Zooey Deschanel Movie:

		List Price: $14.99		Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone Salesrank: 6998 Released: September 13, 2005
		Our Price: $4.47
		Used Price: $0.96
		MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
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.

Description of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Full Screen Edition):

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: high bandwidth low bandwidth

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Full Screen Edition) Reviews:
While not true to the books, an extremely fun movie.
2009-01-08 - This is definitely one of my favorite "sci-fi" movies. Yes, I love the books and the plot of the movie was not exactly "accurate", it was true, in some respects, to the spirit of the books. While it was a bit Americanized, the comedy of the movie was pretty solid with amazing visuals and a fun cast.

This movie also shows why CGI characters are never better than a well-made puppet. Once you see some of the movie's realization of the Vogons, you'll understand.


Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy UMD for PSP
2008-12-28 - Our son loves his PSP, and absolutely loves this movie! Great fantasy/science fiction movie.

Loved It!
2008-12-19 - One of my top 5 favorite movies. Absolutely hilarious. Sam Rockwell is great in this movie. When I saw it in the theatre, I laughed so hard I fell out of my seat. I've had it on DVD since it came out, not I'm buying it on Blu Ray. Anyone that doesn't think this movie is funny doesn't have a heart.

YAY Silliness!
2008-12-15 - A wonderfully Witty Silly movie -I recomend it to all ages. Almost as good as the book!

What could have been...
2008-12-04 - I read that Adams had picked Hugh Laurie and Jim Carrey to play the leads in this, but it was changed after Adams died. I bet that would have been something great.