The Color of Magic

I dig Terry Pratchett very much; I think the dude's brilliant. But, truth is, the first two Discworld novels aren't anywhere near to being my favorites. It wasn't until the fourth and fifth entries ( Mort  and  Sourcery ) that I really started getting into the series. Maybe it's because I never was too fond of Twoflower, whose obliviousness was so pronounced that as a main character he simply lacked depth and believability; and this then made me not invest so much into the story. In later books, Pratchett would continue to hone his satirical thrusts, but he would also make you deeply care about the characters. So, no, Twoflower didn't do much for me. On the other hand, his murderous multi-legged Luggage became instantly all sorts of awesome. Carved out of rare sapient pearwood, the Luggage exuded chunks of personality, never mind that its preferred expression is... wooden.This two-part tele-film adaptation actually combines the novels THE COLOUR OF MAGIC and its direct sequel THE LIGHT FANTASTIC. I'm trying strenuously to be objective in rating this movie, but it's hard going. Terry Pratchett ranks as one of my all-time favorite writers, and, as a serious fan of Discworld, a live action adaptation still counts as monumental news to me. THE COLOR OF MAGIC is more accessible than (if not as good as)  Hogfather . With THE COLOR OF MAGIC you don't have to be as in the know and the spoofing is more obvious. It's a must-see for Discworld addicts, especially since these adapted two novels form the launching points of the series. But will the rest of the viewing audience like it? Probably. Hopefully. Or it could be my Discworld myopia talking.On the shell of the enigmatic world turtle Great A'Tuin stand four colossal elephants, and on their backs lies the Discworld, an improbable place where "hubwards" and "rimwards" happen to be legitimate navigational directions. Focus in on the bustling city of Ankh-Morpork and narrow your gaze at the magical Unseen University, home of mighty wizards and Rincewind.There are eight levels of Wizardry. In his forty years spent in the Unseen University, Rincewind - Discworld's most hapless and cowardly wizard (but he spells it "wizzard") - has yet to achieve even one level. At last Rincewind finds himself expelled for sheer incompetence, and off he goes. He promptly lands a gig as guide to the amiable Twoflower, Discworld's very first tourist.Back in the Unseen University, skullduggery. It seems the speediest way to advance in the wizardly profession is thru assassination of one's immediate superior and the assumption of certain articles of his wardrobe. Thus, sporting new pointy shoes and hat signals sudden career upward mobility. One of the wizards, Trymon, is played to wicked smarmy perfection by Tim Curry and, glimpsing him, it quickly dawns on the viewer that someone or possibly several someones simply won't make it thru the film breathing. Even more dire, the Octavo - the greatest spellbook of all - is getting antsy and rattling its chains (yes, it's chained up!). One of its Eight Great Spells has gone missing and the absence is causing great turmoil at the University. Trymon, though, sees it as an opportunity.But, mostly, the film chronicles the misadventures of Rincewind and Twoflower. Twoflower insists on seeing all the sights, which causes no end of concern for Rincewind who, as mentioned, is a champion coward. If there were a course for Running Away... well, there isn't, but he would've done really well in class. There's a rambling feel, an episodic sense, to the first part of the film as Rincewind and Twoflower just seem to trudge along, one crazy predicament after another. That they keep on surviving is due some to fortunate bumbling and also to that one spell skulking in Rincewind's memory. Yes, Rincewind possesses one spell. But he doesn't really know what it does.There's also a subplot involving a scientific expedition which sets out to learn the Great A'Tuin's gender, the knowing of which is vital for some unexpressed but probably very important reason. As one astrozoologist asks: "So we're gonna look at the turtle's bottom?"And is that the Great A'Tuin inscrutably wending its way closer and closer towards a fiery red star? The people start to panic, as the star looms larger and larger. The Discworld needs a hero. Rincewind would please like to run away and fetch one. The story tightens up in the second part of the film, as Rincewind and Twoflower get caught up in a world-saving quest. So it's probably for the best that they run into Discworld's greatest warrior Cohen the Barbarian. Cohen has been in the hero business for eight decades, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the gent is now a geriatric. But he's still savvy. But savvy and toothless.THE COLOR OF MAGIC has its share of parodies, satiric barbs, and all-around silliness, and mostly they're not so subtle. There's an overenthusiastic enchanted sword which bullies Rincewind into heroic acts (this is NOT appreciated by Rincewind). There's some gouge-me-in-the-eye-it's-so-awful wordplay regarding insurance policies, and the silly difference between the circumference and the circumfence (they both run around the edges of Discworld).No problems at all with the acting. I don't know David Jason from Jason David, but he's pretty decent as Rincewind, although my sense was that the Rincewind in the novels was more robust. Sean Astin plays Twoflower, and he does a small wonder by making me like Discworld's first ever tourist. Tim Curry smiles and scowls, and both expressions are oily and pregnant with stab-you-in-the-back innuendos. One of my favorite characters in the Discworld series is Death, and he drops in for several humorous visits, usually timed whenever Rincewind is in mortal peril. And it's sweeeet that Christopher Lee provides Death's sepulchral voice. The best cameo, though, falls to Jeremy Irons. He shows up for half a mo as Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. The austere and despotic (but in a good way) Patrician is another of my favorites, and Irons truly does him justice. Also, author Terry Pratchett briefly moonlights as an astrozoologist, and it's absolutely fitting that he gets in the last word. Oh, and Brian Cox is quite good as the film narrator.THE COLOR OF MAGIC doesn't have the scope of a big budget production, and yet the special effects are quite forgiveable and very much on par with what I expect from tele-films. It helps that the tone of the film is so very much nudge in the ribs. THE COLOR OF MAGIC, originally broadcasted in the U.K. in 2008, is presented in widescreen format on DVD. It runs at 197 minutes, so pack a lunch. In the Absolutely-No-Bonus-Features Department, the DVD comes with absolutely no bonus features.The movie stays fairly true to the source material, but there are key omissions. If you've recently read THE LIGHT FANTASTIC, it'll hit you that the creepy things from the Dungeon Dimensions which, in the book, managed to burst thru into Discworld's reality, well, they don't do that in the movie. They don't even show up. We also miss out on a cameo from Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter (and future mother of the fabulous Susan Sto Helit). But, at least, we're treated to the Librarian, in both his pre-simian and then simian forms.I'm stoked that the next Discworld project is bringing  Going Postal (Discworld)  to the cinema, and I can't wait to see how con artist Moist von Lipwig is rendered onscreen. But I'm really waiting on Death (a.k.a. Bill Door) or Commander Vimes & the City Watch to be featured as the central characters in future flicks. Sweet Oogly Moogly, may it be so! Until then, HOGFATHER and THE COLOR OF MAGIC ain't too bad as appetizers.

We could NOT believe just how good this movie was, having 1st checked it via by mail rental, then realizing we had to have for our collection - in order to view it during the holidays (during the colder months). It is in 2 parts, 1.5 hrs each. It is well-acted, finely directed, and terrifically scripted. You'll recognize Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamje (sp?) the Hobbit in LOTR, a traveller who stumbles in to a fantastical & literally magical adventure; and then there's Tim Curry, the evil & plotting wizard. Not to give it away, but Astin has a magical walking chest full of gold that looks out for him, and acquires a 'guide' - a not so magical & bumbling wizard, who finds his powers, and they go on a quest all over this 'far out' world set upon a celestial Tortoise's back. * MY SON IS 15 NOW, NO LONGER GOES FOR GREASY KID STUFF, BUT HEY- HE ENJOYED THE DICKENS OUTA THIS ONE HERE! * The two travel to the edge of their world, learn to fly, swim, take a short trip into space; and eventually learn that they must somehow find, or "set free," a lost or missing 'spell' but it's missing from "The Octavio." This chained up book of spells at the wizarding school is rather unsettled, if not angry- but why? The 8th spell is missing and it is the key to saving their world. See the movie, go on an amazing adventure, and be spellbound along with our characters in this comedic adventure filled with action, intrigue, treachery, and magical creatures, many landscapes as they travel far & wide - as they find the truth of things BOTH within and without of themselves. *** THIS ONE'S A REAL HIDDEN GEM THAT I AM SURPRISED DOES NOT CONTINUE TO PLAY MORE ON TELEVISION!! *** Amazing production, CGI, acting, directing, & scripting make this a treat for the whole family, and --as I hate to sound like a commercial ad - but indeed: You want this in your collection, as we need to VOTE WITH OUR POCKETBOOKS IN SUPPORT OF MORE MOVIES LIKE THIS ONE.

I am a HUGE Pratchett fan in the conventional sense. I adore the discworld novels and have read the lot at least 4 times per book.This dvd/film version of the color of magic (which is in fact an emulsion of the first TWO books) has been met with mixed reviews.The die hards are crying about it not meeting their expectations compared to the novels. Surprise surprise; When you read a novel, the characters, their looks, their mannerisms and their traits are born of the reader's imagination. NO movie in the universe can meet everyone's ideals so whining about the film is puerile and fractious."Two flower is supposed to be like an Oriental character". WTF??? He's 'supposed to be' a tourist from a fictional continent on a fictional world in a fictional universe. Oriental is only opinion and interpretation.There are sobs about the casting. David Jason isn't a good Rincewind. My eye he isn't! He plays the part extremely well. David Jason is a big fan of the novels and understands the role he undertook. His portrayal is his view on the wizard; HIS view. Personal interpretation cannot be wrong as no two ideals are alike.Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth about this version, the actors do a fine job, and if you take it for what it is rather than watching it to pick holes, it is a comically brilliant piece of movie making that has achieved great things without the backing of a Hollywood budget. It looks like it had hundreds of thousands thrown into it, and the casting is not small potatoes. Sean Astin gives a great performance as the naive but ambitiously curious Twoflower.Tim Curry pulls off Trimon like a boss, and Jeremy Irons as the patrician was inspired.You also get the second disc with the interviews which are fascinating, BUT; The diamond in the rough here is the tourists guide to Ankh-Morpork and the discworld. A series of small episodes delivered by the Librarian (prior to him becoming an Orang-Utan) to introduce a tourist to the various aspects of this strange and wondrous environment. It is HILARIOUS, but watch the film first to help understand it.In a nut-shell, this is a very good dvd that will entertain and amuse even those who have never picked up a discworld book in their lives (but again, it does help a bit if you have). Imagine Lord of the Rings meets Monty Python and throw in a pinch of Game of thrones, add a dash of fantasy-fiction and top it off with Harry Potter doing a 3 hour stand up comedy routine and you've just about nailed it.WELL WORTH THE MONEY!(Do not bother using Amazon's next day delivery though. You will spend the cash and they will let you down. They took my delivery payment, failed to deliver, apologized and refunded the cash then delivered it a day late. Basically you pay them to bet that it will get there on time. Not worth s**t in my opinion. Still.... when it arrives you will love this cinematic fantasy/comedy feast).

Review of the Blu Ray versionThis is a nicely produced version of the first two Discworld novels, made with full cooperation and input from P'Terry himself. The acting is great and special effects are top-notch for a TV production. It's a 3 hour film made up of two 90 minute episodes as originally screened on Sky.The picture quality on the Blu Ray is very sharp and full of detail and there are some decent extras including contributions from author Pratchett The "making of" is OK, the Tourists Guide to Ankh-Morpork is funny and the feature commentary (as a picture in picture) is informative if bitty.Recommended

It wasn't hard for the producers to make this better than the two books it was based on, as they were Pratchett's first experiments into comedy writing and not everything in them worked. By sticking very closely to the original storyline (hurrah) they've managed to tweak a lot of the less successful one-liners and made them stand out, while carefully avoiding the blunders.With so many adventures to squeeze in, its odd they found time to slow the thing right down towards the end, and make the "epilogue" sequences stretch out interminably -- it's one big fault. Another minor irritation is that the Luggage moves differently when it's added in through CGI, to when its a real chest mounted on some kind of crooked wheel appartus for near-shots. Bit of an obvious discrepancy, that.A bit of mis-casting for David Jason, who while giving a shining performance, can't shake off the heritage of the Hogfather, where he played Albert, and that can stick in your mind a bit. Otherwise, they've made good use of actors who appeared in both, mostly in supporting roles.This was never the most obvious choice to televise, but being the first in the discworld series, it must have made a certain logic if they intended continuing the series...which we know they didn't.

Although Sir Terry was not my favourite author, I enjoyed most of his creative output (indeed Good Omens, written with Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite books). His Discworld series is a classic but as with all things classic, some parts are better than others. This might seem like Blasphemy but Rincewind is not my favourite part of Discworld and some of the later books are better than the first two Discworld books that this TV movie is based on.Saying that, this is a good attempt at translating the books to the TV screen. Sir David Jason is excellent as Rincewind and Sean Astin works well as Twoflower. Tim Curry does his usual baddie as Bethan and the much missed Christopher Lee is the obvious choice for Death.Fantasy books are always difficult to translate, as much of their power is in the imagination of the reader. Good try though, definitely seen far worse attempts.

I really wanted to see the film versions of Terry Pratchett's books, and "The Colour of Magic" in particular appealed to me. Not surprisingly, each of us has his/her own image of Ankh-Morpork and the various characters in the books, which may not exactly correspond to what you see in the movie, as was my case. Above all, though, I found the pace of the story too slow. True, Pratchett's story-telling doesn't move along at breakneck speed, but in this case each instance seems to be dragged out excessively. The author spends plenty of time building up ambience, but the action moves along quite well in a parallel line. In the movie, though, it seems that everything is slowed down. All in all, lovely and lovingly-made re-creations of the Disc World, but somehow less enjoyable than the books.