| The Hogfather | 
| Director: Vadim Jean
Actors: Neil Pearson, Tony Robinson, David Jason, Stephen Marcus, Joss Ackland
Studio: Genius Products (TVN)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $6.98
You Save: $7.97 (53%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (90 reviews)
Sales Rank: 735
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 189 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: GEPD80604D
UPC: 796019806046
EAN: 0796019806046
ASIN: B0010X741Y
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Happy Hogswatch, Indeed October 14, 2008
I enjoyed the film adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel as much as I enjoyed reading the book. The essence of the character of Death isn't captured quite as well as the others, but otherwise The Hogfather is a wonderful cinematic adaption of the Discworld and it's unique citizenry.
Very good, but a slight miss September 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Discworld is a planet where magic is not only in existence but more or less commonplace and well known. It is, as you may guess by the name, a disc-shaped world flying through space on the back of 4 elephants, on the back of a tortoise. Why? Because. If you have trouble accepting this, you may not enjoy Discworld.
I had to buy this movie after watching it, because I enjoyed it a great deal, but also because it seemed worth watching again and I had it as a rental. I really enjoyed the book this is adapted from, especially because it is one of Pratchett's more complex books. This, however, is lost a bit in the movie translation. Because this book is so complex, it makes for a difficult screenplay. Also, the book really is not as new-reader friendly as others in the series, and requires you to know the characters. The movie tries to fill in these gaps, for the non-Discworld fan, by having dialogs tossed in, such as Susan repeating many times about her relation, or Quoth (the raven, not sure if he's ever named in the movie) giving an extremely out of character talk about history.
Also, the book itself runs on several different tracks at the same time, gradually letting the reader understand what the full impact is. Unseen University, for example, has the events sped up quite a bit, and moved out of order for cinematic benefit. The shower scene for instance, in the book version, is much funnier, longer, and much later. Also, Ridicully (the head wizard) also has a cloud of swear words flying around him like bats due to the random magic. Instead of these, you see the spell being cast by the wizard in the Tooth Fairy's castle, which does not happen in the book, nor do you get the long explanation (twice!) of why and what they are doing.
These flaws are like any book to movie translation though - you have to understand that a movie simply moves different, and they did a decent job. The acting is very true to character, and with a vast majority of the talk being word for word, down to the physical posturing, pulled from the book (the last 10 minutes are a great example of this). The end of the thieves in the castle was likely cut out due to time, as it's played up much more in the book, however the one thief you do see go panicky, Cheesewire, plays his part excellently. If they had left in some of Medium Dave's responses to him, it would have been even better.
Susan, Death, and the children (minor roles but exactly as listed in the book) are played very well. Albert was a bit over the top, but he really does act that way in this book, which is a bit atypical for his character. Hex is portrayed a bit better in the book, but they were fair to it in the movie. I would have liked the scene with Death and Hex to have been a bit more true to the book - it was really good.
My final comments are about features - this DVD is sorely lacking in subtitles, which should be a basic feature on every movie. I enjoy putting them on to read along, as sometimes you may miss or not hear a comment, or perhaps understand the scene more, not to mention the hearing-impaired would of course desire this. There is no option for this, and I was not able to make my DVD pick any up at all. Secondly, the interviewer for Mr. Pratchett has very poor interviewing skills. His answers are well given, with open ends that she completely fails to ask about. She is obviously reading off a script, and if he is he fakes it well. She replies "brilliant." in a flat tone after every answer, and sounds bored. This was disappointing.
In summary, I would recommend this for any Discworld fan, as it's a fairly good interpretation of the book. It is about 90% true to the book, and nothing is far enough off to make you want to turn it off. For the unfamiliar with Discworld, I would suggest picking up a novel first at your local library to see if you like it, as a lack of knowledge of the world may really impact your enjoyment of it. Think if you picked up the 3rd Harry Potter book as the first one. Would you understand why these kids are being chased all the time, and the school seems to be inhabited by madmen? There are something like 30 Discworld books out, with Hogfather being about midway through the run. A good jumping on book might be "Guards, Guards", or perhaps "Mort". The first in the series is "The Colour of Magic", but it may be a hard read for the new user. The follow up, "The Light Fantastic" is a much better book.
 Wonderful adaptation of the book.... September 15, 2008
I really enjoyed the movie; it's a great adaptation of the book. To be honest, I found the book a little confusing at points, as there are many characters and the timing of events seemed odd. The movie actually clarified the story for me, and I thought the Michelle Dockery did a fine job as Susan. It's three hours long, but it's a very fun three hours.
Good but inconsistent September 12, 2008
I liked the book so I bought the movie.
The pacing was to slow and the villian too feminine. This could have been a much better movie in half the time. They also left out some of the best jokes.
Why have a narrator for just the beginning?
The guy that looked like Clint Eastwood was great till he did his line.
I think Pratchett should write screenplays if he wants to make movies, rather then butcher his truely amazing books into subpar films, or go with someone like disney who could truely realize his vison.
From The Pen Of Pratchett... September 6, 2008
HOGFATHER was and is a really delightful entry into the fantasy film genre. Witty, clever, with great characters and an engrossing plot line, this film is a must have for those decrying the state of fantasy films today.
I had bought this as a gift for a friend, but had to screen it first and I was both surprised and delighted by the work.
Read rge book, watch the film, I think that you will agree.
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