Terry Pratchett's Discworld - Wyrd Sisters

Starring:Christopher Lee, Jane Horrocks, June Whitfield, Annette Crosbie, Eleanor Bron, Les Dennis, Andy Hockley, David Holt (VI), Jimmy Hibbert, Rob Rackstraw, Melissa Sinden, Taff Girdlestone
Director: Jean Flynn (II)
Studio: Acorn Media
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Author Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels offer an alternate reality that has proven irresistible to an avid, international audience--a universe where the world really is flat, after all, supported by four elephants floating through the cosmos on the back of a giant turtle. It's a world where fantasy conventions have been filtered through an antic, satirical lens that slyly warps the actions and motives of the wizards, witches, monarchs, and knaves that populate them, suggesting a sword & sorcery counterpart to Douglas Adams's venerable A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Developed for British television as an animated, six-episode miniseries, Wyrd Sisters marks the first attempt at transferring the franchise to video. As presented here on three tapes, with a running time of approximately 147 minutes, Pratchett's cracked re-imagining of familiar mythological themes retains its verbal wit and realizes colorfully stylized visual terrain, although modest animation techniques relegate its impact to the realm of older TV cartoons. Sci-fi aficionados spoiled by lavish computer graphics and the current big-screen state of the art will wonder what all the fuss is about.

Amazon.com

Author Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels offer an alternate reality that has proven irresistible to an avid, international audience--a universe where the world really is flat, after all, supported by four elephants floating through the cosmos on the back of a giant turtle. It's a world where fantasy conventions have been filtered through an antic, satirical lens that slyly warps the actions and motives of the wizards, witches, monarchs, and knaves that populate them, suggesting a sword & sorcery counterpart to Douglas Adams's venerable A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Developed for British television as an animated, six-episode miniseries, Wyrd Sisters marks the first attempt at transferring the franchise to video. As presented here on three tapes, with a running time of approximately 147 minutes, Pratchett's cracked re-imagining of familiar mythological themes retains its verbal wit and realizes colorfully stylized visual terrain, although modest animation techniques relegate its impact to the realm of older TV cartoons. Sci-fi aficionados spoiled by lavish computer graphics and the current big-screen state of the art will wonder what all the fuss is about.

Customer Reviews:

buy the books, burn the dvd.......2006-01-31

Isn't there a rating below 1 star?

Don't buy this, don't rent it, don't even borrow it for yourself if you like any Pratchett book. It is perfectly suitable for children under about the age of 9 if they aren't very smart and can sit staring at Saturday morning cartoons for hours at a time.

The screen writer apparently didn't realize that leaving out all the great puns, hilarious allegory, and brilliant dialog created by Terry Pratchett, would leave you with a really pathetic movie.

Buy ALL the Weird World books but if you buy this DVD , don't blame me.

Very disappointing.......2006-01-25

With Terry Pratchett's great writing and Cosgrove Hall doing the animation I figured this had to be a winner, but sadly this is not the same stop-frame-puppet-animation Cosgrove Hall brilliance that brought us 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' or 'The Reluctant Dragon'. This is their second-rate cartoon team who brought us the highly overrated Dangermouse. Wyrd Sisters exhibits the sort of mediocre paint-by-numbers animation that Hanna-Barbera was infamous for. In my opinion Discworld could have been well-served by Cosgrove Hall if only they had done it properly. This cartoon treatment is disappointing to say the least. I advise everyone to just read the book instead - your own imagination will conjure up better images than this DVD does.

It's true what they say......."The book was so much better!".......2005-04-10

I was really hoping for something great here. When I learned they had made movies of Terry Pratchett's fantastic works, WYRD SISTERS and SOUL MUSIC, I was so excited. When I found out they were animated, I was thrilled beyond belief. I adore animation! There is so much you can do these days with animation. So much that the producers of this film did'nt bother to do! The movie is nice and long, which is about the only nice thing I can say about it. The most recognizable of the vocal talent is that of Jane Horracks(Absolutely Fabulous and Little Voice). The animation is cheaply done.Many of the jokes and Terry's fantastic sattire that us fans have come to love are lost on those who have'nt read the books prior to seeing the movie. I am giving this movie 3 stars because of my loyalty to DiscWorld and because of the relative obscurity of the film. It is sort of difficult to find new or used and in Region 1 and I feel necessary for any animanition fan's personal collection. I will purchase SOUL MUSIC eventually with greater hopes for the future. For anyone special reading this...I would love to see the Luggage animated!

Read the book!.......2005-01-23

If you've read "Wyrd Sisters," the book, then this DVD will be both more enjoyable and redundant. The animation is horrible, and the voices are too cartoony at times. If you've read the book, then you'll understand what's going on, but if you haven't, you'll be confused about a number of things. In short, skip the DVD and read the book.

Granny Weatherwax would approve.......2005-01-10

...and she doesn't approve of much.

I love Pratchett's books and think he's one of the wisest people living right now, and I generally do not like book-to-film adaptations, much less book-to-animation.

I didn't love this adaptation right off the bat. I speak Midwestern American English and my ears took awhile getting used to the "Ramtop" accents - the same as watching Shakespeare performed by British actors using appropriate accents. Granny, Nanny, and Magrat don't sound like Elves from Lord of the Rings, but they DO sound like English country women.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but the adaptation is brilliant, from the intro shot of Great A'Tuin to the feral woodland creatures at the end.

It may not be quite what you expect - but if you check your assumptions at the door you will probably enjoy this adaptation of Pratchett's genius.

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