The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Widescreen Edition)

This is a classic and they need to make more!!! There are all kinds of possibilities, they're endless! Don't forget your towel!

I'm a Douglas Adams fan from way, way back: read all the books in the Hitchhiker's series as well as everything else he wrote, watched the TV show, listened to the radio program. I love the Hitchhiker's Guide best, read it in high school and I am such a nerdy gal that I had to get me a towel, which I carried in my backpack all times (but then, I also carried a Tribble key ring and a Dr. Who - Tom Baker scarf that I knitted myself ... ). So, let's take it as read that I couldn't wait to see the movie. I was excited when I heard it was in the works, read the updates and production notes, and actually went to the theatre, in a snowstorm in upstate New York, the night it opened. I watch it on video whenever I can, and I've gotten my kids hooked on it, they think it's really funny, too.Highlights: Sam Rockwell was absolutely over the top as Zaphod Veeblebrox, Mos Def as Ford Prefect was just crazy enough to telegraph alien, as in 'not from around here', and Alan Rickman as Marvin the Paranoid Android was SOOO pained and put out ... I felt the movie was more like how I imagined the characters and their interactions when I read the books; but then, the budget for the movie was much better, so that Mr. Adams could do things the way he wanted. I didn't care for Zoey Deschanel as Trillian, but she always comes across to me like someone stoned out of her head, even when she's excited.I know there are lot of people out there who didn't care for the movie because the story wasn't exactly like the television program (also have heard it described as dumb, disjointed, confusing), but they don't know the history of how the story was revised and rewritten over the years to change the emphasis, that it was all meant to (in whatever version you may have first experienced it) point out some of the more absurd, small everyday things in British life (like the die-hard daytripper - Ford - for example) or maybe it's a simple as, they don't get British humor. It can be an acquired taste, after all.In any case, Doug Adams didn't intend for the movie to be just like the book or the TV show, or the radio programs, rather, he wanted the viewer to see the same story from a different viewpoint than the last retellng. He developed the movie concept and wrote the script himself, before he died, and interviews he gave, he stated that he wanted to focus on parts of the story he felt were glossed over or left out in the radio and tv versions, details that were important to him and to many of the long-time fans. He also stated that he especially did not want to cover well-worn ground. I'd say he did a good job on that score.

Intelligent, beautiful, funny, thought provoking, great time!!

Very unique and ahead of it’s time

Although you can't match the books, the fact that Adams had a big hand in this movie version goes far toward recommending it. Funny, both as sci fi and as a send up of British culture.Also, get the BBC Television teleplay version, written by Adams himself. Worth the duplication.

"Why are we here?" is the constant question of existentialism that often nourishes further curiosity in regards the meaning of life and life's place in the universe. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) touched this philosophical notion with a devastating amount of humor and parody. The same question, in the light of humor, will be asked in the cinematic adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. What is more important, director Garth Jennings accomplishes in conveying a refreshing existential comedy that exploits human error, ineptness, and pride in a radically amusing parody. This is also expressed in the opening where the audience learns that dolphins are far more intelligent that human beings.Heavy philosophical notions are blended into a diverging comic brew where both bellyaching and dry humor softens the audience's guard and makes them more receptive to the insightful hypotheses. However, it is easy for an audience member to get lost within the absurdity of the film, but for those who allow themselves to reflectively drift along with the silly storyline will discover a cinematic gem. Amusingly, Jennings adapts Adams' literary work that visualizes an intergalactic society that encompasses strange religions, corporate power, political bureaucracy, and scientific progress among many other aspects of the universe.The film opens a Thursday morning when the story's protagonist Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) discovers that the government has decided to build a bypass through his house. The location for a bypass is outrageously comical in a cerebral way. There are no other houses in miles, yet they want to tear down Arthur's house and build a bypass. What Arthur does not know is that Earth is facing a similar fate, as the galactic government has decided to build an intergalactic freeway through Earth. Luckily, Arthur's friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) has discovered Earths apocalyptic destiny, as he reveals for Arthur that he is an alien (not the kind from foreign soil) and he can save them both. Ford's visit to Earth was one in countless celestial visits through the galaxy, as he is currently working on a guide for intergalactic hitchhikers.What do you do when you only have 12 minutes left to exist on Earth? Ford takes Arthur to the pub where they slam 3 pints of beer while he explains the situation for a slightly perplexed Arthur. It is an incredible tale, a tale most humans would disregard, as ignorance sometimes is bliss. However, what is to come after these 12 minutes will baffle Arthur even more when a spaceship materializes in the sky. In disbelief, Arthur exclaims, "What the hell are those things?" This scene, despite its amusing approach, presents an impression that awareness can shake the very foundation of personal wisdom.Through a thumb ring, far beyond the technological advances on Earth, Ford and Arthur hitch a ride with a spaceship. It brings them on a fantastic journey through space, dimensions, and metamorphosis, as they encounter the Intergalactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) who has kidnapped himself, the adventurous woman Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), and the robot Marvin (body performed by Warwick Davis and the voice of Alan Rickman) who suffers from clinical depression as a consequence of his human like personality programming. Together these five venture through space on board the starship, whose name has some witty symbolic connotations, Heart of Gold, as they seek the ultimate answer to all.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy employs playful mise-en-scene that brings Star Trek and other science fiction films, which help create an alien atmosphere. Together with clever camera framing there are terrific performances by several actors such as Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, Warwick Davis, Alan Rickman, John Malkowich, Helen Mirren among many others. The script was initiated by Douglas Adams and later finished by Karey Kirkpatrick after Adams' death, which Jennings gave terrific adaptation. An adaptation that at first look emerges like a light comedy, but offers something much more profound for a more reflective audience.Visual tidbits, fragments, and other remnants of ideas begin to wander aimlessly from the opening scene until the end in the film . Within these diverging ideas the storyline follows a rather straight pattern, which generates additional comic nonsense. The chaotic presentation of the many concepts brings different notions to light. The idea is that life emerges out of chaos. After all, this is true if the audience considers the big bang, or evolution theory, where life surfaced through chaos. Jennings creates an atmosphere of chaos that converge in a reflective state of mind the way a bouquet of wild flowers creates a pattern. In this potpourri of ideas the audience will discover a truly intelligent comedy that hides underneath the surface of blockbuster vanity.

Spoiler alert: 42