There is a lot to enjoy in this adaptation of Terry Pratchett's first two Discworld novels, and interestingly enough it all seems to come from the adaptation rather than the source material. I am another Pratchett fan ringing in here, but I haven't read these novels in a very long time and my memory of them isn't very kind. With the adaptation, the producers seem to have stripped back the arguably juvenile, direction-less comedy of the novels down to the plot - which, unfortunately for them, isn't strong enough to carry 4 hours worth of film.
The production values are high, the casting is superb (especially David Jason, who is nothing like my mind's version of Rincewind and yet is thoroughly enjoyable in the role, and Sean Astin plays Twoflower perfectly), and it doesn't suffer from the plodding pace that Hogfather had (though I would like to stress that I loved every instant of Hogfather, and haven't read the book in the fear that it won't be as good).
But the story of the Colour of Magic just isn't that interesting. I like Terry Pratchett very much, I think he's funny, and develops plot well, but I agree with Neil Gaiman in his appraisal of the early novels, saying that the plot follows the jokes, rather than the reverse which is true in the later novels.
So in conclusion, this adaptation is superb, it just doesn't adapt anything really great.
The production values are high, the casting is superb (especially David Jason, who is nothing like my mind's version of Rincewind and yet is thoroughly enjoyable in the role, and Sean Astin plays Twoflower perfectly), and it doesn't suffer from the plodding pace that Hogfather had (though I would like to stress that I loved every instant of Hogfather, and haven't read the book in the fear that it won't be as good).
But the story of the Colour of Magic just isn't that interesting. I like Terry Pratchett very much, I think he's funny, and develops plot well, but I agree with Neil Gaiman in his appraisal of the early novels, saying that the plot follows the jokes, rather than the reverse which is true in the later novels.
So in conclusion, this adaptation is superb, it just doesn't adapt anything really great.