The movie(s) are a travesty. Start at the beginning and read all 4 of the little books. I have read them several times.
After reading you might be able to take part in the discussion on the answer to the ultimate question. Some think it is 42 but others of us think it is 38. Douglas Adams says Forty-Two.
Keep your towel handy and above all, Don’t Panic
I’m going to let you in on the secret. THE QUESTION TO THE ULTIMATE ANSWER: When was the last time this telephone was cleaned? You heard it here first.
The number 42
Douglas Adams was asked many times during his career why he chose the number 42. Many theories were proposed,[6] but he rejected them all. On November 3, 1993, he gave an answer[7] on alt.fan.douglas-adams:
“The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought ‘42 will do.’ I typed it out. End of story.