So far the TV adaptations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books haven't exactly set a high standard, but this looks so much worse than anything that came before it.
The Watch Trailer
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So far the TV adaptations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books haven't exactly set a high standard, but this looks so much worse than anything that came before it.
This looks like it tries so little to be anything like the books that I can't even properly get angry at it for not being like the books. I just find it a bit frustrating. Discworld was to me what Harry Potter was for most other people in my generation and it has yet to get a genuinely good live action adaptation. They all range from "Close, but no cigar." to "Not even trying.". And this Suicide Squad tomfoolery right here definitely seems to be on the "Not even trying" side of things.
I actually like the depiction of Vimes as a drunken loser, since this is, I assume, at the start of his story arc, where he IS a washed up drunk. I like the looks of the various members they show. Like the outfits and hair for the...what I'm assuming is a female dwarf? The woman who looks like she's framed to be much shorter in comparison to everyone else. She LOOKS fine to me. The whole "punk rock guitar band" thing is....a bit odd, considering how rock music is introduced to Discworld in the books.
I suspect they are probably going to be namedropping multiple book plotlines at once, and then paying them off later in the series, or at least that's the plan, if the series lasts long enough to do so.
Otherwise......meh? *shrugs* I love Discworld, it's some of the most enjoyable books I've ever read, with genuine humanity in them, and characters that have made me cheer when they succeed. This show though, I dunno, I don't feel like I'm looking at Discworld when I see it. Of course trailers are notoriously chopped and edited, but, I don't think this will be very good.
Oh and that punk rock song as the BGM can just fuck right off.
I suspect they are probably going to be namedropping multiple book plotlines at once, and then paying them off later in the series, or at least that's the plan, if the series lasts long enough to do so.
Otherwise......meh? *shrugs* I love Discworld, it's some of the most enjoyable books I've ever read, with genuine humanity in them, and characters that have made me cheer when they succeed. This show though, I dunno, I don't feel like I'm looking at Discworld when I see it. Of course trailers are notoriously chopped and edited, but, I don't think this will be very good.
Oh and that punk rock song as the BGM can just fuck right off.
I think the thing that bothers me most is that bit with Vimes giving Vetinari the finger behind her back. It's the closest thing to a joke in the trailer and it's so far removed from Pratchett's comedic style.
Yeah, that also just didn't feel like something Vimes would actually do to me? Granted it's been a while since I've read the books, and he's always been resistant and confrontational to Vetinari, but, to flip him off? In his palace? *shrugs* Seems a bit odd.
It's strange, like, for some reason, I really like this guy playing Vimes. I don't know why, as he's only got like 3 lines of dialogue, and it's a chaotic trailer. But, I find myself REALLY wanting to watch him evolve into Commander Vimes over the course of a series. Something about him makes me think he would make for a really good, cleaned up, champion of the people.
*edit* Ah! Its because he's the one eyed paladin flamey sword guy from GoT. I like that guy. He can pull gravitas when it's needed, but also be comedic as well. I hope the rest of the show around him is able to be good. I'd hate to waste his take on Vimes in a show that shits the bed.
Just rewatched it, and yeah, at 0:41 she's got fangs and shit. Hmm, weird, because they seem to really be stressing the size difference between her and Carot at the end of the trailer. Like REALLY significant size, which made me think dwarf.
While this is an incredibly inaccurate summary of his vast works, and the depth he puts into his work, and the level of humanity in his characters. But, if you are familiar with Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's like that, but fantasy instead of scifi. Dry, british wit, sarcasm and the like, set in a classic DnD world. Monty Python, but far less ridiculous slapstic, more biting commentary type humor. But you know, with the various fictional races, standing in for real world races when he needs to make a point about bigotry and intolerance. It's actually quite amazing how well he can weave the farce of his comedy elements, into a story, that is actually really haunting/touching/dark. The people, while comical in their everyday lives, are still written as real people. And they have problems, and concerns, and Terry takes a lot of time and effort to make you appreciate their lives, no matter how minor of a character they are.
While "The Watch Series" isn't technically the first books he wrote in his world, those would be the Rincewind chronicles, most fans recommend starting with it. As by the time he was writing those, he'd worked out a lot of his "new writer" bugs. The Rincewind novels aren't that great. Well, I mean they're fine, but they are pretty repetitive in a lot of ways. The Watch books, which starts with "Guards, GUARDS!!" are much better quality work. And they just get better as they go.
If you find that kind of story enjoyable, the Hitchiker's kind of stuff, basically british sass comedy, I'd HIGHLY recommend checking him out. Very gifted writer.
Interesting. Which reminds me, I still gotta finish a couple of my Hitchhiker books. Thanks for the info.
Yeh, the bleached blonde woman in the front is Angua. The actress playing her is just fairly short. Carrot is actually about as tall as he should be, tho obviously not "about as wide as he is tall" like described in the books.
Fyi, that dude in make-up behind Angua and Carrot in the last bit of the trailer is Constable Cheery. Also, seeing as it seems Gaspode is in the show, I hope Sergeant Detritus is in there too, complete with his ballista-turned-sidearm.
I mean I'm fine with it. I don't actually care when they pick actors for their ACTING, and ignore pesky things like not accurately matching the dimensions of a fictional character. Angua is described as being basically built like a warrior goddess due to her wofly heritage, but, again, don't really care. Give me good actors, I'll fill in the rest. The issue is that, given Carrot's dwarven heritage and upbringing, seeing the two of them paired like that, just screams him and a dwarf to me. And since that's an actual aspect of the story, quite significant in fact, it's going to throw me off a lot. I mean with that pixie cut, and short stature, I'd almost say she's a gnome.Yeh, the bleached blonde woman in the front is Angua. The actress playing her is just fairly short. Carrot is actually about as tall as he should be, tho obviously not "about as wide as he is tall" like described in the books.
Love her look, just was kind of eager for the idea of a spunky, punk rock female dwarf on the team. Ah well.
Aye, same. Shame they couldn't get Charles Dance to do Vetinari again tho. Dude owned that role in Going Postal. Well, truly perfect would've been Alan Rickman, but very well can't raise the dead, can we.
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Having never read a Terry Pratchett book, but having having seen multiple adaptations of Terry Pratchett books, I somehow can't help but assume that Pratchett is not a very good writer. I'm fairly sure that's unfair to the man but...why would I want to read something that gets adapted into such drivel.
Fans might be better off not thinking of this as an adaptation of Discworld at all, because the people involved in the show don't seem to either. That's from Simon Allen The Watch's showrunner/creator (he calls himself that on twitter) wrapping up shooting, thanking everyone and their mum, but not Terry Pratchett, you know, the original author.
You would be wrong.
It is.
....because adaptations are historically shit like 90% of the time? Because the drivel you are referring to, is nothing like the material they are...drivelizing? Yeah I'm making that a word. I mean this isn't some new trend, they often get it horribly wrong, the creator takes it in a totally different direction than the source material, and often only lip service is paid to the fundamental elements of the thing being adapted.
Haven't seen any of the adaptations, but I do think it'd be hard to transfer a lot of the funny asides and like... footnotes and shit like that into a movie form. Not all the insightful or funny or witty stuff is directly character dialogue (though some is of course!)
I vaguely recall the one about the tooth fairy? I generally avoid adaptations because of how often they shit the bed with the source material, so I never was too compelled to watch them. I thought the tooth fairy one was...fine I guess? Honestly it's got almost zero retention in my head, so it's hard to say. I know I didn't hate it or anything, it just left zero impression.
But yeah much of the comedy is from internal observations from a character's point of view, and narrative descriptors of an aspect of their society, which never translate well into live action, as they are either left out entirely, or relegated to narration (which is how they are in the books), and narration has a very short half life before it's starts making your show toxic to consume.
So yeah, it's got a lot of negatives against it from the start, simply by being an adaptation of something that is heavily thoughtful and insightful. That just doesn't convert well.