The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

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:

Bad Poetry | Crab | Bureaucrat | Spaceship | Bathrobe

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Sept. 14

11:00 PM

MyNetwork

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:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:LH (video rating) | Taiwan:GP | Hungary:14 | Canada:PG | Spain:7 | Iceland:10 | USA:PG (certificate #41593) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:MG6 (DVD rating) | 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:

Shada, the prison planetoid of the Time Lords, can be seen in the background during the factory floor scene on Magrathea. Shada was featured in an un-aired serial of "Doctor Who" (1963) that Douglas Adams wrote.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the final showdown scene between our heroes and the Vogons, on the Earth MKII, Marvin shoots the Vogons with the perspective reversing gun, and the Vogons fall over, feeling very depressed. After falling, the chest mounted guns on the first few rows of Vogons are still firing bursts of gas, even though the associated energy beams are no longer being matted in. Only the front rows of actors had guns with working gas nozzles, since they were the only ones with visible guns while standing. The nozzles should have shutdown when the actors fell down, but they were mistakenly allowed to continue.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Book: It is 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 were of course dolphins who had long known of the impending destruction of earth...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Chicken Little (2005)

Soundtrack:

Here I Am (Come and Take Me)

brilliant... for most

For those whom have read the book(s), you will love this movie. Not because it's just like the book, but because it is just as entertaining and insane and outrageous. And it's probably not anything that you would have expected or pictured when reading the book. It's better.

Amazingly, it was not defiled by Hollywood like most great books are. It's crammed into 110 minutes, but it is probably the most odd, random and ridiculously funny 110 minutes of the year.

The cast is almost perfect. Mos Def is a better choice than i would of expected, Sam Rockwell is great (as usual), and I can't see anyone else better to play Arthur than Martin Freeman now that I have seen the film. Oh yeah, the 3 second cameo from Jason Schwartzman is superb.

I wasn't sure if folks whom haven't read the book would enjoy it as much, but I'm sure they did from the amount of uncontrolled laughter they emitted frequently at the screening.

Well done chaps.