Excellent but underrated film

Absolutely Fantastic

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

In the city of Ankh Morpork on the Disc World the celebration of Hog's Watch replaces Christmas and the Hogfather replaces Father Christmas. A shadowy group known as 'The Auditors' have employed the Guild of Assassins to kill the Hogfather and they have sent Jonathan Teatime, a particularly nasty assassin to do the job. Teatime's scheme first involves invading the Tooth Fairy's castle where he hope to gain control over what people believe in. His actions have caused the actual Hogfather to go missing so Death, the Grim Reaper himself, takes over the role of Hogfather while his granddaughter Susan tries foil Teatime's plans.This two part TV adaption of Terry Pratchett's book is fairly faithful to the original work with its large cast of slightly eccentric characters. The cast does a fine job; Michelle Dockery particularly stands out as Susan, despite her third billing her character is definitely the protagonist; she does a great job in this early role. Marc Warren is suitably creepy as the sinister Teatime; at first I found the way he spoke rather annoying but the more I watched the more I thought it suited the character. The rest of the cast, which includes the likes of David Jason, Joss Ackland and Ian Richardson, as the voice of Death, impresses as well. I liked the portrayal of the Unseen University and the various bumbling wizards and the Tooth Fairy's castle… although I was less sure about the tooth shaped helmets the guards there wore, I can't recall if they were mentioned in the book or not. The story is told in a family friendly way; there are some mildly scary moments but nothing that is likely to really scare children. Overall I'd recommend this whether you've read the books or not; I enjoyed it when I first watched it without having read and Pratchett and enjoyed it just as much after reading several of his books including 'Hogfather'.

A slightly more recent review. I watched this based on a still image I saw of one of the ending scenes, and the words- 'You're saying humans need...fantasies to make life bearable.' That scene is really the backbone of this plot, and the brief moments of sobering, heartfelt dialogue amongst the humour and fun are really perfect. The set, and actors are completely full of life, and perfect for this.The author was very involved in the making of this (and there are even fun little videos of him in the extras), which I think is one of the reasons it exceeds expectations. I've never read any Pratchett, but this adaptation made me think I probably should. If you get a chance to watch this- and you are a fan of similar Christmas & magic themed films such as Arthur Christmas, and Rise of the Guardians (which has a similar tooth fairy angle), or just fancy a fun Christmassy romp with a smart undercurrent and heart, then you will be very happy with this.

I love this 2 part TV-movie. Excellent produced, amazing performances from the cast and "simple" genuine and cast adapted direction. I have seen it several times in few days as well as 'The Color of Magic' and 'Going Postal'. Hogfather is the absolute favorite though. The actors are amazing. Marc Warren, Michelle Dockery, Nigel Planer, Ian Richardson and all the others elevates this production to a level that already made it classic. Hogfather was highly enjoyable when it was released, it still is today and it will be for a long, long time. The secret is details, the execution of the special effects, utterly trust in basic theatrical formats but not to be afraid of innovation. This is a proof that genuine craftsmanship is the key to quality. Sound effects and music all through the movie is delicate edited. The story is told in 3 hours without getting slow or boring. Intelligent script with an excellent timing, flow, direction, and all actors' amazing performance is why I can't See any other alternative than to give Hogfather the TV-movie a 10 out of 10. Mr Pratchett must be satisfied with the result and happy that though it does not follow the book letter by letter but depicts and delivers the story in the spirit of the Ring World saga. This is art, craftsmanship and entertainment in perfect combination.

I thought this was a movie with an imaginative scenario, sophisticated and exciting. User reviews were generally laudatory. But I found this a disappointment as the script is disjointed, constantly jumping non- sequitur, building unrelated pieces, giving out a product not very nice or even pushing asleep. So the characters lack of consistency, follow-up. From time to time, some scenes make you laugh, but it is a story modelled on a Christmas story left out of an unattractive taste and especially without head or tail. It's a shame, but it seemed a waste of time. It seems like you could endlessly write such story without going anywhere and it is far from a real fairy tale which would make you dream or something. I would not recommend it as there are much more interesting tales for children than this.