The Hogfather

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.

I love the Discworld series of books. I haven't really sampled much of the media available beyond the books though. While i would have cast this differently and taken a different approach with the development of some of the characters, I did find it quite entertaining.

This would have been great.... IF it had closed captioning. Deaf people like terry pratchett too!

It's true. When I first watched Hogfather I hadn't read any of Pratchett's wonderful novels of the Discworld, so there were a few things that I were somewhat unable to understand (such as the full history behind Susan & Death, the Watch, ect). However, the movie is set up to be so newcomer friendly that many such as myself will have no problem getting into the movie & fully enjoying it.

The story surrounds the dissapearance & possible demise of the Hogsfather & Death's attempts to keep everything going by taking his place until the rightful entity can re assume the role. Meanwhile, Death's granddaughter Susan is reluctantly brought into the middle of all of this to help discover what has truly befallen the Hogfather & why.

All in all, I loved this movie. I was overjoyed to hear that it was finally coming to the US so I could finally have a real copy of this to watch each christmas as a new classic. I can only hope that the next movie in the series (Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic) will get the same treatment over here!

The strange thing about Terry Pratchett is how he manages to include murder and mayhem in his works, yet somehow makes it all seem lighthearted. I just reviewed Nation and I was embarrassed by how much I relied on the word "delightful" and sadly, I have to use it here too. This dvd sacrifices none of the humor or lighthearted weirdness in translation from print to video.

The story is another one with Death vs. The Auditors. This time the Auditors are out to destroy the Disc World equivalent of Xmas by sending an assassin after The Hogfather. Susan of Stohelit (my personal favorite) is on hand to provide a human face, but for the most part this is Death's show. And Death riding around on a sleigh pulled by reindeer is the best visual I've seen in a long time.

Yes, there are some flaws. It gets a bit slow by the end of the second act and the plan to kill Hogfather doesn't make any sense whatsoever, but I watched this on the third night of a Con where I was exhausted and cranky and wishing that I had decided to go home. I had a big stupid grin on my face the entire time. There's not a lot that can do that when I'm that cranky, in fact I can't think of anything else. So that alone makes it a five star must see.