A group of aliens have reached the Earth in an attempt to invade it. It seems from the destroying, that it's the world's end, the thing that lead Ford Prefect, a researcher, throws his friend the journeyman Arthur Dent out off the planet. Arthur may get into a series of exciting adventures.
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.
eFilmCritic.com
September 17, 2007
It's hard to dislike a movie in which one of the heroes gets brain power from lemon juice.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" is an enjoyable sci-fi romp with a strong twist of self-effacing British raillery that children of all ages will get a charge from.
[The movie] captures the quizzical, quasi-spiritual nature of [Adams'] book and manages to nail a surprising number of his dry little jokes, even some that you think could work only on the page.
Although Hitchhiker starts out a total gas, it doesn't have enough fuel to sustain the ride, ultimately amounting to little more than some amusing gags strung together in search of a story.
Fans of the book will probably be a little disappointed, but anyone encountering the Hitchhiker's Guide for the first time should be thoroughly entertained. It is very strange and very funny in a way that Adams' work exemplified.
