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List Price: $14.99Amazon.com's Price: $12.99 You Save: $2.00 (13%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0786936254884
Format: Full Screen, NTSC
Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 13, 2005
Running Time: 109 minutes
Sales Rank: 12243
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Theatrical Release Date: April 29, 2005
Editorial Review:
Description:
Here's the absolutely hysterical, wonderfully wild, cosmic adventure comedy THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Based on Douglas Adams' worldwide best-selling novel, and starring an outrageous intergalactic cast, this is one ride you don't want to miss. Seconds before Earth is destroyed to make way for a new hyperspace express route, mild-mannered Arthur Dent is whisked into space by his best friend (an alien posing as an out-of-work actor). And so the misadventures begin as he and fellow travelers, including the cool but dim-witted President of the Galaxy, the Earth girl Trillian, and Marvin the paranoid android, search for answers to the mystery of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Amazon.com:
Don't panic! After twenty years stuck in development (a mere blink compared to how long it takes to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has finally been turned into a movie. Following the radio play, TV series, commemorative towel, and books, this latest installment in the sci-fi-comedy franchise is based on the screenplay and detailed notes by Douglas Adams.
Hitching a ride. |
For those unfamiliar with the story, everyman Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up one morning to discover that his house is set to be demolished to make room for a bypass. Little does he know the entire planet Earth is also set to be destroyed for an interplanetary bypass by the Vogons, a hideous and bureaucratic race of aliens realized in the film by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Whisked off the planet by his best friend, alien-in-disguise Ford Prefect (Mos Def), Dent embarks on a goofy jaunt across the galaxy accompanied by his trusty Hitchhiker's Guide, which looks like a really fancy PDA.
The guide itself provides some of the funniest bits of the movie, little animated shorts that explain the ludicrous life forms and extraterrestrial phenomena our heroes encounter. Along the way Arthur meets the two-headed party animal/president of the galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) and develops an unrequited crush on fellow earthling Trillian (Zooey Deschanel). The creatures and sets are inspired and answer to the sci-fi fan's primal need to see lots and lots of cool stuff. In particular, there's John Malkovich's creepy, CGI-enhanced Humma Kavula. He's a guru leading a religion that worships the gigantic nose that allegedly sneezed the universe into existence (naturally all their prayers end not with 'Amen' but with 'Bless you.') The aliens the team encounters are inspired creations, eminently worthy of action figure-ification, and the sets belie an attention to detail worthy of freeze-framing. Fans of the other Hitchhiker manifestations, namely the British TV series, will be amused by a number of in-jokes sprinkled throughout the movie.
Concept art: The Heart of Gold pod on the planet Vogsphere |
Where the story stumbles is in the telling--as books, the Hitchhiker's Guide was foremost about goofy and brilliant ideas that raised questions about our place in the universe while getting a laugh. The cast seems at times bewildered, at least when Sam Rockwell isn't picking pieces of scenery out of his teeth, perhaps a natural reaction to an adaptation of a book with no traditional plot. The movie has enough trouble figuring out how to get the characters from one fantastical location to the next that Adams's funniest concepts often feel left in the dust. While the reverence the filmmakers felt toward Adams's legacy is apparent, one wonders what we could have expected had the creator of this science fiction universe lived to see it with his own eyes. -- Ryan Boudinot
A Guide to the Guide 
The Soundtrack | 
The Radio Play (CD) | 
The TV Series | 
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Deluxe Edition) | 
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Paperback) | 
The Filming of the Douglas Adams Classic (book) |
Interviews with The Cast and Director 
Watch our interviews with the cast and director of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and find out what they think of other DVDs and books:
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Solid
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is one of those films that seems a lot better if one has not read the source material it's based upon- in this case the series of Hitchhiker books by Douglas Adams, the BBC radio shows, or the 1970s BBC television series of the same name. This was manifest immediately to me, as one who'd seen the repeats of the tv show on PBS, but never read the books. In just briefly skimming the online critical consensus this seems confirmed, for rarely does a film elicit such ... Read More
Rating: - So Long and Thanks for Almost Getting It Right
The uninitiated to the Hitchhiker's Guide universe probably won't get this movie, and those of us who have followed the series for the past thirty years or so will feel let down.
The biggest problem this movie faces is that characters were already created for the BBC TV series, which was pretty much cast from the original radio production. Because we know and like the characters just the way they are, casting new actors is not an easy task. We also know and love the original story, and it ... Read More
Rating:  - Here's info most viewers did not know
Douglas Adams did indeed write almost all of this script, people who are not aware of Mr. Adams general character may not be aware that he has INTENTIONALLY made every version of Hitchhikers different. The Radio series was first and is different from the books which in turn is different than the BBC TV mini seires and so on and so on. He did this on purpose he has been quoted as saying he did not want to keep retelling the same story he wanted to change things and add new things each time he did the ... Read More
Rating:  - HiLaRiOuS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IZ PROBABLY ONE UV THEE BEST MOOVIEZ I HAV EVR SEEN!
MY FAVORITE PART IS WHEN A WHALE STARTS FALLING AFTER THE SHIP GOES AT LIGHT SPEED OR SOMTIN. THEN HES NAMING STUFF LIKE A TAIL, WIND AND THEN HE SAYS, "WHAT IS THIS HARD SURFACE FLYING TOWARD ME VERY, VERY FAST.
I THINK I'LL CALL IT OU...OUND...ROUND...GROUND! YES THAT'S IT! GROUND!
I WONDER IF IT WILL BE FRIENDS WITH ME. HELLO GROUND!" AND THEN HE HITS THE GROUND VERY HARD. WHILE THAT IS HAPPENING ALL THAT THE FLOWERPOT IS ... Read More
Rating: - Fantastic and funny
The first time I saw this movie I was like what the hell was that. But after the 3rd or 4th time watching it I love it. Some parts are so funny and Zooey Deschannel cant be hotter. This is a very sci fi movie and funny as hell if you like sci fi.
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