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[Aaron Strife]

Because Mike Newell is a madman. Goblet of Fire is the only Harry potter movie that feels like it was made on acid (perhaps it indeed was).

Everyone acts like a complete lunatic (not just Dumbledore), everyone's hair is out of control, the colour palette and direction is more exuberant than usual, the books' most complex plot is rendered nonsensical by the cut-up script, and the pacing is just all over the place. Also, there's the scene with a midget crowdsurfing.

It's the weirdest movie of the series by far (and according to most people, the worst in the series).

I do like Harry's hair in the movie. In the books it's always described as unruly and long, first three movies his hair always seemed too normal. GOF was the closest to what I imagined.

And then for OOTP of course he shaved most of it.

Everyone else having long hair (Ron and the Weasley twins) is a poor look though.

 

[ThePrequelsSuck]

I do like Harry's hair in the movie. In the books it's always described as unruly and long, first three movies his hair always seemed too normal. GOF was the closest to what I imagined.

And in OOTP i thought it looked too short.

 

[entremet]

I stopped after Goblet of Fire. Guess I didn't much much!

 

[Fat4all]

I do like Harry's hair in the movie.

that i can agree with

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Great film series but I will never forgive them for turning the longest book (Order of the Phoenix) into the shortest Harry Potter movie. Complete bullshit.

Also, wtf was up with this:

The most unforgivable things they did with the films was cut the bits about Harry's "signature move" from Deathly Hallows, which were major character moments, and the ultra cheesy way they handle the Elder Wand in the end.

 

[Monocle]

I stopped after Goblet of Fire. Guess I didn't much much!

Guess again.

 

[Creaking]

I always call the 4th film Harry Potter and the One Where They All Had Long Hair

 

[TheYanger]

Yeah that just means you watched far and away the worst one and stopped.

 

[Fat4all]

Guess again.

much much happened indeed

 

[Symphonia]

The most unforgivable things they did with the films was cut the bits about Harry's "signature move" from Deathly Hallows, which were major character moments, and the ultra cheesy way they handle the Elder Wand in the end.

They changed the ending for Deathly Hallows. In the books, the Elder Wand is placed back in Dumbledore's grave. In the film, Harry snaps it in half and chucks it. They basically did an 'I Am Legend' and fucked the ending up to make it more cinematic.

 

[ScottSullivan]

The set and art design of these movies is spot on, they do a great job creating a world, but with trying to fit such large books into a movie, the dialogue feels rushed and the story and pacing suffers for it.

Not to mention Radcliffe apparently being drunk half the time? Kind of comes through in some of those later movies

 

[Depths of Orion]

I don't get the why people hate on the second half of the series so much. I know they cut out a lot from the books but they are still fun and enjoyable movies to watch.

Half blood prince is probably my least favourite but I love the deathly hallows. Really enjoyed the darker theme of those 2 movies

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

Chamber of Secrets is bad. It's easily second-worst of the series. Half-Blood Prince is far and away the worst Harry Potter film. Azkaban is the best and everything else is just ok.

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Deathly Hallows P2
3. Order of the Phoenix
4. Deathly Hallows P1
5. Sorcerer's Stone
6. Goblet of Fire
7. Chamber of Secrets
8. Half-Blood Prince

This is the official* order and no one can argue with it.

* Not actually official

 

[Daria Morgendorffer]

Huge fan of the book series and the first 3 movies, but I can hardly remember anything after the Goblet of Fire film.

 

[Gnome]

Official Harry Potter Movie List™ :
1. Deathly Hallows P1
2. Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Deathly Hallows P2
4. Order of the Phoenix
5. Sorcerer's Stone
6. Goblet of Fire
7. Half-Blood Prince
8. Chamber of Secrets

Official Harry Potter Book List™ :
1. Half-Blood Prince
2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Deathly Hallows
5. Sorcerer's Stone
6. Prisoner of Azkaban
7. Chamber of Secrets

So overall, it's hard to pinpoint a best between the two mediums. But it's also clear that Chamber of Secrets is the worst.

 

[Linkark07]

Film wise, the only ones I liked are the first, second and fourth. Hang me if you want but I felt the third one lost the magic the Columbus films had. Understandably, considering the lighthearted tone was changing but still, not my favorite.

Yates films were mediocre for me. And the sixth one, despite being my favorite book, has the special place of being the worst film for me.

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

Official Harry Potter Movie List™ :
1. Deathly Hallows P1

Hold up. You think Camping: The Movie is the best Harry Potter movie?

 

[Gnome]

Hold up. You think Camping: The Movie is the best Harry Potter movie?

It's got the dance scene in the tent, so...duh?

 

[old manatee]

The movies are so crappy when compared to the books. They really need to do a Harry Potter tv show.

 

[Cindres]

Goblet of Fire is the only movie I dislike, I can get by with some of the cuts from the others but goblet cuts so much its unreal, I understand the director wanted to split it which would have been much better.

Recently rewatched Half Blood and gotta agree with the poster above about the scene where Harry

Spoiler

nearly kills Draco. It just continues on as if that never happened.

 

[killertofu]

Azkaban is the best movie and my favorite book. Not gonna lie, when I first saw it I was a little put off because of how jarring it was stylistically from the rest of the movies...but this was probably the first instance in my youth where I learned the difference between cinematic and literary choices

 

[KHlover]

1-3 are excellent
7+8 are good
5 is okay
6 is bad
4 is straight up garbage. I'll NEVER forgive them for robbing us of the Quidditch WC in all of its glory. Among other faults.

 

[ramparter]

Hold up. You think Camping: The Movie is the best Harry Potter movie?

lol couldn't have worded it better. worse hp movie for me.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Hold up. You think Camping: The Movie is the best Harry Potter movie?

I forget now, is the dramatic cliffhanger for that film that they

Spoiler

bring back Dobby for 10 minutes before killing him?

Or did something else happen at the end?

 

[the_firewithin]

As a non book reader I enjoyed the series except DH pt1 which was straight up boring. Movies weren't out of this world great but I loved the world building and lore that went along with it.

 

[Plasma]

I forget now, is the dramatic cliffhanger for that film that they

Spoiler

bring back Dobby for 10 minutes before killing him?

Or did something else happen at the end?

I guess that doesn't play as well in the films but in the books Dobby pops up quite a bit from Goblet of Fire onwards.

 

[¡HarlequinPanic!]

An ambitious project in terms of film output, contract negotiations, storytelling, and working with the source material's creator. This was Hollywood at its most nimble, and something WB has completely lost touch of in how it's handling DC and with its promises of a bazillion fantastic beats films.


Amazon had the Hogwarts Collection on sale for like 90 bucks, so finally picked it up. Went through part 1, which has embarrassing CGI but it really does earn its place as an earnest family movie. Stuff like the ghosts gleefully parading through the great hall at the start feel ripped straight out of an 80s Spielberg film. I dig it. Does have that blue filter all over that was all the rage after The Matrix came out.

Just started chamber and already am surprised how much the CGI is improved already. Goblets my favorite one, saw it early in the year and was relieved to see it still held up with only David Tennant's hammy acting being a real ding against it. The talk of everyone being on acid in production for it makes sense in that light...

I like Deathly part 1 as well, it's somber and lonely feeling.

 

[The Lamp]

DUde nice I'm going through the same and had the same thoughts! I start Azkaban today too

 

[NHarmonic.]

3 is so overrated.

Look guys, you love Sirius (and gary oldman) it's ok, i do too, however

Spoiler

the time travel plot

was boring af and really tedious. It's a really dark movie, sometimes even worse than the latter ones but that bit gets ignored because lol we hate Yates.

And it's also really nonsensical that harry

Spoiler

throws damn Snape crushing through some woods in the cabin and gets no kind of punishment for attacking a damned professor with his magic

 

[Crimsonlink]

3 is so overrated.

Look guys, you love Sirius (and gary oldman) it's ok, i do too, however

Spoiler

the time travel plot

was boring af and really tedious. It's a really dark movie, sometimes even worse than the latter ones but that bit gets ignored because lol we hate Yates.

And it's also really nonsensical that harry

Spoiler

throws damn Snape crushing through some woods in the cabin and gets no kind of punishment for attacking a damned professor with his magic

The prick deserved it for what he was attempting to do and there were bigger fish to fry.

Anyways, anyone saying the 6th movie was good and not the worst needs to check themselves into Saint Mungo for nargles.

 

[arts&crafts]

3 is so overrated.

Look guys, you love Sirius (and gary oldman) it's ok, i do too, however

Spoiler

the time travel plot

was boring af and really tedious. It's a really dark movie, sometimes even worse than the latter ones but that bit gets ignored because lol we hate Yates.

And it's also really nonsensical that harry

Spoiler

throws damn Snape crushing through some woods in the cabin and gets no kind of punishment for attacking a damned professor with his magic

I mean yea the "Plot" of 3 is kind of dumb (as is the entire HP series) but I think 3 is the best directed film and overall the best HP to be watched as a standalone.

 

[Lashley]

Great film series but I will never forgive them for turning the longest book (Order of the Phoenix) into the shortest Harry Potter movie. Complete bullshit.

Also, wtf was up with this:

that image makes me laugh every single time

 

[digitalrelic]

I'd rank the films as such:

1. Deathly Hallows Part 2
2. Goblet of Fire
3. Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Deathly Hallows Part 1
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Sorcerer's Stone
7. Half-Blood Prince
8. Chamber of Secrets

 

[Madness]

First 3 movies really captured the magic of the world. I wish Christopher Columbus would have been given a chance as the actors matured and he could push for a more PG-13 film. Even giving Cuaron another go was better than the crap we ended up getting.

Should have just called the last 2 movies, Harry Potter and the battle at Hogwarts as the Deathly Hallows all but irrelevant.

Richard Harris also was the perfect Dumbledore. By the end, the cast looked like Abercrombie models who have wands that shoot white projectiles or red light against green light etc. All magic and wonder gone from the world. Watch the world building Columbus did in the first two and then watch by the end. It became a flat sprint from beginning to end. The ancillary stuff that makes the movie different from others was gone.

 

[btrboyev]

Because Mike Newell is a madman. Goblet of Fire is the only Harry potter movie that feels like it was made on acid (perhaps it indeed was).

Everyone acts like a complete lunatic (not just Dumbledore), everyone's hair is out of control, the colour palette and direction is more exuberant than usual, the books' most complex plot is rendered nonsensical by the cut-up script, and the pacing is just all over the place. Also, there's the scene with a midget crowdsurfing.

It's the weirdest movie of the series by far (and according to most people, the worst in the series).

It is by far the weirdest but for some reason I love it in a special way. Maybe it was of a fond time I was having during its release or something. I also think there are some really nice scenes in this one. I love the mermaid scene. It's creepy as shit.

 

[VendettaRed07]

The first three movies were great fun. I could always go back to those, even if the effects are so ridiculously dated.


Movies became a boring slog after that. The characters also become extremely annoying. Especially fucking Ron.

5 is the only movie afterwards that I think was good but still. It's a bit of a drag. Like I get the tone of the series got darker as it went on but did they seriously have to go that drab?

 

[demosthenes]

Official Harry Potter Movie List™ :
1. Deathly Hallows P1
2. Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Deathly Hallows P2
4. Order of the Phoenix
5. Sorcerer's Stone
6. Goblet of Fire
7. Half-Blood Prince
8. Chamber of Secrets

Official Harry Potter Book List™ :
1. Half-Blood Prince
2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Deathly Hallows
5. Sorcerer's Stone
6. Prisoner of Azkaban
7. Chamber of Secrets

So overall, it's hard to pinpoint a best between the two mediums. But it's also clear that Chamber of Secrets is the worst.

I'm pretty close to this.

CoS is my least favorite book and movie too. I think it's just the weakest though I have a special spot in my heart for both the first and second movie as children fantasy.

GoF movie is awful. The changes were just bleh.

Seconding what someone said above about the changes to OotP where DD was a mad man. I thought DD in 5-8 was MUCH better than 4. Biggest changes that irked me in the series were: HBP - Voldemort backstory and the final fight. I wanted the final fight on screen so badly. I wanted the taunts, I wanted Voldemort to rage.

The movies are so crappy when compared to the books. They really need to do a Harry Potter tv show.

I would freak the hell out.

 

[Makonero]

The movies are so crappy when compared to the books. They really need to do a Harry Potter tv show.

Yes. Netflix, get on this!

 

[GamingOblivion]

Why is Chamber of Secrets so bad?

 

[Fata1moose]

Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince are my least favorite, still enjoyable.

They really butchered the ending (not epilogue) compared to the books though. Still salty.

Oh and Richard Harris was the perfect Dumbledore, Michael Gambon is pretty awful.

 

[digitalrelic]

Why is Chamber of Secrets so bad?

I don't think Chamber of Secrets is bad at all. It's just the worst of the (brilliant) series.

 

[Symphonia]

The movies are so crappy when compared to the books. They really need to do a Harry Potter TV show.

I'd like to see a series, but not focused on Harry Potter and the gang. They should build an extended universe, like they're doing in the cinema with Fantastic Beasts. I'd even be happy to see 'Padfoot & Prongs: The Series' on Netflix.

 

[PushTheButtonMax]

I always thought Order was an awful, lifeless shell of a movie. It might fit thematically with

Spoiler

Umbridge

coming in, but there are moments in that film where the direction just seems inept. In the book there was a true sense of reckless rebellion from both the students and teachers, and even with the

Spoiler

Dumbledore's Army

plot in the film none of that comes through. It's an ugly, sterile, boring movie. And don't get me started on how awful the music is.

For me Half-Blood Prince was a complete 180. Such a better film all around, regardless of what they cut or changed.

 

[demosthenes]

I always thought Order was an awful, lifeless shell of a movie. It might fit thematically with

Spoiler

Umbridge

coming in, but there are moments in that film where the direction just seems inept. In the book there was a true sense of reckless rebellion from both the students and teachers, and even with the

Spoiler

Dumbledore's Army

plot in the film none of that comes through. It's an ugly, sterile, boring movie. And don't get me started on how awful the music is.

For me Half-Blood Prince was a complete 180. Such a better film all around, regardless of what they cut or changed.

I don't think OotP was horrible, I actually enjoyed it but it's not with out its faults.
HBP has some really gorgeous shots which I think OotP was missing despite some of the scenes we had.

 

[J_Viper]

Just wrapped up Azkaban, and I thought it was excellent, an improvement upon its predecessors on nearly every front.

I was very into how much darker it was, not only in tone, but in its visuals. The bleaker color palette was way more interesting than anything used in the first two.

I was slightly disappointed to see that Oldman's screen time was very limited, but he was as great as he always is. David Thewlis too was also a wonderful new addition, and I hope both characters reappear in the series.

I'll watch Goblet of Fire tomorrow, which seems to be the most hated on, at least by glancing on some of the posts here.

Someone claimed it seemed like an acid trip, so I'm curious to know how that goes.

Oh, and I miss the old Dumbledore. I found the replacement fine, since I'm always open to different interpretations, but Richard Harris was such a stand-out in the previous films.

Oh, and Ron still sucks.

 

[AndyVirus]

I've only seen them all once but Prisoner of Azkaban & Deathly Hallows part 2 are the two good ones. The rest are bleh to bad. Deathly Hallows part 1 was a blueball boring travesty.

 

[Brakke]

They changed the ending for Deathly Hallows. In the books, the Elder Wand is placed back in Dumbledore's grave. In the film, Harry snaps it in half and chucks it. They basically did an 'I Am Legend' and fucked the ending up to make it more cinematic.

Yeah but the whole business of the Elder Wand is like ten minutes of calmly giving a synopsis of the last two books so I get why they sort of abandoned it for the movie. I adored the showdown in the books, with Harry Protego-ing away killing curses and then confronting Voldey in front of everyone. But between Harry explaining the wandlore to Tom, the trip through Snape's memory, Harry and Dumbledore chatting in the train station... it's a whole lot of flashback and recap for a movie climax.

 

[zeemumu]

The wizard battles in Order of the Phoenix were sick.

Dumbledore's whistley waterbending yesssss.

the battles resemble ranged fencing.

I need to rewatch Prisoner of Azkaban. Chamber of Secrets is my favorite but I feel like Azkaban could take that spot if I gave it another go. I used to own it but the disc disappeared.

 

[Emarv]

I rewatched Sorcerer's Stone last night and really enjoyed it in a way I hadn't before. It's crazy how much influence Columbus got nailed down in one movie.


Sidenote: I'm still amazed there's not a Harry Potter OT here. I did a quick search and didn't see one. Feels like between the movies, books and plays there should be one. Maybe I should PM a mod if there's enough interest here?

 

[Fata1moose]

The most unforgivable things they did with the films was cut the bits about Harry's "signature move" from Deathly Hallows, which were major character moments, and the ultra cheesy way they handle the Elder Wand in the end.

The worst thing about the Elder Wand was the fact he didn't mend his own wand before breaking it.

The fight with Voldy was incredibly messed up though. No one was even watching.