Rating: 
Summary: Read this without stopping then jump into bed.
Review: I have read lots of Pratchetts and the formula's beginning to wear thin. I don't laugh out loud like I used to. I will confess though that the book does have one scene that keeps tangoing in my iimagination --- that of a giant woman climbing up a tower with a screaming ape... if you want to introduce yourself to Pratchett, read Soul Music or anything with the character Rincewind instead.
Rating: 
Summary: superb
Review: I haven't really read anything of Terry Pratchett, but a copy of this book was given to me, and I loved it! It was great...hilarious! I liked the "banged grains." If this is Terry Pratchett's worst novel, I'm already reading his others. Absolutly fabulous. Terry Pratchett has a way with creating humorous characters. A wonderful book. If you want to laugh, read this.
Rating: 
Summary: A great one
Review: I'm a fan of the Discworld series but I only started reading about a year ago so I'm now reading Lords and Ladies, that's why I don't know if any Discworld book after that is better. Still, this is one of the greatest Discworld books I read so far. It's got a great story line, I think, and the characters are great.This is also one of the first Discworld books that actually is really good and deserves five stars (although there may be some exceptions); most of the earliest work is, tragically, not so good. Which I, by the way, didn't notice until I tried and read 'The Colour Of Magic' for the second time, which was, in my memory, one of the greatest books ever. It bored me though. Still, if you're new to the Discworld series, I think this one, Moving Pictures, is NOT a good starting point! Just start at number one, you'll see some characters introduced and well, it's not THAT bad, although it's got some strange parts if you compare with the now standard Discworld science. This is a great one though, one of a kind; it's a funny take on Hollywood and I'm sure you'll love this! Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Great, but far from the best
Review: I've read most of the Diskworld novels and just finished this one. Frankly, I am a little bit disappointed. The biggest disappointment with it is that the characters just lack the liveliness and originality of all other Diskworld books I've read. The only great character this time around is Gaspode The Wounder Dog. Victor and Elaine are just too bland, and don't have anything interesting going on for them (not Rinsewind fear of everything, not Cohen ridiculous selfesteem, nor Vimes cool strong lead.) They just lack any special quality(except Gaspode that is.) It is still really really funny and I've enjoyed it more than most non-Terry Pratchet book I've read but I think it is the weakest one of the diskworld series.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite
Review: If you are going to start reading diskworld novels, please do not start with this one. It's not that good. It feels like a 'quota book', as if a book publisher said "Hey Terry, you promised us a book this year...". It probably was nothing like that, but it seems like the author took characters from previous books, renamed them and stirred and then didn't sharpen his satire and wit on a proper whetstone. The topic is dying for good satire, but this didn't strike a cord with me. I still laughed at a lot of things and heck, I'll take a Pratchett book any day over just about any other novel. However, I have re read most of Terry's books over the years, but I have never picked this one up again. Start with the gaurds series, the witches series or the rincewind series - any of those will give you a good laugh and a good push into diskworld!
Rating:
Summary: Fine Pratchett Fun---Virtually Flawless!
Review: In the smack-dab middle of the Discworld series, Moving Pictures portrays a fun-filled, bizarre, and completely extraordinary comedy with some of the most innovative characters and hilarious jokes in any of the series. Some minor flaws in the story structure make for a less consuming novel than some of his previous outgoings, but the entire appeal of the novel (not to mention the cover) enthrall the reader and give a new sensation in the world of Pratchett. I think maybe he could have incorporated "putting sound into moving pictures" a little better, but an overall delight. Nice Work, TP!
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to Discworld
Review: Let's be very clear about this - all of Pratchett's books are excellent. Opinions may differ about individual titles, but basically we're talking about the difference between, on a scale of 1 to 100, perhaps 95 to 100. If you're familiar with Pratchett's work, Moving Pictures is a good example. If you're not familiar with his work, it's important to start with the right book - start off on the wrong foot and you'll miss the pleasure of reading all the others. Starting with Pratchett's earlier books isn't that good an idea since, as he freely admits himself, he wasn't as good a writer in those days. Many of the later books assume a knowledge of the Discworld environment, and some of its more important characters, and can feel like coming in in the middle of the movie. Moving Pictures would be a good book to start with: it's relatively self-contained, lots of fun, and introduces some unforgettable characters that you'll come across in other books. (It's difficult to forget Gaspode the Wonder Dog or Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler). It will also introduce you to Pratchett's style of alluding to real-world events. See how many you can spot. (If you find it's too light and humorous for your tastes, try Small Gods: much deeper, but equally self-contained) Moving Pictures was the Pratchet book that caught me. Maybe it'll catch you.
Rating:
Summary: Hooray for Holy Wood
Review: Moving Pictures is a delightful farce that introduces us to some of the Discworld's most interesting citizens. The evil forces of Holy Wood have lain buried under the sand for countless generations, but then, in the kind of luck typical of life on the Discworld, the guardian is rendered incapable of guarding the power. As the non-wizard magic of Holy Wood quickly escapes from its timeless sleep, inhabitants from all over the Discworld find themselves drawn to the spot out in the middle of nowhere, and they all want to be a part of the new moving pictures (or clickies) business. The alchemists delight in sidestepping the authority of wizards by coming up with some non-wizard magic of their own. To make a clickie, you just need a box full of little imps, and when you turn the handle the imps draw what they see in front of them, and they do it very quickly because there are whips connected to the turning handle. Most people have a hard time figuring out just what these clickies are and how they work, but the citizens of Ankh-Morpork instantly fall in love with them, lining up in droves for the chance to see little five-minute long, soundless clickies of historical and educational interests-at first. Then none other than Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, famed salesmen of sausage in a bun and other pseudo-culinary tidbits (whose fame comes from the fact that he can actually sell his sausages in a bun to people on more than one occasion) gets the calling, basically takes over the whole business, and starts making epics filled with danger and fighting and romance, some of them taking the better part of a whole day to film. The milkmaid Ginger and Victor Tugelbend (a student wizard who is generally acknowledged to be the laziest person on the Discworld) find themselves the leading lady and man of cinema and they are the first to figure out that something is terribly wrong in Holy Wood. Holy Wood magic is not really real, and what it is actually doing is wearing away the barrier between reality, always in rather short supply on the Discworld, and the Dungeon Dimensions, where all kinds of terrible entities sit waiting to come in. The first person to really figure out the danger is not a person at all, but rather Gaspode the Wonder Dog (not to be confused with the ingratiatingly obedient and thus wildly popular Laddie the Wonder Dog). He's a mangy little mutt of a dog really, but he does something most dogs can't do-he talks. He talks a lot, grumbling about life as a talking dog and constantly warning Victor about all the "boding" going on up on the hill. Well, things all come to a head when Dibbler makes the most lavish moving picture ever, Discworld's version of Gone With the Wind, and the evil that Victor, Ginger, Gaspode, and the Librarian must ultimately contest is a Lovecraftian being from the outside, with all kinds of tentacles and other nasty bits. There are more unforgettable characters in this novel than I can describe here. For me, though, the senior wizards pretty much steal the show. After seeing a poster of the scantily-clad Ginger's newest and biggest movie, they decide that they need to find out what all this clickies nonsense is about. Of course, they can't let anyone know they are wizards so they come up with the brilliant idea of putting wire in their beards to make them look like fake beards (ingenious, really, in my opinion). A special delight is old Windle Poons; he may be the oldest, most deaf wizard still alive, but he behaves quite like a youngster when he goes out on the town. This tenth book in the Discworld series sorts of takes the reader in a new direction, centering on brand new characters but incorporating a few familiar faces that manage to keep things lively from start to finish. Looking back, it may have dragged a little in the middle, and the ending wasn't overly spectacular, but it was a pure joy to read. There is wit galore here but not too much satire, making this a fairly carefree book to be read strictly for the pleasure of it. There are numerous references to popular films, and I was really delighted to see Pratchett give the horrors from the Dungeon Dimensions an obvious Cthulhuian cast. Moving Pictures would be a great book with which to introduce yourself to the Discworld universe; you can enjoy it immensely without having read the previous nine books, and there are laughs to be found on every single page.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Those Familiar With Pratchett
Review: Moving Pictures, like all of Pratchett's work, is entertaining, satirically funny, and very poignant, containing all the finer elements of the early books and some unexpected twists from the Disc as it warps our view of reality into the Discworld view. All manner of delightful Hollywood lore ends up in this tale of Holy Wood, including A Night at the Opera, Gone With the Wind, The Little Rascals, Lassie, King Kong (my favorite passage in the book) and Ben Hur. There are way too many wonderful parodies to list, and each one contributes a bit of a gem to this book, which like many of Pratchett's, causes the reader to think while he is engaged in reading.
The Alchemists awaken a great evil beneath Holy Wood, and it's up to a student wizard who never graduated, a farm girl, and Gaspode the Wonder Dog to save the day as the fate of the Disc hangs in the balance. There's romance, action, and a thousand elephants, all Discworld style. This book also contains the most scenes with Windle Poons, the Disc's oldest known wizard, and for me that was worth the price of admission.
If you are a Pratchett fan, you will naturally read this book in your progression from title to title, but if you've never read Pratchett, start your journey on the Disc elsewhere, like in one of the series. This stand alone is good, but only superb to the truly devoted. I liked it, and I never stopped smiling during my sit through with it. Essentially it is a "dog book," but it contains wizards, trolls, eldritch boding, and dwarves. Not many other dog tales can boast that loud.
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic Disc
Review: Moving Pictures, the 10th Discworld novel written by Terry Pratchett, has the distinction of being the first one with which I've been a bit disappointed. All of the typical elements of a Discworld book are still there: witty satire on an aspect of society, humour, and weird situations. They just don't come together as a whole. It was a bit difficult to get through as a result, because I did become bored at certain points. Pratchett includes a few characters that don't have much to do with the plot, but instead are there for a one-off joke. This seemed to pad the book far more than the joke, while amusing, was worth. One character in particular falls into this category: he's there to make a joke about Victor's exit examination; then later on in the book, he keeps trying to go out for a night on the town, but keeps getting stymied. Again, the joke is amusing, but the pages devoted to it seem to be a waste. Another example is the antics of some of the wizards. The situations that they get themselves into are hilarious, I must admit. But as part of the narrative, they don't merge well. The rest of the book contains some wonderful skewering of Hollywood and the movie business. I loved how Dibbler wanted to add elephants to everything, with mass battle scenes (with different people galloping by in take after take because they only have a couple of horses) and romance where there wasn't any before. Theda (who calls herself Ginger) and Victor heat up the screen with kiss after kiss, and everybody assumes that they're lovers (hey, it happened on screen, right?). Who cares if something didn't really happen, it will look exciting! The main characters were less memorable than Pratchett's characters usually are. I found both Victor and Ginger to be kind of bland. This is ironic, considering how they are perceived as almost larger than life by the people who watch these movies. In the book, however, they are a trifle boring. I didn't get any sense of chemistry between them, like I did with William and Sacharissa in The Truth. They are capable in their roles as a vehicle for Pratchett's satire, but as characters themselves they fall a bit short. Thankfully, some of the other characters make up for this deficiency, and they prevent the book from sliding into tedium. Dibbler is wonderful as a man who has let too much power go to his head. He's a director that thinks he knows everything (he has, after all, run a highly "successful" business selling "sausages" in a bun). He has some of the best lines, and if he doesn't get his elephants, he's going to be very unhappy! Gaspode, the talking dog, is another winning character, and I was glad to see how he was introduced. Pratchett defies logic a little bit in keeping Gaspode talking when the other animals stop, but he's such a great character in subsequent books that it's worth it. Every time I thought of putting this book down, something funny or interesting happened. Unfortunately, it's not like a Pratchett book to ever make me have that feeling in the first place. Still, it is worth getting through it. I don't think you'll feel you've wasted your time reading this. However, if you start the series with this book, know that it's one of the weaker ones and you can move up from here. Give it a try.
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