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[Aaron Strife]

I'm watching the series for the first time with my partner. I stopped reading the books as a kid after the fourth one and never saw the films.

We just finished Chamber last night, so far they've both been pretty weak. I know a lot of people champion the world-building, but there are a lot of tediously whimsical scenes that don't really service the plot in any significant way and bring the pacing of the films to a complete halt. Most of the scenes in the classrooms or on the quidditch fields drag on far too long without any significant narrative or character contributions, and only exist to drench you in the "magic" of the world. It's fine as a kid's movie, but as a cynical, jaded adult these moments are hard to ignore and even harder to enjoy in the face of a 2 1/2 hour length.

It's also interesting how similiar the first two movies are in terms of pacing. Both movies spend about the same amount of time establishing Harry's abusive family situation in the beginning, about the same amount of time reintroducting him to the magic world, watching them learn about magic with some comic relief sprinkled in in the classrooms, playing quidditch, sneaking around in the invisibility cloak, venturing out into the woods, discovering a secret location within Hogwarts and getting some light action scenes as they face some environmental hazards while exploring said location before a final 1-on-1 confrontation with the villian where Harry defeats them, then the story gets wrapped up in a scene where Gryffindor wins the house cup.

I get that at the time Rowling was probably not anticipating the direction the series would take as she was writing the first two books, but the stories in the first two are just waaaay too similar. There's very little escalation in terms of the stakes of the overarching series narrative (or indeed anything but the thinnest indication that there will really even be one aside from continuing to establish that Voldemort...exists I guess). It just felt like the same plot with a new coat of paint. Which was fine in the first movie, but I left the second movie feeling a lot more critical of the experience. The first movie got a pass for me on these issues since it was tackling the job of introducing a LOT of concepts and characters, but I still feel the same way I did after watching the first one which is that I'm ready for a punchier, tighter story with this setting and these characters rather than dedicating so much screentime to the fulff and just retreading the same themes and plot points again.

We're watching the third movie today, which has me excited. I hear great things about it and I'm a huge fan of the director. I'll report back on it after I've had some time to digest it.

I totally agree with the first two films/books being very structurally similar. Both have a Quidditch match that gets fucked with as a kind of turning point for "here's where shit gets real," Harry and Ron go into the forbidden forest to learn more about what's going on, Harry and two pals (Ron and Hermione/Ron and Lockhart) find the secret room in Hogwarts and they're conveniently separated en route, Harry discovers that someone he previously thought an ally is really Voldemort, Dumbledore isn't present for the final confrontation but manages to save the day anyway (by proxy in COS with Fawkes), Harry and Dumbledore have a heart to heart about the events that just went down, Dumbledore gifts Gryffindor the House Cup and everything ends hunky dory.

Not to say I dislike it, but I've always seen it as a lesser Philosopher's Stone - I brought this up at a book club recently and they didn't seem to agree, or at least were much easier on it than I was (or that the movie feels like more of a remix than the book, which sure). I agree with the assessment that Rowling probably didn't have a firm plan in motion - iirc a lot of the Voldemort back story that gets unveiled in the sixth book was planned for the second. This probably made more sense thematically, but it does leave the second book somewhat bare and more dependent on the more juvenile day-to-day school melodrama ("Malfoy's dad bought his way onto the Quidditch team and they all have the Nimbus Two Thousand and ONE, oooOOOooo")

 

[Linkark07]

HBP is my favorite book. Not only did I love the Voldemort backstory,but it's also the only book that feels like a normal year at hogwarts. How villain, no real mystery.

Then the movie screwed it up by just going overboard with teen angst and barely going into Voldemort backstory.

This is my main problem with HBP film. We hardly know why Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort, instead, we are only seeing how badly they portrayed all the problems Harry, Ron and Hermione had in the film. It still had its moments, but compared to the book, it was awful.

 

[-shadow-]

As much as I enjoy the films, after the second one they turned into hilarious representations of the books. The third one wasn't terrible perse in adapting the book and I loved the style, but it was so different from the rest that it's the odd one out. After the third one it's all crap. Characters being completely different, very important subplots being replaced with terrible ones, characters being shipped for some weird reason, people being able to pull of spells that only a handful are able in the books, that .gif that's been quotes a bunch of times.

The last two films somewhat put a bunch of changes straight, but also only because it turned out that some of those (according to the screenwriter/director) lesser important subplots suddenly became essential and were put back into the films without any explanation. It's such a mess...

Also the removal of the fight at the end of Half Blood Prince and being replaced with whatever is left because they wanted a climactic battle for the last film is unforgivable!

 

[winjet81]

Love the books and series with the usual ups and downs associated with each, but will never forgive how Gryffindor won the house cup in TPS.

The look on Malfoy's face when Slytherin had victory stolen from their grasp is amongst the saddest in the whole movie series.

 

[DrForester]

Love the books and series with the usual ups and downs associated with each, but will never forgive how Gryffindor won the house cup in TPS.

The look on Malfoy's face when Slytherin had victory stolen from their grasp is amongst the saddest in the whole movie series.

Gryffindor gets a ton of points for stopping wizard-hitler after a year of Snape vindictively taking points away from them.

Seems fair to me.

 

[¡HarlequinPanic!]

Just watched about half of chamber last night before passing out.

Yeah, a lot of it feels familiar but that's a good thing. This movie is a lot more about seeing Hogwarts itself: with the origin stuff mostly out of the way, the viewer is exposed to much more of the world. In chamber you see for the first time: Dumbledore's office, the term mudblood, a hall outside of Gryffindor, more of the outside wizarding world, the syltherin bathroom with myrtle, the ground work of wizard combat (Lockhart's dueling class) and more.

Sorcerer's Stone introduces Harry and the cast, but I feel like Chamber introduces the world that the rest of the franchise stays in (for better or worse). Voldemort is just a scary sounding name in the first film, but in the second we start seeing how he can actually exist in this world.

Also the CGI is already by this point much improved.


Anyone have the ultimate sets with the feature length documentaries? I've only watched the first part with Sorcerer's stone so far, but I'm really digging it. Chris Colombus comes off super humble (he says Sorcerer's stone getting four stars from Ebert is among his greatest achievements because he has been harsh on him in the past) and some of the included shots of him miming the roles to the kids off camera during shoots are fun to see.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Speaking of HP

it does bother me how people, especially his classmates, forget the events of PS and CoS with regards to Harry's slander in book 5

Dumbledore did say the events on both years were made public in the schoolgrounds

 

[demosthenes]

Speaking of HP

it does bother me how people, especially his classmates, forget the events of PS and CoS with regards to Harry's slander in book 5

Dumbledore did say the events on both years were made public in the schoolgrounds

I think the reasoning was what Hermoine said. Everyone went home and told their parents what happened. Parents told them it wasn't true (or waited for the Ministry). Cedric must have died in an accident and then that's the story the Ministry came out with. They forgot about it until they came back to school.

 

[J_Viper]

Deathly Hallows Part 1 down

Really liked this. I might even be my favorite in the series so far.

This is simply a gorgeous film. The focus on outdoor environments allow for some excellent shots that I found to be a very nice change of view from Hogwarts.

Some impressions made it seem like this first part of DH would be mostly dead air, but I thought there was a steady stream of excellent action and great character moments that had me engaged all throughout the movie. Sure, the main plot doesn't really move forward until the very last scene, but I still found this to be highly enjoyable.

The "cliffhanger" didn't bother me, but then again, I have the benefit of being able to watch the finale tomorrow, as opposed to waiting a few months. I can't wait to finish.

Anyone have the ultimate sets with the feature length documentaries? I've only watched the first part with Sorcerer's stone so far, but I'm really digging it. Chris Colombus comes off super humble (he says Sorcerer's stone getting four stars from Ebert is among his greatest achievements because he has been harsh on him in the past) and some of the included shots of him miming the roles to the kids off camera during shoots are fun to see.

I'd love to check these out, I'll have to see if they're uploaded anywhere. I bought the film-only set since it was so cheap.

 

[AXE]

Yeah, Gambon was weak. Should've went with McKellen or something. Would've really built the character.

I kinda like the movies but theres something tacky that I cant quite put a finger on. Like... they're trying too much to be a franchise and forget the characters. The Harry pampering is a bit sickening... if you're not a child imagining to be Harry

 

[digitalrelic]

Deathly Hallows Part 1 down

Really liked this. I might even be my favorite in the series so far.

This is simply a gorgeous film. The focus on outdoor environments allow for some excellent shots that I found to be a very nice change of view from Hogwarts.

Some impressions made it seem like this first part of DH would be mostly dead air, but I thought there was a steady stream of excellent action and great character moments that had me engaged all throughout the movie. Sure, the main plot doesn't really move forward until the very last scene, but I still found this to be highly enjoyable.

The "cliffhanger" didn't bother me, but then again, I have the benefit of being able to watch the finale tomorrow, as opposed to waiting a few months. I can't wait to finish.




I'd love to check these out, I'll have to see if they're uploaded anywhere. I bought the film-only set since it was so cheap.

Yeah, you're definitely going to love the final entry, and therefore the series. It's definitely one of, if not THE greatest fantasy series ever. I prefer it to LOTR.

 

[J_Viper]

Yeah, you're definitely going to love the final entry, and therefore the series. It's definitely one of, if not THE greatest fantasy series ever. I prefer it to LOTR.

You were right!

Just wrapped up Hallows Part 2. Wow, what a finale.

Admittedly, the first twenty minutes or so is a bit slow, but once the gang gets to Hogwarts and all hell breaks loose, the movie doesn't let up.

The action was the best it has ever been, with the Battle at Hogwarts reminding me of the larger scale encounters in LOTR. It's such a damn fine looking film, it's crazy how Yates yet from the bland nothingness that was Order of the Phoenix, to straight up madness in this one.

The Snape reveal was beautiful. It may be my favorite scene in the entire series. Alan Rickman did so much wonderful work with that character.

If I had a slight disappointment, it was how the supporting characters were put aside for both Deathly Hallows films. It was the right call to focus the finale on Harry, it's only fitting, but seeing Hagrid for a whole two minutes was kind of a bummer. How the hell did he get caught by Voldemort anyway?

Still, that's a very minor nitpick compared to everything else that works so well. I don't know if I can place this at the same level of Return of the King as far as final entries go, but it's close.

All in all, I had a great time with the series. I probably won't re-watch the first two or Phoenix anytime soon, but the rest will certainly end up in rotation with my other favorite series.

Final rankings

DH2>DH1>Goblet>Azkaban>Goblet>Half-Blood Prince>Chamber=Stone>Order

 

[DrForester]

Now read the books.

 

[demosthenes]

I've enjoyed this thread, glad you liked them all!

Now read the books.

Haha, this! This!

 

[J_Viper]

Now read the books.

I've enjoyed this thread, glad you liked them all!



Haha, this! This!

I'll certainly have to check out the books, I just hope they don't end up ruining my enjoyment of the films too much haha

I also hope Fantastic Beasts is solid, I'll have to wait for home release to check it out.

 

[DrForester]

I'll certainly have to check out the books, I just hope they don't end up ruining my enjoyment of the films too much haha

I also hope Fantastic Beasts is solid, I'll have to wait for home release to check it out.

Kind of depends how you handle adaptations. As a big fan of the books I think the movies were good, but rarely great. They left a lot out and some changes are jarring. I wasn't a huge fan of the Yates films. But Goblet of Fire is the only movie I'd call bad.

I'd read them, or check out the excellent audiobooks.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Couldn't help but be a book purist. Jackson didn't put nearly all the important parts of LotR in, but it didn't matter because he kept the ethos of the books.

 

[digitalrelic]

I'll certainly have to check out the books, I just hope they don't end up ruining my enjoyment of the films too much haha

I also hope Fantastic Beasts is solid, I'll have to wait for home release to check it out.

I watched the movies, and then read the books afterwards. I still love the movies. I don't know how I'd feel if I would've read the books first, but I feel like enjoying the content in the order that I did allowed me to appreciate each of the entries for what they are.

 

[KeyBladerXIII]

The "cliffhanger" didn't bother me, but then again, I have the benefit of being able to watch the finale tomorrow, as opposed to waiting a few months. I can't wait to finish.

I remember watching it in the theater. When the movie ended as it did, someone sitting behind yelled out, "Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!?"

Everyone started laughing their asses off.