The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Filming of the Douglas Adams Classic

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of the biggest and most eagerly anticipated film events of recent years. A much-yearned-for project of Douglas Adams, it has taken twenty-five years to bring the Galaxy to life on screen, and this interpretation of the classic novel is groundbreaking.

Starring Sam Rockwell as Zaphod, Mos Def as Ford Prefect, Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, Martin Freeman as Arthur, Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast and John Malkovich as Humma Kuvala, a new character created by Douglas especially for the movie, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy draws on a refreshing mix of CGI technology and state-of-the art puppeteering from Jim Henson's Creature Workshop.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Filming of the Douglas Adams Classic, Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer and close friend of Douglas Adams, reveals the craft of the making of the film. From the emphasis throughout production on making real sets and real creatures, Robbie Stamp has interviewed many of the people involved in the film's production.

Storyboards, sketches, never-before-seen artwork and the making of the Heart of Gold, the Vogons (including what it's like to puppeteer and act inside one), the Guide itself and of course Marvin create a must-have companion to the film. With 400 color and black & white images, plus a wealth of insider jokes and cultural cross-references, this is the book old and new fans of Hitchhiker's have been waiting for.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—The Movie © 2005 Touchstone Pictures

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Pan Galactic Gargleblasterly Good!, 2007-02-16
This book is fantastic. If you more of a fan of the book, TV show, or radio show, this isn't really for you. There are many large, detailed illustrations and photos with explanations to boot. It shows many hidden factoids from the film and describes the development of how they wanted to portray the characters and story line in this version of... The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy . If you really loved this movie, you will really love this book.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

The book about the Making of the Movie of the Book ...., 2005-10-28
I discovered Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide (Hitch Hiker's Guide for those who prefer it in it's original English) when I was in high school. I devoured each book as I could afford it, always eager for more. I was thrilled when the trilogy expanded. When the PBS station out of Washington DC started playing the BBC TV show, I was in heaven. And when the NPR station I listened to at college started playing the original radio show, I rigged up a way to record the shows on audio cassette so I wouldn't miss an episode.

So you can understand my embarrassment when I admit that I have yet to see the movie. But I've done the next best thing-I've read the book about making the movie. And I want to see the movie even more now.

This book is incredible. The pictures include not only final set designs, but the various stages that the designs went through. The Guide itself is pictured in every incarnation it went through. The Heart of Gold is shown in all its splendor. The costuming for Marvin, everyone's favorite paranoid android, is shown in enough detail to make me feel very sorry for the actor who had to wear it. Concept sketches abound. Any book that shows the actual bypass plans for both the Cottington bypass (inside front) and the Hyperspace bypass that requires the demolition of the Earth (inside back) has to be on every fan's must-read list.


The justification for changing parts of the "original" story are made in the book as well. True Hitchhiker's fans need no justification, though-we know that none of the various forms that the story has taken agrees with any other version. It should come as no surprise that the movie is different from the books, which were different from the TV series, which was different from the radio show, which is different from the lunchbox...

Anyone who watches movies and wonders "How did they DO that?" needs this book. Any Douglas Adams fan needs this book. Anyone who has ever written Vogon poetry needs this book.

The movie came out on DVD on Tuesday of this week. It's been out two whole days, and I haven't bought it yet. This book will get me through until I can get my copy-I might even be able to hold out for the collector's edition that will surely come out soon.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

A Fun Book, 2005-09-02
OK, so you've read the books (several times), seen the movie (several times), going to buy the DVD when it comes out. Why would you want to buy a book on the movie?

Well, maybe because you want to see how they did some things. Maybe because the still shots in the movie give you time to look at what you are seeing for a while instead of being forced to go on to something else.

The making of a major motion picture like this is a big effort combining the talents of a lot of highly skilled folk. If you're into movies, knowing how they had to import material for Arthur Dent's pajamas from Turkey makes a very good trivia point to have at your fingertips.

I guess there's really no good good, solid, sound reason to buy this book. Except I like it, I found the pictures and writing to be fun to read. I've loaned it out to a few other fans. Good reason or not, I think you should go out and buy it.


1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

not truely awesome, 2005-08-19
As a long time Hitchhikers reader/viewer/listener this book comes in rather far down the enjoyment list. I have not seen the new film, but have the older DVD based on the BBC program, saw the original BBC shows, heard and recorded all the radio programs and have the original books. Perhaps the book documenting parts of how the new film was made would be useful to movie people, I'm not a very friendly viewer of movies and usually prefer the books and radio stuff to feed my imagination. So with that bias put out for all to see, you can judge how useful these opinions might me for purchasing the book.
Books can't do much to get us inside the realy technical stuff of a modern special effects movie. So it is not a surprise that this gives a fairly superficial treatment of the technical aspects. What is less understandable is why central characters get an equally surface only treatment and it really escapes me as to why Marvin the paranoid robot is made to look like a childs cartoon neutered blob. What audience were the producers trying to reach, and how can we imagine pains down the diodes on the left side of a blob! Even more puzzling is the lack of a systematic framework about life, the universe and everything. So yes, I am not glad I purchased the book.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Very cool book!, 2005-05-24
I've been obsessed with H2G2 lately, and as soon as I heard about this book, I had to get it. There are many pictures in here, from concept drawings to in-depth photos and diagrams of practically everything. It explains the Vogons and what they had to do to get them moving, the Guide's appearance, each character's personality and clothing, Magrathea's factory floor... even everything about Arthur's house.

My only complaint, and it's a small one, is that Arthur, Zaphod, and Trillian get four pages of coverage, while Ford only gets two. Then again, I'm a huge Ford fan, so I'm biased.

If you're a fan, you must get this book.

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