Customer Reviews:
Its a matter of taste..........2005-02-22
Firstly I must say that I have not read the book of Soul Music as yet, but will be doing so as I work my way through the collected works of Mr. Pratchett. Therefore I cannot compare this DVD directly to the book, which I'm sure is excellent if this product is anything to go by.
However, aesthetically this animation does look dated, which for me spoils it somewhat; the movements are jerky, lip-sync is nearly non-existant, and due to the use of digital processing (pioneering when this animation was done) the picture can sometimes be quite blurry. The least I expected from the DVD release would have been a Star-Wars-Trilogy-esqe digital enhancement makeover, instead the quality is only vaguely improved from the VHS version due to the DVD format itself. In all honesty I would love this title to be remade, preferably in an "anime" style, which I feel would suit it very well.
The content itself is quite good though, especially the interview with Terry himself which was thoroughly watchable. The animation "feels" Discworldian and faithful to the style of the genre, with a good cast of voices, including Christopher Lee (and Neil Morrissey!).
Overall I would recommend this product to anyone who has a soft spot for Discworld, and is not too fussy about what they want from a DVD animation.
3 Stars, worth buying.
Flawed classic.......2003-02-22
When Soul Music was first released on tape I rushed to buy it...(and waited anxiously for the second part to be released!)
It is a superb adaptation, the musical pastiches are extremely accurate and clever - (so buy the soundtrack CD like I did as well!) I thought the additional "apprentice blade" assassin employed by Clete was an extremely good caricature of the individual concerned...hehehe, I get a laugh every time I see him! A little naughty though...
I enjoyed this more than Wyrd Sisters (good though that is), so when I saw it was on DVD I rushed to buy a "high quality" copy:- and found that it had to be viewed by the episode, without a play through option like WS had on DVD. This is the reason why I shall be keeping my VHS copy (cool spines on the covers!)as well as the DVD - that way I only have to suffer one break - and why I only award 4 stars to this version.
Superb.......2001-11-27
This has to be one of the best animations I have ever seen. Terry Pratchetts book has been faithfully brought to life with some of his best characters. Christopher Lee plays an excellent role as death.
The music chronicles the history of music from Buddy Holly to 60's Flower Power.
This is a must for all Pratchett fans, fingers crossed for Mort!
Give it a try but don't expect it to be better than the book.......2001-11-20
Well personally I enjoyed this more than Wyrd Sisters. I'm not going to claim that it is better than the book as no film or adaption EVER is. I would say that this has a few good extras and the interview is particularly interesting. The episodes can only be watched one at a time but still if you don't want to watch the "previously in Soul Music" bit then fast forward. Oh and if you don't want to keep getting knocked back to the menu then press 'skip' before the end of an episode :)
I'd say definately buy this if you've not got the VHS. The extras for this are better than the ones for Wyrd Sisters
Waste of money........2001-09-19
As my VHS copy of Soul Music has just about expired I have been waiting for the DVD version with great anticipation. What a let down! I was gutted to find, not the movie version as Wyrd Sisters, but the TV single episode version only. I did not want to ask for every episode to be played nor for a review of what happened in the previous episode.! This is OK if you are watching once a week BUT....... I can only live in hope that someone will read this and say 'Hey you got a faulty copy'! -- Dream on. If you want the movie version, stick to VHS as I consider this DVD a waste of time and money.
Customer Reviews:
And once you've heard Chritopher Lee say "Oh Bugger"???.......2006-08-02
As a fan of the Discworld series for many years, no production can compare to the orignal works. Whether it be Radio Plays with Melvyn Hayes cast perfectley as Nobby Nobs, or whether it be a big budget movie, with Tom Cruise miscast as Rincewind (It hasn't happend, but give it time), but this DVD boxset is great, insofar as voice talent. The visuals are all wrong as I feel I know every street of Ahnk Morpork like my own hand, but I can no longer read the two orignal books without hearing the voices from these DVD's reading and saying the lines. Graham Crowden as Ridcully is perfect, Jane Horrocks as Magrat and Annette Crosbie as the brilliant Granny Weatherwax, it all works. And once you've heard Chritopher Lee say "Oh Bugger"???
I'd suggest watching them with your Eyes shut.
Terry Pratchetts Discworld.......2005-12-12
Pratchetts humour is brought hilariously to life (or Death for that matter) in the two animated DVDs. I feared for the integrity of both SISTERS and MUSIC but they are faithfully re-created on film with an impressive 'cast' of voiceovers. Going Postal is an added bonus where, as ever, Pratchett has taken our world and well and truly flattened it!
Fnatastic.......2005-10-16
I Think these two films of Terry Pratchetts works are fabulous, it's just a shame no more books were converted into animation films, if your into witches, wizards and Music this is a must have !
An Interesting Try.......2005-10-11
Cosgrove Hall (more famous for Dangermouse and so on) made two spirited attempts, with Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters, to translate Terry's work into a pair of animated series in 1996, and these are collected in the boxset.
They aren't perfect by any means, but they do give an insight into how other people view the characters in these two books. I found some parts of these series drew my attention to pieces of dialogue that I had previously not really paid any attention to.
They do show that the best, and possibly only, way to take the Discworld to the big screen is for Mr Pratchett to write specifically for that purpose, or too much that is dear to someone will have to be dropped.
Worth seeing, I own them because I own them on VHS too, if you're a little less about these things; consider renting them first.
An Insult..........2005-10-08
This is poor fayre. Terry P has an enormous talent and its hardly shown by this dreadfully animated piece of rubbish. I'd like to say there was one single redeeming feature but sadly............no! Come on Mr P! We still await that movie! You have more than enough material in each and every book to make a stronger big screen effort than this nonsense suggests.
Incidentally.... as books both of these titles work brilliantly!, but unless you want to introduce your five year old to Mr Pratchett, avoid this like an Ankh Morpork plague!!!
Amazon.co.uk Review
Wyrd Sisters is an animated six-episode miniseries adaptation of one of author Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. The books offer an alternate reality that has proven irresistible to an avid, international audience--a universe where the world really is flat after all, and is 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, and it is suggestive of a sword & sorcery counterpart to Douglas Adams' venerable Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Wyrd Sisters retains the verbal wit and colourfully stylised visual terrain of Pratchett's cracked re-imagining of familiar mythological themes, although modest animation techniques relegate its impact to the realm of older TV cartoons. Sci-fi aficionados spoiled by lavish computer graphics and big-screen state of the art will wonder what all the fuss is about; Pratchett's fans, however, won't mind. An intricate plot, set in motion by the murder of King Verence by the utterly dim-witted Duke Felmet, encompasses a smuggled baby, an itinerant theatrical troupe, a kiss lasting 18 years, time travel and other poker-faced twists of fate cohering around the three titular heroines, a coven of rather dotty witches. A droll, sociable Death (voiced by Christopher Lee) epitomises the breezy comic spirit that fuels Pratchett's stories. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Not Wyrd Enough.......2007-06-01
Yes, I agree - the all star cast turn in some good performances and it is nice to have a Cosgrove Hall production which doesn't have David Jason all over it. BUT this is where the good ends.
Aside from the introduction where we're reminded that the world is on the back of the turtle, there is not enough in the feel of the piece to make it Discworld - and let's not forget the cardinal sin of seeing the flashback to the Fool making a joke about Christmas quackers... what is this Christmas malarkey? On Discworld we have Hogswatch - bit of a school boy error, plently of other jokes about ducks that could have been slipped in to be faithful to the book.
That said I thought Soul Music was a much better prodution, and if you are illiterate and wish to dabble in the Discworld it would be worth getting instead of this. However if you're reading this you're clearly not illiterate and there is no excuse not to read one of the 30 odd wonderful books - I'd recommend Small Gods a good place to start (unless you want to start at the beginning)...
as usual the book is better!.......2006-05-10
wyrd sisters being one of my fav in the discworld series, i was curious to see its adaptation onto the screen. The laugh out loud humour present in the book does not translate well to the screen and does not do such a talented author justice. The voice of magrat just seemed to grate on me in manner of nails on a chalkboard, distracting me from the story, and the raucous nanny of ogg did not live up to her literary double. Although i watched it with someone who had not read the book, and they throughly enjoyed it! The animation seemed a bit crude, but i think im so protective of the books that anything would have let me down.Dont watch this with high hopes and you'll find a fair story of the lancre witches, and the fight to protect their kingdom in a macbeth-esque adventure, more for the younger audience than the adult fans.
Witches wild.......2005-08-19
The king is dead, and the baby prince is placed in the hands of a coven of (three) witches. The witches scheme to return the prince to his throne, while the usurper and his wife scheme to discredit the witches. This mini-series comes on three tapes, each containing two half-hour episodes.
First of all, let me say that I have not read the book upon which this movie is based, so I cannot say how closely it matches the book. The story is entertaining, and the quality is at least as good as much of what is seen on American TV. My one grievance with this story is the ending; a strange sleight-of-hand occurs that does not appear to make any sense. Inquiring of people who read the book I found that a key occurrence is omitted from the show, making the ending somewhat incoherent.
However, in spite of this, the show is very funny and suitable for viewer of any age. Feel free to watch it in front of the children, you (and they) will enjoy it.
Much More Than Just an Animation - A Pratchett Masterpiece!.......2004-11-21
Having enjoyed the book, and given the reputation for films etc., to miss out on many of the details I had my reservations about Wyrd Sisters. I need not have worried. The script is faithful to the book, and the characters are brough to life by the talets of June Whitfield, Christopher Lee etc.
Only one thing baffles me; Why do all the characters appear to have West Country accents? Could it be that Discworld actually exists somewhere deep in the South-West of England?
Over to you Terry!
Anyway, for Pratchett fans, this will be a welcome addition to the collection. Perhaps we can look forward to animations of Mort, Equal Rites and Lords and Ladies?
Three Witches not quite airborne.......2004-08-12
Let me say straight away that I was a little disappointed, but not as much as I expected to be. Afterall everyone has their own ideas about the discworld and I am sure that even the man himself would suggest that his view is only one and not the only view. My view tends to be jaundiced by the cover art of the sadly missed Josh Kirby, but he has been known to get carried away (Twoflower [Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic] the Librarian [sourcery] for example). I was particularly disappointed with Magrat, who didn't sem to fit the description in the book at all. Also Jane Horrocks fantastically fits the voice to the drawn character providing a consistent presentation, but to my mind Magrat doesn't speak as though she has a blocked nose and as though she has had all her brain cells destroyed by scumble. So why a 4* rating? The story presented on the dvd is funny, self consistent and bears a strong enough relation to the book to be interesting - it is not the book and I would hope that anyone who sees this first would be intrigued enough to read the book. Whilst an early discworld (number 6 in fact) I think that it is one of the best of the early ones. A star is also awarded for good presentation (nice case, cover art, extras etc). It's not the best ever, but it is pretty good for one dvd. As a note to any would be producers of TPs work, I think that the CGI type animation of films such as Shrek would suit much better - but that is just my opinion.
Customer Reviews:
Pratchett fans cant go wrong with this 2disc set!.......2007-04-14
This is a great set. The weird sister dvd itself is really funny. The soul music disc is in episode format, death on a motorbike is only one of the memorable scenes in this dvd. Adults love it, kids love it everyone will love it, with so many of discworlds most famous citizens on view you are certain of hours of enjoyment! Each disc lasts over 2 hours - thats a lot of laughing!
Customer Reviews:
The magic of music.......2005-12-26
A phenomenal interpritation of the book, with great rocks songs and generic humour.
Christopher Lee (who has always been my faviourite actor) is great as Death with a voice that hollow and exhausted. When Death is the most endearing being on the Disc, you know there's a problem with its people.
All the cast show great skill in interpriting the characters.
As usual, the book is better, but that doesn't mean..........2000-11-29
that the video is bad. It is good and was well transformed and it is really fun to watch it. A must for every Pratchett addict, a thing to put on a list for chistmas for every fan and good for everybody who wants to start with his books.
DVD Review:
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- Space Precinct - Vol. 2 - Enforcer / Flash [1995]
- Stargate Atlantis - Series 1 Vol.5
- Stargate Atlantis - Series 3 Vol.1 [2004]
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- Stargate Infinity - Vol 1
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