The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: The Movie
Created | Updated Apr 27, 2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book — more popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, better selling than Fifty Three More Things to do in Zero Gravity, and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters — Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes and Who is this God Person Anyway?
It is also a series of radio shows, LPs, TV shows, computer games, and books, on an insignificant green blue planet at the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy. And now there is also a motion picture.
I approached H2G2: The Movie with some trepidation. As an ardent fan of the previous incarnations, I wondered whether the "Hollywoodisation" of an English comedy classic would be passable, or whether I would have to gnaw my own leg off to survive. I needn't have worried.
Arthur Dent wakes up one morning to find the council intent on demolishing his house to create a bypass. At precisely the same time, the Vogon constructor fleet have the same fate in mind for the Earth. All that can save Arthur from a white hot death is his friend Ford Prefect, who turns out to be from a planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and not from Guildford after all. He is a roving journalist for The Guide, a wholly remarkable electronic book and the (largely apocryphal)repository of all knowledge in the galaxy. They meet up with Trillian, a girl who Arthur met at a party and blew it with her, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, Galactic President and thief of the Heart of Gold, a quite remarkable spaceship. As they journey through the galaxy, they encounter the officious and odious Vogons, the zealous Jatravartids led by Humma Kavula (John Malkovich), the most intelligent inhabitants of Earth, and a sperm whale, all whilst Arthur tries to win Trillian back.
As the latest addition to the H2G2 canon, it fits in with the other versions pretty well. That is to say, it doesn't quite match any of them. It is very much a product of the late great Douglas Adams, and lots of little touches remind you of that (look out for the TV series' Arthur and Marvin in cameo roles). It mostly resembles the book, and a lot of the best lines are still in there (although some will be missed by fans), but most unusually for a Hitchhikers story, the whole thing has a relatively tight plot. Some big (and pleasantly surprising) changes have been made from the book, and the characters reflect this; Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is now more "everyman" and heroic; Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) now has more than a token role in the story, not least as Arthur Dent's (Martin Freeman) love interest; Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) is less the old wizard, more the happy-go-lucky creative type.
I found little to complain about (which is a shame, since I am British, and pretty good at futile complaining). The casting and performances are quite excellent, particularly Stephen Fry as the voice of the Guide, and the breathtaking special effects are largely seamless. Fans of Marvin may be a little upset, because he doesn't get as much screen time as perhaps they'd like (and for another rather shocking reason...).
I thought perhaps the ending was a little "Hollywood", but it works, and the potential for a sequel (The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe) is definitely there, provided they can keep the quality of the writing as high.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this film to anyone, newcomers to H2G2 and hardened fans alike. Just don't forget your towel...
It is also a series of radio shows, LPs, TV shows, computer games, and books, on an insignificant green blue planet at the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy. And now there is also a motion picture.
I approached H2G2: The Movie with some trepidation. As an ardent fan of the previous incarnations, I wondered whether the "Hollywoodisation" of an English comedy classic would be passable, or whether I would have to gnaw my own leg off to survive. I needn't have worried.
Arthur Dent wakes up one morning to find the council intent on demolishing his house to create a bypass. At precisely the same time, the Vogon constructor fleet have the same fate in mind for the Earth. All that can save Arthur from a white hot death is his friend Ford Prefect, who turns out to be from a planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and not from Guildford after all. He is a roving journalist for The Guide, a wholly remarkable electronic book and the (largely apocryphal)repository of all knowledge in the galaxy. They meet up with Trillian, a girl who Arthur met at a party and blew it with her, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, Galactic President and thief of the Heart of Gold, a quite remarkable spaceship. As they journey through the galaxy, they encounter the officious and odious Vogons, the zealous Jatravartids led by Humma Kavula (John Malkovich), the most intelligent inhabitants of Earth, and a sperm whale, all whilst Arthur tries to win Trillian back.
As the latest addition to the H2G2 canon, it fits in with the other versions pretty well. That is to say, it doesn't quite match any of them. It is very much a product of the late great Douglas Adams, and lots of little touches remind you of that (look out for the TV series' Arthur and Marvin in cameo roles). It mostly resembles the book, and a lot of the best lines are still in there (although some will be missed by fans), but most unusually for a Hitchhikers story, the whole thing has a relatively tight plot. Some big (and pleasantly surprising) changes have been made from the book, and the characters reflect this; Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is now more "everyman" and heroic; Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) now has more than a token role in the story, not least as Arthur Dent's (Martin Freeman) love interest; Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) is less the old wizard, more the happy-go-lucky creative type.
I found little to complain about (which is a shame, since I am British, and pretty good at futile complaining). The casting and performances are quite excellent, particularly Stephen Fry as the voice of the Guide, and the breathtaking special effects are largely seamless. Fans of Marvin may be a little upset, because he doesn't get as much screen time as perhaps they'd like (and for another rather shocking reason...).
I thought perhaps the ending was a little "Hollywood", but it works, and the potential for a sequel (The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe) is definitely there, provided they can keep the quality of the writing as high.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this film to anyone, newcomers to H2G2 and hardened fans alike. Just don't forget your towel...
