The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
| Original title | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
 | |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 6 JMK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Garth Jennings |
| script |
Douglas Adams , Karey Kirkpatrick |
| production |
Roger Birnbaum , Jay Roach , Nick Goldsmith , Jonathan Glickman , Gary Barber |
| music |
Joby Talbot , Bernie Leadon |
| camera | Igor Jadue-Lillo |
| cut | Niven Howie |
| occupation | |
| |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Original title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ) is a British science fiction film , which on the same book by Douglas Adams is based. Filming ended in August 2004 and the film premiered on April 28, 2005 in the United Kingdom , Australia and New Zealand and the following day in the United States . The film opened in Germany on June 9, 2005. The screenplay was written by Douglas Adams until his death and completed by Garth Jennings and Karey Kirkpatrick .
action
Awakened by the noise of the bulldozers trying to pull down his house, Arthur Dent desperately tries to prevent his house from being demolished by getting in the way of the bulldozers. His friend Ford Prefect gets the construction workers to stop their business until they finish their beer so that Ford and Arthur can go to a pub . There he reveals to him that he does not come from Earth, but from a small planet near Betelgeuse .
Ford knows that the destruction of Earth by the Vogons, who want to make way for a hyperspace route in space, is imminent. Ford and Arthur save themselves from certain death just in time by sneaking aboard the Vogon spaceship, i.e. hitchhiking. Because Arthur is not quite comfortable with his new situation, Ford gives him the ultimate space guide "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", which will accompany Arthur from now on and provide him with important information. The Vogons, however, do not like hitchhikers and so their leader, Prostetnik Vogon Jeltz, decides to “amuse” them with his poems and then to let them be thrown into space.
Against all odds, the two of them are saved by the Heart of Gold . This spaceship is manned by Zaphod Beeblebrox, the President of the Galaxy, as well as Tricia McMillan - who Arthur met earlier at a party and who now calls herself Trillian - and Marvin, a manic-depressive robot.
Zaphod reveals his intention to use the Hearts of Gold to find the planet Magrathea . He tells his fellow travelers the story of the supercomputer Deep Thought and the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything else . Zaphod is looking for this computer that is said to be on Magrathea.
Through the infinite improbability drive , she brings the ship to Viltvodl VI , the home of the Jatravartids and Humma Kavula (not available in the novel), who was Zaphod's opponent in the election of President of the Galaxy. Kavula has a red data cube that contains the coordinates of Magrathea and offers them in exchange for the viewpoint cannon, which is said to be near Deep Thought. As security, however, he demands Zaphod's second head and keeps it hostage.
While on the run from Viltvodl VI, Trillian is arrested by Vogons and carried off to their home planet Vogsphere. The others follow the Vogons to save Trillian. Shortly after disembarking their ship, they have an encounter with the local flora that attacks anyone who just ponders. Despite the painful attacks from the flora, they reach the city. Once there, they face the Vogon bureaucracy, which initially makes it difficult for Trillian's rescue.
When Trillian is interrogated, she learns of the destruction of the earth. Arthur hadn't told her because he was intimidated by Zaphod. She also learns that the order to destroy the earth was signed by Zaphod, who thought it was an autograph card. Arthur, Zaphod, and Ford eventually manage to properly fill out the presidential kidnapper prisoner release form; and Trillian is released just in time before she is fed to the voracious babbler von Traal. After the successful rescue, the heroes manage to escape from Vogsphere.
Just as the Vogons are about to take up the chase, the siren sounds at lunch break and so all Vogons initially take a half-hour break. Throughout the film, the Vogons chase the Hearts of Gold . This is mainly driven by the Galactic Vice-President Questular Rontok (not present in the novel), who hopes to save Zaphod from his kidnappers. (Zaphod kidnapped himself while stealing the Hearts of Gold .)
The heart of gold is now on course for Magrathea. After an incident with two thermonuclear missiles, which against all probability turn into a sperm whale and a pot of petunias by reactivating the infinite improbability drive , the heroes land on the planet and are separated there.
Zaphod, Trillian, and Ford find Deep Thought, while Arthur hits Slartibartfaß. He tells him the truth about the earth, namely that the planet was actually a supercomputer designed by Deep Thought , which was supposed to find the question about the answer 42 calculated by Deep Thought . During a tour of the planetary factory on Magrathea, Arthur is shown the "Earth Version II", a faithful replica.
At the same time, Zaphod, Trillian, and Ford find the Viewpoint Cannon at Deep Thought. According to the travel guide "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," it was commissioned by a council of disgruntled housewives who were fed up with endless discussions with their husbands that always started with the phrase ... is that so hard to understand? end up. When the viewpoint cannon is fired at someone, the victim will instantly experience the whole situation from the point of view of the shooter. Trillian uses the rifle to help Zaphod understand her emotional conflict.
Back at his home on Earth Version 2, Arthur meets Ford, Zaphod and Trillian, who are busy enjoying a sumptuous feast provided by white mice. (It was originally the mice who commissioned, paid for and controlled the first earth.) The food is, however, provided with sleeping pills, and so Ford, Zaphod and Trillian soon fall asleep. The whole thing is a trap used by the mice to extract Arthur's brain - it's all that is left of the first Earth after its destruction and is needed to end the Earth computer program. Before the two mice manage to remove his brain, Arthur frees himself and crushes them with a teapot.
The heroes leave Arthur's house and find themselves surrounded by Vogons, who immediately open fire. While Zaphod tries to start Arthur's supposed spaceship - a trailer - and Ford fends off the Vogons with a towel, Arthur and Trillian try to reach the dropped viewpoint cannon. However, you are forced to take cover behind the trailer. Marvin tries not to lose touch with the group and notices that the Vogons are turning out to be very bad marksmen. Shortly afterwards he is hit in the back of the head and collapses with the words "Now I have a headache".
Just as everything seems lost, Marvin reactivates and picks up the viewing angle cannon. He fires, meets all Vogons and exposes them to his view of life. The Vogons become incredibly depressed and collapse.
The depressed Vogons are being taken away and the final work is being done on Earth II. Slartibartfaß asks Arthur if the earth could do without anything better. Arthur replies, “Yes, to me.” The film ends with the earth restarting and the heroes with the hearts of gold set off for the restaurant at the end of the universe .
criticism
"A winking adaptation of the novels and the science fiction radio play classic of the same name by Douglas Adams, which offers a wonderful counterpart to rather cramped contemporary science fiction films with a brilliant cast, absurd plot jumps, a great sense of dry British humor and the courage to use outdated effects, which only cause material battles. "
“Director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith clearly make an effort to do justice to the bizarre style of the cult book, but too often sacrifice its subtle comedy to pure slapstick and do not even begin to find a powerful arc of suspense. In the role of Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sam Rockwell operates an unimagined bang, the appearance of John Malkovich as the missionary Humma Kavula, not mentioned in the book, is superfluous and leads nowhere, [...] and the best character, the depressive robot Marvin, is rarely used . "
“Despite the wonderful design, nice effects and an almost optimal cast, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' has become a big bore, far from doing justice to the spirit of the template. The main reason for this seems to be two things: on the one hand, Douglas Adams' great art was mainly in dealing with the word (and the film brutally cuts that together), on the other hand the film has no timing at all. [...] Arthur, Trillian, Zaphod and Ford stumble awkwardly and without any coherence through the settings, hardly anything is explained, the hitchhiker himself is used far too rarely (his scenes are the best), one slapstick act chases the next. Adams' model is taken solely from what distinguished it - his perfected pun - instead everything remains that does not distinguish it, namely his sketchy plot. "
“The original, self-deprecating tone of the original is simply missing. Arrived in the 21st century, there is silly slapstick. Well, how did the dolphins know long before humans did: that can't go well. Don't panic, it's just a film, and yet it's a shame, the original really deserves more originality. "
revenue
The film grossed just over US $ 21 million on the first weekend in the US , and worldwide revenues were around US $ 104 million. However, since the profits did not meet producers' expectations, there is no sequel.
Awards
The film was nominated for the Teen Choice Award , the Empire Award, and the Casting Society of America Award . Mos Def was also nominated for the Teen Choice Award.
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
Trivia
- In the 42nd minute of the film, Deep Thought explains the number 42 as the calculated answer to the question "about life, the universe and everything" .
- In a short sequence, while the earth is threatened with destruction, you can see Douglas Adams' mother reading the newspaper in the background, sitting in a café.
- In the Vogon office you can briefly see the robot model of Marvin from the BBC series from 1981.
- Also from the BBC series, Arthur Dent's actor at the time, Simon Jones , appears warningly on the Magrathean video recording.
- During a close-up of Deep Thought, the Apple company logo can be seen on the side above .
- In the final second of the film, while the Heart of Gold sets off and changes its shape again several times, it turns into the head of Douglas Adams.
- In the planetary workshop you can briefly see a planet with the shape of the head of Douglas Adams in the background.
- The main musical theme of the film is - as in the eponymous BBC radio drama series of 1978 and the television series from 1981 - the Eagles -Stück Journey of the Sorcerer . The film features a cover version of this piece specially arranged by Joby Talbot .
- In an opening scene, Arthur saves Ford from an approaching car, a Ford Prefect .
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created by FFS Film- & Fernseh-Synchron based on the dialogue book and directed by Andreas Fröhlich .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Arthur Dent | Martin Freeman | Philipp Brammer |
| Ford Prefect | Mos Def | Simon hunter |
| Zaphod Beeblebrox | Sam Rockwell | Dietmar miracle |
| Tricia "Trillian" McMillan | Zooey Deschanel | Anna Carlsson |
| Marvin | Warwick Davis (voice: Alan Rickman ) | Friedhelm Ptok |
| Deep thought | Helen Mirren (voice) | Dagmar Heller |
| Slartibart barrel | Bill Nighy | Bodo Wolf |
| Humma Kavula | John Malkovich | Joachim Tennstedt |
| Questular Rontok | Anna Chancellor | Carin C. Tietze |
| teller | Stephen Fry | Reinhard Glemnitz |
Web links
- Official website (English)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Age rating for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 18, 2017 .
- ^ Film lexicon of TV feature films
- ↑ Thomas Schlömer: Film Spiegel
- ↑ br-online ( Memento from January 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Example 84 min. 50 seconds recognizable in a close-up of Deep Thought's eye.
- ↑ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on July 17, 2017 .