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

Colour:

Colour

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:

Mr. Prosser is depicted with dark eyes and a droopy mustache. In the book, it explains that he is actually a direct descendant of Ghengis Kahn, although he doesn't know it.

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:

Spoofed in Chicken Little (2005)

Soundtrack:

Shoo-Rah, Shoo-Rah

Douglas Adams spinning in his grave

This movie is clearly an attempt to solve the U.S. power crisis by making Douglas Adams spin in his grave at high speed.

Take the BBC TV show, add (mostly) good actors and special effects, then take out random parts (frequently the punchline) of the various jokes from the books, and throw in a standard Hollywood love story while making the actually funny parts that hadn't been already completely butchered feel so rushed that they might as well have cut those, too.

The opening number was a bunch of dolphins singing "so long and thanks for all the fish." It was absolutely sickeningly sweet, and made me want to walk out of the theater right there. Unfortunately it only got downhill from there.

Go get the BBC TV version instead. It at least retains the humour of the originals.