This is the second attempt to make a movie out of a Terry Pratchett novel and it succeeds rather well. In this case, the movie is based on the first two novels in the 'Discworld' series, 'The Colour of Magic' and 'The Light Fantastic'.
Rincewind (David Jason), an inept wizard, is expelled from Unseen University. On a dare, he snuck a look at the Octavo, the book used to create the world, and one of the eight great spells lodged in his head.
At the same time, Twoflower (Sean Astin) arrives in Ankh-Morpork to "look at it". He's the Discworld's first tourist and he travels with the Luggage, a box made of sapient pearwood that moves about on hundreds of little legs and will follow it's owner everywhere.
After conning Twoflower, Rincewind is dragged to the Patrician's palace and ordered by Lord Vetinari (Jeremy Irons) to guide Twoflower safely through the city.
Twoflower, introducing the concept of fire insurance to Ankh-Morpork, inadvertently causes the entire city to burn down and he and Rincewind escape and Rincewind is plunged into several life threatening situations which he survives by sheer luck.
The good parts of this movie are Jeremy Irons as the Patrician and Tim Curry as Ymper Trymon, second in command of one of the eight orders of wizardry at the university. Both play their roles with relish and Curry's performance is as good, if not better, than that of Cardinal Richelieu in 'The 3 Musketeers'.
The bad parts? Well, a lot of the good scenes in both novels are left out. There is no travelling shop, no Hrun the Barbarian, no flying rock and no Tethis the sea troll. There is also no gingerbread cottage or broomstick flying.
Also, they unfortunately chose a white actor to portray Twoflower, when it's made clear in both 'The Colour of Magic' and 'Interesting Times' that Twoflower is Chinese. A real shame, but Sean Astin does a fantastic job at portraying Twoflower's attitude of looking at the world through rose coloured glasses.
And they got Cohen the Barbarian's (David Bradley) teeth wrong.
Although this movie takes a while to get going, it does get funnier as it goes along and there are some great one-liners. "I am having a near Rincewind experience."
Christopher Lee reprises the voice of Death, as he did in the animated versions of 'Soul Music' and 'Wyrd Sisters' and he has some of the best parts in the movie.
Aside from the little annoyances, the movie is quite good, the actors are superb, it's got all the wittiness you'd expect from Pratchett, and I loved it.
A live-action Terry Pratchett movie is either doomed to fail in every way, or succeed in practically everything.
And "The Colour of Magic," adapted from the first two novels in Pratchett's brilliant Discworld series, is more the former than the latter. This one is no "Hogather" -it has rather slack direction at times -but it preserves Pratchett's wry satirical sense of humour. And of course, it's all about a mercenary, cowardly failed wizard.
Rincewind (David Jason) is ejected from the Unseen University, on the very day that Twoflower (Sean Astin) arrives with his many-legged Luggage. He's come to the Disc... to "look at it." But after Rincewind tries to con Twoflower, the Patrician (Jeremy Irons) orders Rincewind to be the guide/bodyguard of the Disc's first ever tourist.
After a massive fire sweeps through the city, the two end up fleeing Ankh-Morpork and running into all sorts of weird things -a very assertive magic sword, a floating island full of see-through dragons, a dramatic dragonlady in a leather bikini, astrozoologists trying to determine Great A'Tuin's gender, the aged Cohen the (retired) Barbarian, druids, and even getting thrown clear off the Disc in a strange spacecraft. And you thought YOU had problems.
Unfortunately the Unseen University is having troubles of its own -the magical book Octavo is acting weird, and power-hungry Trymon (Tim Curry) is scheming against the Archchancellor. Even worse, a strange red star has appeared in the sky, and the world is facing destruction. The only thing that can save it is the spell in Rincewind's head.
Perhaps it's because it's based on the first, roughest Discworld books, but "Colour of Magic" is not quite as funny or tightly-written as its predecessor, "Hogather." The writing is not quite as complex or as witty, and the direction sometimes feels a bit slack (such as the bar fight scene, or Trymon skulking and schemind around the University).
But despite these drawbacks, "Colour of Magic" is still a vastly entertaining story -it has a solid plotline and it chugs away nicely after a somewhat sluggish beginning, and blossoms into full-out complexity about halfway through. Once it gets underway it starts to resemble a road-trip through fantasy-land, with our quirky tourist and wizard bungling their way across the Disc.
Along the way there's some fun action (an upside-down duel), humorous dialogue ("You weren't born with a mysterious birthmark in the shape of a crown, were you?"), and a general air of tongue-in-cheekness. Best of all, it's a fantasy spoof -Vadim Jean preserves Pratchett's clever satire aimed at the staples of your average fantasy: fantasy babes, prophecies, magic swords, retired barbarians, powerful artifacts, and even the idea of reality warping itself to save the "hero."
Jason is wonderfully snivelly and sour as Rincewind, a failed wizard who basically finds himself repeatedly swept up into bizarre, deadly circumstances even though he didn't want to be involved. Astin is even better as the hilariously oblivious Twoflower, who regards every disaster as yet another great adventure ("We're going to run out of world!" "I have to see that!").
And there's a talented supporting cast -Curry chews the scenery with sneering aplomb, Karen David plays a humorously over-the-top dragon-lady, and Irons has a small but wonderful role as the chilly, efficient Vetinari. And of course, the brilliant Christopher Lee takes over as an increasingly disappointed Death.
"Colour of Magic" isn't as tightly directed as it could have been, but it still manages to be clever and quite amusing.
Buy The Color of Magic Now
i'm going to presume that you, like myself, are a long-time Discworld reader. if you're not familiar with the plot of the first two books, or Terry Pratchett's writing, or the themes and characters of Discworld, you should skip this. although the movie would be a good starting point for anyone unfamiliar with Discworld lore, this review is specifically for veterans of the books, if not the previous adaptations (Wyrd Sisters, Soul Music, Hogfather).
the plot(s) of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic were carried over mostly intact. some specific scenes or events are left out or glossed over, but i think it was an acceptable adaptation.
i have no problem with Twoflower being "American." it works, it really does! i don't remember it saying anywhere that Agateans *look* Asian. but Twoflower's gormless optimism? Sean Astin nails it!
i *do* have a problem with Rincewind. for one, he seems too old; i know that's also a minor complaint, but he didn't look much younger than Cohen. my bigger gripe is that Rincewind is supposed to be a runner (away), not a eye-roller. less befuddled muttering, more screaming for help in 87 languages. too much of his faux-exasperation falls flat
since i mentioned Cohen, i must say they did him justice. mostly. i mean, you can *clearly* see his teeth while he's complaining about not having teeth. but his mannerisms and fight scenes are spot-on!
what else? oh, the Librarian. one of everyone's favorite characters, they must have gotten him perfect, right? nope, it's an unconvincing guy in an ape suite. i'm presuming they had reasons not to use a *real* orangutan, but the costume simply didn't work, in my eye. put a man in an ape suit and it still moves like a man, not an ape. it would have been less unreal (eg, more fantastic) to use a CG orang, or a Henson-esque puppet.
Death seemed better actuated (physically) than in Hogfather, but some of his lines sound more like Marvin from HHGTTG than Death. for easy example: "I WAS AT A PARTY, YOU KNOW" sounded more like a complaint than a reproach. still, "I THINK I JUST HAD ANOTHER NEAR-RINCEWIND EXPERIENCE" is worth the price of admission =)
finally, the Luggage. its movement was perfect! it trundles around in a bouncy gait, often chasing people around in the background. i wish its homicidal nature had been more on display, and they never did show its mouth ("lots of big square teeth, white as sycamore, and a pulsating tongue, red as mahogany") but its "expressions" and reactions were subtle and brilliant.
all in all, i enjoyed The Colour of Magic more than Hogfather. i also feel more comfortable recommending it to non-fans as there's less background to know and hidden context to be aware of.
i can't wait for Going Postal, the next adaptation. oook!
Read Best Reviews of The Color of Magic Here
The Colour of Magic is a good effort which will be enjoyed by Disworld fans more than normal people. I won't rehash the plot because other reviewers have already done so. Here is a list of what I found dissapointing about this film.:
1. I was disappointed that Two Flower was not Chinese. It's like being a fan of Charlie Chan books and then when they make the films they cast...er, never mind.
2. Death was superb in Hogfather. Here (Christopher Leethe Wicker Man) was good, I suppose, but they made an echo of his voice and half played it back over everything he said, the result being you couldn't understand a single thing he said. Didn't anyone LISTEN to this thing before airing it? The same complaint could be made about when the Spell in Rincewind's mind spoke over his voice, also indecipherable. I fear we lost some great lines.
3. One of my favourite characters in the books is the Librarian who was the most disappointing aspect of the film. They turned him into a joke. It was pathetic, really. They put a monkey mask on an actor, a small actor. Hardly comes across as an 800 orangatan. Didn't even "ook" properly.
Here's what I found excellent about this film:
1. The Patrician played by Jeremy Irons. He was brilliant. His "Do not let me detain you" was perfection. No one else should ever be allowed to play that role. The pity was he was only in two scenes. Made me long to see one of the more Patrician-rich books.
2. Rincewind (David Jason) was perfect. I didn't care for Rincewind in the books, he just wasn't one of my favourite characters, but after seeing the movie, I have a much greater appreciation for him. Jason did an excellent job pinning down the character.
3. Jean Astin (The Lord of the Rings) did a good job as the optimistic tourist Two Flower despite being a shade unbelievable at times. It's hard to maintain that kind of optimism without coming across all Nell Fenwick*. I suspect that the filmmakers felt that casting the role with a Chinese person who was a foolish tourist would incite too many complaints to the PC Obeisance Department and so cast the role with the only people we're allowed to make fun of anymore, young white men.
4. Cohen the Barbarian (David Bradley) was excellent and just how I pictured him.
5. The sets and costuming are excellent. You could practically smell Ankh-Morpork.
6. The Guilds of thieves, assassins, beggars etc who conspire to steal the luggage from Two Flower were wonderfully cast.
7. Finally, but hardly least, Dear Uncle Terry played a role himself. The author of all the discworld books, Terry Pratchett opened and closed the film. I'm happy to have him be part of his own film in a cameo. Like Alfred Hitchcock, only jollier.
So all in all, I offer 3 stars. If you're a discworld fan, you'll enjoy this. If you're not, why in the disc not?
* oh, and for those who can't figure out who Nell Fenwick is, shame on you, where is your cultural compass? From Dudley DoRight of the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, of course.
Want The Color of Magic Discount?
The Color of Magic was the very first Discworld novel, published in 1983. The Light Fantastic: A Discworld Novel, a direct sequel, and the second Discworld tale, was published in 1986. Pratchett's writing and plotting are better by several orders of magnitude in his later books. And the later books are less overtly satiric. The highly episodic nature of these first two novels must have made them tough to script. But, over all, this is a decent effort at a difficult task.
The casting is generally good. Sean Astin is quite good as Twoflower, the Disc's first tourist. He was a controversial choice because Twoflower is from the Discworld's equivalent of China in the hearts of Pratchett fans, but Astin brings such strong skills to the role that it all works well. David Jason as the failed wizard excuse me, "Wizzard" is less successful. He's simply too old. And the script down plays Rincewind's strongest trait: cowardice. This is a man who knows how to say "Don't kill me" in a hundred different languages. Jason just doesn't fit the character. Jeremy Irons is superb as the Patrician. David Bradley as Cohen is at once not old enough and too old. He is obviously much younger than the 92 years Cohen claims. He tries to "act" older by being slower in fights, something that would surely have killed Cohen long ago if it were right. Tim Curry is completely right as the power-hungry, scheming Trymon, a larger role in the movie than in the books.
Another problem is that Color of Magic/Light Fantastic cries out for a big special effects budget. Let's just say that The Mob, the movie's producers, didn't have Peter Jackson's budget. Except, perhaps, for the Librarian, they do reasonably well with what they had, and the final few scenes are especially good.
Still, even a so-so Pratchett movie is still a Pratchett movie. If all of the jokes aren't there, and some destinations skipped or somewhat changed, there are enough laughs to remind you why Pratchett is a world treasure.
Reportedly, The Mob will make Going Postal next, a much later, much better written Pratchett novel. I look forward to it, but in the meantime Color of Magic, if flawed, is still great fun. And the flaws may just be, like octarine, the color of magic, a pigment of my imagination. Recommended.
Tom McCarthy is a young gifted artist actor, writer, director who has gifted us in the past with such memorable small films as writer/director of 'The Visitor', 'The Station Agent', and as writer for 'Up'. He deals with simple people encountering complex problems and shows us how cooperative relationships make life OK. McCarthy both wrote (with Joe Tiboni) and directed WIN WIN and if there were two words that would best describe this film the title supplies them. It is real, touching without becoming saccharine, and populated by a cast of some very fine actors who deliver a very human story.
