Hogfather

Hogfather
by Vadim Jean

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DVD details

Actor: David Jason, Joss Ackland, Neil Pearson, Stephen Marcus, Tony Robinson
Director: Vadim Jean
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 189 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Genius Products (TVN)

DVD Reviews of Hogfather

DVD Review: Terry Pratchet is probably crying
Summary: 1 Stars

I read the book and it was great. There is so much they didn't put in the movie. I loaned the movie to my father, who hadn't read the book, and he was lost. If you haven't read the book you won't understand large pieces of the book. There are scenes that are completely lost since you don't have the explanation as to what is going on. If you have read the book you will enjoy some of it but ultimately be disappointed. For the amount of time the movie takes up you would think they would have taken the time and put more information into the story.

DVD Review: Only for Those Familiar with Discworld
Summary: 5 Stars

The storyline will probably be confusing to those not familiar with the book. But if you are already a fan of the wonderful Discworld universe then I highly recommend this made for TV movie as one of the rare opportunities to watch Mr. Pratchett's books come to life. I enjoyed all of the portrayals of the main characters like Susan, Death, and even Teatime. Teatime's voice definitely reminds me of Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka, although I think that it is more appropraite to Teatime's character. I enjoy the fantasy genre and hate when storylines become farcical & cheesy. This adaptation does neither and I give it an "A".

DVD Review: Wonderful.
Summary: 5 Stars

I have had the animated Discworld movies and when I heard this movie(and the as-yet-to-be-released-in-the-USA "The Color of Magic") existed I rushed to Amazon to see what the reviewers thought. I have read several Pratchett books but after a while the snarky humor didn't add up to enough for me to want to be a completist. However I was curious about the "live action" movies, and bought Hogfather. What a great movie! I think it is much, much better than the animated movies. The settings are lush and the casting is fine. I'm not sure it would help to read Hogfather first, but it definitely helps to be familiar with Discworld (my wife isn't) to fully enjoy these movies. But then, if you weren't familiar with Discworld you probably wouldn't be poking around looking for a movie such as this.

I saw bits of "The Color of Money" on Ion TV last week and it appears to be as good as this. I'm not one to be too bothered by differences, afterall these are two different genres--books and movies--but these movies are much more faithful to the spirit of the books than "The Hitchhiker's Guide" was.

If you've read some Pratchett, get the movie, but if you haven't, well then, read some Pratchett. Get busy already.

DVD Review: Holiday Hilarity
Summary: 5 Stars

Absolutely hilarious alternative universe take of the Christmas season. While some of the effects are less than the multigizillion dollar effects seen in some movies the whole thing has a great deal of charm. The casting does not disappoint either. I recommend this as an addition to anyone's Fantasy collection.

DVD Review: Disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars

I pulled the book off of the shelf and re-read it shortly before the dvd arrived, so it would be fresh in my memory. Then I watched the DVD, and ultimately, I was disappointed and trying to put my finger on why--

It's remarkably faithful to the book, which is good, but somehow the humor that in reading Pratchett, causes me to periodically have to put the book down and take a belly-laugh break, just doesn't come through on the screen for the most part.

I liked the actress who plays Susan, though I think her performance could have been stronger. The set design of the movie is beautiful, they obviously went to great expense to get this part of it right.

Ultimately I think where it went awry was with the two strongest supporting characters-- it seemed like they kind of 'cheaped out' on Death. He looked very much like the kind of cheap plastic skeleton costume you can get for 29.95 at the fly-by-night Halloween costume store. I realize there are limits to how much expressiveness you can expect from a skeleton, but I just needed to see a little more from Death even if were just in body language, than the ability to wink his blue LED eyes.

And the actor playing the Teatime character-- it was interesting in that descriptively, he was more or less faithful to how the character was written. But expressively? Somehow every mannerism that was intended to convey danger and menace in the book translated to whiny and annoying in the movie. The actor just didn't manage to find what was needed to convey Teatime's essence effectively, and the weird contact lenses just didn't help a bit.

The Auditors were, quite literally, nonentities. Ultimately what was needed was missing. This movie needed strong, dynamic, menacing villains and some sense of menace from Death as well. Instead they were flat, unintimidating and not all that interesting. Without a real sense of menace and conflict, the movie rested on the backs of the rest of the cast and ultimately it winds up feeling like a poorly done full-dress rehearsal. They're all dressed up and on the set, and they're reading their lines faithfully, but the feeling and the spirit of the book is completely missing in action.

And I had such high hopes for it, too!

Description of Hogfather

Hogfather is the magical, menacing, wicked, and witty family story unlike anything else you could ever imagine. From the imagination of best-selling author Terry Pratchett comes Hogfather. It's the holiday of Hogswatch, the night when kids anticipate presents from the beloved Hogfather. But someone wants the Hogfather out of the way. Now it's up to the most unlikely of heroes to get the holiday back on track. Just in time for the Easter season, Hogfather is a cross between Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter that's sure to be a family favorite you'll be watching for years and years to come.

Based on a fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, The Hogfather is an extraordinary satire-adventure set in the mythical realm of Discworld, a kind of parallel-universe version of Earth. Discworld's alternative to Santa Claus is the Hogfather, who also chases around in a sled delivering gifts to children (on a Christmas-like night known as Hogwatch), but who looks like, well, a wild hog and is pulled through the skies not by reindeer but a bunch of grunting porkers with long, dangerous teeth. Just as the Hogfather is about to complete his annual mission to leave toys for kids under their Hogwatch trees, a specter makes a deal with a professional assassin to kill the jolly old fellow. The job is farmed out to a psychotic monster named Teatime (Marc Warren), who sets about trying to get to the Hogfather through, of all things, the Tooth Fairy. While danger stalks these immortal characters, Death (Ian Richardson) himself takes the Hogfather's place on his magical rounds, with comic consequences. Meanwhile, a governess named Susan (Michelle Dockery), possessor of a strange secret and awesome powers, determines that the Hogfather is in danger. She sets about trying to find him and discovers Teatime's plot, while a cluster of clumsy wizards (led by Joss Ackland) try to make sense of what has happened and what they can do about it. It's hard to explain the charm and wit of The Hogfather, which is full of quirky, ironic humor, except to say that it's easy to fall in love with this British television special and its dark delights. (Some a bit too dark for younger viewers.) The cast includes a very funny Tony Robinson of Black Adder. --Tom Keogh

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