect
    • (as Mos Def)
    Sam Rockwell
    Sam Rockwell
    • Zaphod Beeblebrox
    Zooey Deschanel
    Zooey Deschanel
    • Trillian
    Bill Bailey
    Bill Bailey
    • The Whale
    • (voice)
    Anna Chancellor
    Anna Chancellor
    • Questular Rontok
    Warwick Davis
    Warwick Davis
    • Marvin
    Su Elliot
    • Pub Customer
    • (as Su Eliott)
    Stephen Fry
    Stephen Fry
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    • …
    Richard Griffiths
    Richard Griffiths
    • Jeltz
    • (voice)
    Dominique Jackson
    Dominique Jackson
    • Fook
    Simon Jones
    Simon Jones
    • Ghostly Image
    Thomas Lennon
    Thomas Lennon
    • Eddie the Computer
    • (voice)
    Mark Longhurst
    • Bulldozer Driver
    Kelly Macdonald
    Kelly Macdonald
    • Reporter
    John Malkovich
    John Malkovich
    • Humma Kavula
    Ian McNeice
    Ian McNeice
    • Kwaltz
    • (voice)
    Helen Mirren
    Helen Mirren
    • Deep Thought
    • (voice)
    • Director
      • Garth Jennings
    • Writers
      • Douglas Adams(book) (screenplay)
      • Karey Kirkpatrick(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The producers have stated that this movie was not a literal translation of the books (just as the books were not a literal translation of the original radio show), but all of the new ideas and characters came from Douglas Adams. The hired writer simply came aboard to improve structure and make the screenplay more coherent.
    • Goofs
      When Arthur is speaking to Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) as she takes a shower, he briefly begins to address her by her real name (Zooey) then corrects himself.
    • Quotes

      The Book: In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people angry and has widely been considered as a bad move.

    • Crazy credits
      After a couple of minutes of typical movie credits, there is a final, classic Guide entry. It refers to Arthur Dent carelessly speaking words about a towel, which ends up being interpreted by a pair of warring factions as a devastating insult. They then spend thousands of years coming to Earth bent on revenge, however "due to a terrible miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog". The Guide concludes with the reassuring nugget of wisdom, "this sort of thing is going on all the time".
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/It's All Gone Pete Tong/Kingdom of Heaven/xXx: State of the Union/Ladies in Lavender (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      So Long & Thanks for All the Fish
      Written by Joby Talbot, Garth Jennings and Christopher Austin

      Produced by Joby Talbot

      Vocals Performed by Hilary Summers, Kemi Ominiyi & The R'SVP Voices

    User reviews1.1K

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Don't Panic! Douglas Adams' legacy has been turned into a delicious acid-trip of a movie, featuring love, aliens and the answer to life, the universe and everything.
    Douglas Adams turned his sci-fi phenomenon, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy into a hit radio and TV series, a five-part trilogy of novels and a BAFTA-winning computer game, but complained making it into a movie was like "trying to grill a steak by having a succession of people blow on it".

    After a 20-year battle with Disney to get the film made - and a day after a planet was named after the story's protagonist Arthur Dent - Adams died of a heart attack. Fans rushed to their nearest webring to console each other when they discovered the bum-clenchingly great scripting responsibilities had been passed on to Karey Kirkpatrick, the brains behind fluffy kiddie flick, Chicken Run.

    To make matters worse, Terry Gilliam and Jay Roach passed the honour of directing the film to Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith, two movie first-timers who made their livings as production duo Hammer & Tongs - the company behind music videos for REM, Supergrass and Pulp among others.

    But Don't Panic! As Robbie Stamp, Adams' pal and the movie's executive producer, rightfully says, "The cast and crew rose to the challenge and created the perfect tribute to Douglas."

    The film carefully brings the story into the noughties without incurring the wrath of Hitchhiker fans, and adds enough smug nods in their direction to keep them happy. They will relish whispering to their unimpressed cinema neighbour, "Look, Douglas Adams' face is in that shot" or "That's Marvin the Paranoid Android from the TV series." And for the uninitiated, there's an acid-trip of a movie featuring love, aliens and the answer to life, the universe and everything.

    A galaxy of stars were enlisted to bring the mind-boggling story to the big screen, including Martin Freeman, who reprises his superb Everyman role from The Office to play Arthur Dent, a tea-loving Londoner who becomes the last man from Earth, following its destruction to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

    Mos Def proves not all hip-hop stars are fist-gnawingly embarrassing as actors, in his part as Ford Prefect, a revoltingly cool alien who accompanies Dent on his hitchhiking adventure around the universe.

    The unspeakably delicious Zooey Deschanel provides the love story that was sadly lacking in Adams' script drafts. She plays Trillian, the last surviving humanoid female, who finds herself caught in an unsavoury love triangle between Dent and Zaphod Beeblebrox, the President of the Imperial Galactic Government and owner of three arms, two heads and one planet-sized ego.

    And if you've ever wondered what Freddie Mercury and George Bush's lovechild would be like (and frankly, who hasn't?) watch Sam Rockwell's extraordinary portrayal of Beeblebrox. As Rockwell testifies, "I studied footage of US presidents and rockers for this role until I tasted blood."

    The essential Britishness of the film is provided by the delectable Stephen Fry and Bill Nighy, who are more English than chips, awkward dinner parties and halitosis.

    Who better to voice The Guide, a book which contains all the knowledge in the universe, than bulging-brained Fry, who uses the perfect amount of middle-class haughtiness, irony and intelligence to narrate the delightfully complicated story.

    And Nighy can't fail as planet builder Slartibartfast (who, as every nerd knows, won an award for creating the twiddly bits around Norwegian fjords) because he based the world-weary alien on the nation's best-loved character, Bill Nighy.

    I almost missed out one character, insane religious leader Humma Kammula, a new character Adams wrote especially for John Malkovich. He is easily forgotten because despite his amusing dialogue, the special effects drown out his performance, preventing him from doing the honour justice.

    But fans will forgive this small transgression, for the pleasure of seeing a beast of a movie which has defied the laws of the universe to make it onto the big screen.

    Jennings and Goldsmith have proved that despite their movie virginity, the first time isn't always messy, awkward and disappointing, it can also be earth shattering, amusing and very, very satisfying.
    helpful•199
    110
    • charlismorgan
    • Apr 27, 2005

    FAQ6

    • Ford wasn't black in the books, was he?
    • Do you have to read the books to enjoy the movie?
    • What is up with the towels?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 29, 2005 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Đường Đến Dải Ngân Hà
    • Filming locations
      • Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
    • Production companies
      • Touchstone Pictures
      • Spyglass Entertainment
      • Everyman Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $50,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $51,085,416
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $21,103,203
      • May 1, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $104,478,416
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1
      • 2.35 : 1

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