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[Deleted member 30609]

Azkaban is far and away the best movie. I just watched it again a few days ago. Cuaron (spelling?) just gets it in a way that so few do. Amazing movie. The right amount of fantasy from the first two films with the darkness of Yates' films without the annoying desaturated look. Plus, the Cuaron shots(tm) in that film make me feel all warm and fuzzy, every time.

Oh, and it's one of the few that is genuinely funny and not just kind of awkward-ish.

I haven't seen Hallows yet. That will be tomorrow.

 

[Salsa]

Just saw it, really loved it. I actually liked the slower pace compared to the other movies.

Azkaban is still king though.

 

[Helmholtz]

I thought it was pretty crap.
I won't get into specifics, but it just seemed really uneventful. Some of the scenes were laughably bad. It seems like they purposely dragged shit out so they could milk people with two films.
It's pretty sad when the only likable character in the film is a cgi gollumn wannabe.

 

[demosthenes]

I thought it was pretty crap.
I won't get into specifics, but it just seemed really uneventful. Some of the scenes were laughably bad. It seems like they purposely dragged shit out so they could milk people with two films.
It's pretty sad when the only likable character in the film is a cgi gollumn wannabe.

Pretty sure if they only did 1 film, WB hq would have been burned to the ground.

 

[Zerokku]

Just saw it, really loved it. I actually liked the slower pace compared to the other movies.

Azkaban is still king though.

I think if part 2 is just as good (Maybe a slight bit better), I could possibly see 7 as a complete experience be above Azkaban, but for now I would agree.

 

[mm04]

Pretty sure if they only did 1 film, WB hq would have been burned to the ground.

No offense to those who seem to think that they dragged it out to make 2 movies, but have you read the book? You're lucky to have gotten outa the theater in 2.5 hours for what's supposed to be Part 1. People have to not equate this to the LOTR trilogy. Part 1 is the setup for Part 2, which is going to be

Spoiler

action packed

. It sucks that some of you didn't enjoy it because of that reason, but when watched back to back with Part 2, I bet that'll be a better experience.

 

[Helmholtz]

No offense to those who seem to think that they dragged it out to make 2 movies, but have you read the book? You're lucky to have gotten outa the theater in 2.5 hours for what's supposed to be Part 1. People have to not equate this to the LOTR trilogy. Part 1 is the setup for Part 2, which is going to be

Spoiler

action packed

. It sucks that some of you didn't enjoy it because of that reason, but when watched back to back with Part 2, I bet that'll be a better experience.

Nope, haven't read them. So I'm just stating my opinions as someone who's only seen the films. I thought as a film it just dragged on, and a lot of the scenes seemed pretty pointless and at times silly. I actually thought the last one was pretty decent, so it's a shame that this one has somewhat soured my opinion of the series. I'll probably still check the last one out at some point though.

 

[WickedAngel]

I don't understand how anyone could have liked Half-Blood Prince. It was a teen romance with almost none of the back story that was supposed to be in it.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I don't understand how anyone could have liked Half-Blood Prince. It was a teen romance with almost none of the back story that was supposed to be in it.

Listening to the /film podcast made me appreciate that movie a bit more. Yates had to sell that movie on a relationship between two main characters that previous directors and scripts failed to adequately build up.

 

[Apath]

This is the only Harry Potter movie I can actually say I truly enjoyed. First half was much better, but it managed to stay interesting throughout despite the downward spiral of shit Harry n gang had to tread through.

I don't understand how anyone could have liked Half-Blood Prince. It was a teen romance with almost none of the back story that was supposed to be in it.

I agree. And I still don't understand why the book was named "The Half-Blood Prince".

 

[big ander]

This is the only Harry Potter movie I can actually say I truly enjoyed. First half was much better, but it managed to stay interesting throughout despite the downward spiral of shit Harry n gang had to tread through.

I agree. And I still don't understand why the book was named "The Half-Blood Prince".

It's what Snape called himself, and the revelation that he is as bad as Harry has always thought is a focus of the book.

 

[Kozak]

I don't get the hate for Goblet of Fire??

I thought the representation of the book was the best from all movies in Goblet of Fire, especially the Tournaments challenges.

 

[brandonh83]

I don't get the hate for Goblet of Fire??

I thought the representation of the book was the best from all movies in Goblet of Fire, especially the Tournaments challenges.

Goblet is great. It has some pacing issues at the start and the actor who played Barty Jr. was fucking horrible, but pretty much outside of that, I love it.

I agree that Half-Blood had way too much of the romance aspect, but it was so well made that I didn't really give a damn.

 

[DrForester]

Goblet is great. It has some pacing issues at the start and the actor who played Barty Jr. was fucking horrible, but pretty much outside of that, I love it.

I agree that Half-Blood had way too much of the romance aspect, but it was so well made that I didn't really give a damn.

Another example of why GoF's directing was terrible. David Tennant is a good actor in everything else he's in.

 

[Blackhead]

I wasn't paying so I finally saw the film. This was the best acting from the trio yet, I almost didn't cringe during the little dancing scene. Not the worst potter movie by any measure.

 

[Conrad Link]

Goblet of Fire is like my fav one. ;(

I hated the first 2 movies and only really got into things at the 3rd. So I'm a strange HP fan I guess.

I found Part 1 of Deathly Hallows for the most part incredibly boring, not really the 'set up' for the grand finale I was expecting..... was filled with a lot of sitting around and then some adventures that often just went no where.

I'm still convinced together though things will be sweet, so I'm not all gutted and zomg disappointed etc, just hard watching that half bit now not knowing the next (I don't read the books just a fan of the movies).

Reeeeally wanna see the last one. Hurry up Harry Potter movie!

 

[whytemyke]

See.... I thought the movie was pretty good. I just remember reading some of the pre-release teasers and the whole scene with

Spoiler

Hermione getting tortured by LeStrange

was supposed to be huge and disturbing and really show some of the evil-ness of Bellatrix. But I really didn't feel like that scene heightened anything that had been presented before in the series.

Also, I read a review a couple days ago bout how the three main actors really stepped up and I can definitely agree that their acting is far better now.

Annnd Fiennes will never be cast as a normal person again :lol

 

[DrForester]

Annnd Fiennes will never be cast as a normal person again :lol

Yeah, like he was before

 

[AzerPhire]

I can see how some people can complain about the plot but this part is supposed to setup the fact that the trio really have no idea what they are doing in terms if finding and destroying horcruxes. The movie does a fantastic job of setting up that hopelessness and frustrations that these characters are experiencing because of their lack of direction from Dumbledore.

 

[Forkball]

I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan and I've only seen half the movies, but I saw this because my friend wanted to see it. I also rewatched the first movie last week and Wiki'd a bit in preparation. I understood most of it, but goddamn this movie was violent. There was a group of kids sitting in the first row, and I wouldn't doubt it if they had piss-inducing nightmares later. The contrast in theme and content between the first movie and this movie is pretty shocking. From courier owls and chocolate frogs to racial slurs getting bitten into an arm and evil cloud sex.

 

[Darklord]

I don't get the hate for Goblet of Fire??

I thought the representation of the book was the best from all movies in Goblet of Fire, especially the Tournaments challenges.

Bad casting, bad characters that didn't seem like the book ones, cut heaps of interesting shit for a small part of the book which was the least interesting thing(the yewl ball). My favorite book, by far the worst movie.

 

[DrForester]

Bad casting, bad characters that didn't seem like the book ones, cut heaps of interesting shit for a small part of the book which was the least interesting thing(the yewl ball). My favorite book, by far the worst movie.

I didn't mind the casting in Golblet of Fire. David Tennat sucked, but as I said before, I think that's more the director, as he's a very good actor. I will admit that I pictured Moody as much older when I read the books, but thought Brendan Gleeson did a fantastic job. No real problem with the two cast as Victor and Fleur. Even Robert Patterson did fine as Cedric.

 

[Solo]

Goblet of Fire is by far and away the best Harry Potter novel. Really quite brilliant.
Gobelt of Fire is by far and away the worst Harry Potter movie. Complete and utter clusterfuck on every level.

These are inarguable facts.

 

[Cyan]

I didn't mind the casting in Golblet of Fire. David Tennat sucked, but as I said before, I think that's more the director, as he's a very good actor. I will admit that I pictured Moody as much older when I read the books, but thought Brendan Gleeson did a fantastic job. No real problem with the two cast as Victor and Fleur. Even Robert Patterson did fine as Cedric.

Huh. Never realized that movie had Dr Who as well as glitter-boy.

 

[ChoklitReign]

I watched HBP for the second time before my friends went to see DH. I liked it more this time but the director's decisions still bug me. There was too much sideplot with Harry and his friends having fun and not enough emphasis on Snape and Voldemort. How can they be having fun when the Dark Lord is taking over the UK? Either it should have been longer or they should have scrapped most of the non-essential scenes. However, I loved the music this time. I didn't notice it the first time. DH's music was just as good, except this time the plot was perfect.

Ranking: POA > DH1 > GOF > HBP > COS > P/SS > OOTP

Goblet of Fire is by far and away the best Harry Potter novel. Really quite brilliant.
Order of the Phoenix is by far and away the worst Harry Potter movie. Complete and utter clusterfuck on every level.

These are inarguable facts.

Fixed

 

[Cyan]

Order of the Phoenix is by far and away the worst Harry Potter movie

Wow. I'm honestly taken aback that anyone could think that. To each his own.

 

[TheLegend]

Order of the Phoenix is by far and away the worst Harry Potter movie

What.

Wow, I've never heard anyone put OoTP anywhere near the bottom of the list of Potter movies, let alone the absolute worst. I thought that of all the books it was the most adaptable to a movie format, and I thought it was executed really well.

 

[Arment]

Making this two parts was the best decision they've made since casting the trio. I was worried that DH was gonna be complete shit based on the past three but it looks like they're making up for it. Part 2 is going to be a hell of a ride.

 

[Penguin]

Goblet of Fire is by far and away the best Harry Potter novel. Really quite brilliant.
Gobelt of Fire is by far and away the worst Harry Potter movie. Complete and utter clusterfuck on every level.

These are inarguable facts.

That was my biggest issue with GoF, at the time it was my favorite novel in the series, it may still be, and the movie just pisses all over it. And it just lacks anything that would warrant all the changes.

 

[demosthenes]

That was my biggest issue with GoF, at the time it was my favorite novel in the series, it may still be, and the movie just pisses all over it. And it just lacks anything that would warrant all the changes.

Yea, I would really like to know what they were thinking on some of those changes.

 

[Trurl]

Wow. I'm honestly taken aback that anyone could think that. To each his own.

I stopped reading the books a quarter of the way through OotP and I haven't seen The Half Blood Prince (I've seen all the other movies though) but I'd put OotP near the bottom of the movies, maybe the very bottom. To me the movie was utterly devoid of charm, where the series ceased to be a Wizard of Oz for our generation (in spirit at least, I'm not comparing quality) and instead became angst filled dreg that you would find on Sci-Fi but with better production values.

I wasn't blown away by Deathly Hallows: Part 1, but it's not fair for me to judge it since I haven't read the last two books or seen the 6th movie.

 

[DrForester]

I stopped reading the books a quarter of the way through OotP and I haven't seen The Half Blood Prince (I've seen all the other movies though) but I'd put OotP near the bottom of the movies, maybe the very bottom. To me the movie was utterly devoid of charm, where the series ceased to be a Wizard of Oz for our generation (in spirit at least, I'm not comparing quality) and instead became angst filled dreg that you would find on Sci-Fi but with better production values.

I wasn't blown away by Deathly Hallows: Part 1, but it's not fair for me to judge it since I haven't read the last two books or seen the 6th movie.

OotP is my least favorite book mostly because nothing really happens until the end. Everything going on at the school plays little relevance to the overall story. The climax at the end was a very nice payoff, but 500 pages of Harry being emo at Hogwarts was a tough price to pay.

 

[Jb]

but 500 pages of Harry being emo at Hogwarts was a tough price to pay.

I feel like "emo" has completely lost his significance nowadays. It's about as misused as hipster.

 

[GDJustin]

I didn't really care for DH Part 1 and yes I've read all the books.

I don't really have any new criticism that hasn't already been leveled at the movie though. It was just too slow, for me.

Also, what action there was just didn't seem that compelling. I was hoping the raid on the ministry would come off as more of a heist. With the three kids FINALLY using planning/brains/skill to successfully complete their task, instead of lucking their way through it like usual. But no, they still fumbled around and stumbled into success, like usual.

I also don't think Hedwig's death was handled with any kind of care. Harry didn't even seem upset.

One positive thing is that I LOVED seeing more of how this Wizard war is spilling over into the muggle world. I love seeing the muggle world in HP in general. The diner scene with harry making eyes at the black waitress in HBP was great, too.

I think they had a missed opportunity there with Ron, though. I thought they could have spent ~5 minutes playing up Ron being a fish out of water. A nice role reversal from Harry, who is usually the one that has no idea what is going on. I would have liked him to order some wizard drink or something.

Anyway, it wasn't awful. I think it was BEAUTIFULLY shot. I don't know who was DP set designer or location scout, but all three deserve awards. It's a gorgeous movie to look at. I just found it to be too plodding. You can show desperation and you can show the slow passage of time without *actually* taking 40+ minutes to do so. Could have had a camping montage showing the seasons change, or something.

 

[brandonh83]

Goblet of Fire is by far and away the best Harry Potter novel. Really quite brilliant.
Gobelt of Fire is by far and away the worst Harry Potter movie. Complete and utter clusterfuck on every level.

These are inarguable facts.

ITT Solo admits to having absolutely no recollection of the first two films.

 

[DrForester]

ITT Solo admits to having absolutely no recollection of the first two films.

Never will get the hate for the first films. No, Columbus isn't a great director, but he was competent enough. Everything in that film looked perfect. The cast, the sets, the music. It's the most faithful book to movie adaptation I've ever seen. Even the second movie was a great adaptation, I don't like it that much just because I wasn't a huge fan of the second book.

 

[brandonh83]

Never will get the hate for the first film. No, Columbus isn't a great director, but he was competent enough. Everything in that film looked perfect. The cast, the sets, the music. It's the most faithful book to movie adaptation I've ever seen. Even the second movie was a great adaptation, I don't like it that much just because I wasn't a huge fan of the second book.

I like them too. A lot actually. But I'd say Goblet is way better.

 

[Nert]

The first two films come across as pretty bland and are burdened with an overbearing score. I can appreciate them as mostly faithful adaptations of the books, but I don't have any desire to watch them again.

 

[DrForester]

Said it before, but one thing I will also to the first two films, if that they've felt less and less like fantasy films with each version. Biggest annoyance for me is the costumes have gotten less "wizard like". Just kills part of the immersion for me in the films.

 

[brandonh83]

Said it before, but one thing I will also to the first two films, if that they've felt less and less like fantasy films with each version. Biggest annoyance for me is the costumes have gotten less "wizard like". Just kills part of the immersion for me in the films.

I like that they're treating it a lot more maturely than another studio/set of directors would have. It's still set in modern times and more of the "Muggle world" kept bleeding into the books as they went.

Plus, you still see them wearing the Hogwarts uniforms during the classroom scenes. Though, there were no classroom scenes in Hallows Part 1. Thank christ.

 

[faceless007]

Come on, worst film is HBP. They managed to take a book in which almost nothing interesting happens and somehow make it less interesting.

 

[brandonh83]

Come on, worst film is HBP. They managed to take a book in which almost nothing interesting happens and somehow make it less interesting.

Half-Blood Prince was amazing with all the backstory Rowling dove into and had the biggest character death in all seven books. In the process it also sets up Harry's big final mission for book seven.

So really, you didn't think that was interesting? I don't see how any fan couldn't think it was very, very interesting. I'm not a big fan of all the romance though, which unfortunately the film decided to center on, but it was still a great film.

In no way is it worse than Stone, Chamber, or Goblet.

 

[DrForester]

I loved HBP book because of the backstory. And it did fit with the narrative because it acted as kind of the prequel. I thought they did a great job with the movie, I wish they had been able to do more backstory parts, but I accept that that's part of adapting to a film.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

HBP is probably one of my favourite books. Harry and Dumbledore in a room by themselves talking is always fantastic, so a book dedicated to that as well as actually giving Riddle a motivation was just great. I love that damn book.

 

[brandonh83]

I loved HBP book because of the backstory. And it did fit with the narrative because it acted as kind of the prequel. I thought they did a great job with the movie, I wish they had been able to do more backstory parts, but I accept that that's part of adapting to a film.

I normally don't complain about the adaptation process, I just think that there was an over-abundance of humor and romance that could have been left out in favor of the memories. It would have given the filmmakers a chance to make something incredibly different and to get us out of Hogwarts, and it would have explained the Horcruxes way better, possibly helping everyone that was (mysteriously) confused during Part 1 understand it all a bit more.

I know that Deathly Hallows gets us out of Hogwarts, but the more, the better.

 

[faceless007]

Half-Blood Prince was amazing with all the backstory Rowling dove into and had the biggest character death in all seven books. In the process it also sets up Harry's big final mission for book seven.

OK, that was too harsh, I should rephrase. The backstory parts of HBP were interesting, but almost nothing actually happens in the immediate story; as you say, it's all set up and Harry barely does anything. The film managed to make him do even less and reduced the backstory to a couple poorly explained flashbacks. So we got a lame teen melodrama instead.

 

[Talon]

HBP as a movie was bad. The pacing problems in that film were inexcusable. It's almost as if they got through the editing stage without having a sense of how they wanted it to flow.

As a book, it fits as a buildup to the finale.

 

[SephCast]

Come on, worst film is HBP. They managed to take a book in which almost nothing interesting happens and somehow make it less interesting.

Truth. I was incredibly disappointed after the greatness that was OotP.

 

[sn00zer]

Admiral Ackbar would approve of this film

Seriously though
The last two thirds of this film was
Walking....Tent....Walking....Trap....Walking....Tent....Walking....Trap....

 

[Talon]

There was a large stretch of this film that became a parody of the Hobbit sequences in Return of the King.