The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005 film)

Adaptation

After reading the book, I didn’t think there was a possible way to adapt this into a movie. But of course they were going to. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Douglas Adams was credited as one of the writers of the film. I’m not going to go into all the history of bringing this book to the big screen, but let’s just say that it was being worked on for decades.

Overall, they did a pretty good job of brining such a goofy, mixed up story as this into a movie. All the characters are there, the planets they visit, the ships they hitch rides on, and the presentation of the eponymous Guide – they’re all there. Brought to life by the narrator himself, Stephen Fry.

This film is most definitely a comedy. Marvin, the depressed robot, is hilariously voiced by Alan Rickman. Sam Rockwell as Beeblebrox was perfectly portrayed. And Arthur Dent himself, Martin Freeman, couldn’t have been better.

And, oh my gosh, the sighing doors worked so well on screen. Those parts of the book with the sighing doors were fairly humorous, but man oh man the movie got those right!

But…

There is just too much in the original book to bring to the big screen. So things need to get cut. The opening that I found funny in the book (Arthur trying to save his house from being demolished to make way a freeway, only for Earth to be destroyed to make way for a galactic freeway), went by so fast that it was almost hard to know what was happening. In fact, the alien’s speech is rushed and kind of garbled. So I had to really strain to hear what was being said.

And how Ford Prefect chose his name in the book, is completely glossed over in the film. Sure, he says that he thought cars were the intelligent species on the planet. But that didn’t really make up for it.

There’s a lot of that in the film. Or not a lot of that? Basically, they had to cut out a lot to hit the runtime. And that sucks.

Cast / Characters

Martin Freeman was perfectly cast as Arthur Dent. Had I known he was in the film version, I think it would have made the reading experience all the more enjoyable. I know that Hugh Laurie was originally considered or originally cast or something, but I’m so glad they went with Martin Freeman.

Sam Rockwell. Need I say more? Jim Carrey was sought to play Zaphod Beeblebrox, which would have been interesting. But Sam Rockwell was another perfect casting choice if you ask me. He’s one of those actors that’s in so many things and he’s such a big personality… it’s not like he disappears in his characters. It’s more like he is the characters. I see Sam Rockwell. I see the character. They are the same.

Mos Def and Zooey Deschanel were both great in their respective characters. I wouldn’t say they were extraordinary in any specific way. They were well cast and they played the parts well.

Alan Rickman definitely needs a shout out as Marvin. It’s a voiceover that could have been done by anyone, but I’m so glad they got Alan Rickman for that role.

Lastly, Stephen Fry as the narrator was just another good fit. He’s narrated all sorts of things, including an audiobook version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Having him narrate a movie version of it was a good call!

Music

I need to start paying more attention to the music. I remember almost nothing of the music. To be fair, it’s been a couple weeks since I watched this to the time I’m writing this. Clearly, the music didn’t stay with me. Sorry, Joby Talbot. I’m sure it was great!

Book or Movie?

Oof… this is a toss up. But if you’re going to go with one over the other, it’s gotta be the book. While the movie did have a few laugh-out-loud places, the book is a classic. One that I didn’t care for too greatly… but still a classic.