The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)
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| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Garth Jennings |
| Produced by | Douglas Adams (posthumous credit) Derek Evans Robbie Stamp |
| Written by | Douglas Adams (book/original screenplay) Karey Kirkpatrick |
| Starring | Martin Freeman Mos Def Zooey Deschanel Sam Rockwell Bill Nighy Anna Chancellor John Malkovich |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 28, 2005 (UK, Ireland, Australia); April 29, 2005 (USA) |
| Running time | USA: 110 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45-50,000,000 (estimate) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy film 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's death in 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The movie begins with the narrator (voiced by Stephen Fry) explaining that dolphins, the second most-intelligent mammals on Earth (humans being the third), have been trying to warn mankind about the impending destruction of Earth. Their backflips and swimming patterns, according to the Guide, are their way of communicating with humans. Considering their mission a failure, the dolphins decide to leave after singing the song So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
One morning, waking to the sound of bulldozers encroaching upon his house, Arthur Dent realizes that his home is going to be destroyed to build a bypass. He tries to prevent the destruction of his home by lying in the path of the bulldozers. His attempts are interrupted by his friend Ford Prefect, who convinces Arthur to accompany him to the local pub, where he reveals that he is actually an alien (and not from Guildford after all).
As a favour for saving his life earlier (when Ford first came to Earth, he thought that cars were the dominant life form and tries to shake a moving one's hand. Arthur pulled him out of the road before he was run over), 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 Captain's poetry (the third worst in the universe).
Improbably, they are rescued by the Heart of Gold, a spaceship with a unique "improbability drive" which, when activated, allows very improbable things to happen, such as warping the ship to random places or turning everyone inside into yarn dolls. The ship was 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 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 computer built to discover the "Ultimate Question," whose identity isn't mentioned in the data archive. From a recording, the group learns that the people of Magrathea built the Deep Thought to learn the Ultimate Answer. After several millennia of pondering, the computer declared it to be forty-two and explained that the answer didn't make sense because no one knew exactly what the Ultimate Question was. Deep Thought then tells the people about an even more advanced computer which could be built which could tell the Ultimate Question. The recording ends, however, before the new computer's name could be announced.
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. Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod 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 and learn that the computer which could tell the Ultimate Question was in fact Earth itself. Arthur meets Slartibartfast, and learns of Earth's origin and how Slartibartfast worked for a company where planets like Earth were custom made, and even won an award for building the coasts of Norway. While touring the Magrathean Planet Factory Floor, Arthur is introduced to the Earth Mark II, a backup copy. He is eventually led to his newly restored house in England.
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, as it was the most recent component left from the Earth after its demolition, and is believed to have the Ultimate Question in it. 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 flattened mice morph back into the representatives of the builders of Deep Thought before fading away.
The heroes exit Arthur's house, only to find themselves surrounded by a battalion of Vogon soldiers, 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 wild 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, exclaims "Now I've got a headache..." 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 exposing them 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; Arthur replies, "Yeah, me." Earth's life cycle is restarted just as it was before the Vogons demolished it, and the movie ends with Arthur and his companions, Rontok in tow, reboarding the Heart of Gold, bound for Milliways, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
[edit] Cast
- Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, an "ordinary Earthman", from England, who winds up travelling the galaxy in his pyjamas and dressing gown, and carrying a towel.
- Mos Def as 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.
- Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, who has kidnapped himself and stolen the Heart of Gold to pursue his own selfish schemes.
- Zooey Deschanel as Tricia McMillan, who shortens her name to "Trillian" (because it's "something a little more 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.
- Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, a coastline designer who reveals the real history of Earth to Arthur Dent.
- Warwick Davis as the body of Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Alan Rickman as the voice, part of the equipment on the Heart of Gold.
- John Malkovich as 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.
- 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 Elliot 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 the voice of Eddie the Shipboard Computer
- Stephen Fry as the voice of The Guide
- Ian McNeice as the voice of Kwaltz, a Vogon
- Richard Griffiths as the voice of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, leader of the Vogon Constructor Fleet.
- The League of Gentlemen (Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton) as the voices of the Vogons
- Garth Jennings as the voice of Frankie Mouse
- Zoe Kubaisi as the voice of Benjy Mouse
[edit] Production
In a Slashdot interview, Robbie Stamp, one of the film's executive producers, noted the following about the cast of the film: [1]
- 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."
Stamp also commented on how much role the studio and screenwriters other than Adams played in making 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."
[edit] Differences from preceding versions
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, but to a far greater extent than any of the other media. Not only are scenes omitted and reworked, but entire new storylines, characters and locations are introduced.
[edit] Soundtrack
The complete motion picture soundtrack was released as an iTunes Music Store exclusive (in the US and UK) 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 (with further orchestrations by Christopher Austin), 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.
The track "Humma's Hymn" on the soundtrack is notable for the fact that it was sung in St. Michael's Church in Highgate, London by members of local church choirs along with a congregation consisting of members of the public. The recording was open to anyone wishing to attend, and was publicised on the internet, including in a post to the Usenet group alt.fan.douglas-adams. [2]
[edit] Box office earnings
- 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 $104,478,416 worldwide (as of December 2006). [3]
[edit] DVD/UMD 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 (68 minute UK exclusive "making of" documentary, directed by Grant Gee)
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.
The movie was made available as a paid download in the iTunes Store starting in September 2006, for the US market only. A Blu-ray release is scheduled for January 2007.[4]
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Nods to BBC productions
- At the beginning of the film, Mos Def as Ford Prefect pushes a cart filled with cans of beer past a sign for the village of "Cottington" — a reference to the radio series.
- 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. Arthur, while passing, does a double-take at this Marvin.
- 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 as heard in the film is a new arrangement by Joby Talbot.
- "What A Wonderful World", sung by Louis Armstrong, was used as background music for the first part of 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 credited as the "Ghostly Image", a floating head which 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." He then grins and floats away.
[edit] Other trivia
- Adams makes four "appearances" in the film - a planet in the shape of his head can briefly be seen during the Magrathean Planet Factory Tour sequence; the entrance to the Temple of the Great Green Arkleseizure on Viltvodle VI is in the shape of his nose; he can be seen on the mural depicting the discovery of the Infinite Improbability Drive; and during the Heart Of Gold's final improbability transformation, the last form the ship takes is that of his face.
- 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). It is said Douglas Adams owned the first two Apple Macintosh computers to enter the UK and that Stephen Fry, who is the voice of the Guide, allegedly owned the third.
- 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; this is the first time in any format other than the book that the nickname is mentioned, though it is without context in the film.
- In the flashback scene when Arthur saves Ford from being hit by a car, the car was an actual Ford Prefect.
- The animations of the book were made by the UK-based design studio Shynola.
- In one of the trailers, as Arthur Dent wakes up and shuts off his alarm clock, it reads "7:42". The Alarm clock is sitting on a book by Kurt Vonnegut, whose own writings Adams's were compared to, and next to a BBC ID badge for Arthur Dent. This was not used in the actual movie. [5]
- 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). The deleted scene is available on the DVD's deleted scenes feature.
- 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, as Flitwick and Snape, respectively.
- The dolphin scenes at the beginning of the film were made at Loro Parque in Tenerife.
- During the panic scenes in the beginning of the movie several members of Adams's family participated. The elderly woman calmly reading a newspaper is Douglas Adams's mother.
- The scene where Arthur Dent and Trillian meet at the party contains a nod to Douglas Adams's interest in evolution. Arthur stands reading The Selfish Gene by Adams' friend Richard Dawkins, and Trillian is dressed as Darwin.
- Trillian's desire to visit Madagascar also relates to a trip Douglas took to study some of the vanishing species of the island for his book Last Chance to See.
- Su Elliot, credited as "Pub Customer", reportedly played Trillian in one of the stage adaptations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- This PG-rated film was originally slated as a Hollywood Pictures release, but was instead released by Touchstone Pictures, because Hollywood Pictures was retired as a distributor.
- During Simon Jones' cameo appearance as the warning system at Magrathea, you can see the hologram (which in reality is an anaglyph) in three dimensions if you put on a pair of 3D glasses.
- The song So Long and Thanks for All the Fish was considered for a possible nomination (coincidentally, out of a list of 42 songs) in the Academy Award for Best Song category for the 78th Annual Academy Awards. Ultimately, the song was not nominated.
- In the U.S. release of the DVD, in the second half of the Deep Thought scene, the computer's declaration that the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42 approximately coincides with the timer for the film reading 42:00.
- An Easter egg can be found on the DVD. Occasionally when pressing the "Improbability Drive Button" which takes you to random scenes on the DVD, the cartoon that Deep Thought was watching will come up and one can view it in its entirety.
[edit] Awards
The movie was nominated for seven different awards and won one of them. It won the Golden Trailer Award under the category Most Original.[6] It was nominated for: the Artios award from Casting Society of America, USA under the category Best Featured Film Casting-Comedy in 2005; the Empire Awards from Empire Awards, UK under the categories Best British Film and Best Comedy in 2006; the Golden Trailer from Golden Trailer Awards under the category Best Voice Over; and Teen Choice Award from Teen Choice Awards under the categories Choice Movie: Action/Adventure and Choice Rap Artist in a Movie: Mos Def.[7]
[edit] Sequel
While members of the cast had been signed for a potential sequel, the movie's modest box office gross earnings, particularly in the United States, have made any prospects of a potential sequel movie very unlikely. Garth Jennings commented in May 2006, "There won't be a sequel. We were all signed up but it didn't make enough money." Later in the same interview Jennings jokingly added, "It might get dusted off - I might still be contracted to do it!".[8]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Slashdot interview with Robbie Stamp.
- ^ Message announcing the recording of "Humma's Hymn" on the alt.fan.douglas-adams newsgroup.
- ^ Box office statistics from boxofficemojo.com.
- ^ Buena Vista Press Release [1]
- ^ Hitchhiker's Guide DVD site, with the second trailer and clips.
- ^ Golden Trailer Awards for 2005 at IMDb
- ^ Full list of all award nominations for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at IMDb.
- ^ Interview dated 9 May 2006 in July 2006 issue of the ZZ9 magazine Mostly Harmless
[edit] References
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy UK Region 2 DVD Release, 2005. Includes commentaries by Garth Jennings, Nick Goldsmith, Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy, and Robbie Stamp with Sean Sollé. Also includes the documentary Don't Crash: The Making of the Film of the Novel of the Radio Series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- Stamp, Robbie, editor (2005). The Making of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Filming of the Douglas Adams Classic. Boxtree. ISBN 0-7522-2585-5.
[edit] External links
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) at the Internet Movie Database
- "Hitchhiker Movie FAQ with FUA"
[edit] Owners' sites
- Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Site (UK)
- Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Site (USA)
- Official Teaser Trailer
[edit] Interviews
- Interview with executive producer Robbie Stamp, from Slashdot
- Online chat with executive producer Robbie Stamp
- Online chat with director Garth Jennings
[edit] 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..."
- 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.
- DVD Review Of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
- YoursDaily.com Review of the movie in comparison with the book.
