the white drew carey Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 So, I went and saw the midnight showing last evening. To admit, I'm torn... While I found it to be one of the most entertaining films in the series, with the actors giving the best portrayals of their characters yet, I also felt that too much time was spend on the hormonal antics of the students, and not enough on the memories of Voldemort, the discovery of his horcrux usage, or the importance of the Half-Blood Prince and how his book of tricks affects Harry. Most of all, I felt that the film hit a crescendo in Voldemort's cave, and then suffered an anti-climactic ending with the omission of the fighting in Hogwarts. In the novel, that battle helped to prove to Harry that the sanctity of Hogwarts no longer exists, and spurs him not to return in lieu of his search for the Horcruxes (spelling?). Overall I felt it was leaps and bounds better than TOOTP which was, IMHO, the worst movie yet, but I felt that while it was very entertaining, it failed in telling the darker parts of the story. Quote
Dangard Ace Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Pretty darn good typing from someone supposedly shredded in half.....zing! At least you spoiler tagged it. No need to tell everyone that no good useless half blood prince is that utter useless boy Snape!! At least if it's still following the books. Quote
ruskiiVFaussie Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Why wouldn't people care, i thought it was a fantastic movie, best one yet! Will never beat the books, but loved it.. Quote
taksraven Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I dunno. I have watched the first three films properly and while they are certainly interesting I find little in them to get enthusiastic about. And don't even get me started on the books....... I think that the LOTR trilogy holds the "Best Fantasy Film" slot for me and probably always will. I loved those films. Taksraven Quote
Omegablue Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I think that the LOTR trilogy holds the "Best Fantasy Film" slot for me and probably always will. I loved those films. 9 Hours of walking and then dropping a ring... Quote
anime52k8 Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 9 Hours of walking and then dropping a ring... hey, there were some Trees in there too... somewhere. Quote
eriku Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) 9 Hours of walking and then dropping a ring... While I loved the LOTR films, I nearly crapped myself laughing at Randall's reinactment of the LOTR trilogy in Clerks 2. "Even the trees walked in that movie!" I'm going to see HP tonight and, having just finished the books last month, am very excited to see it. This will be my first Potter film that I watched after reading the books. The first five I watched before reading the books and I think that worked to their advantage. When I re-watched them after reading the books they weren't quite as enjoyable. I don't expect HBP to follow the book meticulously and it is simply too short to hold everything, but as long as the general feel of the book is there I'll be happy. Edited July 16, 2009 by eriku Quote
Ghost Train Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I never quite got into Harry Potter either, or like my peers call it "Hairy Pottah." Perhaps it has something to do with my advanced age of "almost 30." I do find J.K. Rowling's personal story quite inspirational though..... I do have a strange fascination with Twilight series, there I said it. Quote
eriku Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I never quite got into Harry Potter either, or like my peers call it "Hairy Pottah." Perhaps it has something to do with my advanced age of "almost 30." I do find J.K. Rowling's personal story quite inspirational though..... I do have a strange fascination with Twilight series, there I said it. It's definitely not your age, especially if you like Twilight. I'm 34 this year and I enjoyed the HP series more now than I probably would have back in my teens when I was all about Lord of the Rings and Dragonlance. I've got a pretty broad tolerance for literature though. I can be just as happy reading Tolstoy as I can A Series of Unfortunate Events, so call that what you will. Quote
505thAirborne Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Saw Harry Potter last night, Fantastic film, even if your not a big fan of the books, go see it, worth the ticket price!! Usually the books are better, as there is only so much you can fit into a 2 1/2 hour Film, The books are just crammed with 2 tons of detail!! P.S. Your age is just a number. Quote
the white drew carey Posted July 16, 2009 Author Posted July 16, 2009 Saw Harry Potter last night, Fantastic film, even if your not a big fan of the books, go see it, worth the ticket price!! Usually the books are better, as there is only so much you can fit into a 2 1/2 hour Film, The books are just crammed with 2 tons of detail!! P.S. Your age is just a number. Yeah, age has nothing to do with it. I'm 34, and I've read all the HP books and seen every movie in the theater. I was just curious if anyone else has seen the film and, if so, what their thoughts are on it. because I'm am completely torn between liking and disliking it for various reasons. Quote
Vepariga Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 9 Hours of walking and then dropping a ring... no one cares bout sam an frodo, its all about the battles my friend the Battles!! Quote
miles316 Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) At the end of Order of the Phoenix I wanted to see the Ghost drive Miss Dufensmich out of Hagwarts with a sock full of chalk Dangnamit. aaahhahhhahhahhh!! Edited July 17, 2009 by miles316 Quote
Max Jenius Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) The thing that always bothered me about Harry Potter was that the wizards don't really do anything cool with their magic (even Voldemort) & Harry always wins by doing something lame or getting lucky. Off the top of my head- The Order of the Phoenix Voldemort: I'm the most evil wizard ever and will smite you! Harry: Well you don't have any friends so you suck! Voldemort: NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Or like in the first one: Dumbledore: Well, technically Slytherin won the competition this year. But...............BECAUSE I LIKE HARRY POTTER GRIFFINDOR WINS! It's all people kissing his ass or he gets lucky. Plus, we all know Ravenclaw is the best house anyway. Edited July 17, 2009 by Max Jenius Quote
Graham Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Saw a trailer for this on TV and it looks like Gandalf makes a guest apperance! What's up with that? Graham Quote
dreamweaver13 Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 I liked it. But it's nowhere near as good as I expected. I felt cheated by the lack of the fight at hogwarts. And i expected harry to be a bit more strong and outright aggressive in this one. in the book, he was the one who kissed ginny... in a crowded room, no less. and the only thing that stopped him from coming to dumbledore's aid against malfoy and snape was the fact that he was frozen. here, he actually stood and watched. didn't feel right to me... felt like harry hasn't grown up to be a hero as much as he should have. Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 I just got back from seeing it with some friends not too long ago... it did not wow me. If I had to pick one word to describe it, it would be "Schizophrenic". It can't seem to decide if it wants to be a mediocre fantasy/action film or a depressingly bad teenage romance comedy. The end result of trying to mash those two conflicting storylines together in cliffnotes form left me feeling like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had originally been two movies, filmed separately and spliced together. I'd really say this movie was a failure of editing, because so many scenes from the novel that should've been included because of their importance to the plot were left out, and so many scenes that did bugger all for the actual story were included. The "new" scenes, like the destruction of the Burrow, kind of leave you wondering if they were added just to get rid of surplus pyrotechnical supplies leftover from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Quote
Gubaba Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Hmmm...none of this is making me eager to see the film. I like the books A LOT, and I thought the third and fourth movies were quite good...but...I don't know. If I do see this one, it'll be more out of a sense of duty than anything else. Quote
dreamweaver13 Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 I just got back from seeing it with some friends not too long ago... it did not wow me. If I had to pick one word to describe it, it would be "Schizophrenic". It can't seem to decide if it wants to be a mediocre fantasy/action film or a depressingly bad teenage romance comedy. The end result of trying to mash those two conflicting storylines together in cliffnotes form left me feeling like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had originally been two movies, filmed separately and spliced together. I'd really say this movie was a failure of editing, because so many scenes from the novel that should've been included because of their importance to the plot were left out, and so many scenes that did bugger all for the actual story were included. The "new" scenes, like the destruction of the Burrow, kind of leave you wondering if they were added just to get rid of surplus pyrotechnical supplies leftover from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. now that you mention it, the destruction of the burrow really came out as odd to me. ok, so the weasley's home, a place of security for so many years was destroyed, and then.... nothing. no displaced weasleys. no scene of them coming together in the face of tragedy, like what happened after arthur weasley was attacked by the snake. not even a mention of it later on. just something that happened to try to add some more darkness to the movie... but if the director was really trying for some particular kind of emotion from that scene... well, it sure didn't come out. yeah, the movie was jumbled. the book was able to magically merge the HS romance and the dark plot seemlessly. the movie... not so much. Quote
dreamweaver13 Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Hmmm...none of this is making me eager to see the film. I like the books A LOT, and I thought the third and fourth movies were quite good...but...I don't know. If I do see this one, it'll be more out of a sense of duty than anything else. I liked the books as well. and Half-blood prince is probably my favorite. i think, more than the other films, this one didn't live up to the book. but if there's any reason to watch it (other than that sense of duty), is that it's a set-up for the book 7 movies, which i am hoping would be much better, given that they are dividing the book into 2 movies. Quote
myk Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Hmmm...none of this is making me eager to see the film. I like the books A LOT, and I thought the third and fourth movies were quite good...but...I don't know. If I do see this one, it'll be more out of a sense of duty than anything else. Eek gads, the 4th movie was uncomfortable to watch, it was so bad. They changed waaaay too many details from the books and, I don't know, dumbed the whole thing down-where do I begin! Those of you who remember the 4th book and movie know what I'm talking about... Quote
ruskiiVFaussie Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) I appreciated Harry's (Radcliffs acting) character in this movie more than the previous ones, specially when he took the vile of Luck, "No professor, that would be counter-productive!" Lots of good laughs and giggles in this one! Go Ron!!! At the start there is quite alot of back story cut out, like with Snape. I was REALLY surprised when Harry took on Draco, woah he was fubar, lying in a mass puddle of blood!! Draco was done and dusted. Awesome! But i seriously felt bad for Malfoy lol Edited July 17, 2009 by ruskiiVFaussie Quote
eriku Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) I'm never sure what constitutes spoilers for everyone, so I'll black out the lot: I quite enjoyed it. As ruskii said, Radcliffe was at his best in this film, especially when he got to explore a bit while on the luck potion. For some reason he reminded me of David Tennant's Doctor while he was on the stuff. There are several little things that made me wonder why they did them that way, but they didn't make the film bad for me. I find myself more curious at the changes than upset. Like why they felt the need to not have Harry petrified by Dumbledore at the end rather than just lurking about below. It made more sense in the book to have him petrified because Harry is, afterall, somewhat of a hot-head and it's out of character for him to just stand there and watch Dumbledore get killed. This whole scene overall seemed anti-climactic. It should have felt like the end of the world when Dumbledore died, but instead it was more like, "Oh bugger, he's dead. Well, look at that beautiful sunset, eh!" I also didn't understand why they decided to torch the Burrow, and then didn't bother to say or show what the Weasley family did after that. Edited July 17, 2009 by eriku Quote
taksraven Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 I saw the Prisoner of Azcaban (wrong spelling, who cares) for the first time properly the other day. It was ok. The time travel bit was done fairly poorly tho. The thing I did like was the performance from Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. Never like Richard Harris in the role, he played it like some guy who was about to drop dead (oh wait, I see.......) but they let Michael play it differently and I was quite impressed. (Then again, I have always been impressed with Michael Gambons acting. The original Singing Detective. What a legend. Am I right, or am I right?) Taksraven Quote
Hoptimus Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 I enjoyed it. I havent read all of the books yet. My wife was dissapointed at some details that were left out but overall she liked it too. If you liked the other HP films then its a nice addition. My favorites are still 2 and 3 as far as the movies. Quote
miles316 Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) I enjoyed it. I havent read all of the books yet. My wife was dissapointed at some details that were left out but overall she liked it too. If you liked the other HP films then its a nice addition. My favorites are still 2 and 3 as far as the movies. They just butchered "the order of the Phoenix" I was glad when they announced they would split "Deathly Hallos" in to Two films. Massive Spoiler just can't stopppp myself. I wish every one here had Read the last book because it was suicide by Snape, he was fallowing orders. Edited July 17, 2009 by miles316 Quote
Einherjar Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 It was inevitable : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPF-v0Gw66A Quote
mikeszekely Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 9 Hours of walking and then dropping a ring... You forgot the crying. No, my friends, LotR was a huge snoozefest. The battles? Only cool if they're relevant to you. And it's hard to be relevant when you don't give a crud (maybe because you dozed off during the walking and/or crying?). I'm not saying that Harry Potter, despite winding up 8 movies long, is really as epic or high fantasy as something like LotR, but it's fun. I saw the Half-Blood Prince today with my wife. It was... well, it's okay. Just okay, and I say this as someone who liked the Half-Blood Prince best of the books. The problem seems to be that Rowling's books got progressively longer, so with each movie more or the book winds up on the cutting room floor. Two movies ago it was jarring that the school year was over after just two hours of film, like you were just getting the Reader's Digest version. By movie six, it feels more like you're just getting the Cliff's notes. Quote
ruskiiVFaussie Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 (edited) So it'd be much better they released around 12 movies right? Nothing wrong with that though imo lol. Love the movies. It's a great escape. Edited July 19, 2009 by ruskiiVFaussie Quote
the white drew carey Posted July 19, 2009 Author Posted July 19, 2009 So it'd be much better they released around 12 movies right? Nothing wrong with that though imo lol. Love the movies. It's a great escape. Actually, maybe that would be better. Mike is right in that more and more ends up cut and, admittedly this time around, the director said that the movie is made for followers of the series, and cuts stuff that fan should already know. Its not that there needs to be 12 movies, but HP fans will sit through as much as you give them. You can make a 3 1/2-hour long HP movie and we will sit through it. If the director knows he is marketing the film to fans, then don't make a heavily chopped 2 1/2-hour film that is obviously meant to please the masses. Quote
ruskiiVFaussie Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Oh yes, give me long ass movies any time! Quote
dreamweaver13 Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 I watched it a second time, and it was better than i first thought. i don't know why. maybe it's because i wasn't expecting any scenes from the book anymore. wasn't as jumbled as i first thought. the destruction of the weasley home was still off for me, and the ginny-harry romance was still a bit forced, but here are the things i particularly liked: - the added focus on Draco Malfoy and his character development. In the book, it seemed he played a biog role at the start, disappeared for most of the book (except for being the victim of a sectumsempre spell), and appeared substantially only at the end. in the movie, he was juxtaposed against all the major events in the movie. for every lighthearted moment in Hogwarts (christmass balls, snogging in the halls, etc), there was usually a shot of draco skulking in the shadows. nicely done. - acting of radcliffe, watson and grint. grint's comic timing, in particular, was brilliant. - the scene after the start, at the diner (where harry was trying to hook up with a girl) was a particularly nice touch. also loved the opening scene, which was a brief transition from OOTP to this movie. Quote
ruskiiVFaussie Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) Whatsthis Harry Potter like? "Ohh, bit of a tosser really.." rofl! I really want to watch this a 2nd time. All the other potter movies i saw twice even tree times! Edited July 20, 2009 by ruskiiVFaussie Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.