| | | Don't Panic.
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.
"A very British, very funny sci-fi misadventure that's guaranteed to win converts." Dan Jolin, Empire
"...smart, if not earth-shattering, fun." David Edelstein, Slate
"Wildly imaginative, humane, playful and deflating of all pretense. " Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
"Monty Python meets Star Wars..." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...so imaginative and cheekily funny that it's nearly as irresistible as a freshly mixed Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster..." Tim Knight, Reel.com
Editor's Note
Douglas Adams's long-awaited film version of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, based on his five-book series, is a funny, wacky, highly creative ride through a bizarre universe. Martin Freeman (Tim from THE OFFICE) stars as Arthur Dent, a British everyman suddenly thrust into intergalactic intrigue when the earth is destroyed by the Vogons to make room for an interspatial highway. Arthur travels the skyways with good friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def), an alien writer for an electronic encyclopedia called THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Things get downright dangerous--and absolutely hysterical--when Arthur and Ford thumb a ride with the president of the universe, two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox (a wild and crazy Sam Rockwell); earthling Tricia McMillan (Zooey Deschanel), whom Arthur once had a thing for back in England; and a perpetually depressed robot named Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman, played by Warwick Davis). With much of the galaxy after them, the motley crew makes its way toward a super-computer that just might be able to provide them with the ultimate question; they already know the answer. Based on a second-draft script written by Adams himself, who died shortly thereafter, H2G2 is a winning film that rightfully earns its place in the storied HITCHHIKER'S lore. And for an extra little bonus, make sure to sit through all of the credits.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture And Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 1/23/2007 |
| Running Time: 109 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2005 | | Catalog ID: 5353003 | | UPC: 00786936725360 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"[The] filmmaking style is unrushed and -- for a film stuffed with special effects -- not overly busy....[The] narrative bagginess is partly what makes the film feel true to Adams, if not in precise letter then certainly in mellow spirit." 04/29/2005 p.E1USA Today
"[T]he animation sequences that illustrate the instructional Guide itself are clever." 04/29/2005 p.8E Rolling Stone
"[A] movie that spills over with visual gags, puppet monsters and a digital John Malkovich....The script by Karey Kirkpatrick and Adams himself delivers the goods in inspired lunacy." 05/19/2005 p.85 Entertainment Weekly
"[A] nutty, fitfully charming production, with its 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse' visual aesthetic, androidish pacing, and idiot-proof overdelight in itself..." 05/13/2005 p.61-62 Uncut
"[I]t's a hugely welcome experience: witty, ingenious and sharp as razors." 06/01/2005 p.139 Sight and Sound
"Jennings crams the animations that illustrate the Guide entries with droll sight gags." 06/01/2005 p.60-61 ReelViews 7 of 10
For those who are fans of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's five-book "trilogy," I have two words of advice: Don't Panic! The 2005 film version of the book isn't nearly as bad as many Hitchhiker's lovers have feared. Of course, it's also not as good as it could have been. For the most part, this big-screen re-telling of Adams' inaugural book plays it safe, offers some solid performances and nice special effects, and provides some chuckles along the way. "Definitive," this isn't. But it will do in a pinch...There's certainly something of Adams in this version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, although perhaps not enough to make it an unqualified success. Maybe there was a concern that making it too offbeat would create accessibility problems for those unfamiliar with the books or the radio series. Or maybe it's not inherently cinematic enough. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
What these characters do is not as important as what they say, how they say it, and what it will mean to Douglas Adams fans. To me it got old fairly quickly. The movie was more of a revue than a narrative, more about moments than an organizing purpose, and cute to the point that I yearned for some corrosive wit from its second cousin, the Monty Python universe. But of course I do not get the joke. I do not much want to get the joke, but maybe you will. It is not an evil movie. It wants only to be loved, but movies that want to be loved are like puppies in the pound: No matter how earnestly they wag their little tails, you can adopt only one at a time. - Roger Ebert
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