The Colour Of Magic Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

superb................

The Colour of Magic is superb. It stars David Jason, Tim Curry, Nigel Planer and Sean Astin, and is based on the first and second books by Terry Pratchett about Discworld. The books are The Colour Of Magic and The Light Fantastic.

David Jason's character is the incompetent and cynical wizard Rincewind, who involuntarily finds himself as a guide to the naive tourist, Twoflower, played by Sean Astin from such films as Lord Of The Rings and Click.

After they are forced to flee from the city of Ankh-Morpork, after a terrible fire they are sent on a journey across the disc, which is unknowingly being controlled by a board game being played by the Gods.

They meet two barbarians on their way out of Morpork, called Bravd and Weasel.

After their visit to Wyrmberg, the upside-down mountain which is home to dragons that only exist in the imagination, their journey leads them to the country of Krull, perched on the very edge of the Discworld, where they are thrown off the edge of the Disc, due to the Krullian's urge to find out the gender of Great A'Tuin (the turtle which is swimming through space with four elephants resting the Disc on top).

Do Rincewind and Twoflower survive, being thrown off the disc, will they survive the wizards when they discover that the Discworld will soon be destroyed, unless the eight spells of the Octavo are read: the most powerful spells in existence, one of which hides in Rincewind's head. Will RIncewind survive Trymon, a former classmate of Rincewind's, who wishes to obtain the power of the spells for himself.

Watch it to find out. It is well worth watching.

Possibly as good as the book

Terry Pratchett's writing is incredibly difficult to convert to the screen but this production is really good. It combines both the Colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic, both of which are early in the Discworld canon, and makes a much more cohesive mini-series than either alone could have done. It's beautifully produced, perfectly cast (Jeremy Irons is particularly excellent as the Patrician) and generally everything a Discworld fan could ask for.