Hogfather Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

superb.........

this is a wonderful adaptation of the story by terry pratchett.

It is Hogswatch which is the equivalent of Christmas on Discworld, and the Hogfather has gone missing, so Death take his place along with albert his trusty servant as an elf, who drinks all the sherry and eats all of the mince pies. while this is happening Death's estranged governess granddaughter Susan, who is trying to lead a normal life attempts to find out what has happened to the hogfather, and the tooth fairy who has also gone missing.

david jason is fantastic as albert. this film is well worth renting out.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Could Have Been Brilliant...

Hogfather is one of Terry Pratchett's best Discworld books, full to the brim with jokes, kooky characters and an excellent story. The TV adaptation unfortunately suffers in comparison, ironically because they have tried to be so faithul to the original material.

The story takes place on Hogswatch, which by some amazing coincidence, is a lot like our Christmas. But when the Assassins guild are employed to kill the Hogfather, who then disappears, the festive season is put under threat. Who could possibly save Hogswatch? Well, he wears a long dark cloak and carries a scythe...

Anyone who is a fan of the disc-world will enjoy this adaptation, though you may be left with a 'they could have done so much more' feeling. The acting is superb, except for Marc Warren, who has strangely decided to mimic Johnny Depp from 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' much to the detriment of the character he's playing. The jokes sometimes come so quietly that you barely notice them - some only readers of the book will pick up on.

Overall I'd say be cautious with this title - if you've never 'got' the discworld's appeal you'd be better off avoiding it altogether. If you're curious go for it, though you may want to spread it out over two nights (the whole feature clocks in at well over three hours). And if, like me, you have often longed for the world of the 'disc' to be made flesh, definitely see this. It's worth it alone for Death's 'HO HO HO'.

hog father bonus disc not worth an extra credit

this is just the bonus disc and it costs you 1 credit try and get the single disc version bit of a rip off really

Pure Prachett!

Fantastic! This film in a word.

An enjoyable family film for all the family and as an avid Prachett fan I can say it really captured his tongue in cheek take on the world. The characters were well realised an developed and the fantastic cast and story line carried it through to the end of what was a really long feature (originally made as a two parter for Sky). The only slight down thing I might have to say is that it's a seasonal film that might be better enjoyed around Christmas time. But that's not the films fault.....

Excellent!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Something Different.....Something Good

I was not sure what to expect from this film,and i had seen it advertised a lot so i thought why not give it a try..

And im glad i did , out of the films that i have rented this one went down better than most.Great phantasy feel film for kids and adults.

Its the night before hogwatch and Death has had to take the place of the hogfather (father christmas,santa) because a higher power is determined to get rid of him. lol. Tooth fairy kindom is overrun , and one assasin is determined to get the job done,no matter what the cost...Brilliant film and a must have rental for anyone !!!

Really Good Adaptation

If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett then this is well worth watching. A word of warning to those of you who like Lord of the Rings, you probably won't get on with this. I haven't found anyone yet who likes both!!

The adaptation is close to the book, however, if you are a fan you may be a bit nit picky, such as a couple of vital puns being left out, or Marc Warren's dreadful accent as Mr Teatime, frankly not needed.

Some of the material is subtle so that if you've not read the books you may not pick up on it, such as, why Death's house is black and white (Death doesn't understand colour).

It all takes place around Hogswatch, similar to our Christmas. The Assassins Guild are employed to kill the Hogfather who promptly disappears. Death then takes on the role to save the day with some help from Susan his Granddaughter, who is human.

David Jason's role as Albert is well acted from the start. I wonder what will be put into production next?

not for book lovers!

Having been a T. Pratchett fan for many years I was more than curious to see how it has been adapted to the TV (this is a SKY production).

Although colourful to look at, the TV adaptation doesn't live up to the experience gained by reading the stories. The dialogue was, in my opinion, mumbled in most cases without any depth or feeling to the characters. DEATH's voice was lacking in atmosphere, David Jason was sadly annoying and being approx 3 hours long made the whole experience rather pityful.

If you enjoy print versions then I would suggest you miss this.

An Interesting Twist On Xmas

Until a few weeks ago I'd never heard of the Hogfather, I'd come across it whilst browsing titles to rent on the site, If you like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings type films this is a must see, even if you don't you'll find this fantasy family film worth watching.

On starting up the DVD offers you the choice to Play All, or play episode 1 or episode 2, It was late in the evening when i started to watch this and I selected play all, the film is split in to 2 parts which when selecting play all will automatically follow on to part 2 when part 1 ends, each part is a feature length film so in all it's a long film, I advise you too start watching it early unless you're an insomniac.

It's an interesting twist on Xmas, Hogwatch is christmas and the Hogfather is Santa Claus, Set in a Fantasy Land, The Auditors, A group of spectural beings who audit the universe and everything in it, want to simplify and control everything, now as we know the hogfather (santa claus) the tooth fairy, the bogeyman etc etc are all imaginative mythical figures? or are they? how do you kill a mythical figure? because that's what the Auditors want to do, they want to kill the belief of all the children in the land and destroy the hogfather, the Auditors offer a fee of $3million dollars to have the Hogfather assinated, enter Tea Time (pronounced Tay A Timmy), In a manner of mythical skullduggery and with a following of misfits tea time proceeds to eliminate the hogfather.

Old Father Time/Death himself, steps in to replace the hogfather as the only other being who can be in all places at once, along with the bumbling fuddling crankpot wizards of the university alledged to be the greatest minds of all and his grandaughter susan, a mission to save the Hogfather and foil the plot ensues.

If there is not enough belief, the Sun wont rise tomorrow, if the Sun doesn't rise there is no tomorrow. this is a very enjoyable fantasy family film, some excellent one liners and wise cracks, it's fantasy, comedy, drama, thriller and adventure rolled into one.

Slow-moving but beautifully shot

I must be honest, I rented this purely because I am a huge Marc Warren fan, and figured I'd give it a go. I used to read Pratchett when I was younger, but it's not been my thing for quite a while now. However, on the whole, I was quite pleasantly surprised by Hogfather.

As you'd expect from a Sky One offering, it was lavish and looked stunning. Pratchett's world was very well realised, although there was a lack of establishing scenery shots, which made the locations a little confusing at times, and I think children could find that a little hard to follow. My other bugbear was that, especially at first, the action was very slow-moving, and actually, in the whole three hours, not very much really happens.

What makes up for this is the excellent cast (not just Marc Warren!) and the sentiment behind the story. Only the most hard-hearted can fail to be moved by the premise that children's beliefs are being shattered, and if they cannot be restored, the sun will fail to come up on Christmas, sorry, Hogswatch Day... There are frequent moments of levity, some extremely successful - such as the comedic personifications of people's various increasingly obscure beliefs - and some less so, like the bungling old wizards in the Unseen University.

All in all, there is a lot in this little two-parter for kids with a decent attention span, and adults will find plenty to appreciate too.

The Bog-Awful Father

What is it that is wrong with this production? The fact that Sky made it? The fact that, despite the stellar cast, they all seem out of their depth, except Ian Richardson, who doesn't even appear on screen? Or is it the fact that they have managed to take one of Terry Pratchett's best Discworld novels and turn it into tripe... and dull, repetitive, uninspiring tripe at that. Not even an appearance by the man himself can save this disappointing adaptation. Marc Warren is particularly awful.