The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [Blu-ray]

Director: Garth Jennings

Overview

Douglas Adams' oft-adapted tale of an normal guy making his way through the universe (it's already been presented as a novel, a radio serial, a television series, and a comic book) finally makes its way to the big screen in this endearingly goofy sci-fi comedy. Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is a very ordinary man who is having a truly unusual day -- after discovering that one of his best friends, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), is actually an alien, Ford tells him that the planet Earth is going to be destroyed so that otherworldly forces can make room for construction of a hyperspace bypass. Since Arthur accidentally saved Ford's life years ago, Ford does him a favor -- he first gets him a ride on a spaceship passing by, and then presents him with a guidebook that will tell a beginner everything he needs to know as he hitchhikes through outer space. Along the way, Arthur encounters such interstellar notables as sleazy Galaxy president Zaphod Beebelbrox (Sam Rockwell), the girl of his dreams Tricia McMillan (Zooey Deschanel), perpetually glum robot Marvin (voice of Alan Rickman), interplanetary construction magnate Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy), and cult leader Humma Kavula (John Malkovich). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was the first feature film for Garth Jennings, previously best known for his work in television commercials and music videos; he was recommended to the producers by director Spike Jonze after Jonze had to turn down an offer to head up the project.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/23/2007
UPC:	0786936725360
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	PG
Source:	TOUCHSTONE / DISNEY
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:49:00
Sales rank:	356

Special Features

"Audio commentary with executive producer Robbie Stamp and Douglas Adams' colleague Sean Solle","Audio commentary with director Garth Jennings, producer Nich Goldsmith and actors Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy","Deleted scenes","Really deleted scenes","Additional Guide Entry: The Man and the Fish","Movie Showcase","Instant access to select movie scenes that showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound","Seamless menus"

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sam Rockwell	Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zooey Deschanel	Trish McMillan/Trillian
Martin Freeman	Arthur Dent
Bill Nighy	Slartibartfast
Warwick Davis	Marvin
Anna Chancellor	Questular
John Malkovich	Humma Kavula
Su Elliott	Pub Customer
Dominique Jackson	Fook
Simon Jones	Ghostly Image
Mark Longhurst	Bulldozer Driver
Steve Pemberton	Prosser
Jack Stanley	Lunkwill
Albie Woodington	Barman
Alan Rickman	Marvin
Helen Mirren	Deep Thought
Thomas Lennon	Shipboard Computer
Bill Bailey	The Whale
Richard Griffiths	Jeltz
Ian McNeice	Kwaltz
Stephen Fry	Narrator,Narrator
Yasiin Bey	Ford Prefect
Jason Schwartzman	Gag Halfrunt
Su Elliot	le client du pub
Sumner Locke Elliott	Pub Customer
Kelly Macdonald	Reporter
League of Gentlemen	Vogons [Voice]
Mak Wilson	Vogon Interpreter [Voice]
Jerome Blake	Vogon Soldier
Martine Dawson	Vogon Soldier
Steve Grindle	Vogon Soldier
Simon Hibbs	Vogon Soldier
Mike Lewis	Vogon Soldier
Tim Perrin	Vogon Soldier
Tucker Stevens	Vogon Soldier
Ben Uttley	Vogon Soldier
Spencer Wilding	Vogon Soldier
Milo Bodrozic	Vogon Soldier
Dan Ellis	Vogon Soldier
Art Hewitt	Vogon Soldier
Rob Horseman	Vogon Soldier
Paul Nathaniel	Vogon Soldier
Jessie Riley	Vogon Soldier
Ashley Stuart	Vogon Soldier
Patrick Walker	Vogon Soldier
William Wollen	Vogon Soldier
Christopher Austin	Conductor
Joby Talbot	Composer

Technical Credits

Douglas Adams

Karey Kirkpatrick

Douglas Adams	Screenwriter,Executive Producer,Producer
Karey Kirkpatrick	Screenwriter
Jay Roach	Producer
Nick Goldsmith	Producer
Gary Barber	Producer
Roger Birnbaum	Producer
Jonathan Glickman	Producer
Derek Evans	Executive Producer,Producer
Robbie Stamp	Executive Producer,Producer
Susie Figgis	Casting
Mark Appleby	Sound Effects
Todd Arnow	Producer
Caroline Hewitt	Producer
Rebekah Rudd	Producer
Tim Cavagin	Sound Effects
Tony Currie	Sound Effects
Neil Finnighan	Stunts
Kelly Dent	Stunts
Seon Rogers	Stunts
Lee Sheward	Stunts
Timothy West	Stunts
Karne Smithson	Stunts
Tracy Lenon	Producer
Courtney Vanderslice-Law	Executive Producer
Andy Bennett	Stunts
Grant Nicholson	Stunts
Paul Heasman	Stunts
Derek Lea	Stunts
Ray De Haan	Stunts
Richard Bradshaw	Stunts
Glenn Foster	Stunts
Samantha Martin	Stunts
Roger Brinbaum	Producer
Pete Coogan	Executive Producer
Cinesite	Special Effects
Marcia Ross	Casting
Mike Cooper	Stunts
Steve Griffin	Stunts
Myf Hopkins	Producer
Special Effects (GB) Ltd.	Special Effects
Mark Holding	Sound Mixer
Alastair Sirkett	Sound/Sound Designer
Ian Munro	Sound Mixer
Robin Knapp	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
1. Opening Titles
2. The Bypass
3. The Confession
4. "People of Earth..."
5. The Guide Book
6. Vogon Poetry
7. The Heart of Gold
8. Zaphod Beeblebrox
9. A Message to the President
10. The Ultimate Answer
11. Infinite Improbability Drive
12. Humma Kavula
13. Saving the President
14. "Don't Think"
15. Trillian's Rescue
16. Love & Kisses Zaphod
17. Magrathea
18. A Sperm Whale
19. My Name Is Slartibartfast
20. The Ultimate Question
21. The POV Gun
22. "Welcome Home Arthur!"
23. "I Feel So Depressed"
24. End Titles

Menu

Disc #1 -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Features
Original DVD Commentaries
Feature Audio Commentary With Executive Producer Robbie Stamp and Douglas Adams' Colleague Sean Solle: On
Feature Audio Commentary With Executive Producer Robbie Stamp and Douglas Adams' Colleague Sean Solle: Off
Feature Audio Commentary With Director Garth Jennings, Producer Nick Goldsmith and Actors Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy: On
Feature Audio Commentary With Director Garth Jennings, Producer Nick Goldsmith and Actors Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy: Off
Movie Showcase
Play All
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
About Movie Showcase
Original DVD Features: Deleted Scenes
Earth: Mostly Harmless
"We're Going to Win"
Impossible Forces
Original DVD Features: Really Deleted Scenes
Do Panic!
Arthur Escapes
Original DVD Features: Additional Guide Entry - The Man and the Fish
Scene Selections
Set Up
Audio
English 5.1 Uncompressed
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
French 5.1 Dolby Digital
Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles
English for the Hearing Impaired
French
Spanish
None

Editorial Reviews

Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began in 1978 as a BBC radio serial, which then spawned a bestselling book, a television series, more books, and even a text-based computer game. So it was inevitable that it would be made into a film: It just took a little longer than expected. The delay, in part, arose from the sizable problem of making a film that would appeal to both the book's devoted legions and newcomers to the Adams universe. Working from the last draft of the screenplay completed by Adams, who died in 2001, director Garth Jennings (one half of the music video team Hammer & Tongs) gives us a big-screen Guide that is about as good as you could expect from squashing a sprawling, meandering book into a 1-hour, 45-minute movie. The story remains the same: Arthur Dent (The Office's Martin Freeman) escapes from Earth mere seconds before it is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. This is thanks to Arthur's best friend, Ford (Mos Def). Ford, it turns out, is actually an alien who had been on Earth researching the latest edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. From there, Arthur meets Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), his girlfriend, Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), and depressed robot Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman) -- and learns of his and Earth's role in discovering the ultimate answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. The casting is spot on, especially Rickman, Stephen Fry (as the voice of the Guide), and an underused Bill Nighy as planetary designer Slartibartfast. Jennings attempts to retain Adams's spirit and humor, but some of the book's funniest sections were often lengthy asides, digressions, and footnotes; many of these have been excised to add such unnecessary elements as an Arthur-Trillian romance and a subplot involving John Malkovich as a cult leader. Yet when taken on its own terms -- which may be impossible for fans -- this Guide is still light-years smarter than your average interstellar screwball comedy.