Harry Potter V -- beware spoilers

indian_boy · Jul 2007

I'm surprised that this movie hasn't been put up on the chopping block yet? Come on! You guys know you were

!! well, i was at least:

i can understand getting rid of parts which are useless... quidditch for example. But when ur gonna show something that happened in the book... at least show it the _way_ it happened in the book! The opening sequence and Mrs.Figg's appearance etc. etc. all messed up! even how they left the house with harry alone when the order came to pick him up!
oh, as for reaching the HQ... weren't they supposed to do it so that they WEREN'T seen?!
'minor' things aside. At least show us the 'complete' scenes. When sirius shows his family tree, i was waiting for my brother [who hasn't read the books] to start insinuating when the relation to Malfoy would be revealed. it wasn't revealed... he didn't even gasp....
oh and, why is he called Padfoot in dog-form? [sirius i mean]. Isn't he called Snuffles or something? i'm a bit unsure tbh.

okay but ignore all these 'little' innacuracies: the movie still didn't deliver. Okay, in parts it did, but:
the movie was slow. Felt slow at least. And when it _did_ speed up [dumbledore's army] it wasn't pulled off nicely. i wanna see more flashy effects. more struggle. more 'rebellious' looks! The only thing enjoyable about the 'rebellion' was the fireworks' scene with fred and george.

the final fight sequence was also.... well, "not great." It started off nice, and the fx were amazing, but the camera movements, going to close to the shiny whites and lack of a focal point just made a mess of it. Also, sirius + bellatrix vs. sirius + harry shoulda lasted a bit longer, and been more elegant! Oh, and wasn't neville supposed to be tortured by bellatrix in the book? to, you know, make us remember his parents or something? The greatest part of the fight was when bellatrix actually killed sirius. because it wasn't loud, overdone or "look-look-look-she's-killing-him!" it was more like "holy-crap-did-i-just-hear-the-killing-curse?" which i liked.

After the death things did improve though: harry cursing bellatrix with the crucialtus was nicely done. I loved the voldemort vs dumbledore fight, though i would expect some longer time devoted to that? [oh, and doesn't dumbledore's wand-hand get horribly injured? isn't that kinda nice-to-have if not 'important'?] I also like the occlumency sequence [yes with snape aswell] but i didn't like it when harry resisted voldemort. the line was cornily spoken.

After that, there's not much to comment on really. But this is all my opinion. Part 4 was still the best in the series. Now what do you guys have to say?

snemmy · Jul 2007

you really need to go back and re-read the books

Padfoot is Sirius' nickname from his time with the Marauders. Snuffles was the nickname from PoA so that noone would know it was him since Snape knows he is called Padfoot.

Dumbledore's hand is NOT burned during that fight but because of something related to Book 6.

the Voldemorte/Dumbledore fight wasnt very long in the book either.

overall i really really enjoyed the movie. of course a lot would have to be cut, it IS the largest book in the series. but the way it was cut down still covers all the high points, which is what these movies are for. if you want all the juicy details you should know to go read the books.

this is probably one of the better in the movies series. much more like PoA. i think the pacing was just right. not so jerked around like Goblet of Fire. like PoA it is a good adaptation without taking the books word for word.

i really like how as the movies progress they do get 'darker' and raw(less makeup, bloody mouthed Luna). the gloss of childhood(SS+CoS) falling away for the true reality of their world(end of GoF and OoF)

honestly i felt they should have sped up Sirius' death a bit. the slow-mo and being lifted by the veil detracts from the feel teh book has. his death is supposed to be fast and unexpected and over before you realize what happened.

Luna

Jesse Moody · Jul 2007

watching it right now...i'll post what i think when it's over...

Ok so just got done watching it. I have never read the books so I don't know what happens later on in the series but so far I have really enjoyed the films and it has been very interesting to see the movies get darker and darker. This one kinda made me feel like Empire Strikes Back did. It was dark and the hero didn't really win. Very interesting indeed.

HonkyPunch · Jul 2007

omg
snape kills dumbeldore!!!

Jeff Parrott · Jul 2007

I caught this on Imax 3d. It was really awesome. Since this is a spoiler filled thread the last fight thing in 3d was awesome. Definitely worth hunting down an Imax in my opinion.

Justin Meisse · Jul 2007

Saw it twice already.

Luxury · Jul 2007

I felt that it was the worst in the series. To be honest - this was the first HP film that I saw that I had read the book beforehand, and so I could pick up all the differences between the 2 - and they were VERY liberal with the changes mind you. So I don't know if I didn't like it as much because I knew what they were changing, or if it simply wasn't as good. I have a feeling it was the latter and this is why: The entire time I was watching it, I was thinking "If I hadn't read the book first - I doubt I would have any idea what was going on." The film was all over the place. Disjointed, no sense of time, didn't explain why what was happening was happening, and none of the characters didn't have any 'character' moments, etc. C+

Rhinokey · Jul 2007

i havent read the books. thought this movie was as good as, if not better than any of the others.

skrubbles · Jul 2007

Keep in mind that this is my favorite book in the HP series. That said, I was very worried going into the movie especially after what happened to the Goblet of Fire (ewwwwwww). I'm glad to say that this is now my favority HP movie.

Sure some stuff was cut, and some things were changed around. That happens in every HP movie. But this time, they cut some stuff that didn't matter all that much to the story. Sure it would have been great to see Ron playing Quiditch, but it was essential. The movie was well shot, great action, the acting was much better, the editing was smooth and wasn't choppy as hell like Goblet of Fire.

Gary Oldman kicked ass!! He actually made me feel for the character when he said the best line in the movie "Good one James!" and then dies. My eyes actually got watery.... I'm man enough to admit it. Then again I'm heavily into the HP books and have read them at least 3 times each.

The only things I didn't like were Fig, Cho, and the mistletoe.... and not just the scene involving Cho and the mistletoe, I mean I didn't like Cho at all.

Wells · Jul 2007

I don't like the books, haven't read any past the first. or maybe second. don't remember which one it was.

movies haven't been anything special to me, either, but this one was a pretty good one. enjoyed the lvl 20 wizard fight.

indian_boy · Jul 2007

haha skrubbles, i felt the same thing about sirius' death. it was well done, though i do agree harry's reaction shouldnt've been in slow-mo. as for saying that the cut parts were not important to the series.... okay, all those who've seen the movie and not read the book: Do you have any reason for thinking Neville might be the One? No you don't. But if u read the book, u would know that the prophecy states a birth-month, and that the "one's" parents have thrice defied voldemort. And it is told to you [well, to harry by dumbledore] that neville fits into the description aswell. except that he wasn't 'marked as an equal' [scar anyone?]. but its still possible, and this movie COMPLETELY ignored that, and have the viewers still adamant that harry is the One.

and that's just a small example. Turns out, kreacher actually was important, he indirectly betrays sirius. Neville is supposed to be an idiot, he doesn't find anything! Dobby knows about the room of requirements. et cetera et cetera if u get my drift.

oh and snemmy... my bad. i guess i was messing up the order of the books a bit lol. but r u SURE its not snuffles in maybe one of the editions? [ie, uk / us]

PS: u wanna bet that the 2 loved ones who die in part 7 are gonna be the Dursleys?

EDIT: wasn't levicorpus a half-blood-prince spell? and hence undiscovered till part 6? just wondering... im not too sure.

skrubbles · Jul 2007

indian_boy - I imagine that Dumbledore will bring up the stuff about Neville in the next move (Half-Blood Prince) when he tells Harry about the prophecy.... before they start researching Voldemort and Horcruxes (sp?)

And Levicorpus is indeed a Half-Blood Prince spell.

moose · Jul 2007

I enjoyed it.

Didn't enjoy the stuff they cut, but understandable so the movie wasn't 4 hours long of whiny teenager action.

The overall speed for me felt like hyper-drive... there were not struggles for information... like harry was really 'in the dark.' Everything was just handed to them when confronted/asked about. Mainly: The cat lady, Sirius's explanation of the order, Haggrid's explanation of where he was, etc.

Haggrid needed to be a little more beaten to shit too, imo.

And not covering at all that Ron and Hermionie were Prefects kinda threw me off.

I thought despite minor setting inconsistencies... the ending sequence was perfect, and the best part of the film. I really couldnt grasp that whole sequence very well i dont think while reading. They pulled it off awesomely.

indian_boy · Jul 2007

aHA! so they've ruined the harry potter canon! now all the rabid fans should rise against the production company for modifying HP canon! levicorpus is supposed to be a difficult spell, and 28 ppl in the DA were doing it?

Steve Schulze · Jul 2007

I haven't read the book and enjoyed the movie. While there are a few things they could have explained - I didn't know who Padfoot was until it was mentioned here, for instance, and what exactly the portal thing with the veil over it was that they were fighting around near the end was. Additionally a little more closure on the Cho Chang story arc would have been good.
Overall though I enjoyed it. I think it sits just behind Prisoner of Azkaban as my favourite of the franchise and a proverbial country mile ahead of the hacked together abomination that was the previous film.

Pseudo · Jul 2007

I thought the movie was average, with some really amazing parts and then some rather disappointing bits as well.

I give the movie credit though because this is the first movie that actually got me interested in the Harry Potter world. The Order of the Phoenix characters hinted at being awesome and I spent the whole movie wishing that they would show more of them.

Having seen all the movies, and never read the books, this is the first time that one of the movies actually inspired me to go out and pick up the books to start reading through them.

Harry Potter V -- beware spoilers

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