The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

In the film's opening, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Stephen Fry) narrates that the dolphins, the second most-intelligent creatures on Earth, had attempted to warn mankind about the planet's impending destruction, but humans had interpreted the dolphins' communications as tricks. The dolphins considered their mission a failure and left the planet, leaving their final message to humans as "So long, and thanks for all the fish." The remainder of the film follows the Earthling Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) interspersed with narrated Guide entries. Arthur wakes up one morning to find his house about to be demolished by bulldozers and attempts to delay them. Ford Prefect (Mos Def), his best friend, manages to convince Arthur to come to the pub in order to get some beer as muscle relaxant. Ford tries to explain to Arthur that he is really an alien from Betelgeuse working on the Hitchhiker's Guide, and that the Earth is shortly to be demolished. As predicted, a Vogon planet destruction crew appears above Earth, announcing to humanity its impending demise to make way for a hyperspace expressway. Ford saves himself and Arthur by hitching a ride on a Vogon ship as the Earth is destroyed. However, the two are discovered by the Vogons and as punishment, are forced to listen to Vogon poetry, the third-worst of its type in the galaxy (the second being of the Azgoths of Kria, and the first being of Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Sussex). Despite Arthur's attempts to express admiration for the poetry, the two are thrown out the air lock, picked up shortly afterward automatically by the starship Heart of Gold before they die of asphyxiation. Aboard the Heart of Gold, they find Ford's "semi-half brother" (claiming they shared three of the same mothers) Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), the President of the Galaxy who used his status to steal the ship, Tricia McMillan (Zooey Deschanel), an Earth woman that Arthur had flirted with at a party once before she decided to leave with Zaphod, and Marvin the Paranoid Android (voiced by Alan Rickman, acted out by Warwick Davis). Zaphod explains to the others that he seeks to visit the planet Magrathea, where he believes he can discover the Ultimate Question to Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything to match with the Answer "42" given by the supercomputer Deep Thought (voiced by Helen Mirren). Zaphod stole the Heart of Gold to use its improbability drive to get to the planet by trial and error - of an unplanned degree. To get the location of Magrathea, Zaphod must visit Humma Kavula (John Malkovich), his opponent in the election (his campaign being described as the "slanderous 'don't vote for stupid' campaign"), on the planet Viltvodle VI. Kavula accepts the offer but demands they return with a Point-of-view gun created by Deep Thought, as well as taking one of Zaphod's two heads as a "hostage". As they attempt to leave the planet, Trillian is captured by the Vogons, and the others are forced to travel to the Vogon homeworld, Vogsphere, to rescue her from the Vogon bureaucracy. The crew find themselves very annoyed with the spatula-like life forms that slap conscious thoughts (in the tangible head), long lines, and the brunt of frustrating yet effective forum processing. Before she is rescued, Trillian learns that Zaphod had inadvertently signed the authorization for the destruction of Earth, because he thought that it was a request for an autograph. The Heart of Gold is chased by the Vogons, led by Galactic Vice-President Questular Rontok (Anna Chancellor), who is attempting to rescue Zaphod from himself. The Heart of Gold arrives in orbit above Magrathea, and manage to avoid its automated missile defense systems when Arthur triggers the improbability drive, changing the missiles in to a whale and a bowl of petunias while miraculously surviving the side-effect of unstable jumps: permanent improbability. On the planet, Zaphod, Ford, and Trillian take a portal that takes them to Deep Thought, where they find the Point-of-View gun. Trillian uses the gun on Zaphod to make him understand how she feels about the destruction of Earth, and ends up realizing how much she needs/loves Arthur from Zaphod's mouth. Meanwhile, Arthur and Marvin just misses traveling through the portal, and instead encounter a Magrathean called Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) who takes Arthur on a tour of the "construction floor" where Earth Mark II is currently being built to replace the recently destroyed Earth. Slartibartfast takes Arthur to his house where the others are waiting for him, enjoying a feast provided by pan-dimensional beings currently poised as a pair of mice. Arthur realizes too late that he has fallen into a trap set by the mice; the mice, beings that had constructed Deep Thought, used the supercomputer to build an even larger supercomputer called "Earth" to determine the Ultimate Question, and Arthur, as the last remaining component of that computer, may have the Ultimate Question in his brain which the mice intend to cut him open to get. Arthur fights back, succeeds, and whacks the mice into intelligent pancakes. As the crew recovers, outside the house they are surrounded by the Vogon forces, and take shelter in a caravan as the Vogons open fire. Marvin, left outside, uses the Point-of-View gun on the Vogons, causing them to become very depressed and unable to fight anymore. As the Vogons are taken away while Questular rejoins with Zaphod, Arthur realizes that he now has the opportunity to explore the galaxy with Trillian, and lets Slartibartfast finalize the new Earth without him. The Heart of Gold crew decide to visit "the Restaurant at the End of the Universe" as their first stop, though Marvin points out they are going the wrong way.