ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

IN A NUTSHELL...

The Story: The long-gestating adaptation of the late Douglas Adams' radio/TV/bestselling novels finally hits the big screens. Martin Freeman stars as timid earthling Arthur Dent, whose world is turned upside down when the planet is demolished to make way for an intergalactic bypass. Brit director Garth Jennings steps up from music videos for his feature debut, while the cast also includes Sam Rockwell (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Mos Def (Ford Prefect), and Zooey Deschanel (Trillian). Marvin the Paranoid Android is voiced by Alan Rickman.
UK Box Office: Β£10.669 million (as at 6th September August 2005)
Useless Fact: A movie version was first planned in 1982, with Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) producing. Austin Powers director Jay Roach was also attached to the project for many years

VIDEO...

ΜύΜύ

THE REVIEWS...

"It's hard to see how this could have been better" (4/5)

"A very British, very funny sci-fi misadventure that's guaranteed to win converts" (4/5)

"The graphics are fabulous. The aliens are deliciously grotesque. And Martin Freeman is inspired casting as Arthur Dent" (3/5)

"I loved this film. It's faithful, irreverent, fun, funny and in no way the disrespectful waste of celluloid Adams fans had secretly been dreading" (70%)

"This is a very British film. If you like Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Monty Python or simply laughing at stupid things, then you'll enjoy it" (5/5)

"Director Garth Jennings has added his own unique touch to proceedings, even going so far at one highly inspired point as to turn the whole thing into something akin to Bagpuss"

"Although signs of Hollywood studio tampering are in evidence, director Garth Jennings stays true to the oddity at the heart of this quintessentially British space odyssey" (4/5)

"Flawed, loveable and a little bit silly - in other words, very British"

"While the film version can be seen to embody some particular virtues, it now seems slightly old-fashioned"

"The film is no disgrace, and honours the Guide's gentle, low-tech ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ origins. But it doesn't do justice to the open-ended inventiveness of the original" (3/5)

"The movie is probably best enjoyed by the uninitiated, or those for whom the books - or the even better radio series - are a fond but distant memory" (registration required)

"Seldom have I sat through a high-profile comedy that has generated so little laughter - even nervous laughter" (1/5)

WEB WATCH...

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Official site

42 And All That
Hitchhiker's Guide article

"There never seems to be enough money"
Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith interview

"Nothing I did was good for getting girls"
Bill Nighy interview

"It's a blessing and a curse"
Martin Freeman interview

In depth
Special feature

"It is very rare that you get to work in this particular way"
Zooey Deschanel interview

"Douglas was never entirely happy with the TV series"
Robbie Stamp interview

A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Hitchhiker's Guide article

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