All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Average User Score: 7 (104 sources)

Submit Movie Review

Review this film

Tell the world what you think of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Your Score:

reset score

Write Your Review:
When writing your review, remember to keep the language clean.

Submit Review Cancel

jack_sparrow_28

-1

Agree (1)

Disagree (2)

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is a brilliantly funny movie. I've never seen the original series everyone else is on about, so I guess I didn't already expect something, but I loved this anyway. It is the story of Arthur Dent, an average...
[+] Read Full Review

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is a brilliantly funny movie. I've never seen the original series everyone else is on about, so I guess I didn't already expect something, but I loved this anyway. It is the story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman who loves his tea, and is about to have a bypass driven through his house. His friend, Ford, is predicting the end of the earth, and saves him just as earth is destroyed, and subsequently, they begin the greatest journey the galaxy has ever seen.

The acting is brilliant, and Arthur's character is basically clueless, just as anyone would be, and he just wants to relax and collect himself. Ford is confident in his knowledge of the galaxy. And every other character is exactly who you'd expect them to be, not trying to be funny by making the nerd a muscle bound superhero (I HATE THAT!). The comedy is great. Most of it is jokes that are statements that make sense if you listen to what the characters say. The special effects rock. I don't see what people don't like about this movie, but hey, everyone's opinion is valued "cough" (YEAH RIGHT) "cough".

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is a greatly underappreciated movie, and I am glad to have seen it.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted aug 9, 2007 8:34 pm pt

mandytjie

-1

Agree (1)

Disagree (4)

If you've seen the original 1981 tv series, you'll know that with this movie, they simply put new faces on the actors and cut the number of scenes. Twenty-four years later and we were expecting lights, bling, CGI, technology and general...
[+] Read Full Review

If you've seen the original 1981 tv series, you'll know that with this movie, they simply put new faces on the actors and cut the number of scenes. Twenty-four years later and we were expecting lights, bling, CGI, technology and general entertainment value. We were disappointed. Three points for the casting of Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent. Marvin was stunning too.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted jul 26, 2007 8:50 pm pt

meowd

-1

Agree (1)

Disagree (2)

All in one day Arthur Dent loses his house,finds out his good friend is actually an alien and also finds out that earth is going to be blown up because the planet is in the way for a newly proposed motorway. This Sci-Fi movie has it all! It's...
[+] Read Full Review

All in one day Arthur Dent loses his house,finds out his good friend is actually an alien and also finds out that earth is going to be blown up because the planet is in the way for a newly proposed motorway. This Sci-Fi movie has it all! It's wacky and I love that!

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted jul 7, 2007 9:20 pm pt

jtm72

-1

Agree (2)

Disagree (3)

So much wasted potential, including near-perfect casting. But if you are a fan of the books, you will probably be very disappointed. I think the first half of the movie is good-to-great - relatively faithful to the story and any changes are...
[+] Read Full Review

So much wasted potential, including near-perfect casting. But if you are a fan of the books, you will probably be very disappointed. I think the first half of the movie is good-to-great - relatively faithful to the story and any changes are acceptable. After around the half-way point, it all just becomes a muddled mess and resembles neither the Hitchhiker books or a decent storyline. Read (or re-read) the books instead.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted jun 11, 2007 4:37 pm pt

alichino

-1

Agree (2)

Disagree (2)

I was not impressed. It is okay to take poetic license with a story...but this story is not particularly similar to the original story, sure there are pieces, but so much of the interesting points are left out. The acting was so so, what you...
[+] Read Full Review

I was not impressed. It is okay to take poetic license with a story...but this story is not particularly similar to the original story, sure there are pieces, but so much of the interesting points are left out. The acting was so so, what you would expect really, but no one really goes out of their way to make their character shiny, especially our hero...his written character is sort of left in the dark too much.
I would write more, but I see it's time for my lunch break, I think I'll have soup.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted jun 9, 2007 8:01 am pt

harrison91

-1

Agree (1)

Disagree (2)

terriable, just terriable what were thay thinking thay changed every thing the only thing thats the same are the names or this would just just be another si-fi movie.
thay changed the ending,zaphod had one head, marvin wasnt 9 foot tall and...
[+] Read Full Review

terriable, just terriable what were thay thinking thay changed every thing the only thing thats the same are the names or this would just just be another si-fi movie.
thay changed the ending,zaphod had one head, marvin wasnt 9 foot tall and square and took away the strange humour the old one had

so if you liked the first one dont watch this one it will scared for life.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted may 31, 2007 5:12 am pt

sassy_eggs

-1

Agree (4)

Disagree (3)

This film is extremely silly... and that is just what I loved about it. It's a great space adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously and the SFX are top notch, as is the acting. Granted the British humour is not for everyone, but for those...
[+] Read Full Review

This film is extremely silly... and that is just what I loved about it. It's a great space adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously and the SFX are top notch, as is the acting. Granted the British humour is not for everyone, but for those who love it this is the film for you.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted apr 14, 2007 5:37 pm pt

CTUBauer24

-1

Agree (2)

Disagree (2)

A well done space story with good acting. but at time the story can be slow and a little boring but it does good of how the movie plays out. I give the movie 3 stars.

Report Abuse

Posted mar 6, 2007 3:45 pm pt

NoOneIsAlone

-1

Agree (5)

Disagree (2)

It is good, I think that the humor is quite good and the storyline is good too.I just don't think why was it so... underappreciated. I hardly hear anyone talking about this movie, but it is actually pretty good, still, there are some differences...
[+] Read Full Review

It is good, I think that the humor is quite good and the storyline is good too.I just don't think why was it so... underappreciated. I hardly hear anyone talking about this movie, but it is actually pretty good, still, there are some differences from the book, but still, great movie!

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted feb 3, 2007 9:18 am pt

alexlips

-1

Agree (5)

Disagree (0)

You might like it or you might hate it. As for me, I am in between. Some characters and scenes are really childish and silly but others I really liked. I wouldn't see this again any time soon.

Report Abuse

Posted feb 3, 2007 8:44 am pt

• [+] Portland Oregonian
  
  83
  They have been true to a classic source, using Adams' language and finding just the right actors, sets and costumes to flesh out his vision. Only the most persnickety cultist won't appreciate the effort.

  by Shawn Levy | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  80
  Mostly harmless. A very British, very funny sci-fi misadventure that's guaranteed to win converts.

  by Dan Jolin | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  80
  Hits the screen with its disarmingly droll spirit quite intact.

  by Michael Rechtshaffen | Read Full Review »
• [+] LA Weekly
  
  80
  This very funny, very British movie -- directed by newcomer Garth Jennings -- has sci-fi effects that are impressive yet appropriately cheesy.

  by Chuck Wilson | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  80
  Mr. Jennings and Mr. Goldsmith have held onto a genuine sense of childlike wonder, which works as a nice corrective to what might otherwise come across as an overabundance of hip.

  by Manohla Dargis | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  75
  It's a pleasure to see and hear so much wit in a big-budget comedy, and the fine British cast of supporting actors makes every bon mot a tasty verbal morsel.

  by Sean Axmaker | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  75
  Even if this new version of "Hitchhiker" doesn't quite capture it all, you'll still want to stick your thumb out and catch a ride.

  by Robert K. Elder | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  75
  Wildly imaginative, humane, playful and deflating of all pretense.

  by Mick LaSalle | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  75
  The film is a loopy, family-friendly jaunt, with a perfect "Wizard of Oz" finale that isn't in the book, but like the book, it suffers from a chronic plot malfunction.

  by Kyle Smith | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  75
  At selected moments the Pee Wee's Playhouse-scaled visual goofiness and flights of thespian bravura in this long-awaited movie adaptation of Douglas Adams' goofy-wise cult classic are in perfect celestial harmony with the existential tomfoolery of Adams' peerless (and peerlessly Monty Python-British) creation.

  by Lisa Schwarzbaum | Read Full Review »
• [+] Rolling Stone
  
  75
  Go with the whimsical flow that includes a hilariously morose robot named Marvin, voiced by the great Alan Rickman with the weight of the galaxy resonating in every bored, cynical syllable. Adams would be pleased.

  by Peter Travers | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New Yorker
  
  70
  The problem is not that the film debases the book but that movies themselves are too capacious a home for such comedy, with its tea-steeped English musings and its love of bitty, tangential gags.

  by Anthony Lane | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Onion (A.V. Club)
  
  70
  Not every moment works, particularly in the draggy middle section, but the spirit of the thing still carries it along.

  by Keith Phipps | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  70
  The singing dolphins opener is a giddy prelude to an imaginative romp that's helped along in the slow patches by mind-bending visuals.

  by Andrea Gronvall | Read Full Review »
• [+] Film Threat
  
  70
  Too often, the movie follows up Adams' chaotic humor with weak slapstick and the incongruous love story.

  by Pete Vonder Haar | Read Full Review »