Harry Potter

[removed10]

Just got back from seeing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! It was good! As always, not as good as the book. But we liked it. There were only bout 30 people in the theater. I couldn't believe it!

Alan Rickman is so great! I loved The Barchester Chronicles.

We (my son and I) always got our HP tickets in advance and waited in line for the midnight first showing, and we'd go to this little all-night cafe afterwards for GREAT chocolate cake....and I felt kinda sad this time...not doing that.

My son was 10 and a half when the first movie came out. Now here he is, 18 and a half, and meeting me there after getting off work...and he's going off to college this fall....my, how time flies.

Draco looked the most changed! We have loved Tom Felton since we first saw The Borrowers many many years ago. And there was Pod Clock as Prof. Slughorn! Hermoine did not look that changed - I really like Ballet Shoes.

[TerriWoah]

I must admit, I have never ever ever seen any of the Harry Potter films, the thought of him really annoys me!! Haha! Does this make me a bad person?

[removed10]

well, I have to admit I was VERY upset about the book and movie where he has to cut into his hand that he will not tell lies...and a few other things here and there throughout the series that I felt were not appropriate for kids' books. But my husband and son started reading them long before I did, so my son read it all, and does not seem adversely affected. =)

Sometimes ya' have to go with something when yuo can't seem to "fight" it. I got involved in reading the books and my son and I had awesome conversations about them...that was really nice.

I was really disappointed this time that Ron was made to be so goofy. They need to give him some "straight" time...time being a nice human being and not a clown.

[silvermaid]

I really want to see this soon. Last time I went with my son (now 22) but It's awkward cos I'm partly deaf and I had so much trouble trying to get the headphones to work properly with my hearing aids, especially as the usherette didn't really know how to work them. They sort them out in the end - luckily before the film started - and then upgraded us to the 'posh' seats but I wish they could do a special showing with subtitles.
I will probably have to wait till the DVD comes out.

Melanie

[Pagan]

Noooooo I hated it, it was awful!!!!! We've been discussing it on another forum and a friend of mine summed it up perfectly so I've copied and pasted it.

****WARNING:.........SPOILERS....so if you don't want to know don't read any more***


hy, why, why, why, why did they cut the duelling scene at the end? I mean really. All they needed was a few minutes of duelling, some curses flying about, to make it seem that all the aurors in the castle were doing something useful. They Death Eaters just walked in, killed Dumbledore and walked out!

Why did they cut Bill and Fleur? What about the next film and their wedding? If one, they haven't met and two, Bill hasn't been attacked by Fenrir Greyback then what's going on in the summer and how do we get the connection we need to Fenrir and the hatred we should feel for him? We also don't get the contrast between Greyback and Lupin.

Why wasn't Harry frozen during the last confrontation? I'm actually really upset by this. In the books and other films he has spent six years getting into trouble, breaking rules and doing what he thought was right. And ok, so Dumbledore told him to do what he was told, but there is no way on this earth he wouldn't try and get involved in that fight were he not frozen. He wasn't helpless, he just did nothing. It also meant that Draco winning the Elder wand loses some of it's poigniancy.

As for Lupin and Tonks. Her calling him sweetheart once does not sum up their relationship. They need to have the struggle, just like everyone else, otherwise what happens when she falls pregnant is just stupid.

Why did they leave out the memories of the Gaunts? They not only helped set up the ideas of why Voldemort was so disgusted by muggle borns and half bloods as well as that the horcruxes would be important objects, this also wasn't discussed, we don't know what he might have chosen, or why he might have chosen them. The idea that they would be things belonging to important people or taken from people he had defeated.

How did Hermione know that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince? That's all I'm saying.

Oh, and speaking of the HBP, Harry needs to have been alone in the room of requirement when hiding the book. Not only that but he needs to have found Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem and placed it on a bust so he can go back to find it when he realises what it is.

Harry and Ginny. Gimme a break. One kiss? Bollocks. Same for Ron and Hermione. They were the two main threads that kept our chracters happy. Harry and Ginny's relationship was this bright, beautiful thing that made his life better when the horror of the impending war was just around the corner.

The absence of Dobby. His final few scenes, after he comes back AGAIN to help Harry, as he has always done, in DH are heartbreaking. But it wont be if we don't really know him.

The Sectumsempra scene. So Snape just lets Harry walk off? Yeah right!

Leaving out Dumbledore's funeral is fine, I'm not too stressed, but why not any indication of the white tomb? It plays it's own part in the next two films and it needed something I felt. Same with the break up with Ginny but the two are linked and I wonder if they're going to put them in the next film.

The last thing that really bugs me is WTF was the scene at The Burrow about? 1, why bother to put it in? It's made up filler and has no purpose. 2, surely wizards and witches can fix it all rather than watch their home burning to the ground. 3, where are the Weasley's living now then?

Don't get me wrong. As a stand alone film I liked it. But there are so many changes from the book that I'm really confused about what they're going to do next...

[removed10]

My son and I are in complete and heartfelt agreement with you on all these points. I wonder - maybe they think they're just kid movies and aren't really worthy of more perfection or detail...my son says he thinks they have a low opinion of the viewing audience and just hit some highlights following a "movie formulary" to be a box-office success.

After each movie, we've gone back and read the book again to kind of "recover." It is very annoying to have them chop up everything, leaving important things out.

Just the same, we liked it. Except for all the Clown Ron stuff. But then, I was disappointed in the book's treatment of the character of Ron.

You are "spot on" I believe the phrase goes ...about the lack of character and relationship development in the movie, and how it will affect the next one.

I felt that they really should have included the funeral, with the phoenix flying upward.