The Official Harry Potter Thread (For Movie News) New Trailer

I have to wait until Tuesday! Stupid work.

 

Saw Deathly Hallows Part 2 with the wife today in 2D. We decided on 2D because 1) it's cheaper, 2) we've seen all the Potter films in 2D, and 3) my wife didn't want to wear contacts to accommodate the 3D glasses.

My Review: Brilliant, marvelous, fantastic, riveting. Best of the Potter films except Prisoner of Az-Kaban, which made me a fan and remains my favorite of the series, but this final installment is the most emotionally involving and probably the most tightly executed. It truly is gripping from frame one, something I cannot say for most of the other movies in the series, which tend to drag.

I had my doubts the creators would be able to tie up all the loose ends, explain all the questions and reveal all the secrets, but what do ya know? -- they nailed it. I could not be more pleased with the result.

Afterward the wife and I came home and watched Chamber of Secrets -- which in a way is the weakest film in the series -- but oddly enough is improved by DH2. More on this later; I sleep now.

 

Agreed, except I'd say this is by far my favorite, especially the sequence of events starting with Voldemort, Snape, and Nagini and ending with King's Cross. That right there is the heart and soul of the entire series, and why these movies will stand the test of time.

Really?

I always thought book 2 was the odd one out... until I read books 6 and 7. Then book 3 became the odd one out (with Wormtail, Lupin, Dementors, and Wormtail's debt never really reaching the climax it seemed to foreshadow).

But I think by far that Book 4 is the weakest of movies. The only thing they got right there was Voldemort's return, the Yule Ball, and the Second Task. Everything else was a mess, the only film I thought was worse than the one before it.

 

I never read the books, so I don't know how much blame to place on the source material and how much blame should be put on the director/screenwriter, but...well I just wasn't that impressed with the film. I mean, sure, it's fun entertainment but on the whole I wasn't particularly moved by it. None of the Potter films directed by David Yates have been particularly moving for me, and none of the films have ever come even close to reaching the excellence of Prisoner of Azkaban.

but that's just my opinion. Also, I should go and read the books sometime. Perhaps that would enhance my appreciation for the films.

 

Agreed! Once we have the DVD I expect I'll re-watch the finale more often than any other segment of the series. (I like to watch pieces of films I know and love.) It is just beautifully, movingly and spectacularly achieved.

Yes, PoA is indeed "the odd one out", which is in part why I love it so much. It's so artfully crafted it impresses me every time I see it, and its shadowy, reflective style makes it stand alone in the series (though Yates "mirrors" aspects of its style in his films). PoA is also the only HP movie without Voldemort, which further distinguishes it as a stand-apart. And I love the focus on Hermione, my favorite HP character, and the ingenious time-travelling of the third act, which repeats the second act from a different point of view. Clever, that!

That seems to be a common opinion round these parts, and while I know what you mean -- I hated GoF on first viewing -- I've got used to the film over the years, and after many viewings I now think it's one of the best. It is very different from the book, so from the perspective of source-material accuracy it is rather "a mess".

However, looking at GoF solely as a film, I feel it's superb. It's paced more briskly and more excitingly than the Columbus installments, and I find it more engaging, intellectually and emotionally, than HBP. All the Tournament tasks are joyous fun, especially the dragon which actually improves on the scene in the book. And the climax in the graveyard is one of the most chilling and enthralling scenes in any movie, ever.

The weakest film IMO is HBP, which squanders the delightful, multicolored artistry of OOTP in favor of a monochrome mud palette. I have to crank the color all the way up to 100 (it's usually set on about 60) just to enjoy the photography. I find the plot slow and dull, and the romantic chicanery eye-rollingly dumb. The climax with Dumbledore's death was oddly unemotional, and I think it was a misstep to avoid the minor battle at the school and to delete DD's funeral. But that's just me; others really enjoy the movie. So you know, to each his/her own.

 

I am not typically "moved" emotionally by the HP films either. Like you I tend to find them "fun entertainment", though the filmmaking artistry often deeply impresses me.

The only scenes I do find emotionally moving are the third act of GoF -- for some reason Cedric Diggory's death gets me every time -- and the "Snape revelation" sequence in this final film, which I found incredibly powerful. Knowing Snape's secrets and how he has basically been helping Harry his whole life without Harry knowing, at great personal risk to Snape, all out of love for Lily, enhances my enjoyment of the previous films tenfold.

I confess it does help that I've read the books. I don't have to dig too deep in my memory to connect the story dots or to recall which character is who. This helps so I can relax and just get into the thrill of the cinema.

And I agree with you about Prisoner of Az-Kaban. I enjoyed the first two movies as children's adventure films, but PoA made me a lifelong fan. I loved that film so much I bought the book and read it, then moved on to the others to slake my thirst for more. Only with this final film do I feel the producers have come close to matching the excellence of that superlative third film.

 

I'd rank the films: 1,8,7,6,2,3,4,5. After movie 2, I thought the rest of the series would be like the first 2 and they would be about uncovering all of the mysteries of the castle and such. I was expecting a bigger celebration in the end of DH II and more epilogue scenes. I now understand how Jo Rowling felt in her HBP DVD Biography when she told us what happens afterwards, who gets married, kids, etc. There is enough material for another movie, and not another triumphing evil sort of thing. Casual magic in the real world, light hearted fun stuff, things of that nature. After all, these kids deserve it!

I have a lot of questions though. So did the resurrection stone allow Harry to see the ghosts AND bring him back to life? He dropped it in the forest before confronting Voldemort, so I wasn't sure how he came back from the dead, good to see Dumbledore though. What happened to it, and to the Invisibility Cloak? The way I see it, the cloak is invisibility, the resurrection stone is invincibility, and the elder wand is infinite ammo. So in a video game this would be the ultimate cheat mode. Is there any relation to the sorceror's stone?

I'm looking forward to getting this on DVD, I wish there were audio commentaries by the cast!

 

No, it only allowed him to see the ghosts of his parents and friends. The resurrection stone had nothing to do with Harry returning - Harry didn't die thanks to the double connection between himself and Voldemort (Voldemort's soul within Harry plus the fact Voldemort had returned fully to the land of the living by using Harry's blood in Book 4). When Voldie tried to kill Harry he instead killed the soul that resided within Harry, leaving Harry intact.

The resurrection stone was left abandoned in the forest. The invisibility cloak is still in Harry's possession and will most likely continue to be handed down through his descendants just like his ancestors before him.

There is no relation to the Philosophers/Sorcerors stone either - that was based on a real medieval legend (Wikipedia link). The Deathly Hallows were Rowling's own creation.

 

**Deathly Hallows Spoilers in this reply!**

This Potter wiki page further clarifies that the Resurrection Stone was part of the Gaunt Ring Horcrux that Dumbledore destroyed, which act ruined his hand and would have led to his death had not Snape killed him as promised. Evidently Voldemort never knew, or never cared, that the stone was one of the Hallows.

Rowling has explained, too, that during the final Battle, a centaur hoof mashed the stone into the soil of the Forbidden Forest, where it is extremely unlikely ever to be found.

Also, Mods, I wonder if we can get a title change? The last movie is out and there are no more trailers forthcoming.

 

Get out of the way, Transformers! The numbers are in!

Harry Potter Earns $475 Million Worldwide in Opening Weekend

Saw it last night and it was no less than awesome. Great balance between the emotional scenes with action. I avoided the 3D; there really is no reason for it. I think there should be a campaign to have Alan Rickman and/or Daniel Radcliffe on the Best Actor nominations for the Oscars.

 

midnight showing in my Death Eater costume (which is still in progress)

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/spooky-kid/DSC04370.jpg]

I would rate the series according to my favorites to least favorites in this order 2,8,5,4,7,1,3,6

Chamber is my favorite but Deathly Hallows Part 2, Order & Phoenix have the cooler Voldemort scenes.

 

My order is now official:

8, 3, 7, 6, 4, 5, 1, 2

 

Best - 3: PoA
Excellent - 8: DH2
Very, Very Good - 7: DH1
Very Good - 5: OotP
Good - 4: GoF
Good-ish - 2: CoS
Okay - 1: SS
Fair - 6: HBP

 

Fantastic. I was a little worried when I saw we agreed about Captain America, so I'm glad we can differ so radically when it comes to this film.

I was quite disappointed with this movie, which I found more boring than DH1 even though it was shorter. There were some fun set pieces, and yes, the Snape bit was done well, and Neville was fun, etc, but there were also long stretches, or at least what felt like long stretches, of not much going on. Or at least not very interestingly. As the final climax of a decade-long cinematic series, I was definitely expecting something a bit more dynamic and engaging. In Cap, I was moved even by the death of a character I didn't much like. Here, the most teary-eyed I got was when Flitwick started powering up the shield generator -- not so with many of the character deaths. As usual, I find Yates' direction oddly flat, and the movie was also bizarrely quiet -- I can't remember the last time the popcorn, and various bodily noises of the audience were so audible over a movie. Not a crushing disappointment, to be sure, but it was very okay when it could and should have been great.

 

Well then, I'm glad we're back to being mortal enemies.

I found the Snape backstory revelation to be extremely moving. I teared up as I've rarely done in a Potter film with the exception of Mr. Diggory's reaction to Cedric's death. Snape's is a sweet and powerful story of love that lingers beyond death, and the crux of the entire story. That we finally got to see this tale told, which affects how one views everything that comes before, so superbly and cinematically achieved was IMO a triumph of artistry and emotion.

And I just don't see how any of #8 was dull. Especially compared to #1, 2 and 6 this thing moves like a rocket ride to Mustafar. Or something that's, ya know, fast and scary.

 

As I haven't read but 1/4 of TPS, I have no idea what happened in the books beyond the Wiki articles. Snape's being what convinced me to see the films except for 4, GoF is just toooo slow. PoA is my fave over all film. Though my favorites were the characters and only two at that: Lupin and Snape. Didn't hurt that they were played by actors I recognized, either.

I was also largely disappointed with HP 8. It was long, dragging, and largely anti-climatic. It was interesting to see Warwick Davis playing two parts.

I thought I'd get teary-eyed over the fact that all three actors I saw this for died in-character (and I connect with characters often while viewing) but due to poor execution/lack of screen time for death (Lupin), I felt cheated and very let down. The way that Volty died nearly had me laughing....This was the end of the Terror of the saga???

The best part was finally getting the confirmation I'd suspected since HBP, I think, about Snape and Dumbledore. Some (few) very good bits, largely flat. I'm glad it's over. Kudos to the main cast devoting over a decade to a single saga, though.

 

FYI I just read this but I can't resist: Now that the movie is out, we being right, you being wrong while having proven to be more obnoxious than "that guy" ever could have been, what on earth were you talking about?

And yes, yes, technically Nagini wasn't killed yet so I was technically incorrect, but seriously what does Voldemort and Harry's final confrontation have to do with Harry having a horcrux in him when it was avada-kedavraed out of him two chapters before?

 

It's fun to put my foot in it from time to time! Yes, as it turns out, I was "dead wrong" on this. I gathered from its framing in the trailer that the scene happened before the Harry-horcrux-death scene, but I was astonishingly mistaken. Well done, Bacon!