The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science-fiction movie based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28 2005 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; and on the following day in the USA. It was rolled out to cinemas worldwide during May, June, July, August and September.

Differences

The story is largely identical to the earlier versions until the characters arrive on the Heart of Gold, the most notable changes being the introduction of Trillian earlier, and a motivation for Ford rescuing Arthur being given.

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Zaphod's motivation for finding Magrathea is changed somewhat - he already knows of the Ultimate Answer, and seeks the computer that Deep Thought designed for the Ultimate Question. However, his underlying motivation, to become rich and famous (despite the fact that he already is) remains the same.

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The sub-plot involving Humma Kavula is new (the Jatravartids were previously only mentioned), the Heart of Gold originally going directly to Magrathea. In the previous versions the Heart of Gold and Zaphod Beeblebrox are originally pursued by the Galactic Police, not the Vogons, although the Vogons later do catch up with the Heart of Gold, in order to kill Arthur and Trillian.

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The character of Vice-President Questular, the belief that the president has been "kidnapped", and the capture and rescue of Trillian are new for the film.

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The climax of the action is largely new. In earlier versions the Galactic Police confronted the characters on Magrathea - in the movie the Vogons confront the characters on the Earth Mark II, whilst it is still being worked on. The mechanism for dealing with them (the Point of View gun) is new in the movie, but its application (Marvin exposing the Vogons to his point of view, hence causing them to collapse) is similar to the book version, where Marvin killed the Galactic Police by networking with its computer causing it to become depressed, commit suicide, and shut down the Policemen's life support system. At the very end of the film, the second Earth is rolled out, and Arthur Dent chooses to remain a hitch-hiker. Nothing analagous happens in previous versions - although the Earth does re-appear in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - it turns out, in Mostly Harmless to be for completely different reasons.

Related Topics:
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Mostly Harmless

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The romantic triangle between Trillian, Zaphod and Arthur is hinted at in the previous versions, but never went anywhere. This plot thread was more developed in the movie. In the opening scenes, Arthur explains his encounter to Trillian at the party to Ford, introducing the character of Trillian earlier. Trillian is portrayed as American in the movie, as with the television series. In the radio series and the books she has a British accent.

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The two mice, Frankie and Benjy, were killed by Arthur Dent, who hit them with a bowl. Thus the mice never had the chance to report to the galaxy their version of the Ultimate Question: "How many roads must a man walk down?"

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Later, we find that Zaphod is keeping news of Earth's destruction from Trillian, and Trillian eventually dumps Zaphod after she discovers he is responsible for accidentally signing papers authorizing the destruction of the Earth, thinking that a fan was asking for an autograph. This is similar to the way the Frogstar Prisoner Relations Officer tricked him into signing a statement saying that he was put in the Total Perspective Vortex of his own free will in the radio series. In some earlier versions he had been involved in a conspiracy to destroy Earth.

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