The Colour of Magic (2008)

 

Terry Pratchett, you wonderful, wonderful writer you... You're sorely missed. 

For those who have never read any of the Discworld's novels: welcome to a land that is magical, bizarre and funny, but also makes you think twice about certain things. The series in itself is immensely popular (and rightly so), so naturally it was a question of time before someone decided to turn it into a mini-series. Fortunately, Pratchett himself was involved, so the spirit does stay true to the books and it doesn't get watered down or - someone forbid - altered to appeal to 'the mainstream crowd'. 

'The Colour of Magic' miniseries is based on Discworld's first two books and for the most part, follows them rather closely. Does it all make sense? No. But there was a lot of stuff to cram in about three hours and you'll have to forgive the makers for taking some shortcuts here and there. But the fanciful is still abundant. Things kick off when Rincewind is expelled from Unseen University. Rincewind is probably the worst wizard ever and the oldest student in history. He just can't remember spells. This has to do with the fact that a powerful book called the Octavo has lodged one of its spells in Rincewind's head and any other spells are afraid of it. Rincewind is also a grade A coward. 

The adventure kicks off when the city of Ankh-Morpork gets a visit from a tourist called Twoflower, who is not only insanely rich by Morporkian standards, but who also has a sentient suitcase with him. Rincewind quickly decides to swindle Twoflower (who is blissfully naive), but after the Patrician catches up to Rincewind and forces him to do good by Twoflower, they head off. 

Well, first they sort of cause the city to burn down. Sort of.

Along the way, they discover invisible dragons, end up in space and meet the legendary warrior Cohen the Barbarian. And if that wasn't enough, there's another story unfolding, where ambitious wizard Trymon wants to become archchancellor of the University and pretty much become all powerful. In the end, events become linked and Rincewind might become the most unlikely hero the entire Discworld has ever seen. 

There is a lot of content here, too much to go into detail here. Yes, books have a lot of stuff going on. But this is a wonderful miniseries, even if it is not the best outing of the bunch (that honour might go to 'Going Postal'). The casting is most excellent: there's David Jason as Rincewind, Sean Astin as Twoflower, Jeremy Irons as the Patrician and maybe even the most perfect casting of all sir Christopher Lee as the voice of Death (probably the most beloved character of the franchise). Oh, and Tim Curry is a gleefully evil and devious Trymon in that much loved Tim Curry-fashion. I swear, the guy was custom-tailored for roles such as these.

There is quite a bit of humour and jokes, but maybe toned down from the novels. But it is a fun adventure nonetheless. In fact, the biggest 'problem' lies in the 'made for tv'-budget, as a lot of the special effects do show their limitations. There are some gorgeous shots of the interstellar Turtle A'Tuin, but then there are times when the compositing is shoddy and the CG is plain cheap, as with the dragons of the Wyrmberg. You can't really blame the makers for this, as it was done with less money than one would imagine. The locales are nice, but don't capture the grandeur of for example the city or the library of Unseen University. In fact, the latter feels downright small and is a far cry from how it is described in the books. 

But still: excellent effort and a feast of recognition for the fans of the books. And if you're in the mood for something concerning fantasy but with a whole new slant, you could do a lot worse than this. Maybe even pick up the novels, as they are without a doubt most excellent.