Rottenwatch: Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince.
- Thread starter DrForester
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Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
I really thought that this movie was great, and I say that as a person who has been relatively unimpressed by 3/5 Harry Potter movies so far. I think that it manages to be better than Order of the Phoenix, and it wrestles with PoA as my favorite; PoA flows and transitions much better and has a lot of good cinematography, but it also had the advantage of adapting a much shorter, less dense book. HBP manages to hit all of the important details from the book while still marking its own identity. I didn't mind all the teen romance stuff because that's a big point of the book: the world has a very real sense of impending doom, but in the world of a teenager, romance, love, and dating feels very much like a world-ending subject. I like it really well.
Saw the midnight showing last night. Very impressed. It's not the best film of the year by any means nor do I consider it the best of the HP film franchise, (PoA still holds that title) but it was quite an improvement over Order of the Phoenix. I now have faith that the end of the franchise is in good hands.
As it stands now for me, the good HP films, in order of quality:
Prisoner of Azkaban
Half-Blood Prince
Goblet of Fire
and the merely mediocre:
Order of the Phoenix
Chamber of Secrets
Sorcerer's Stone
Random Notes:
-Ending felt kind of abrupt and lacked the impact the book had, but I think, perhaps, this is more due to the fact that I already known what happens in book 7 than it is any weakness of the film. It's also pretty close to the book, where the abrupt-ness didn't strike me as much simply because I was reading it instead of seeing it.
-Slughorn was perfect. Is there any other modern blockbuster series with as spot on casting decisions as this series?
-The added scene at Christmas felt kind of weird to me. Yeah, it served to liven up a otherwise fairly uneventful string of scenes, but I don't really get where they are going with it. Perhaps it will become more apparent in additions made to the book 7 movie?
-Ginny suffered from a lack of setup in the other films, but I felt she did good with what she had. (Much like how Sirius is suddenly a lot closer to Harry in OotP than the previous films implied) Too bad she couldn't have been developed closer to the book in previous films in order to be more in line for the role in this one.
As it stands now for me, the good HP films, in order of quality:
Prisoner of Azkaban
Half-Blood Prince
Goblet of Fire
and the merely mediocre:
Order of the Phoenix
Chamber of Secrets
Sorcerer's Stone
Random Notes:
-Ending felt kind of abrupt and lacked the impact the book had, but I think, perhaps, this is more due to the fact that I already known what happens in book 7 than it is any weakness of the film. It's also pretty close to the book, where the abrupt-ness didn't strike me as much simply because I was reading it instead of seeing it.
-Slughorn was perfect. Is there any other modern blockbuster series with as spot on casting decisions as this series?
-The added scene at Christmas felt kind of weird to me. Yeah, it served to liven up a otherwise fairly uneventful string of scenes, but I don't really get where they are going with it. Perhaps it will become more apparent in additions made to the book 7 movie?
-Ginny suffered from a lack of setup in the other films, but I felt she did good with what she had. (Much like how Sirius is suddenly a lot closer to Harry in OotP than the previous films implied) Too bad she couldn't have been developed closer to the book in previous films in order to be more in line for the role in this one.
VistraNorrez
Member
It was good, I'd put it behind PoA and OotP. The cast all had their best performances. I really liked Gambon as Dumbledore in the film. He really proved how well cast he was for the role. The romance stuff was really well done, in spite of not finding Ginny the least bit attractive. And it was easily the funniest film.
But I still find PoA to just have the best plot and being so well directed. OotP was just more exciting, which really surprised me. HBP should've had more energy, but it didn't, even with the exciting last act. I did not find the ending rushed, but I would've liked to see some more things from the book.
But I still find PoA to just have the best plot and being so well directed. OotP was just more exciting, which really surprised me. HBP should've had more energy, but it didn't, even with the exciting last act. I did not find the ending rushed, but I would've liked to see some more things from the book.
eXistor
Member
I used to think it was one of the weaker ones as well, but I saw it for a seconde time this week and it's amazing how wrong I felt I was. It's definitely one of my favorties now. The only one that;s significantl weaker is Goblet of Fire imo. The rest I can watch time and time again.traveler said:
Pseudo_Sam
Survives without air, food, or water
I think some of you are missing the point of the book here. It was very much a dark and gloomy one, but it was always offset with lots of Hogwarts-y stuff, like quidditch and romance. It was surreal in this way, where the world all around them was falling apart but they were only trying to enjoy another year at Hogwarts. Thank god the producers didn't indulge you weirdos and make it 2+ hours of depressing emo shit.
gamergirly
Member
irfan said:FYI, movie opened HUGE. YUUUUUGE. Midnight screenings alone brought in an estimated 20M breaking TDK's record.
Titanic here we go
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
Solo said:
I had discussion with them about it. They were complaining about real trivial things, much like some of the complaints in this thread, about some parts straying from the book. They were hardly valid MOVIE complaints.
That, I leave up to you.
True, but from what I've heard, WB spent 250 million on the movie, and another 200 million on advertisments. I think HBP will pass 1 Billion WW and 300-350 million domestically, but the production budget increases are far outpacing the small increases in total revenue. I just think its ridiculous that their budget was 250 million; there isn't even that many action sequences requiring a large budget. I guess the actors simply get paid more as time goes on; at least Hans is still employed after all these years.
gamergirly
Member
the walrus said:
They're already filming HP
H so that should cut dramatically on costsAuron_Kale
Member
Saw it at midnight, loved it (except for the part where the film reel broke - they got it back up and running about 10 minutes later).
Film was fantastically dark and I loved the cinematography used for the Pensieve scenes.
Wish there was time to go into detail with the Lupin - Greyback connection, but you can't have everything.
My movie rankings thus far:
Prisoner of Azkaban
Half-Blood Prince
Order of the Phoenix
Goblet of Fire
Sorcerer's Stone
Chamber of Secrets (only because it didn't try to do anything different)
Can't wait to see this again on IMAX in two weeks!
Film was fantastically dark and I loved the cinematography used for the Pensieve scenes.
Wish there was time to go into detail with the Lupin - Greyback connection, but you can't have everything.
My movie rankings thus far:
Prisoner of Azkaban
Half-Blood Prince
Order of the Phoenix
Goblet of Fire
Sorcerer's Stone
Chamber of Secrets (only because it didn't try to do anything different)
Can't wait to see this again on IMAX in two weeks!
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
I keep seeing this and cannot disagree more.
There was no impending sense of doom. OOTP and GoF had an impending sense of doom because the death eaters were wrecking shop in them. In this movie they burned down a few homes and no one shopped at Daigon alley anymore. They
killed Dumbledor
The whole "too teens love is life or death" bit is absolutely stupid. It's fine to have some of that in there as it develops the charachters. But most of the plot was focused on who likes who, and the end of the world plotline got pushed to the backburner as a result. For 5 movies, the impending return of Voldemort has been the driving theme of the story, and it was relegated to a subplot here. Whoever wrote the script should have put more focus on the end of the world stuff and less on the love stuff.
I don't know if this was an issue with the book or the movie. Maybe the movies to this point have put too much focus on the Voldemort story and made it seem more important than it was in the books. I can only speak to the movies, and at the end of OOTP it seemed like things were really about to boil over into an all out war.. and that continued for the first 15 minutes of this movie... then it turned into "lulz, things aren't that bad.. let's all fall in love"
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
I'll have to let things settle a bit, but for me it goes:
Half-Blood Prince
Prisoner of Azkaban
Order of the Phoenix
Goblet of Fire
Chamber of Secrets
Sorcerer's Stone
Take your criticisms to the source material, then, because that's how the book presents the world. And I don't see how you couldn't see the impending sense of doom...Hogwarts with Aurors in the castle, various speeches by Dumbledore and the sorting hat, the protective charm around the castle that was trying to be broken, and Malfoy's constant state of unease. It's there, you're just not paying attention.
Half-Blood Prince
Prisoner of Azkaban
Order of the Phoenix
Goblet of Fire
Chamber of Secrets
Sorcerer's Stone
Take your criticisms to the source material, then, because that's how the book presents the world. And I don't see how you couldn't see the impending sense of doom...Hogwarts with Aurors in the castle, various speeches by Dumbledore and the sorting hat, the protective charm around the castle that was trying to be broken, and Malfoy's constant state of unease. It's there, you're just not paying attention.
BrandNew said:
That stuff was all in there, but like I said, it was relegated to the sidelines in this one. The sense of danger was much stronger in the last two movies. Even Hogwarts seemed like a dangerous place. In this one it was more like every 15 minutes or so they threw a short scene in to remind you it was dangerous.. but it lacked a pervasive feeling of danger or doom.
Chiggs
Gold Member
StoOgE said:
Well said.
BrandNew said:
I really don't get the Chamber of Secrets hate; it's exceptionally made, and there's a nice sense of dread. Branagh was awesome in it. For me:
1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Chamber of Secrets
4. Goblet of Fire
5. Half-Blood Prince
6. Sorcerer's Stone
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
Aaaaaand that's pretty how much the book was.
well to be honest the 6th book is like this except the 6th book is primarily Harry a Dumbledore examining memories, though in rereading it, the impending doom you keep talking about is relegated to the beginning and the end of the book. So in that fashion the movie is fairly accurate, its just that the movie misses out on explanations because really... there is no time to. Oh and the potions book being hidden that way doesn't even matter, that was a change that doesn't even truly effect the outcome. To be honest I suggest you read the books.StoOgE said:
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
Cheebs said:
I never thought it did, not nearly as much as the 5th book did.
I haven't seen the film yet, but....
The book did feature a lot of teenage love stuff in it, but it was typically woven in with some of the stuff regarding the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore's lesson. However, I heard they only have 2 flashbacks in this film, which is dissapointing, considering they were the main driving factor of the books and they were definitely my favorite parts of the books. That said, the main source of "impending doom" comes from the fact that Voldemort is actually back this time, and everybody knows it. As a whole, Half Blood Prince is probably my favorite book, closely followed by Prisoner of Azkaban (and I loved the movie for PoA), so I hope the movie keeps a lot of the general feel of the book in there.
The book did feature a lot of teenage love stuff in it, but it was typically woven in with some of the stuff regarding the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore's lesson. However, I heard they only have 2 flashbacks in this film, which is dissapointing, considering they were the main driving factor of the books and they were definitely my favorite parts of the books. That said, the main source of "impending doom" comes from the fact that Voldemort is actually back this time, and everybody knows it. As a whole, Half Blood Prince is probably my favorite book, closely followed by Prisoner of Azkaban (and I loved the movie for PoA), so I hope the movie keeps a lot of the general feel of the book in there.
Jirotrom said:
They are on my (way too long) reading list. Right now I'm holding off on new series in hopes that a Dance of Dragons will come out soon (lulz).
Like I said, I'm not necessarily faulting the film here. My issue might be an issue that I have with the source material, or even with previous films getting something wrong. Either way the tone felt off from what I had seen before.
It's not that the source material is weak, its that the movie should have been 5 hours long... we're talking about a major condensing to the point where some scenes had to be acted like cliff notes. I absolutely loved how some lines were exactly word for word from th book.Chiggs said:
They needed the funeral, not cause of lololol purisit but for a pure storytelling reason in the film. You needed it to let his death sink in. It comes and goes so quickly in the movie its like nothing happened.Chiggs said:
Even with all of what I said it is still possibly the best movie next to PoA but the gap between PoA and HPB+Rest of the movies remains very large.
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
levious said:
No, unfortunately not.
edit: There's not that great of a gap between PoA and this one, I don't think, considering I think this one is better
Chiggs said:
I already know how the ending was changed, and while I'm not sure why they changed it:
having Harry under the cloak, completly immobilized would have been great
Harry was immbolized with some silent charm by Dumbledore of all people
Other than that, I don't think I will care too much about what they change, considering I care more about how good it is as a movie, not as a recreation of the book (which is why PoA was so good compared to the rest).
I also don't want to sound like I am completely hating on the movie.
There were some parts that I really liked. The flashbacks were excellent, I wish I had seen more of that exploration of how Voldemort became who he is... they really grabbed my attention.
The opening of the film (right up until they get to Hogwarts) was just excellently handled. I really liked Malfoys struggle with taking up his fathers mantle and his uneasyness to become a death eater. The scene with the dead boddies dragging Harry down was pretty damn cool (wish the scene was longer). It gave you a real sense of just how much power Voldemort possessed to create something that intricate to protect his immortality.
On a repeat viewing I will probably like it better now that I know what I'm getting going in.
There were some parts that I really liked. The flashbacks were excellent, I wish I had seen more of that exploration of how Voldemort became who he is... they really grabbed my attention.
The opening of the film (right up until they get to Hogwarts) was just excellently handled. I really liked Malfoys struggle with taking up his fathers mantle and his uneasyness to become a death eater. The scene with the dead boddies dragging Harry down was pretty damn cool (wish the scene was longer). It gave you a real sense of just how much power Voldemort possessed to create something that intricate to protect his immortality.
On a repeat viewing I will probably like it better now that I know what I'm getting going in.
I feel that way because while HPB is the best done of the non-PoA ones it suffers from the same flaw that the rest had in which it is a series of scenes adapted from the book squished into a 2 and half hour run time while PoA felt organic and flowed like a real film not a book adaption.BrandNew said:edit: There's not that great of a gap between PoA and this one, I don't think, considering I think this one is better
With that said HBP is still one of the best blockbusters this summer, I just can't put it along PoA which is one of the best fantasy movies, period.
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
I'd like to think that they'll delve into voldys backstory a whole lot more in the next two flicks.
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