 THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXYMPAA Rating:
 for thematic elements, action and mild languageReviewed by: Michael Karounos Average
Moviemaking Quality:
 Genre:
Action/Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Length:
1 hr. 50 min.
Year of Release:
2005
      Relevant Issues
Materialism - What if the cosmos is all that there is? Answer Extraterrestrials - Are we alone, or is there lots of life elsewhere in the universe? Answer Bible and ETs — What does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets? Answer Does Scripture refer to life in space? Answer Does God really exist? How can we know? If God made everything, who made God? Answer Where did life come from? Is evolution really the best scientific answer? Answer
Don’t Panic The best part of seeing “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” occurs in what appears to be the opening sequence. We see a beautiful cloud-and-water-covered Earth swirling on its white and blue axis in outer space. We drift with it to the sublime voice of Louis Armstrong singing “It’s a Wonderful World.” When the Earth violently blows up into a zillion pieces, a sign reading “DON’T PANIC” reassuringly displays on the screen, and we calmly think: “This is good.” The dissonance between cultured music and outrageous juvenile destruction on a cosmic scale strikes the sick funny bone in the same way as the image of Robert Duvall in “Apocalypse Now” surfing a wave of explosions in his helicopter and blaring Wagner from over-sized speakers: it’s just right. Only later do you begin to panic, when you recall that the sequence was actually the trailer to “Chicken Little” and that “Chicken Little” looked like a better movie. Belatedly, you realize that you’re stuck with stupid acting, stupid writing, and stupid directing — praying for Robbie and Mr. Smith to find the humor that has been lost in space. The fact that far worse movies have been made than “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is no consolation — if it’s the worst movie one can remember seeing recently. I read the first volume in the series and admit that the characters, the incidents, and the fantastic details are accurate. What’s missing is the soul of the book. The book’s humor is a complex blend of imagination and tone. Adams writes cleverly, but it’s his droll authorial voice that makes him so funny. He writes satire by diminishment, a mannerism which doesn’t work on the screen, because movies work in reverse: they have to make everything larger than life. Adams' genius is belittlement. In the movie, diminishing the characters makes them out to be idiots who are neither funny nor interesting. “Hitchhiker” uses voice-over narration, but this may be one of those rare movies that would have benefitted from more voice-over, a lot more, so the audience could at least hear something funny and intelligent. Stupid characters cannot communicate funny ideas because they sound like people talking about what they don’t understand. That’s sad. Additionally, the movie relies on too many close-ups of puzzled facial expressions. In those cases, it would have been better to say what was left unsaid. Intelligence is even more difficult to communicate without words than it is with words. For those who haven’t read the book, the plot is as follows. Arthur Dent’s home is scheduled for demolition to make room for a highway bypass. Arthur hadn’t been notified of this fact personally, but the paperwork had been available in the town archives, had he only chosen to look. Similarly, Earth is scheduled for demolition and, like Arthur’s house, the paperwork had been on file, open to appeal for a long time, though no one on Earth knew this or could travel to a distant solar system to file the appeal, even if they had known it. Both Arthur’s house and the Earth are destroyed by mindless bureaucrats, but, luckily, Arthur hitches a ride with an alien, and they set off on their galactic adventures. The faux violence that ensues is on the level of “Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles”: improbable, unconvincing, and unfunny. The actors overact in these parts, which shows that they know the movie’s in trouble, and that they have to work harder to get laughs where they can. The dual demolitions are a funny conception because they articulate the perversity of an unseen fate which decides, in the interest of mindless improvement, to destroy a house and a planet full of life. There are at least three obvious references to Darwin and evolution in the movie. Likewise, there are at least three references to religion — representing its spokesperson, adherents, and practices as hopelessly ignorant. The President of the Galaxy and the religious leader are similar in their rock persona excesses; while the scientist is cooly practical in her oversized glasses and starchy logic. We see three little animated books with a voice-over saying in succession: “Where God Went Wrong”; “More of God’s Errors”; and, “Who Is This God Person Anyway?” There are also poorly written sops to gays and feminists which fill out the film’s politically correct liturgy. Clearly, Jenkins interprets Adams’s books polemically, and he works hard to insert these lame, ideological winks and nudges into the screenplay for the benefit of a certain kind of audience who he hopes will say good things about the movie. Unfortunately, the film is so convincingly stupid that everything exists on the same low level. In terms of communicating the soundness of its ideas, the movie comes across like a box of rocks, shaken, not stirred. Adams’s book suggests a tension between the totalitarianism of the Vogon’s mindless bureaucracy, and the capitalistic greed of Zaphod’s materialism. In this, the book has intriguing similarities to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in which the drug, soma, represents a central metaphor of a different kind of escapism. Had Jenkins strengthened the intellectual underpinning of the movie to suggest that life offers two unacceptable choices--totalitarianism and materialism--and the only alternative is to escape, it could have been thought-provoking. The Vogons, like the creatures in Orwell’s Animal Farm, appear to be a cross between pigs and humans. Additionally, Zaphod’s theft of the spaceship The Heart of Gold has allegorical dimensions, as does the ship’s Infinite Probability Drive. But lacking ideas, what’s a hapless earthling like Arthur Dent to do? For the answer to that question and other painful thoughts, by all means, see this movie. However, if you wish to preserve your IQ at its present level, DON’T PANIC. Take a walk in the park instead. It’s a wonderful world. Violence: Minor / Profanity: None / Sex/nudity: Minor See list of Relevant Issues — questions-and-answers.  Negative - The famed comic piece of nihilism (basically, 'life is meaningless, so have fun') made its big screen debut with a big budget, but poor comic acting and directing. The BBC version at least knew how to play English humor, and I found myself laughing at it even though I didn’t always want to. In this version, that was not the case. Good special effects and set designs did not make up for poor directing and poor comic acting. Even Marvin the Depressed Robot was funnier in the BBC version. Negative - The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy books are without doubt my favourites. I read them years ago and still remember laughing my head off in my bedroom, occasionally recieving strange looks from passers-by.
These books were brilliantly written. Amazing storyline, simultaneously hilarious and deep, with characters so bizarre it’s amazing that Adams figured out how to make them 3 dimensional. Neutral - First of all, I’m a fan of the books. With that said, it’s a quick hop and a jump to the conclusion that I am obviously not too serious about any of the below topics: religion, faith, God, evolution, Darwinism,
creation, the destruction of the earth, the superiority of the human race, or… well, anything at all. The books do not take any of these topics seriously either. They become the fodder for nearly all of the author’s
jokes. Positive - After a hilarious Broadway-style opening segment with dancing dolphins, this movie becomes an odd mixture of Monty Python humor and Star Wars effects, leaning heavily on British humor and somewhat true to the essence of the book by the same name. By the way, I haven’t read the book, nor have I read any of the works of Douglas Adams (except for some wacky chapters about dogs that my wife has shared with me), but my wife, who’s read pretty much the entire Library of Congress, has read all of his stuff, and she felt that the movie stayed pretty true to the essence of the book. She said it’s not as gross in it’s portrayal of the weird creatures that are in the book, and the movie makes no reference to any of the sexual situations that are in the book. Yes, there’s a love connection, but everything’s above board, so to speak. Negative - I do not go to the movies often and when I do I usually check this sight for other Christians’s opinions first. I wish I had checked. This movie was so horribly offensive that I took my kids and left the theater. My 12 year old daughter was also offended. The handkerchief reference was more then I could take. My advice… DO NOT watch this movie and if you do do not take your children. Negative - I would describe myself as a “fairly tolerant” Christian. I’m an avid movie fan, and watch movies of all genres and ratings (G through R). Being “in the world,” I’m accustomed to having to “sift” out worldly garbage that is in almost every form of entertainment these days. I can sift out a little language, some violence and “some” sexual situations. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” offended me to the point that I refused to watch it and walked out of the movie theatre within roughly thirty minutes of the movies' beginning. (We were given tickets to another movie by a nice and understanding theatre manager.) Positive - First off - if you are not a fan of the books (a self-proclaimed 5-book trilogy) then you might be a little lost. Second, if you ARE a fan of the books, then you will know that Douglas Adams himself said that no two incarnations of the story are exactly the same (whether it be the BBC radio show, the BBC miniseries, or the new feature film). Negative - I left halfway through this movie. The direct reference towards salvation in the scene where he says “whipe us clean with your white
hankerchief” or something like that was the last straw for me. I’m not going to sit there and listen to someone belittle my saviour. Positive - …maybe [the reviewer just doesn’t get] British humor ala Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, etc. I enjoyed this movie tremendously, so did my teenage children. The thoughts on God and the meaning of life were so outrageous and bizarre that they didn’t offend, who could possibly take them seriously? We had a romping good time traveling through space, This is a great parody of everything we take seriously, you know something is important if someone parodies it. I never read the book, wasn’t lost in this movie at all. It did a great job of giving you just enough information to figure things out for yourself. Negative - …I found this movie very offensive not just
because of the evolution and Darwinism being promoted (which is very
common) but the 3 books that are listed as 'best sellers'. “Where God
Went Wrong,” “More Mistakes God Made,” and “Who is
this God Person anyway?” Do we REALLY want our children absorbing this type of thinking and leading
them to believe it’s okay to like or support a film that so blatently
makes fun of our God??!! Positive - …I loved this movie. Of course, I’m a fan. I’ve read the books, own the BBC TV
series on DVD and the original radio series on CD. That said, I can’t imagine watching this film without knowing all the minute details and getting all the in-jokes. The point of all of it is to be silly. Which it is. The movie is also
funny. Douglas Adams' writing is extremely clever. It makes me smile and sometimes chuckle and think, “oh that’s a good one,” but never really outright laugh. This movie made me laugh. Negative - It’s just bad bad bad. Don’t waste your money, this was the worst movie I have ever seen. Not intended for kids, dogs or humans. I sat there
amazed that I paid money for this movie, but maybe I can save you money by
rating it. Positive - Boy, I am very glad I saw this before I read the reviews. I felt that this was a very good movie. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a classic, but it was a fantastic ride. The acting was spot-on, and the dialogue supported the movie well. The Vogons were exactly as I imagined them-perfect dim-witted bureaucrats. Positive - If you are looking for this movie to adhere to the storyline of
the famed 'Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy' book series, you will be sorely
disappointed. The film plot is quite confusing to those who have read the
book. If your moral convictions are stronger than others I would suggest
not seeing the film as it may offend. There are numerous suggestions that
God simply does not exist and strong implications of evolution. However,
the movie was certainly entertaining and was mostly language and sexuality
free. I would say overall that for those of you who haven’t read the books it may be a little confusing, but entertaining and hilarious nonetheless. Positive - I walked into the cinema on opening night, to find it chock-a-block full of people just like myself, geeks and nerd in their late teens, most of us clutching out towels tightly. As a self-confessed Nerd, I quite enjoyed the movie. As a self-confessed Christian, I found that I had to roll my eyes at the silly handkerchief
part of the movie, but in a strange way found it relieving, like someone had finally admitted that most ways of dismissing God are rather ludicrous. Negative - This was the worst movie I have ever seen. So many references to where god went wrong and to evolution. The storyline was terrible. There was no plot, except for trying to answer the ultimate question (which turned out to be “is she the one”). No plot. Crude humor. Waste of money. Negative - In my short life so far (21 years old) I cannot remember a movie I have had to walk out of. I went into this movie expecting something “PG” and there were so many disrespectful remarks to God I left the theatre, and went out in the lobby and complained to the person at the counter. Never in my life have I been so upset at a supposed “PG” movie. I like “stupid” or slap-stick movies, but
this movie is just plain stupid, a waste of time, and most importantly, disrespectful to God! Positive - There appears to be much distress caused by the references to
where God went wrong etc. Unfortunately this is a bit like hearing a long and involved joke then
missing the punch line and completely getting the wrong end of the stick. I have to admit that if you are not a fan of the books, it wouldn’t have made much sense but the joke was really based around the babel fish and
how the existance of such an improbable creature must prove that God exists (Creative design). However, since God does not require proof, as it undermines faith, the very existence of the fish then proves God does not exist. (To paraphrase greatly). The actual point of the joke was not to denigrate God but to show that we
humans can be too clever for our own good. Unfortunately the film slimmed down the joke to the point where it became meaningless. I hope this helps. Negative - The movie was fair. At first, I thought it would be funny, and it was sort of cute but very long and boring, and you are waiting for something to happen. I wondered if the movie was made by Britains, for the monsters had British accents, and it was funny—watching that one
monster read poetry as punishment. The characters were cute but their acting was terrible. The monsters weren't scary in any way, although it may have been scary for some kids because the hitchhikers were locked up in some dungeon like room. Comments from young people
Negative - I …was expecting a
fun, witty sci-fi film. What I got was an outrage. This movie was so bad it’s hard to start this review. The acting was terrible with everybody except for the tolerable main character. The story had potential, which is one of the saddest parts of this movie, it could have been great! However, we were stuck with this. It is blaspheomous at every turn, the production quality was really bad, and the message was that of anti-christian values. Avoid this at all costs. Negative - This is by far the worst movie movie I’ve ever seen. I think I’m dumber for having watched it. The movie starts off with dolphin singing about their leaving and how they enjoyed the fish, I was hoping that the movie itself would redeem itself over time, which it did not. The movie is a complete waste of time, undeveloped charactures, people we don’t know who they are, sub-stories left un-finished etc. If you go to the movies just to see a movie then you have a nice nap with this one. The movie is fine for kids who wouldn’t get the story anyway. The only objectionable
material I saw in the film was the lead female characture in the shower (you see nothing). Out of 5 stars I give it a big fat 0. Negative - I was really disgusted by this film. It made fun of God and Jesus, really disgusting humor was used, gay suggestions were made, and there was no point to the film whatsoever. I walked out of this film near the end, but I should’ve had the courage to walk out on the movie earlier.
I was with my friends at the time who did not thoroughly enjoy it, but
they had no objections. I felt that this movie was a complete waste of time and money. There is nothing funny about it, and there is nothing good about it. Be ware. Neutral - …I thought it was good. The only
thing that bothered me was that in the movie it metioned where God went wrong. The audience laughed at this comment, which I felt was wrong because GOD did not go wrong. He is all knowing, and when he created everything he
said it was good. Positive - I must say this movie is HILARIOUS. I loved it. Me and my dad
went together and had a nice fun night at the movies. As long as you like
mindless entertaiment you’ll love this movie. See it. Neutral - Don’t Panic! If you’re not sure what “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is all about, I can “guide” you on what to expect. Positive - I thought this film was funny and wierd. It doesn’t fail to entertain, and even though it’s not very believable, it was refreshing to watch something different from your average movie. You will either hate or love this movie but I definitely enjoyed it. Negative - This is movie was okay, definitely different, but okay. I didn’t like the whole premise of the the movie, that there’s no meaning to life… Positive - This movie was AWESOME! …The movie was not hard to follow at all, and I haven’t even read the book. It is very enjoyable and has humor that can be appreciated by all ages. The plot is very coherent and well consructed and the movie never has a boring scene. The special effects are pretty good, especially when the movie
shows the different planets. There is hardly anything offensive in this whatsoever. You can’t say evolution is a huge deal either - actually it appears in any refernces to it that the movie is making fun of evolution. This is a great family movie or just for a bunch of teenage guys who want
to have some good laughs. There are some minor corny aspects of the movie, but they make it that much more enjoyable to watch. I would definitely recommend this film (just in case out planet blows up HAHA). Neutral - I thought this movie was very good (I am a big fan of British
humor and Star Wars) except for commenting where God whent wrong and where
they questioned if God was real. My mom rented the DVD (I saw it in
theatres with my friend Kevin without my parents, but with his parents)
and I love looking at bonus features. I clicked 'Additional Guide Entry'
where a man jumped into God’s window and said 'I have no faith, so to me
you are not real.' Then God disappeared. I now do not want to have
anything to do with this movie. Positive - …an absolutely hilarious movie! First of all, the humor is very British, so if you didn’t get Monty Python, you probably won’t get
this. The movie did a great job of translating Douglas Adam’s sly, yet
over-the-top humor to the big screen. Martin Freeman and Mos Def (about
whom I originally had my doubts) were great as Arthur Dent and Ford
Prefect. And, as always, Alan Rickman was extremely funny as Marvin the
Paranoid Android! There is very little objectionable content, certainly
nothing a ten-year-old couldn’t handle, but I think the only people who
would appreciate it would be teenagers. Most of the adults I know who
saw it were like “Well, that was strange,” and all the young
kids were like “Er…yes, can we watch the Muppets now?”
Overall, it was a great summer flick. Positive - …very good story line, earth gets destroyed, guy gets rescued by alien, searches for meaning of life and ends up happily ever after. There are a few negative aspects in this movie though. It is clear that the makers of the movie tried and succeded in making it look like God was a foolish man. There is some gross humor, profanity and mild action violence… Overall, this movie is a great popcorn muncher, though familyies who want to avoid a few minor glitches should wait. Movie Critics
“…You [may] find the movie tiresomely twee, and notice that it obviously thinks it is being funny at times when you do not have the slightest clue why that should be…” “…Not so fantastic voyage… should be more of a flight of fancy… it is little more than pan-galactic silly putty.” “…Non-readers of '70s sci-fi parody will lose way in gorgeous 'Galaxy'… The movie, while achieving a dynamite look and feel, doesn’t really take you anywhere.” “…It’s mostly for geeks… Oddball detour: Maybe you shouldn’t pick up `Hitchhiker’s Guide'…” “…there’s a lot to love about Garth Jennings' high-spirited, unhinged adaptation…” “…It’s as dreadfully off-key as David Lynch’s Dune or Brian De Palma’s Bonfire of the Vanities…” |
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