| The Hogfather | 
 enlarge | Director: Vadim Jean
Actors: David Jason, Marc Warren, Michelle Dockery, David Warner, Tony Robinson
Studio: Genius Products (TVN)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.66
You Save: $6.29 (42%)
New (33) Used (6) from $8.58
Avg. Customer Rating:  47 reviews
Sales Rank: 421
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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: 80604
UPC: 796019806046
EAN: 0796019806046
ASIN: B0010X741Y
Theatrical Release Date: November 25, 2007
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Based on a fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, The Hogfather is an extraordinary satire-adventure set in the mythical realm of Discworld, a kind of parallel-universe version of Earth. Discworld's alternative to Santa Claus is the Hogfather, who also chases around in a sled delivering gifts to children (on a Christmas-like night known as Hogwatch), but who looks like, well, a wild hog and is pulled through the skies not by reindeer but a bunch of grunting porkers with long, dangerous teeth. Just as the Hogfather is about to complete his annual mission to leave toys for kids under their Hogwatch trees, a specter makes a deal with a professional assassin to kill the jolly old fellow. The job is farmed out to a psychotic monster named Teatime (Marc Warren), who sets about trying to get to the Hogfather through, of all things, the Tooth Fairy. While danger stalks these immortal characters, Death (Ian Richardson) himself takes the Hogfather's place on his magical rounds, with comic consequences. Meanwhile, a governess named Susan (Michelle Dockery), possessor of a strange secret and awesome powers, determines that the Hogfather is in danger. She sets about trying to find him and discovers Teatime's plot, while a cluster of clumsy wizards (led by Joss Ackland) try to make sense of what has happened and what they can do about it. It's hard to explain the charm and wit of The Hogfather, which is full of quirky, ironic humor, except to say that it's easy to fall in love with this British television special and its dark delights. (Some a bit too dark for younger viewers.) The cast includes a very funny Tony Robinson of Black Adder. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
Hogfather is the magical menacing wicked and witty family story unlike anything else you could ever imagine. From the imagination of best-selling author Terry Pratchett comes Hogfather. It s the holiday of Hogswatch the night when kids anticipate presents from the beloved Hogfather. But someone wants the Hogfather out of the way. Now it s up to the most unlikely of heroes to get the holiday back on track. Just in time for the Easter season Hogfather is a cross between Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter that s sure to be a family favorite you ll be watching for years and years to come. System Requirements:Run Time: 189 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 796019806046 Manufacturer No: 80604
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 42 more reviews...
 A great adaptation of the book May 12, 2008
The book was written by a brilliant word-smith who crafted each phrase with care and cleverness. The movie does not deviate from the dialog in the slightest and is all the stronger for the faithful trust in the source material. The movie is clever in music and photography to the great enjoyment of my gladdened eyes. Well worth purchasing even if the DVD lacks the standard extras found amongst the more common DVD releases.
 "The Ho, Ho, Ho Could Do with a Bit of Work." May 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In Discworld, the winter holiday is Hogswatch, which bears a remarkable resemblance to our Christmas. This particular Hogswatch, something is amiss, however. The Auditors have approached the assassin's guild and taken out a contract on the Hogfather (you know, Santa.) How do you kill a potentially mythological creature? Well, the guild decides to send their craziest assassin, Teatime (Marc Warren) to do the job.
As Teatime goes about his mission, the body count begins to rise, which catches the attention of Death (a wonderful puppet voiced by Ian Richardson). Over the years, Death has grown fond of humans, so he sets out to fill in for the suddenly missing Hogfather.
And Death's antics catch the attention of Susan (Michelle Dockery), his granddaughter. When Susan learns what is happening, she sets out to find the Hogfather and save his life, a mission that takes her to the Tooth Fairy's castle. Will she be in time?
While I'm not normally a fantasy fan, I had heard of Terry Pratchett's popular Discworld series. This British TV miniseries is based on one of his stories. I'm pretty conflicted about it. On the one hand, there was plenty of fun in the story and setting. The acting was wonderful. And the movie looked incredible. It was very state of the art and has plenty of eye candy. I especially loved watching the "computer" write on parchment with quill and ink. While there are some discussions about belief that will fly over kids' heads, there's nothing here that should really frighten them.
However, it moved pretty slowly. It is three hours long and could easily be cut down to two if they wanted to make the effort. There is a whole sub-plot involving a wizarding college that could have been cut and the needed information worked in some other way. Really, very little happens there that we need to know, although there are a couple fun scenes set there.
I'm sure the books' many fans will love this movie. Fantasy fans in general will enjoy it as well. The rest of us can do worse then this miniseries, but a good editing job would have made things more enjoyable.
 True to the spirit of Terry Pratchett May 6, 2008
Being a Terry Pratchett fan, I gritted my teeth on this one: one the one hand, intense curiosity about how well the book might be made visual; on the other hand, a cringing memory of just how badly such things have turned out in the past.
To my delight, this is a BRILLIANT rendering of the book. The wit is all there. Susan, Albert, Ridcully, and even Death fit their written characters, bang on. Mr Teatime is perfectly psychopathic. If there was any room to quibble, it would be that Nobby looks more human than one might expect.
The imagery is also vividly done, and a picture being worth a thousand words is probably how the screenplay manages to capture so much of the book in the time available.
If you're not familiar with Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, you might find the film a bit confusing, but highly entertaining. In my house, Hogfather has joined the short but prized list of must-watch films for Christmas, er, Hogswatchnight.
Pratchett and the Novel were served well May 5, 2008
Most book adaptations are twisted into unrecognizable lumps by cheap producers. Fortunately, someone locked the "suits" in the elevator and got on with making "Hogfather" as a film wonderfully true to the Novel.
I can only hope that the Discworld Series becomes more widely known because of it. Pratchett is an unsung genius. If you haven't read his
work - stop cheating yourself. I'd thoroughly recommend getting both this film and the book it's based on. Then Pick up a copy of "Guards! Guards!".
That will set you in the right direction for a supremely fun journey.
Hogfather is GREAT May 4, 2008
This movie makes a difficult shift from novel to film with great success. The story is faithfully told and much of Pratchett's very dry humour is interspersed everywhere. It is a fine stand alone film - it does not require that you have read any of the Discworld books, but obviously some of the jokes won't be obvious if you don't know to look for them (The Death of Rats, especially).
Great special effects and really well done acting. It is a long movie (two discs) but really riveting - the time flew by. It is definitely a movie I would watch again and agin.
|
|
|
