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The Colour Of Magic (2-disc edition) [2008]


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Okay......just
Review date: 2008-11-14 Rating: 6 out of 10

I love the Discworld books and have read all of them with great enjoyment, but the two films, Hogfather and now The Colour Of Magic leave me just a little disappointed. There are far better Discworld stories than these two, which could have been turned into films, anything featuring the Night Watch and Sam Vines, as an example, but perhaps that's just because in those books lie some of my favourite characters, and Rincewind isn't. David Jason, although a great actor, tries just a little too hard in this film, and his overexaggerated speech and mannerisms tended to grate on me at times. It's hard to put into words just exactly what's wrong, it just felt a little flat, and as with Hogfather, to me it's another wasted opportunity to make a really good Discword film. The two animated films, Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters are much more enjoyable in my opinion. As for the "special features", with the exception of Terry's introduction and interview, they are absolutely horrendous, the Ankh-Morpork tourist guide was so bad that I had to swithch it off, I couldn't take any more. As Terry's introduction is on the first disc, the second one will remain in the case, never to see the light of day again.

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Reviews


The Colour of Magic
Review date: 2008-11-10 Rating: 2 out of 10

I thought that The Hogfather was badly cut down when they tried to get a full length novel into a three hour film, but TWO full length novels?There is so much missing from the film that I had trouble understanding what was going on, and I have read both books more than once. My wife went to bed after about twenty minutes. The acting was poor and the casting, with the exception of the Patrician, who was on screen for less than ten minutes, was disasterous. Leave the casting to the fans - they know more than someone who obviously hasn't read the books. All in all it was just plain vandalism on what are quite brilliant books. What was Terry Pratchett thinking???

4.5 stars for movie in general, but at least 100 stars for David Jason's portrayal of Rincewind!
Review date: 2008-11-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

I preordered this DVD as soon as I heard it had become available, and just received it in the mail yesterday. It doesn't seem to be available at Amazon here in the states yet, so I'm extremely happy that I have a region free DVD player.
As a blind Discworld fan, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered audio description on the Hog Father DVD. The Colour of Magic also has audio description, but somehow, it just wasn't quite as good, best example, the credits were never read, so apart from David Jason and Sean Astin, I couldn't readily place any of the other characters. I read that Nigel Planer was in this, but it took my mom reading the credits for me to figure out that he was the arch astronomer. Never-the-less, I was extremely greatful for the audio description that was provided.
I have now watched this DVD 3 times, and have also reread The Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic books. Surprisingly, reading the books again was quite a struggle. I won't say they were bad, exactly, but as a previous reviewer said, they're the discworld books I'm the least familiar with. Before I reread the books, I mistakenly thought that The Colour of magic hadn't been quite as faithful to its source material as Hogfather was, but now that I've watched it multiple times and reread the books, considering the fact that this movie was trying to cover 2 books instead of just one, I think they did an admirable job. Once again, as with Hogfather, I noticed that the actual text from the books was used as much as possible, and the majority of the parts that were cut out of the books to make the movie weren't at all missed, at least not by me. Personally, I would have liked it if less time had been spent on the scenes with the wizards at UU, and more time put into Rincewind and Twoflower's adventures. For example, the driads weren't mentioned at all, and the whole sending of 8 section was left out. It was mentioned, though, so I definitely won't complain about that, especially since there are so many book to movie adaptations, most noteably for me those of Stephen King novels, that are far less true to their sources.
In spite of the very minor complaints I have regarding this movie, I have no trouble rating the movie as a whole with 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. I'm primarily giving this movie a 5 star review for one reason, however: David Jason. His portrayal of Rincewind, at least in my humble opinion, was simply spectacular! I was used to the way Rincewind was read in the audio books, and never really cared for him in that regard, but David Jason brought Rincewind to life for me, and made the character much more likeable.
Bottom line: The Colour of Magic was well worth the money I paid for it, and I'm already looking forward to watching it again.

colour of magic
Review date: 2008-11-07 Rating: 2 out of 10

Do not waste your money on buying this pathetic load of rubbish.It is so weak in its contents and storyline you will wish you spent your money on something else.
I hope you note my comments and be glad you did. If you dont believe me get it from a library and see for yourself.

I think they've cracked it ...
Review date: 2008-11-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

... and I think I know why. You see I watched this with a degree of fear, the thought of David Jason as Rincewind made me shudder, but they got it right. Even former hobbit Sean Astin was well suited to the role of Twoflower.

I loved the Hogfather, it was one of my favourite books but after the film I found I couldn't bring myself to read it. That film failed in my eyes. The Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic, on the other hand, were never my favourites, in fact, they are probably the books I know least well. And I think this was the key.

Because I don't know these books as well as the others I enjoyed the interpretation.

I found that David Jason played his part well. We learn in the interviews that he wanted to play Rincewind over 20 years ago and is a Terry Pratchett fan, which only goes to show that you should hire people who know the books, or at least read them (Marc Warren take note - just passing them in the airport is not good enough).

Overall a great interpretation and a wonderful surprise - I actually picked up the books and read them again.

Product Details/Specifications


Artist(s):
Colour of Magic

Actor(s):
David Jason

Creators:
David Jason (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036039017
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-11-03
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 184 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2008

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