Hogfather
by Vadim Jean
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DVD details
Actor: David Jason, Joss Ackland, Neil Pearson, Stephen Marcus, Tony RobinsonDirector: Vadim Jean
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, 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: has the director heard of dry humour?
Summary: 2 Stars
Terry Pratchett is by far my favorite author but I was bitterly disappointed by this movie. The casting was truly awful and the movie had none of the dry humour that is the driving force behind Pratchett's books. Teatime, Susan and Ridcully were portrayed so badly that I only got about 1/2 an hour into before I was forced to turn it off. Why is it that whenever anyone makes a fantasy movie, the acting is always so corny? The humour in the books stands up quite well without the need for overacting. Next time someone makes one of these movies it would be refreshing indeed if they directed it the same way one would direct any modern comedy or even a serious drama and not the way one would direct a high school musical. Obviously I am in a minority and though I am a huge Pratchett fan I can't recommend this movie to anyone. DVD Review: "I Have A Report Here That Says You Nailed Sir George's Dog To The Ceiling."
Summary: 5 Stars
If Santa was a Dungeons and Dragons addict, this is what Christmas would be like. "Hogfather" is a clever satire that takes place on the parallel planet of Discworld. In Discworld Santa's counterpart is the Hogfather, the porcine gift giver of Hogswatch employing a sleigh pulled by flying boars. To set up the conflict for the film "The Auditors" have employed the ultra-creepy Mr. Teatime from the Guild of Assassins to eliminate the Hogfather. The following story involves a truly bizarre cast of characters such as the Tooth Fairy, who proves crucial to the plot, and the Hair Loss Fairy, which will amuse more adults than children. Ultimately Death becomes involved as a fill-in Hogfather, becomes emotionally involved in the Hogswatch concept and has some great lines ("I don't normally care if they've been naughty or nice.") Death is discouraged only by the the waning of belief in the Hogfather, but sets to visit the whole world in one night via a "special congruent reality" and in the process undergoes several interesting trials, ultimately becoming a very endearing character.
Along the way there are many great scenes that adults will relish even more than kids, such as the gig as a department store Hogfather ("And what do you want for Hogswatch, small human?") and the backstory that the job as Hogfather started as an animal sacrifice to make the sun come up, but currently involves giving out presents as a result of industrial retraining. The story makes reference to many human myths (Discworld exists in space atop four giant elephants standing on a giant turtle) and has strange magical and mystical elements that are quite surreal for a movie nominally aimed at children: children's teeth become amazingly powerful and there's a great scene with a wizard in detox (I especially liked the legend "Born to Rune" on the back of the wizard's cape).
After discovering that the Tooth Fairy is actually a franchise operation and dealing with a subplot about a creature that removes socks from the laundry, "an eater of socks", who looks like a possessed pangolin, we progress to an ever stranger battle for Discworld's future with swordplay and a scissor monster, ultimately dispensing just rewards to Mr. Teatime and righting the world for all. Throughout the film the dialogue is great ("Hi inner child; I'm the inner babysitter.") and enjoyable by kids and adults alike, even though kids will not understand all of the nuances. The conclusion is quite complex and odd, involves a boar and dog chase (the boar is the primeval Hogfather), the Tooth Fairy turns out to be a shapeshifting boogieman, and the Snowman of Death closes the movie out with the quote "Now there is one final question: have you been naughty or nice?" Pretty trippy stuff for a kid's Christmas movie: I loved it.
The film features several extras including an interesting but odd interview with author Terry Pratchett who has written over thirty books in the Discworld series. The film has no nudity, I didn't notice any offensive language, but there are several murders (which are largely cartoonish) which makes this better for slightly older children. The other thing that might dissuade parents from showing it to younger kids is the fact that it's three hours long. It actually has an intermission, so viewings on two consecutive nights might work very well. This is a great and very different Christmastime movie, and I recommend it.
DVD Review: An excellent tribute to the original
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a huge Pratchett fan. I heard that some of his novels have been made into movies, I orginally reacted with dread. Most often so much is edited or poorly acted it is not even a shadow of the original, and then a great book becomes something abhorent.
But this movie looses nothing. They take the rich literary world of the DiscWorld and make it come to life. It brings the book to life in a wonderful way without loosing any of the flavor and charm of the original.
Pro's.
It is not only well acted, but parts of the book that are purely literary (internal monologues, emotional overplay) are well translated without words.
Death is in it.
Budget is not spared on props and effects, it is easy to believe this is a whole world.
It provides new insight into the book, IE, you see it through another persons interpretation.
It is my new holiday classic.
Oh yeah, it has Death in it...
Con's.
Only two, and I dont even see them that big a deal. First it is long, over 3 hours. This is not surprising, because why should a book that takes days to ready only take an hour to act out?
And the other con is that it will be hard not to have your own internal visualizations of each character changed. It is hard not to see their Nobby Nobbs and not have that actor pop into your head every time you read about him from now on. But this is part of the "Seeing another persons interpretation.
If you love Pratchett books, this is a clasic to own and enjoy. For those who are not fans, it might be a little confusing because they do not really allow for the uninitiated, but it is still a enjoyable movie even for the new.
DVD Review: hogfather review
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this movie to be enjoyable. It took one of my favorite Pratchett characters,Death, and made him even more fun. Susan came across as conflicted as she is in the stories. The movie adhered closely to the book (I know because I went back and reread the story).I give it four ooks.DVD Review: Wonderful movie -- Appallingly Bad Pratchett Interview
Summary: 4 Stars
If this DVD had not included the 20 minute interview with Mr Pratchett I would have rated it 5 Stars.
But the interview is there and cannot understand why the DVD company allowed it.
The lighting and camera work are spot on, but the editing was clearly done by a drunk, the interviewer was not listening to the answers because she was busy trying to think up her next unrelated question, and the sound technician probably only had one ear, and that one badly infected because the sound levels were all over the place.
If this was handed in as a class assignment in a first year journalism course it would result the student transferred over to Plumbing and Sewage Maintenance 101.
There is one section of this interview where for some reason Mr Pratchett is asked to repeat a rather long answer which is a fine and standard video interview technique. But one one ever leaves BOTH versions in the finished product.
There are edits in the middle of questions, bits hacked off the front and rear of questions and answers, wild jump-cut edits of Mr Pratchett, and a complete lack of professionalism by leaving in the bits where Mr Pratchett had to clean his nose.
Normally when someone does a video or film interview, extra shots are taken at different angles of both the interview subject and the interviewer, the room, all sorts of stuff in fact so the editor can work around miscues, mistakes, unflattering images, camera zoom repositions, and generally give the whole thing a decent polish. None of that was done here. It was just raw, pants down around the ankles, video interview hoovering.
The only thing that can explain this train wreck of an interview is an incompetent decision by the DVD Producer to cram the thing onto the disc when in fact it wasn't meant to be played in its complete form.
In thinking about it, I believe that the original interview was part of a marketing or promotional session and was meant to be chopped up into sound bites or clips. The interviewer's questions were never designed to be used and that explains the faint, down a tunnel, sound quality of them.
I suspect that the DVD producer, with no knowledge of video editing, came across the chopped up interview in an edit suite and decided to hammer and nail the various sections back together without watching or listening to the resulting horror.
Watch Hogfather (superb) and ignore the so-called Extra
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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