Harry Potter Movies

[the max 0]

HBO has been playing the shit out of Order of the Phoenix this weekend. I still really enjoy it.

[Anakin Flair 0]

I liked it too, but my cousin said it was boring. I mean sure, it didn't have major actino set pieces every twenty minutes like Goblet, but I wouldn't say it was a boring movie...

[Jingus 0]

I can definitely understand a non-fan being confused or bored by these movies. The books are so complicated and stuffed with various backstory that you almost need to know in order to make sense of the whole plot and actually care about the characters as three-dimensional people, but the movies tend to cut most of that out. OotP was the worst culprit, as they somehow took the longest Potter book and shoehorned it into the shortest Potter movie. They didn't even have Dumbledore explain about the prophecy at the end, which is the weirdest part since it's a pretty vital plot point for the rest of the series.

[Craig Th 0]

Which is why it was a horrible HP movie.

[bob_barron 0]

As always, I disagree, since I see the movies and then the books. The movies are amazing, and the books help flesh everything out and give more backstory.

 

For the millionth time: Movies and books are two completely different mediums. And the movies are better off not following the books word for word.

[Nighthawk 0]

The duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort brought tears of awe/joy to my eyes.

[Jingus 0]

As always, I disagree, since I see the movies and then the books. The movies are amazing, and the books help flesh everything out and give more backstory.

Yeah, well I did read the books first, I read this one like five years ago, so there's no way to change that. And what am I supposed to do, just pretend that I never read all nine hundred friggin' pages of that book?

 

For the millionth time: Movies and books are two completely different mediums. And the movies are better off not following the books word for word.

Yes, they're two completely different media. And I just plain don't like them as movies. The characters are thin, the plot jumps around too fast, and there's an annoying overreliance on obvious CGI.

 

The duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort brought tears of awe/joy to my eyes.

I just sat there thinking "ya know, this reminds me a lot of Yoda vs. Palpatine".

[Nighthawk 0]

I never saw that.

[bob_barron 0]

Yeah, well I did read the books first, I read this one like five years ago, so there's no way to change that. And what am I supposed to do, just pretend that I never read all nine hundred friggin' pages of that book?

 

I understand that, I just wish HP fans could understand that the movies can't be the books filmed. In fact, Harry Potter fans are lucky with how faithful the movies are.

 

 

 

Yes, they're two completely different media. And I just plain don't like them as movies. The characters are thin, the plot jumps around too fast, and there's an annoying overreliance on obvious CGI.

 

That's fine, I just disagree. Chamber is a fun mystery thriller, Azkaban is just the scariest movie ever, Goblet is slow paced but builds to a satisfying climax, and OOP is just fun little us against them film.

 

I love the movies, I feel they do a great job of capturing the tone and spirit of the books, while finding ways to improve on them and make each film its own.

 

(Note: I do think the first, second and fourth books are better than the movies. The fifth is even)

 

 

I just sat there thinking "ya know, this reminds me a lot of Yoda vs. Palpatine".

 

I loved it too. I also love: And you'll never know love, and I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU! Love it.

[Jingus 0]

I understand that, I just wish HP fans could understand that the movies can't be the books filmed. In fact, Harry Potter fans are lucky with how faithful the movies are.

That's kind of my point: it's more or less impossible to make a faithful movie out of these books, because the books are too damn long. There's too much plot, too many characters, too much shit happening. There's no way to cram all that effectively into a bit over two hours. The Lord of the Rings individual books are all about half the length of OotP, and those movies are 3 hours plus, and even then a bunch of stuff got left out which some of the nitpickier fans weren't happy about.

 

In fact, in some ways, the relatively faithful nature of the HP films and their refusal to fiddle with the books' plotlines is something which constrains them, imo. They try to cram in as much as they possibly can, often resulting in a movie which has about a thousand individual scenes which are all ten seconds long. Little plotlines, like Bellatrix Lestrange vs. the Longbottom family, make cameo appearances in the movies which would inexplicable to anyone who hasn't already read the books and doesn't know what's going on. Or, showing Luna reading the Quibbler, but not mentioning that her father runs it (and is just as much a conspiracy kook as her); or Ginny's odd expression when someone mentions Cho; without spoiling anything for you, some of that is at least mildly important in the last books. If they'd actually just gritted their teeth and cut out some more extraneous subplots and minor characters (like they already seem happy to do with anything involving Quidditch), I think the movies would've flowed better, been more coherent, and felt less like a desperate attempt to hopscotch over each vaguely important part of the book so as not to piss off the fanbase by leaving anything out.

[bob_barron 0]

I find those scenes to be fun little winks to those have read the books. If you haven't read it, no biggie, but if you have it, it's a nice nod. When I read the book and see the movie again, I enjoy it more for that reason.

 

With the HP movies, they just can't win- If it's too faithful (see the first one), they get shit on, and if they stray, they get shit on.

 

Qudditch was cut out because it was too much of a hassle to shoot.

[Anakin Flair 0]

And the prophecy was explained, in a fashion- Harry heard it in the Department of Mysteries, shortly before old Lucy and the gang showed up.

[The Robfather 0]

The people going to the movies don't need to know Neville was almost the boy who lived.

[Craig Th 0]

What really bugs me is why they broke the wall down in the Room for Requirement. I know they can just say "We built it again," but still. It's annoying because A LOT of important stuff happens there.

[EricMM 0]

This argument with Barron is never going to go anywhere, Jingus, he obviously said he prefers the movies to the books, sees the books as secondard to the movies.

 

Filling in the cracks, my goodness.

 

At least call them gaping holes.

 

In my humble opinion, there is not much difference between the movies of Harry Potter and those cliffnotes versions of books you can buy in most University Bookstores. At least, if those cliffnotes books came with pretty pictures and a nice soundtrack.

 

My grand elitist statement is this: anyone who prefers the movies to the books is an illiterate, has no attention span, an Emma Watson fanboi, or ... I dunno what else.

 

Anyone who appreciates Harry Potter for the story would read the books and prefer them.

[bob_barron 0]

That's not what I said at all, Eric.

 

I don't think you've ever seen a movie adaptation of a book in your life. The Harry Potter movies are tremendously faithful given they have to transfer 500+ pages of text into a 2 hr+ movie.

[Craig Th 0]

But they change shit that doesn't need to be changed.

 

And it's just the little stuff that annoys me.

 

An example in OotP (since it was the last one out and it's fresh in everyone's mind):

 

Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley (plus two others who aren't named) go and rescue Harry from #4 Privet Drive in the movie. However, in the book, Lupin is also there. Why couldn't they include Lupin to get Harry? It doesn't hurt "Harry Potter's story" (which is an excuse the writers always give) to include him there. Plus, in the movie, they are flying around London like it's no big deal. It isn't like the Muggles could see them or anything. In the book, Moody explains that he put a spell on them so no one could see them. This was never said in the movie. It would have taken 5 seconds to say that line, even in passing. "I put a charm on everyone, so we won't be seen by Muggles."

 

This is just one example. I could go on and on, but that isn't the point. The point is that the writers change stuff when it isn't needed to be changed and THAT's what bugs me.

[NYU 0]

Mole and Bob, how many times have you two argued about the Harry Potter books versus the Harry Potter movies? Yeesh. I would think both of you would get tired of the matter eventually.

[bob_barron 0]

This time I was arguing with Jingus and Eric.

 

I've excepted that mole can be more particular and obsessive than me, which is really sad.

[Craig Th 0]

Mole and Bob, how many times have you two argued about the Harry Potter books versus the Harry Potter movies? Yeesh. I would think both of you would get tired of the matter eventually.

He wrong. I right.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Since there's a lot of crap in Harry Potter, why don't they just bust a LOTR and shoot a lot of scenes that were book-related, cut them out for the theatrical release so people wouldn't get bored, and then reinsert for the Extended version DVD release?!!

 

If the rumor about The Deathly Harrows being split into two movies is true, that's complete bullshit for them to do!

[Craig Th 0]

It isn't a rumor. It's true.

 

How is that bullshit? That is fucking awesome. Maybe I won't bitch so much.

[Anakin Flair 0]

You know, they did shoot extra stuff for OoTP that wasn't even included as deleted scenes- a more indepth Snapes Worst Memory, and posibly the attack on McGonagall. I wonder if they'll be including missings scenes for all the movies in the inevitable 7 (er, 8) movie collector's edition they'll release after DH pt 2 is released on DVD.

[Craig Th 0]

I figured they were going to include that stuff on the Blu-Ray discs.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

It isn't a rumor. It's true.

 

How is that bullshit? That is fucking awesome. Maybe I won't bitch so much.

 

No, it isn't. Making two part of one movies is freaking LAME! That's like Kill Bill all over again!

[Anakin Flair 0]

It isn't a rumor. It's true.

 

How is that bullshit? That is fucking awesome. Maybe I won't bitch so much.

 

No, it isn't. Making two part of one movies is freaking LAME! That's like Kill Bill all over again!

 

Except that this time, they are going to be able to include most, if not all, of what was in the book. Though on the flip side, there are a few things in DH that I don't know how they would include in the movie, if only because they didn't bother to include them in the other movies- like Dobby, and possibly Bill and Fleur.

[Craig Th 0]

 

That's supposed to be Slughorn.

 

He was described as a "fat man with walrus like mustache." And later, I believe he was called short. Now this man isn't fat, doesn't have a mustache, nor is he short. (Harry is supposed to be tall, but they can't do anything about Radcliffe not growing enough). They couldn't find a British actor to fit that description? Hell, Danny Devito would be better than Broadbent.

 

I just pictured him as a fat Monopoly man, but with a black mustache.

 

Sigh. They aren't off to a good start.

[Jingus 0]

That's "Kingpin shouldn't be black" nitpicky. The Potter movies have specialized in casting the biggest British stars as the teachers, and I can't think of any big-name Englishmen who look like Danny Devito. Broadbent is indeed old and fat, which is really all the part needs. Ginny Weasely wasn't written as having Bruce Campbell's chin, either, some things you just can't help.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Umbridge was described as lookign something liek a Toad, and the actress they got (can't remember her name) didn't look toad-like.

 

Slam the movie after it comes out if it sucks, not before because teh actor they picked doesn't look exactly like what's described in the book.

[Craig Th 0]

First off, I didn't slam it. I said it isn't starting out well. I could end up loving it.

 

But why shouldn't I be annoyed? It doesn't look like him! Thats stupid.