The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
File:Hitchhikerposter.jpg
Directed by	Garth Jennings
Written by	Douglas Adams (book/original screenplay) Karey Kirkpatrick
Produced by	Douglas Adams (posthumous credit) Derek Evans Robbie Stamp
Starring	Martin Freeman Mos Def Sam Rockwell Zooey Deschanel Bill Nighy Stephen Fry John Malkovich Anna Chancellor Alan Rickman Jack Stanley Dominique Jackson Warwick Davis
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Running time	USA: 110 min
Budget	$45-50,000,000 (estimate)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science-fiction movie based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28 2005 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; and on the following day in the USA. It was rolled out to cinemas worldwide during May, June, July, August and September.

The screenplay was begun by Adams and completed by Garth Jennings and Karey Kirkpatrick after Adams' death.

Cast

• Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent
• Mos Def as Ford Prefect
• Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox
• Zooey Deschanel as Trillian
• Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast
• John Malkovich as Humma Kavula
• Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok
• Jack Stanley and Dominique Jackson as Lunkwill and Fook
• Steve Pemberton as Prosser
• Albie Woodington as the barman
• Jason Schwartzman as Gag Halfrunt
• Simon Jones as "Ghostly Image"
• Mark Longhurst as "Bulldozer Driver"
• Su Elliott as "Pub Customer"
• Terry Bamber as "Technician"
• Kelly MacDonald as "Reporter"
• Helen Mirren as the voice of Deep Thought
• Bill Bailey as the voice of the whale
• Thomas Lennon as Eddie the Shipboard Computer
• Warwick Davis as the body of Marvin
• Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin
• Stephen Fry as the voice of The Guide
• Ian McNeice voices Kwaltz, a Vogon
• Richard Griffiths as the voice of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz
• The League of Gentlemen (Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton) as the voices of the Vogons

Production

In a Slashdot interview [1], Robbie Stamp, one of the film's executive producers, noted the following about the cast of the film:

• The hardest character to cast was "the voice of the Guide itself and in the end came back to somebody who was one of the people Douglas himself had wanted, namely Stephen Fry."
• "Douglas himself is on record as saying that as far as he was concerned the only character who had to be British, indeed English, was Arthur Dent."

Preparations for the premiere of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Leicester Square

Stamp also commented on how much role the studio and the other screenwriters (other than Adams that is) had on the film:

• "I think that a lot of fans would be surprised to know just how much of a free hand we have been given in the making of this movie. I know how easy it is to see every decision to cut a scene as 'studio' pressure but it was always much more to do with pacing and rhythm in the film itself."
• "The script we shot was very much based on the last draft that Douglas wrote....All the substantive new ideas in the movie...are brand new Douglas ideas written especially for the movie by him....Douglas was always up for reinventing HHGG in each of its different incarnations and he knew that working harder on some character development and some of the key relationships was an integral part of turning HHGG into a movie."

Soundtrack

File:H2G2 Movie Soundtrack front.jpg

The front cover of the booklet included with the soundtrack to the Hitchhiker's movie.

The complete motion picture soundtrack was released as an iTunes Music Store exclusive on 12 April 2005, two weeks before the scheduled CD release. The iTunes Music Store also has two further exclusive sets of tracks related to the movie:

• The Marvin Mixes are remixes of a new version of Reasons to be Miserable, here performed by Stephen Fry, as well as a new vocal and a new instrumental track for Marvin, also performed by Fry. Stephen Moore had recorded the vocals of both tracks in 1981.
• The Guide Entries are new spoken "Hitchhiker's Guide" entries, all read by Fry, with accompanying music by Joby Talbot, who wrote the film score.

The soundtrack CD was released on 26 April 2005, by Hollywood Records, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The CD has the same 33 tracks as the previous iTunes Music Store release. The enclosed booklet includes acknowledgements from Joby Talbot and notes on the creation of the song So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, written by Garth Jennings.

Plot

Template:Spoiler Waking to the sound of bulldozers encroaching upon his house, Arthur Dent tries to prevent the destruction of his home by laying in the path of the bulldozers. His attempts are interrupted by his friend Ford Prefect, who convinces Arthur to accompany him to the local public house. Here Ford reveals that he is actually an alien (and not from Guildford).

As a favor, Ford rescues Arthur from certain death when the Earth is demolished by the Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass. The duo hitchhike aboard a Vogon ship, and then they are thrown into empty space, after being tortured by the Vogon Vogon Captain's poetry (the third worst in the universe).

Against all probability, they are rescued by the Heart of Gold, a spaceship stolen by Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox, accompanied by Tricia McMillan (whom Arthur once met at a party), now calling herself Trillian, and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Aboard the ship, Zaphod reveals his intention to visit the planet the planet Magrathea using the Heart of Gold, which he stole for this purpose. He introduces the other characters to the story of Deep Thought and the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, via a Magrathean data archive cube. He reveals that he is seeking the the computer built to discover the "Ultimate Question," whose identity isn't mentioned in the data archive.

They take the ship to Viltvodle VI, home of the Jatravartids and Humma Kavula, who was Zaphod's opponent in the election for President of the Galaxy. Kavula has a small red cube that contains the coordinates to Magrathea, and offers it to Zaphod in exchange for a gun (the Point-of-view gun) that can be found near Deep Thought. Kavula requires a "hostage" in order to ensure that Zaphod will complete the quest, and removes Zaphod's second head.

During their departure from Viltvodle VI, Trillian is captured by the Vogons and brought to their homeworld, Vogsphere. Our heroes go to the Vogon homeworld and try to rescue Trillian. Upon stepping off their ship they briefly encounter subterraneous fauna that attack people who exhibit original thought, which they manage to evade once they reach an urban area. The excessive bureaucracy associated with many governing bodies is parodied when they are confronted by the amount of red tape that they must forge through to rescue Trillian.

Arthur, Zaphod, and Ford manage to fill out the appropriate Presidential Prisoner Release forms to have Trillian released just before she is fed to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. As Trillian is processed, she learns of the destruction of the Earth, which Arthur had not told her about (after he had been threatened on the subject by Zaphod). She also learns that Zaphod was the one who absent-mindedly autographed the demolition order for Earth (by signing "Love & Kisses, Zaphod"). Then the crew escapes Vogsphere.

Just as the Vogons are about to give pursuit, a klaxon sounds, and they delay the chase as they take an hour off for lunch. Throughout the film, the Vogons remain in pursuit of Zaphod and the Heart of Gold, at the behest of the Galactic Vice-President Questular Rontok who wishes to "rescue" him from his abductor (Zaphod abducted himself when he stole the Heart of Gold).

The Heart of Gold heads for Magrathea, where the company is separated - Zaphod, Trillian, and Ford meet Deep Thought, while Arthur meets Slartibartfast, and learns of Earth's origin. While touring the Magrathean Planet Factory Floor, Arthur is introduced to the Earth Mark II, a backup copy. He is eventually led to his house in England, now restored.

Meanwhile, beneath Deep Thought, Zaphod, Trillian, and Ford find the Point-of-view gun, the object sought by Humma Kavula. According to the Guide, it was built by Deep Thought for a council of angry housewives who were tired of ending arguments by complaining to husbands that "you just don't get it, do you?" When fired, the Point-of-view gun causes the target to experience the point of view of the wielder. Trillian uses it to make Zaphod understand her conflicting feelings about their relationship.

Back at Arthur's house, Arthur is reunited with Ford, Zaphod and Trillian, who are busy enjoying a lavish meal provided by the mice. The meal however has been laced with sedative, and consequently Arthur finds his three companions falling fast asleep. It is a trap to enable the mice to restrain Arthur and extract his brain (being the most recent component left from the Earth after its demolition, and thus needed to complete the Earth's computer program). Faced with his demise, Arthur finally expresses his love for Trillian. Before the mice manage the extraction, Arthur breaks free from his restraints, and squishes the mice with a teapot.

The heroes exit Arthur's house, only to find themselves surrounded by the Vogons, who try to kill them. While Zaphod attempts to operate Arthur's "spaceship" (which is in fact just a caravan), Arthur and Trillian try to retrieve the dropped Point-of-view gun, but are forced to use the caravan as cover from the hail of fire the Vogons direct at them. Marvin goes to catch up with the rest, remarking that Vogons are the worst marksmen in the universe, but he is hit in the back of the head by a Vogon blast and collapses.

Just as it seems that they are doomed, Marvin reactivates and picks up the nearby Point-of-view gun. He fires, hitting all of the Vogons and they are exposed to his perspective on life; they all instantly become incredibly depressed and collapse.

As the depressed Vogons are taken away and the final touches are applied to Earth Mark II, Slartibartfast asks Arthur if there is anything that the new Earth could do without and Arthur replies, "Yeah, me." The movie ends with Arthur and his companions leaving the newly "rebooted" Earth and reboarding the Heart of Gold, with the intended destination of Milliways, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Differences from preceding versions

Template:Spoiler The sequence of events in the film generally resembles the story in prior editions. Although the radio series, books and TV series are famous for their inconsistencies, they each describe the same story until the characters get to Magrathea, except for some narrative rearrangement. The movie also rearranges the narration; and in addition, omits scenes that are in prior versions, adds scenes that are not in prior versions, and introduces new inconsistencies into the story.

Differences begin to crop up as soon as the first scene of the movie, during which Arthur is blocking the bulldozers from destroying his house. In the radio series, Arthur convinces Prosser to pretend that Arthur is still blocking the bulldozers while he and Ford go to the pub. In the book, TV series, computer game, Ford convinces Prosser to let him and Arthur get away. In the movie, Ford gives the demolition workers beer to distract them from their work. In all versions, they bulldoze Arthur's house anyway.

The movie interrupts the pub scene between Ford and Arthur with flashbacks to the party where Arthur met Trillian, but in prior versions of the story this party isn't mentioned until shortly before Ford and Arthur are rescued from asphyxiation in deep space by the Heart of Gold, and Trillian isn't identified as the girl from the party until they meet her. In these prior versions it is therefore a surprise that the two only human survivors of the destruction of Earth happen to already know each other.

The movie also interrupts the pub scene with a flashback to the day that Ford met Arthur. In the film, Arthur saved Ford from being hit and possibly killed by a Ford Prefect. In previous versions of the story, Ford's reasons for saving Arthur are not explained. (Ford had mistaken cars as the dominant species of Earth and thus chose what he thought was a "normal" name).

In radio and book, when the Vogons address the Earth shortly before demolishing it, someone manages to talk back to them. Their subsequent exchange reflects the bureaucratic attitude of Prosser in the exchange between him and Arthur about the plans for demolishing Arthur's house. The Vogon response to the human transmission is left out of the film, and the argument with Prosser is severely truncated (though a 2003 draft of the script preserves both scenes).

In the film version, there are no Dentrassi mentioned on the Vogon spacecraft that Ford and Arthur hitchhike aboard. In previous versions, the Dentrassi are revealed as the cooks for the Vogons, who enjoy letting hitchhikers aboard to annoy the Vogons. In the TV series, a scene was added where Ford samples Dentrassi cuisine. The movie does not explain how Ford and Arthur managed to hitch a ride aboard a ship in the Vogon Constructor Fleet.

The entry in the Guide about the Babel fish is shortened in the film. In previous versions, the Guide describes the Babel fish and then remarks that the existence of such an improbable creature is believed to disprove the existence of God. "The argument goes something like this: `I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, `for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'" Then Man says, "The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED." God replies, "Oh dear, I hadn't thought of that," and vanishes in a puff of logic. Then Man "goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing." (The DVD release includes most of this extended Guide entry as a bonus feature.)

In previous versions of the story, after the Vogon Constructor Fleet enters hyperspace but before Arthur and Ford are captured, Arthur reads the entry on Earth in the Hitchhiker's Guide. The Guide tells Arthur only that Earth is "Harmless." When Arthur objects to Ford about this, Ford tells him that he has updated the entry. The new entry says the Earth is "Mostly harmless." The screen version of the film omits this scene, and the words "mostly harmless" are never spoken. (The scene is available on the DVD as a "deleted scene.") In the film, the fleet does not enter hyperspace until after discharging Ford and Arthur; as a result it is indicated that they are picked up by the Heart of Gold in the same sector of space where the Earth used to be (the film does not address why Trillian fails to notice the planet's absence).

In previous versions of the story, when Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz reads his poetry to torture Ford and Arthur, the poem is spoken without interruption and Vogon poetry is explained elsewhere. But in the film, the poem is read under a voice-over about Vogon poetry from Stephen Fry. The writer of the "Worst Poetry of All" was identified as Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Sussex as it has been in all versions except for the original radio broadcast.

To save their lives from the vacuum of space, Ford and Arthur tell Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz that the "interesting rhythmic devices" of his poem "counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor of the Vogonity of the poet's compassionate soul," in previous versions. Then Prostetnic says, "So what you're saying is that I write poetry because underneath my mean callous heartless exterior I really just want to be loved." Then he throws them off the ship anyway, because actually, "I just write poetry to throw my mean callous heartless exterior into sharp relief."

The film edits the word "surrealism" from Arthur's comment, to say "counterpoint the underlying metaphor of the Vogonity of the poet's compassionate soul." Now, instead of counterpointing the surrealism, the rhythmic devices counterpoint the underlying metaphor. Which implies that the Vogonity of the poet's compassionate soul is not so surreal, and the poem counterpoints it. Then Prostetnic throws them off the ship without telling them why he writes poetry. In previous versions, the Vogon's urge to write poetry is surreal, and his rationale counterpoints it.

In the subsequent scene when Arthur and Ford try to convince a Vogon guard to let them escape, Arthur refers to the demolition of his home planet and his impending doom as a "culture shock." When Ford and Arthur are trapped in the airlock and about to die, Ford cries "Wait a minute! What's this switch!" And then, "No, we are going to die after all." All of this dialogue is missing in the film (although it appeared in an early draft of the screenplay). The omission of dialogue about death and dying is typical of the film, wheareas humor about death and the futility of life is a central theme in many of Douglas Adams's books.

The phone number for the Islington flat where Arthur met Trillian is changed for the film, and so is the improbability factor for being rescued from asphyxiation in deep space, which is the same number. The film also does not mention that Ford and Arthur are rescued at infinite improbability, or that the other coincidences among the characters account for the improbability gap.

On the Heart of Gold, in the movie, Zaphod introduces Arthur and the others to the story of Deep Thought. In previous versions, this story is told much later, on Magrathea by way of Slartibartfast's holo-disks. The film reveals the Ultimate Answer early on, whereas earlier versions of the story wait to reveal the purpose of the Earth and its construction by Magratheans until the story of Magrathea is clearly explained.

In the film, Zaphod seeks Magrathea so he can find the Ultimate Question, because he doesn't know that Earth was the supercomputer built by Deep Thought. In prior versions, he was only seeking money stored on Magrathea from its lucrative planet building business. Only in the film version has he got to find Humma Kavula, a new character, to get the coordinates for Magrathea. The Jatravartids are mentioned in radio and book, but their planet is never featured.

In every previous version of the story, the Heart of Gold is described as powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive, which can instantly travel anywhere in the universe by calculating the odds of a coinicidence and passing through every possible point in every possible universe until it finds that coincidence; needing no coordinates from Humma Kavula to find Magrathea. The full potential of the Infinite Improbability Drive is not mentioned in the film. The backstory of its development is instead illustrated around the front of the ship.

In the film, as in prior versions, Zaphod has hacked his own brain to hide memories that aren't compatible with being Galactic President. In the film this just contributes to his general wackiness. But in the radio show and books, he has hidden from himself his own plans to find the real Ruler of the Universe, although that is not mentioned initially and isn't critical to the plot on Magrathea. Additionally, the personalities of Zaphod's two heads in the film are reversed in comparison to the TV series: in the TV series, his second head is somewhat dimwitted while his "main" head is arrogant and confident; in the movie, it's the other way around.

In the first book Zaphod is pursued by Galactic Police for stealing the Heart of Gold. The Vogons disappear after Ford and Arthur are rescued by the Heart of Gold, but resurface in later books to destroy all survivors of Earth, to prevent the discovery of the Ultimate Question. The film finds the Vogons and Galactic Vice-President Questular Rontok chasing the Heart of Gold to save Zaphod, believing him to be kidnapped by the others.

The film does not explain that Magrathea was a location for planet-building until after Arthur meets Slartibartfast; but the previous versions emphasize that Magrathea was a legendary planet of legendary times "when men were real men, women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri." Nor does the film explain why Deep Thought should be accessible from Magrathea. The radio show and books do not feature Deep Thought as accessible by the characters via Magrathea, only million-years-old recordings of Deep Thought, which are shown by Slartibartfast to Arthur.

The love story between Arthur and Trillian is new for the film, and introduces a potential conflict with later parts of the books that feature Fenchurch. In the radio series, Trillian was a girl who had previously turned Arthur down at a party (in favor of Zaphod) and was still somewhat ambivalent toward him. Later on Brontitall (in the radio show) Arthur finds an interest in Lintilla, but what happens to them both after they escape the old man in the shack, abandoning Ford, Zaphod and Zarniwoop is unclear. During the time frame of the film, the radio show and books are not specific about Arthur's luck with women, and his only romance is portrayed when he meets Fenchurch in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

In the radio series and the books, Trillian is British; but in the TV series and the film, she is American. In the radio series, Trillian disappears after the Hagunnenon Admiral evolves into an escape module, and ends up on some planet, but returns much later; the character has a more consistent presence in the first three books. In the third book, Trillian plays a critical role in saving the Universe from the planet Krikkit. In the fifth book, she is a reporter and the mother of Arthur's only daughter, Random. But, that is only because Arthur is the only human male left in the Galaxy. (The movie originally was to have made a major change to Trillian's character by revealing that she is only half-human; this is described in the official book on the making of the film, the DVD commentary, as well as the film tie-in edition of the original novel (which contains an interview with Zooey Deschanel in which she describes this aspect of her character], however it was decided to edit this character change from the film.)

The kidnapping and rescue of Trillian, and the adventure on Vogsphere, is added for the film. After she is rescued, Trillian learns of Zaphod's absent-minded ordering of the destruction of Earth, which is part of her motivation for choosing Arthur over Zaphod. But this possibility isn't mentioned until Zaphod meets the Ruler of the Universe in the second book; and the same scene in the final episode of the second radio series, when Zaphod is said to have ordered Earth's destruction on the influence of many psychiatrists. In previous versions, the planet Vogsphere is described, but the characters never go there as it was said to have been long abandoned.

In previous versions, the Galactic Police confront the characters on Magrathea. In the movie the Vogons confront the characters on the Earth Mark II, while it is still being worked on. In the radio series, as with the TV series, the characters accidentally escape from the Galactic Police and leave the Heart of Gold behind. In the book, Marvin kills the Galactic Police by networking with their computer, causing it to become depressed, commit suicide, and shut down the Policemen's life support system. In the film, Marvin saves the day by shooting the Vogons with the Point-of-view gun, causing them to share his point of view and become depressed, though they survive. In an early draft of the movie, the Vogons committed suicide. The Point-of-view gun is added for the film.

Two recurring themes in the books are psychiatry and philosophy. Gag Halfrunt, the psychiatrist for Zaphod and coincidentally, Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, is found in the second book colluding with the Vogons to exterminate Trillian and Arthur, to prevent anyone from knowing the Ultimate Question. In the holodisks, shown by Slartibartfast to Arthur on Magrathea, Deep Thought confronts two philosophers, Majikthise and Vroomfondel, who "demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty." The film features Gag Halfrunt briefly in the beginning, but does not feature the characters Majikthise or Vroomfondel; nor does it specifically address psychiatry or philosophy.

The ending of the film is significantly different from earlier versions of the story. In previous versions, the main characters escape Magrathea one way or another and eventually end up at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, without saving the Earth. (In the radio show, and the TV series, an explosion caused by two overzealous Galactic cops causes Trillian, Ford, Zaphod, and Arthur to jump forward in time to the ending of the Universe, where the eponymous Restaurant has since been built on Magrathea. In the books, Zaphod's ancestor, Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth, saves them from the Vogons and then Zaphod carries the miniaturized Heart of Gold in his pocket to Frogstar World B, which turns out to be the future location of the Restaurant.) In the film, the Earth is restored completely back to normal and then the main characters set off for the Restaurant.

In the book and radio versions, the two mice, Frankie and Benjy, decide not to commission the Earth Mark II from Slartibartfast because they don't want to wait another 10 million years for the Earth Mark II to recalculate the Ultimate Question. Instead, they decide to return to their own dimension with their version of the Ultimate Question, "How many roads must a man walk down?"

In the film, after momentarily distracting the mice by suggesting the "How many roads..." question, Arthur saves himself from having his brain removed by breaking the chair he is sitting in. Then he kills Frankie and Benjy by hitting them with a teapot. Then Slartibartfast orders the redeployment of the Earth with permission from Arthur. This raises the question, why did the program to find the Ultimate Question take 10 million years to run on the original Earth, if the current Earth could be restored at the moment it was destroyed? The film leaves this unexplained.

In the second and third books, which take place after the time frame of the film, there is no mention of Earth, and Trillian and Arthur are still homeless. Eventually the Earth found in the fourth book, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, presumably with the help of the dolphins, who also escaped the demolition. And then at the end of the fifth book Mostly Harmless the Earth is destroyed again by the Vogons.

The existence of Earth immediately following the story of the first book, as in the film, conflicts with story elements of the following books, and presumably poses challenges to adapt future films from books in the series. For example, Ford and Arthur would have a different attitude about the planet's future when they land on ancient Earth among the Golgafrinchans. And why would the Krikkit robots in Life, the Universe, and Everything need to time-travel to the original Earth before its destruction to find the ashes of the Wooden Pillar?

At the end of the film, when the Earth is restored, the dolphins are shown returning to Earth. In the books, the dolphins do not return to Earth. In So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, the Earth is restored but the dolphins are still missing. They do however leave three fishbowls for three human beings with their last message to the human race.

The changes in plot structure, theme, characterization, and dialogue from earlier versions attracted criticism from fans on Internet message boards and elsewhere, but the makers of the film were quick to claim that all the changes started with Adams himself (and were refined by Karey Kirkpatrick). Despite his having died three years before the film was produced, the author was still given a screenwriting and an executive producer credit on the movie.

Nods to BBC productions

• The original Marvin prop from the 1981 TV version of the story can be seen in one scene, in a queue on Vogsphere, albeit with orange eyes, instead of the original red.
• The theme tune for the BBC radio and TV series, "Journey of the Sorcerer", composed by Bernie Leadon and originally recorded by The Eagles, is used. The music is heard in the film in a new arrangement by Joby Talbot.
• "What A Wonderful World", sung by Louis Armstrong, was used as background music for the film's teaser trailer. This song was also used at the conclusion of the first radio series and at the conclusion of the BBC TV series, both set on prehistoric Earth.
• Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in the radio and TV series, makes a brief cameo appearance. He is the "Ghostly Image" that appears when the Heart of Gold approaches Magrathea, and warns them that the planet is currently not open for business. When they continue approaching the planet, he reappears and politely informs them that two thermonuclear missiles are headed towards the ship, and their (presumably imminent) deaths "may be recorded for training purposes."

Characters

• Arthur Dent, an "ordinary Earthman," from England, who winds up travelling the galaxy in his pajamas and dressing gown, and carrying a towel.
• Ford Prefect, a researcher for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". He saves Arthur from the destruction of Earth because Arthur had saved his life years earlier.
• Tricia McMillan, who shortens her name to "Trillian" (because "It sounds spacy"). She ran away from Earth with Zaphod Beeblebrox just before most of the events in the movie, but over the course of the movie, she comes to dislike him.
• Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, who has stolen the Heart of Gold to pursue his own selfish schemes.
• Slartibartfast, a coastline designer who reveals the real history of Earth to Arthur Dent.
• Humma Kavula, a religious leader on the planet Viltvodle VI, and Zaphod's vanquished opponent in the recent Presidential election. This character was devised by Adams as the villain for an additional subplot of the movie, not present in previous incarnations of the story.
• Marvin, the Paranoid Android, part of the equipment on the Heart of Gold.
• Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, leader of the Vogon Constructor Fleet.

Box Office earnings

• The movie made $21,103,203 in the USA in its opening weekend, opening in first place.

• The movie remained in the US box office top ten for its first four weeks of release.

• The movie's total box office gross was $104,388,416 worldwide (as of October 2005).

Home video releases

The movie was released on DVD (Region 2, PAL) in the UK on 5 September 2005. Both a standard double disc edition and a UK-exclusive "Gift Set" edition were released on this date. The standard double disc edition features:

• Making Of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy
• Additional Guide Entry
• Deleted Scenes
• Really Deleted Scenes (scenes that were never meant to be in the movie)
• Sing A Long
• Audio Commentaries
• Set Top Games Marvins Hangman
• Don't Crash (UK exclusive "making of" documentary)

The "Gift Set" edition includes a copy of the novel with a "movie tie-in" cover, and collectible prints from the film, packaged in a replica of the film's version of the Hitchhiker's Guide prop.

Single disc widescreen and full-screen editions (Region 1, NTSC) were released in the USA and Canada on 13 September 2005. They have a different cover, but contain the same special features (except the Don't Crash documentary) as the UK version.

Single disc releases in the UMD format for the PlayStation Portable were also released on the respective dates in these three countries. A VHS release has not been announced.

Trivia

• During the Heart Of Gold's final improbability transformation, the last form the ship takes is the face of Douglas Adams.
• Adams makes two other "appearances" - a planet in the shape of his head can briefly be seen during the Magrathean Planet Factory Tour sequence, and the entrance to the Temple of the Great Green Arkleseizure on Viltvodle VI is in the shape of his nose.
• Deep Thought has a logo for Apple Computer just to the right and above its electronic eye (which can be seen in closeups when Ford, Trillian and Zaphod are speaking to the computer).
• Ford's last name is never mentioned in dialogue in the film, though the character is listed as "Ford Prefect" when first introduced in the screenplay and when listed in the credits. Also, Ford is called Ix by Zaphod when they meet on the Heart of Gold, which is Ford's previous nickname, and is the first time in any format other than the book that this happens.
• In the flashback scene when Arthur saves Ford from being hit by a car, the car was an actual Ford Prefect.
• In the scene where Ford, Arthur and Zaphod try to get past several people in a line to free Trillian, the TV Show version of Marvin appears several times, standing in line patiently.
• The animations of the book were made by the UK-based design studio Shynola
• The theatrical release of the film includes references to the titles of every Hitchhiker novel, with the exception of Mostly Harmless. A scene that would have used the phrase was filmed, but cut before the movie's release. (The original novel did contain references to all of the titles).
• Marvin the Paranoid Android is played by Warwick Davis and voiced by Alan Rickman. Both actors play professors in the Harry Potter series of movies.
• The dolphin scenes at the beginning of the film were made at Loro Parque in Tenerife

External links

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) at IMDb

Owners' sites

• Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Site (UK)
• Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Site (USA)
• Official Trailer
• "Hitchhiker Movie FAQ with FUA" from the Douglas Adams Continuum

Interviews

• Interview with executive producer Robbie Stamp, from Slashdot

Independent reviews

• Washington Post "...more than a pleasant surprise."
• San Francisco Chronicle "The movie hangs together and gets by with more than a margin of goodwill because the dazzle it offers is one of the mind."
• New York Times "...hugely likeable..."
• Planet Magrathea (2005/3/31) "Not funny"
• BBC - Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "Don't panic - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is not as bad as I had feared. Then again, it is not as good as I had hoped."
• The Register "The film version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is faithful to author Douglas Adams' legacy. The trouble is it's simply not especially funny."
• Slashdot Some comments are by people who say they saw the movie.
• Rotten Tomatoes Reviews by professional critics.