"Soul Music" (1997) TV series

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Jean Flynn

Writer:

Terry Pratchett (novel)

Release Date:

12 May 1997 (UK)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

A story of reality, fantasy and the bits in the middle

Plot:

Based on Terry Pratchett's Novel. On Discworld (a world carried by four elephants standing on a huge turtle in space)...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Discworld | Rock Music | Archchancellor | Wizard

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Death (voice)
Graham Crowden	...	Mustrum Ridcully (voice)
Andy Hockley	...	Imp y Celyn (voice)
Neil Morrissey	...	Mort (voice)
Bernard Wrigley	...	Asphalt (voice)
Rosalie Scase	...	(voice)
Jimmy Hibbert	...	(voice)
Rob Rackstraw	...	(voice)
Debra Gillett	...	Susan Sto Helit (voice)
George Harris	...	(voice)
Bryan Pringle	...	Albert (voice)
John Jardine	...	(voice)
Maggie Fox	...	(voice)
David Holt	...	(voice)
Melissa Sinden	...	(voice)

Runtime:

159 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating)

Company:

Channel 4 Television Corporation

Quotes:

Death: Oh... bugger!

Movie Connections:

References Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Yes, you read that right, I am an American fan of Pratchett...

After stumbling across Pratchett completely by accident two years ago ("Sourcery" was my first book), I underwent a 5-month long intensive crash course in getting *anything* discworld that I could get my hands on. This was quite a feat, as not all the books were published in America at that time. Once I got all the books, my fervor diminished to an extent, but it was still enough to inspire me to actually *buy* both the Soul Music and Wyrd Sister's DVDs.

I was hesistant to watch Soul Music for fear that it would destroy my mental image of my favorite Pratchett book. But between the two, Soul Music does a better job of adapting the book and pacing the jokes. I felt that Wyrd Sisters was a little too rushed, and some jokes were even mumbled at points. Soul Music favored pacing over cramming in every little detail. (My favorite part is probably the scene where Death is talking with the guru-guy on the mountain and they're arguing about the color of the infinite.) The musical numbers were quite entertaining as well, and I loved how each of the tour concerts they did had a specific parody theme. The casting was good and bad. Susan was good, the Band members were good, though I do agree that the Dean and Quoth the raven grated on my nerves very quickly. Christopher Lee as Death totally made up for any poor jobs in casting, and in fact it was these movies that introduced me to Lee and made me realize how cool he is. And suuure, the animation is, frankly, weak-sauce. However, though I enjoy artful quality as much as the next guy, you don't need eye-candy to tell a good story.