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[krameriffic]

I assume they have to be for anybody to enjoy them as much as they are revered, but some of the plot fuzziness in the movies is unforgivable. Watching them purely cinematically makes me REALLY question the quality of JK Rowlings writing, but I know that the books have to be better if only because they can have more stuff in them.

OotP is the most meandering and self indulgent of the books (weighing in at 860 pages), so the movie is extremely cut down by comparison. I seem to remember finding the movie boring compared to GoF and HBP until the last 20 minutes or so.

The thing that I didn't like about this movie is that I didn't feel the emotional impact of Sirius dying. It didn't seem as huge of an event.

Yes. Harry's relationships with secondary characters (not Ron and Hermione) are the aspects of the story that really get lost in translation to the movie. His connection to Sirius, Dumbledore, and the other Weasley's gets cut down a lot, which is something that comes back to haunt them really badly when those connections payoff later in the story and in the next two books.

 

[ascii42]

So what's up with her anyway? Seems like a weird inclusion to the main group.

Also:



I thought about mentioning this in the OP, but WTF?! That stupid Prophecy wouldn't have gotten Voldemort shit. Knowing fantasy tropes like I do, there is of course some secret to the Prophecy that has yet to be revealed, but in the movie it just seems pretty cut and dry and boring.

In the book, as possibly even moreso in the movie, she's there because Harry feels alone and weird, so Harry feels like he has someone to relate to, because she's alone and weird. In the book, she plays a somewhat important role. Her father runs The Quibbler, which seems like the wizarding equivalent to The Weekly World News. Harry does an interview for The Quibbler, which gets the word out. You see a bit of it in the movie, particularly with Seamus, where a lot of the students believe that Harry was lying. Getting the story out helped get people around to believing Voldemort was back. I haven't read the book in a while, but I think that helped lead to the creation of the DA.

 

[Cyan]

Fun to see you go through these. I really enjoyed this one after the shitfest that was Goblet.

Quality remains about the same from here through the final one, IMO, so you should enjoy the rest just fine if you liked this one.

 

[marrec]

In the book, as possibly even moreso in the movie, she's there because Harry feels alone and weird, so Harry feels like he has someone to relate to, because she's alone and weird. In the book, she plays a somewhat important role. Her father runs The Quibbler, which seems like the wizarding equivalent to The Weekly World News. Harry does an interview for The Quibbler, which gets the word out. You see a bit of it in the movie, particularly with Seamus, where a lot of the students believe that Harry was lying. Getting the story out helped get people around to believing Voldemort was back. I haven't read the book in a while, but I think that helped lead to the creation of the DA.

That makes a bit more sense to include her then. She was a great character, don't get me wrong. A bit of a narration messenger though, a bit too on the nose ya? I enjoyed how different she was from the other characters though.

Fun to see you go through these. I really enjoyed this one after the shitfest that was Goblet.

Quality remains about the same from here through the final one, IMO, so you should enjoy the rest just fine if you liked this one.

I had fun with it in spite of the problems. There's finally a story to tell, unlike in one, two, and three.

 

[ascii42]

That makes a bit more sense to include her then. She was a great character, don't get me wrong. A bit of a narration messenger though, a bit too on the nose ya? I enjoyed how different she was from the other characters though.

One of my favorite concepts that she brings to the table is the idea of made up creatures that don't even exist in the Harry Potter world, like nargles.

 

[marrec]

One of my favorite concepts that she brings to the table is the idea of made up creatures that don't even exist in the Harry Potter world, like nargles.

The idea of made up creatures in a made up world is fantastic yes. She helped to keep the movie weirdly grounded I think.

 

[Cheerilee]

I thought about mentioning this in the OP, but WTF?! That stupid Prophecy wouldn't have gotten Voldemort shit. Knowing fantasy tropes like I do, there is of course some secret to the Prophecy that has yet to be revealed, but in the movie it just seems pretty cut and dry and boring.

I can explain the Prophecy. It's not a spoiler, because the movie could've explained it but didn't.

Flash backwards a few years, and Voldemort was standing on the edge of a brand new unexplored level of power. Probably enough power so that he wouldn't even have to worry about Dumbledore. Also, Professor Trelawney is a joke. She's almost totally useless. One of her ancestors was a powerful fortune teller, and she deluded herself into thinking that she was one too. Harry/Ron/Hermionie were right about her, but Harry and Ron enjoy the joke while Hermionie doesn't.

Now, Dumbledore was taking applicants for Trelawney's job, and during her interview she produced one of the only genuine Prophecies she's ever made. She said that a Chosen One was being born with the power to defeat Voldemort, and that they could not coexist peacefully, one of them would have to kill the other. Her description of this Chosen One perfectly fit both Harry and Neville.

That's as far as Voldemort was able to hear, because his spy got cut off. But that was all he needed to know. The solution is obvious. Kill them both, immediately. He personally went to the Potters, and he sent Bellatrix to the Longbottoms.

But Harry lived and Voldemort died. Why? Voldemort came back from the dead and got killed by Harry's mother's protection spell. That must be it. Voldemort came back from the dead again, and beat Harry's mother's protection spell, but Harry still lived. Why? Voldemort needs to slow down and think this thing over before he proceeds and maybe kills himself a few more times. Dying repeatedly kind of hurts and is bad for his reputation. He needs to hear the full version of the Prophecy.

The last part of the Prophecy? The decision between Harry and Neville will be made by Voldemort himself. He will pick one of the two babies, and "mark him as his equal", and by doing so he will give that baby the very tools he needs to defeat him.

By attacking Harry, Voldemort gave Harry the scar, and gave Harry a copy of his powers. That's why Harry can speak Parseltongue. Without the scar and a copy of Voldemort's power, Harry would have probably been about as useless as Neville.

So there you go. That's the full version of the Prophecy. It's of no practical use to Voldemort whatsoever. All it did was troll him. If Voldemort had said "prophecies are stupid" and continued on his path to absolute power, he would have won the game, but because he was afraid the Prophecy might stop him, he flinched, and did exactly what the Prophecy said he was going to do.

And Dumbledore hid Professor Trelawney safely away in Hogwarts Castle and let students be taught by a delusional nutcase for more than a decade just to enhance the troll. Notice that when Umbridge tried to fire Trelawney for incompetence and kick her out, Dumbledore wouldn't let her be kicked out? Dumbledore didn't care about Trelawney the way McGonagall and the kids did, he just really wanted to twist that knife in Voldemort's gut, at just the right time and place.

 

[Medalion]

Luna Lovegood was indeed the best new surprise to the ailing HP movie franchise, but wasn't used enough.

 

[Figboy79]

I hated the Order of the Phoenix book.

Well, it wasn't so much the book, as it was, Harry himself. He was supremely unlikable in that book, and treated his friends like shit for most of it. The actual book isn't that bad, and has some great stuff in it, but it's painful re-reading it for me, because I just can't stand Harry in that one.

The movie, however, I felt tempered Harry's character and made him much more sympathetic. I didn't want to punch him in the face. The three principals also grow further into their characters, which has been fun to see over the series. I also didn't feel like they left out as many vital plot points as The Goblet of Fire and Half Blood Prince.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on HBP, and discussing my own. I'm torn about that movie, personally, but I'll explain why next time.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

I've gotten this far in these movies that are all based on the source material provided by on JK Rowling and so far EVERY ONE has been pretty badly written. The action is great in some, the characters are all interesting, but the plot is horrible.

Is it ANY better in the books?

The writing isn't breathtaking, but the plot is much, much, much, much better.

 

[Jarmel]

I can explain the Prophecy. It's not a spoiler, because the movie could've explained it but didn't.

Flash backwards a few years, and Voldemort was standing on the edge of a brand new unexplored level of power. Probably enough power so that he wouldn't even have to worry about Dumbledore. Also, Professor Trelawney is a joke. She's almost totally useless. One of her ancestors was a powerful fortune teller, and she deluded herself into thinking that she was one too. Harry/Ron/Hermionie were right about her, but Harry and Ron enjoy the joke while Hermionie doesn't.

Now, Dumbledore was taking applicants for Trelawney's job, and during her interview she produced one of the only genuine Prophecies she's ever made. She said that a Chosen One was being born with the power to defeat Voldemort, and that they could not coexist peacefully, one of them would have to kill the other. Her description of this Chosen One perfectly fit both Harry and Neville.

That's as far as Voldemort was able to hear, because his spy got cut off. But that was all he needed to know. The solution is obvious. Kill them both, immediately. He personally went to the Potters, and he sent Bellatrix to the Longbottoms.

But Harry lived and Voldemort died. Why? Voldemort came back from the dead and got killed by Harry's mother's protection spell. That must be it. Voldemort came back from the dead again, and beat Harry's mother's protection spell, but Harry still lived. Why? Voldemort needs to slow down and think this thing over before he proceeds and maybe kills himself a few more times. Dying repeatedly kind of hurts and is bad for his reputation. He needs to hear the full version of the Prophecy.

The last part of the Prophecy? The decision between Harry and Neville will be made by Voldemort himself. He will pick one of the two babies, and "mark him as his equal", and by doing so he will give that baby the very tools he needs to defeat him.

By attacking Harry, Voldemort gave Harry the scar, and gave Harry a copy of his powers. That's why Harry can speak Parseltongue. Without the scar and a copy of Voldemort's power, Harry would have probably been about as useless as Neville.

So there you go. That's the full version of the Prophecy. It's of no practical use to Voldemort whatsoever. All it did was troll him. If Voldemort had said "prophecies are stupid" and continued on his path to absolute power, he would have won the game, but because he was afraid the Prophecy might stop him, he flinched, and did exactly what the Prophecy said he was going to do.

And Dumbledore hid Professor Trelawney safely away in Hogwarts Castle and let students be taught by a delusional nutcase for more than a decade just to enhance the troll. Notice that when Umbridge tried to fire Trelawney for incompetence and kick her out, Dumbledore wouldn't let her be kicked out? Dumbledore didn't care about Trelawney the way McGonagall and the kids did, he just really wanted to twist that knife in Voldemort's gut, at just the right time and place.

I agree with pretty much everything except the bolded part. Harry's problem is that he never had a good teacher in DA except for Lupin and so never really developed as well as he could have. He was an exceptional student but he had joke teachers for 5 years that didn't really have a vested interest in seeing him succeed. I suppose you might argue that Moody was a good teacher as he did help Harry but he really kinda did the bare minimum. This is kinda explained in the last book though as Dumbledore trolling.

 

[ascii42]

I agree with pretty much everything except the bolded part. Harry's problem is that he never had a good teacher in DA except for Lupin and so never really developed as well as he could have. He was an exceptional student but he had joke teachers for 5 years that didn't really have a vested interest in seeing him succeed. I suppose you might argue that Moody was a good teacher as he did help Harry but he really kinda did the bare minimum. This is kinda explained in the last book though as Dumbledore trolling.

On the other hand Neville's problem was a lack of confidence.

Spoiler

Once he gets over that, he basically leads Dumbledore's Army in the trio's absence and cuts the head off a giant snake.

 

[Cheerilee]

I agree with pretty much everything except the bolded part. Harry's problem is that he never had a good teacher in DA except for Lupin and so never really developed as well as he could have. He was an exceptional student but he had joke teachers for 5 years that didn't really have a vested interest in seeing him succeed. I suppose you might argue that Moody was a good teacher as he did help Harry but he really kinda did the bare minimum. This is kinda explained in the last book though as Dumbledore trolling.

Yeah, that was sort of my opinion, not really an explored fact.

Voldemort was a very gifted wizard.

Neville was very much an un-gifted wizard. But that didn't really make him useless (despite what I said earlier). Neville got what he had through guts and heart and hard work.

I think Harry was a very gifted wizard (despite his shortcomings) only because he inherited Voldemort's gifts. I think both Chosen Ones were supposed to be remarkably un-gifted. I think that if Voldemort had chosen to go after Neville, there would have been a role reversal. Harry Potter would've been the un-gifted one tiredly saying "Why is it always me?" whenever something embarrassing happens. I think that when Hagrid said in the first movie that he fully expected Harry to be a "thumping good" wizard, just like his father was, Hagrid was sort of buying into the same racist line of thinking that the pure-blood elitists believe (just a little). Which isn't to say that a de-powered Harry wouldn't have worked ten times harder, and couldn't be a hero and a great man.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

I agree with pretty much everything except the bolded part. Harry's problem is that he never had a good teacher in DA except for Lupin and so never really developed as well as he could have. He was an exceptional student but he had joke teachers for 5 years that didn't really have a vested interest in seeing him succeed. I suppose you might argue that Moody was a good teacher as he did help Harry but he really kinda did the bare minimum. This is kinda explained in the last book though as Dumbledore trolling.

I always saw Harry as not being that exceptional; what really comes through for him is the friends he has around him, and the sacrifices they're willing to make so he can live, because they care for him. It's incredibly cheesy, but Harry repeatedly assures those fascinated with his repeated defeats of Voldemort that he had very little skill-wise to do with it. He thinks in a way Voldemort does not, and is determined.

Even Voldemort mocks him for this, that he "cowered at the hem of greater witches and wizards" or something along those lines, but it's his strength ultimately.

 

[Jarmel]

Yeah, that was sort of my opinion, not really an explored fact.

Voldemort was a very gifted wizard.

Neville was very much an un-gifted wizard. But that didn't really make him useless (despite what I said earlier). Neville got what he had through guts and heart and hard work.

I think Harry was a very gifted wizard (despite his shortcomings) only because he inherited Voldemort's gifts. I think both Chosen Ones were supposed to be remarkably un-gifted. I think that if Voldemort had chosen to go after Neville, there would have been a role reversal. Harry Potter would've been the un-gifted one tiredly saying "Why is it always me?" whenever something embarrassing happens. I think that when Hagrid said in the first movie that he fully expected Harry to be a "thumping good" wizard, just like his father was, Hagrid was sort of buying into the same racist line of thinking that the pure-blood elitists believe (just a little). Which isn't to say that a de-powered Harry wouldn't have worked ten times harder, and couldn't be a hero and a great man.

I always saw Harry as not being that exceptional; what really comes through for him is the friends he has around him, and the sacrifices they're willing to make so he can live, because they care for him. It's incredibly cheesy, but Harry repeatedly assures those fascinated with his repeated defeats of Voldemort that he had very little skill-wise to do with it. He thinks in a way Voldemort does not, and is determined.

Even Voldemort mocks him for this, that he "cowered at the hem of greater witches and wizards" or something along those lines, but it's his strength ultimately.

Voldemort, Snape, and Dumbledore were obviously geniuses. Like even with mediocre teachers they excelled to high heaven. They were also more motivated than Harry ever was and did a lot of outside research. Hermione if she was a better duelist and had better nerves might have been on their level. That doesn't mean that Harry wasn't an exceptional wizard though. I mean the one time Harry actually got a teacher that actually cared about him, he produced a Patronus. That's very high-level magic and something he mastered in his third year. Even still he became an exceptional duelist but that's more due to his natural reflexes being so high off the charts.

Also the only thing implied that Harry got out of the transfer with Voldemort was Parseltongue and the mental link with Voldemort.

 

[marrec]

I always saw Harry as not being that exceptional; what really comes through for him is the friends he has around him, and the sacrifices they're willing to make so he can live, because they care for him. It's incredibly cheesy, but Harry repeatedly assures those fascinated with his repeated defeats of Voldemort that he had very little skill-wise to do with it. He thinks in a way Voldemort does not, and is determined.

Even Voldemort mocks him for this, that he "cowered at the hem of greater witches and wizards" or something along those lines, but it's his strength ultimately.

Through the first four movies I was convinced that Harry was a complete waste of a Wizard who's only skills were riding a broom and being incredibly lucky. Then in the Fifth movie he basically said as as much. It makes for an interesting hero that's for sure. Usually the hero the narrative is the one who knows all the spells and can answer all the questions, but it doesn't seem like Harry does any kind of studying and his knowledge of all things magic is about as much as mine up to this point.

I can explain the Prophecy. It's not a spoiler, because the movie could've explained it but didn't.

Flash backwards a few years, and Voldemort was standing on the edge of a brand new unexplored level of power. Probably enough power so that he wouldn't even have to worry about Dumbledore. Also, Professor Trelawney is a joke. She's almost totally useless. One of her ancestors was a powerful fortune teller, and she deluded herself into thinking that she was one too. Harry/Ron/Hermionie were right about her, but Harry and Ron enjoy the joke while Hermionie doesn't.

Now, Dumbledore was taking applicants for Trelawney's job, and during her interview she produced one of the only genuine Prophecies she's ever made. She said that a Chosen One was being born with the power to defeat Voldemort, and that they could not coexist peacefully, one of them would have to kill the other. Her description of this Chosen One perfectly fit both Harry and Neville.

That's as far as Voldemort was able to hear, because his spy got cut off. But that was all he needed to know. The solution is obvious. Kill them both, immediately. He personally went to the Potters, and he sent Bellatrix to the Longbottoms.

But Harry lived and Voldemort died. Why? Voldemort came back from the dead and got killed by Harry's mother's protection spell. That must be it. Voldemort came back from the dead again, and beat Harry's mother's protection spell, but Harry still lived. Why? Voldemort needs to slow down and think this thing over before he proceeds and maybe kills himself a few more times. Dying repeatedly kind of hurts and is bad for his reputation. He needs to hear the full version of the Prophecy.

The last part of the Prophecy? The decision between Harry and Neville will be made by Voldemort himself. He will pick one of the two babies, and "mark him as his equal", and by doing so he will give that baby the very tools he needs to defeat him.

By attacking Harry, Voldemort gave Harry the scar, and gave Harry a copy of his powers. That's why Harry can speak Parseltongue. Without the scar and a copy of Voldemort's power, Harry would have probably been about as useless as Neville.

So there you go. That's the full version of the Prophecy. It's of no practical use to Voldemort whatsoever. All it did was troll him. If Voldemort had said "prophecies are stupid" and continued on his path to absolute power, he would have won the game, but because he was afraid the Prophecy might stop him, he flinched, and did exactly what the Prophecy said he was going to do.

And Dumbledore hid Professor Trelawney safely away in Hogwarts Castle and let students be taught by a delusional nutcase for more than a decade just to enhance the troll. Notice that when Umbridge tried to fire Trelawney for incompetence and kick her out, Dumbledore wouldn't let her be kicked out? Dumbledore didn't care about Trelawney the way McGonagall and the kids did, he just really wanted to twist that knife in Voldemort's gut, at just the right time and place.

Thanks for the explanation!

So it was kind of meant as a gotcha thing. Seems pretty dumb for Voldemort to be so infatuated by this prophecy, but then again I don't live in a magic world so who am I to talk. I always wondered why they kept Trelawney around in spite of her obvious lack of any divination skill.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Through the first four movies I was convinced that Harry was a complete waste of a Wizard who's only skills were riding a broom and being incredibly lucky. Then in the Fifth movie he basically said as as much. It makes for an interesting hero that's for sure. Usually the hero the narrative is the one who knows all the spells and can answer all the questions, but it doesn't seem like Harry does any kind of studying and his knowledge of all things magic is about as much as mine up to this point.

It's the whole thing about him being the accidental hero, chosen by a prophecy that killed his parents meaninglessly and left him in the role of Voldemort's bane. I really like it actually the more I think about it.

 

[ascii42]

So it was kind of meant as a gotcha thing. Seems pretty dumb for Voldemort to be so infatuated by this prophecy, but then again I don't live in a magic world so who am I to talk. I always wondered why they kept Trelawney around in spite of her obvious lack of any divination skill.

Right, though obviously Dumbledore wanted to protect her as well. And she wasn't completely talentless. She had made one genuine prophesy. Then she made a second one in Prisoner of Azkaban.

 

[NinjaFridge]

Could have done with adding the scene at the end where Harry straight up smashes Dumbledore's office to pieces whilst Dumbledore just sits there, completely ambivalent. The whole movie should have had more angry Harry in it.

HBC is the worst casting decision of the entire series. She hams it up way too much.

I'm glad that you're realising how much of a dick Dumbledore is by now.

The book was too long, but still one of the better ones in the series. Simply too much filler.

Was disappointed they didn't bother with the office scene.

 

[Cheerilee]

Seems pretty dumb for Voldemort to be so infatuated by this prophecy, but then again I don't live in a magic world so who am I to talk.

Actually, Dumbledore told Harry that he thought Divination was a useless subject, and that before he met Trelawney he was ready to shut it down as a Hogwarts subject, because he thought it was garbage magic, even with a skilled teacher. REAL wizards live their lives, they don't sit around worrying about what might happen in the future.

 

[Vanillalite]

Not sure if it was just the state of my mind at the time or what, but this was clearly my least enjoyable HP theater experience that I can remember (I remember from POA on). Something just never clicked with me in regards to this movie.

 

[DrForester]

I assume they have to be for anybody to enjoy them as much as they are revered, but some of the plot fuzziness in the movies is unforgivable. Watching them purely cinematically makes me REALLY question the quality of JK Rowlings writing, but I know that the books have to be better if only because they can have more stuff in them.

Harry being safe at his aunt and uncle's makes sense in the books, but there are certainly things that make no sense, even with the "it's magic!" Excuse. Especially in the last book. One of the really stupid things was cut from the last films

Spoiler

the tabboo

. Even the whole thing in this film with the "trace" that can detect underage magic has a billion holes in it. Trace. Just detects magic at the home, fine, but then you have order members show up, do magic, and nothing.

 

[Celegus]

Easily my least favorite book in the series, but the movie wasn't too bad. At least it had David Tennant in it.

 

[DrForester]

Easily my least favorite book in the series, but the movie wasn't too bad. At least it had David Tennant in it.

That was the last movie, and Tennat was terrible.

 

[marrec]

Harry being safe at his aunt and uncle's makes sense in the books, but there are certainly things that make no sense, even with the "it's magic!" Excuse. Especially in the last book. One of the really stupid things was cut from the last films

Spoiler

the tabboo

. Even the whole thing in this film with the "trace" that can detect underage magic has a billion holes in it. Trace. Just detects magic at the home, fine, but then you have order members show up, do magic, and nothing.

The plot excuses consistently make me want to stop watching the movies. They're blatant and annoying. Luckily the characters these movies are built around and the lore involved in Hogwarts make up for whatever stupid story contrivance comes up next.

That sounds harsh and I really am enjoying the flicks, but they aren't exactly the pinnacle of narrative.

 

[Ape Gone Insane]

That's as far as Voldemort was able to hear, because his spy got cut off. But that was all he needed to know. The solution is obvious. Kill them both, immediately. He personally went to the Potters, and he sent Bellatrix to the Longbottoms.

Where did you get this from? I don't remember this being mentioned or implied. As far as I remember, Voldemort made a choice to go for Harry because he seen himself in Harry ie a Half-blood over a Pure-blood (Neville), the prophecy in his eyes could only apply to Harry. Bellatrix didn't go after the Longbottoms until after Voldemort's demise and that was only after Neville's parents so she, and the others, could torture information out of them.

 

[Bit-Bit]

Normally, movies have a new character that everything is explained to by the hero. In Harry Potter, he is the noob and everyone around him gets to look like a hero while he stumbles around with his mouth open.

But at the end of the day, he still has some natural talents that puts him over others. His reflexes and skills in Quidditch translates to his reflexes in battle. Think of it like a western dual. Whoever draws the faster spell wins the duel. In that aspect, Harry is skilled. Going beyond that, he is also a very brave individual and that's credit goes all to him. Many people would never even consider facing half the people that Harry does but he continues to do it because if he doesn't people will die.

As a character, it's really great of Rowling to write someone that anyone can easily relate to. Someone with some natural talents, courage, and yet not overpowered. Even when presented with the opportunity for all that power, Harry still declines because that's what makes a great wizard/person.

Or something.

 

[Jarmel]

Normally, movies have a new character that everything is explained to by the hero. In Harry Potter, he is the noob and everyone around him gets to look like a hero while he stumbles around with his mouth open.

But at the end of the day, he still has some natural talents that puts him over others. His reflexes and skills in Quidditch translates to his reflexes in battle. Think of it like a western dual. Whoever draws the faster spell wins the duel. In that aspect, Harry is skilled. Going beyond that, he is also a very brave individual and that's credit goes all to him. Many people would never even consider facing half the people that Harry does but he continues to do it because if he doesn't people will die.

As a character, it's really great of Rowling to write someone that anyone can easily relate to. Someone with some natural talents, courage, and yet not overpowered. Even when presented with the opportunity for all that power, Harry still declines because that's what makes a great wizard/person.

Or something.

It's actually interesting in that there really aren't limits on the spell a person can cast. I mean the most powerful spells it seems could be cast by anyone as long as they knew how to do the initial casting. We never see someone just flat out fail a spell because they don't have enough juice. Dumbledore, Snape, and Voldemort's strengths are that they can invent new spells seemingly on the fly. The only things that it seems requires pure power is wandless magic or Occlumency. The rest is just speed. The faster you get the spell off, the better.

 

[genericsuperhero]

So this film is where the plot cuts from PoA I mentioned in the PoA thread really become apparent. namely the retconned scene with the animal patronuses and the inexplicable calling of Sirius as 'Padfoot' (which was his nickname in school, being a dog animagus). Also, Sirius's death is somewhat lessened due to the fact that they never fully explained just how close he was to the Potter family.

There are several things I like about this movie, namely the use of the newspaper transitions (which also serve to give the impression that the events occurring are larger than just Hogwarts), the Dumbledore's Army scenes, and I love the Ministry of Magic set. But ultimately, it fell flat in showing the scope and the depth of several plot points - namely the connection between Voldemort and Harry, the toll the death of Sirius takes on Harry, and how easily the Wizarding World can be manipulated (which sets the stage for events that come later).

A few awesome things you missed that were in the book but omitted from the movie:

- The research rooms of the Ministry of Magic. The entire reason that level was called the 'Department of Mysteries' is that its where they study things that cannot be easily manipulated or understood by magic, namely Life/Death, Time, Space, Thought, and Love. The thought part involves a tank full of brains that swim through it trailing a trail of thought images behind it. Easily one of my favorite visual descriptions in the series. In the Time room the kids end up smashing the Ministry's stock of time-turners (thereby eliminating time travel from the books) and trapping one Death Eater in a bubble of time that keeps cycling his head between a baby and an adult and back again. The stone archway Sirius falls into, is basically a gateway to the afterlife, (or the wizard equivalent). He literally falls into Death. That's what is beyond that veil, why Harry can hear voices on the other side - his parents are there. In the book it's immensely creepy and the movie doesn't quite get that across.

- The Weasley's departure from Hogwarts. It was so much more epic in the book. The movie imagines Umbridge's reign as bleak and depressing, while in the book, it wasn't painted as bad. Everyone, teachers, students, and ghosts alike just messed with her because they could.

- Heading to the final battle. EVERYONE knew it was a trap. Hermione tells Harry it's a trap, and tells him he has "a bit of a saving-people thing". They go anyway.

- The visitor's entrance to the MoM. When Harry goes into the phone booth with Arthur for his trial, they speak into the phone and it gives them visitor's badges with their name, and reason for visiting. When they go back, they also use the visitor's entrance, Harry yells something into the phone and it spits out a badge that says "Harry Potter - Rescue Mission". One of my favorite gags in the series.

- St. Mungo's Hospital in London. In the book, Neville never tells Harry about his parents, they see Neville and his Grandmother visiting his parents, when they are there visiting Arthur after his snake attack. I do like that the movie mans Neville up a little bit and makes him come clean by omitting the Hospital altogether.

And lastly, just ignore the Order doing the white light/smoke flying thing. Yates realized for 6/7 how absurdly stupid it is and they never do it again. I also hate the fact that they continue letting the Death Eaters do it, but I could forgive that since even in the books Team Voldemort had a few tricks up their sleeves that no one else expected.

 

[PK Gaming]

Unequivocally the best of the HP movies

 

[Draconian]

The book wasn't my favorite of the series, but I still did like it quite a bit. Surprised to see so many in here that it seems did not like it at all.

 

[marrec]

So this film is where the plot cuts from PoA I mentioned in the PoA thread really become apparent. namely the retconned scene with the animal patronuses and the inexplicable calling of Sirius as 'Padfoot' (which was his nickname in school, being a dog animagus). Also, Sirius's death is somewhat lessened due to the fact that they never fully explained just how close he was to the Potter family.

There are several things I like about this movie, namely the use of the newspaper transitions (which also serve to give the impression that the events occurring are larger than just Hogwarts), the Dumbledore's Army scenes, and I love the Ministry of Magic set. But ultimately, it fell flat in showing the scope and the depth of several plot points - namely the connection between Voldemort and Harry, the toll the death of Sirius takes on Harry, and how easily the Wizarding World can be manipulated (which sets the stage for events that come later).

A few awesome things you missed that were in the book but omitted from the movie:

- The research rooms of the Ministry of Magic. The entire reason that level was called the 'Department of Mysteries' is that its where they study things that cannot be easily manipulated or understood by magic, namely Life/Death, Time, Space, Thought, and Love. The thought part involves a tank full of brains that swim through it trailing a trail of thought images behind it. Easily one of my favorite visual descriptions in the series. In the Time room the kids end up smashing the Ministry's stock of time-turners (thereby eliminating time travel from the books) and trapping one Death Eater in a bubble of time that keeps cycling his head between a baby and an adult and back again. The stone archway Sirius falls into, is basically a gateway to the afterlife, (or the wizard equivalent). He literally falls into Death. That's what is beyond that veil, why Harry can hear voices on the other side - his parents are there. In the book it's immensely creepy and the movie doesn't quite get that across.

- The Weasley's departure from Hogwarts. It was so much more epic in the book. The movie imagines Umbridge's reign as bleak and depressing, while in the book, it wasn't painted as bad. Everyone, teachers, students, and ghosts alike just messed with her because they could.

And lastly, just ignore the Order doing the white light/smoke flying thing. Yates realized for 6/7 how absurdly stupid it is and they never do it again. I also hate the fact that they continue letting the Death Eaters do it, but I could forgive that since even in the books Team Voldemort had a few tricks up their sleeves that no one else expected.

The research rooms sound fantastic, but I can understand why they cut them out of the films. I had major problems with the Arch-Way because it's a central towering item in the battle but it's never explained what the hell it is, at all. I assumed it was some gateway to the afterlife, but Bellatrix killed him anyway right? So who cares if he falls beyond the veil? Very confusing for me.

The white/black smoke thing was annoying but didn't last long so I'm okay with it. I'd rather see, you know... magic and stuff and not DBZesque teleporting fights, but it wasn't terrible and the Voldemort/Dumbledore battle afterwards was more than worth sitting through it.

The connection between Harry and Voldemort was explicit, but not spelled out. I actually kind of enjoy that they didn't spell it out. Though... Dumbledore should have spelled it out for Harry.

 

[CassSept]

Unequivocally the best of the HP movies

Yeah, definitely not. It's not even close.

It was a pretty good movie though. Book was pretty horrible though, my least favorite of the series.

 

[PK Gaming]

Maybe i'm just biased.

Order of the Phoenix was my favorite HP book too.

 

[Guri]

I remember a scene from the book, when Harry is angry because he thinks Voldemort is possessing him and Ginny explains how she felt when that happened to her in "Chamber of Secrets", calming down Harry because Voldy couldn't be possessing him. But the movie focused only on his relationship with Cho.

 

[genericsuperhero]

The research rooms sound fantastic, but I can understand why they cut them out of the films. I had major problems with the Arch-Way because it's a central towering item in the battle but it's never explained what the hell it is, at all. I assumed it was some gateway to the afterlife, but Bellatrix killed him anyway right? So who cares if he falls beyond the veil? Very confusing for me.

In the book, Bellatrix doesn't use Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, which kills instantly, it's just describes as a random curse, and he stumbled backward. So you're absolutely right, he would be dead already in the movie.

Though... Dumbledore should have spelled it out for Harry.

The conversation between Dumbledore and Harry is much more thorough in the book. He explains the prophecy in full and how it relates to Harry. The underlying reason behind the whole connection isn't revealed until the final act of the last book/movie.

Also omitted - the full prophesy. It could have referred to two wizarding children, either Harry or Neville. I, personally, would love to see a book series in which Neville was the chosen one.

 

[Effect]

Hated the adaptation, loved the book, the actual movie by itself was decent.

This is where I sit. This is and Half Blood Prince both suffer the same problem for me when it comes to the movie versions. So much, that is actually important to the story, is left out. Lots of internal thoughts that aren't replicated that makes actions seem really off or not make sense. If I hadn't read the books first I might feel differently. This is even more the case with Half Blood Prince though. However the ending battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort was great in the film. I did have some issue with the Bellatrix and Sirius. This was also the first book that I really, really enjoyed too so the changes that took place just annoyed me even more.

 

[LuuKyK]

Wow, somehow I missed this! x_x

So quoting myself from the last thread, without the spoilers, since now you can read it:

I don't really get the hate, for the book I mean, of course its quite extensive on its descriptions and flashbacks, but the "lets form a secret group inside the school to fuck with Umbridge" was one of my favorite moments in the series. I love the recruiting of people from all the houses and all the secrecy, and Hermione's ideas. Training spells by themselves. idk Maybe its just me, but I really felt there and the union and the hatred for Umbridge when reading it. I also love Imelda Staunton, so it added for it to be a good movie. This also feels like the starting point for us to know who will be the characters that will matter in the end, the ones that will stand by Harry, and the ones that will be important in the final battle, the ones that we will miss if they eventually die in the end. It also introduce us the best character of the book: Luna. I might add that she is the best represented one in the movies as in similarities with the books descriptions, she is exactly what I expected from reading the book. Great casting. Yeah, but over all I really like Order of the Phoenix. :X

- The research rooms of the Ministry of Magic. The entire reason that level was called the 'Department of Mysteries' is that its where they study things that cannot be easily manipulated or understood by magic, namely Life/Death, Time, Space, Thought, and Love. The thought part involves a tank full of brains that swim through it trailing a trail of thought images behind it. Easily one of my favorite visual descriptions in the series. In the Time room the kids end up smashing the Ministry's stock of time-turners (thereby eliminating time travel from the books) and trapping one Death Eater in a bubble of time that keeps cycling his head between a baby and an adult and back again. The stone archway Sirius falls into, is basically a gateway to the afterlife, (or the wizard equivalent). He literally falls into Death. That's what is beyond that veil, why Harry can hear voices on the other side - his parents are there. In the book it's immensely creepy and the movie doesn't quite get that across.

This part was one of the best ones in the book. Glad that you remembered of it. I completely forgot bout that, but when I watched the movie for the first time I was totally expecting this scene. Oh well.

 

[ascii42]

I remember a scene from the book, when Harry is angry because he thinks Voldemort is possessing him and Ginny explains how she felt when that happened to her in "Chamber of Secrets", calming down Harry because Voldy couldn't be possessing him. But the movie focused only on his relationship with Cho.

Yeah, that was a good scene. There's at least one other good conversation between the two of them that makes

Spoiler

Harry's sudden crush on her less out of nowhere

 

[Wiggum2007]

So is it ever explained why Voldemort never just used a time turner whenever his evil plans were foiled? It's been so long since I read the books I'm trying to remember the mechanics of how that worked.

 

[EatinOlives]

So is it ever explained why Voldemort never just used a time turner whenever his evil plans were foiled? It's been so long since I read the books I'm trying to remember the mechanics of how that worked.

Can't the time turner break the entire series? What happened to it? I can't remember either but if JK just forgot about it that'd be pretty shitty.

 

[Harry Potter]

So is it ever explained why Voldemort never just used a time turner whenever his evil plans were foiled? It's been so long since I read the books I'm trying to remember the mechanics of how that worked.

Spoiler

The entire stock of Time-Turners, located in the Time Room, in the Ministry of Magic was destroyed during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996.

 

[EatinOlives]

Spoiler

The entire stock of Time-Turners, located in the Time Room, in the Ministry of Magic was destroyed during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996.

Welp, that explains that.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Spoiler

The entire stock of Time-Turners, located in the Time Room, in the Ministry of Magic was destroyed during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996.

Ya but I mean before that.

 

[DrForester]

Spoiler

The entire stock of Time-Turners, located in the Time Room, in the Ministry of Magic was destroyed during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996.

Hasn't that always just been an assumption? I mean, no one else has them? 13 year old can get her hands on something that no other wizard has for a few magic classes?

Pretty much anything starting with "T" made no real sense, even for a magical world.

Time turners
The trace
The taboo

 

[Harry Potter]

Hasn't that always just been an assumption? I mean, no one else has them? 13 year o,d can get her hands on something that no other wizard has?

Pretty much anything starting with "T" made no real sense, even for a magical world.

Time turners
The trace
The taboo

I think it is. I really enjoyed the time travel element in PoA but it was such a slippery slope.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

The taboo

The Taboo always annoyed me. Why wouldn't the ministry just use it for whenever anyone casts an unforgivable or Morsmordre, and just apparate in a group of Aurors? Wizards really are stupid.

And I think even Rowling realized how stupid time tuners were, thus what happened in the fifth book.

 

[Cheerilee]

So is it ever explained why Voldemort never just used a time turner whenever his evil plans were foiled? It's been so long since I read the books I'm trying to remember the mechanics of how that worked.

Time turners don't let you change history, they let you be in two places at the same time. And it's said that anytime your past self observes your future self, it's potentially very damaging to your mind. I would expect that you have no choice but to carry out what you saw, and any attempts to defy the future result in a magical mind-crushing loss of free will.

Time turners are great if you're under a ticking-clock deadline and have a number of quest-like things to accomplish in different places, and can plan a way to get them all done. By the time one of Voldemort's plans had failed, it was too late to use a time turner.

 

[ascii42]

Hasn't that always just been an assumption? I mean, no one else has them? 13 year old can get her hands on something that no other wizard has for a few magic classes?

Pretty much anything starting with "T" made no real sense, even for a magical world.

Time turners
The trace
The taboo

Yeah, the trace was inconsistent, but what was wrong with the taboo?

 

[ScreenSplitter]

I remember a scene from the book, when Harry is angry because he thinks Voldemort is possessing him and Ginny explains how she felt when that happened to her in "Chamber of Secrets", calming down Harry because Voldy couldn't be possessing him. But the movie focused only on his relationship with Cho.

And the movies gave Ginny all the personality of a very ginger brick.