Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Grading and Discussion

[Joy]

You know, based on my experience of watching the Chronicles of Narnia movies THEN reading each subsequent book, I almost wish I HAD watched the HP movies before reading the books. I so far have found that I prefer the Narnia movies over their books. And LOTR, too, I saw before I ever ventured into the books... Only got to Rivendell the first time I read FOTR, and only got to page two the second time I tried. The Hobbit is the only LOTR-related book I've read all the way through.

But with HP being an active series, there is always the chance of getting spoiled before the movie ever being released. Case in point, my sister has only watched the HP movies. Someone spoiled for her not long after the HBP book came out that Dumbledore died in the end. THANKFULLY, that's ALL she knew, and didn't know the HOW or WHY to it.

But upon having a really fun late-night discussion with her the night after seeing HBP wherein I filled her in about stuff left out (namely the explanation of how Snape is the HBP), we came to the conclusion that she should read the series before the next movie comes out. I really think it'll help her to read DH as soon as possible before anything gets spoiled for her. It'll help her enjoy the midnight showings as well, because she'll be in on all the information and won't be worried about being spoiled while waiting in line.

I have to say, she had some good theories concerning DD's death and Snape's involvement. I'd say the only thing she was wrong about was that she was sure that DD was still alive somehow. She thought the phoenix at the end was Dumbledore... I think she'd forgotten about Fawkes.

Joy

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

It was a pretty good movie. I liked the book quite a bit, and this was fairly faithful. However, i think the lack of a defined villain kind of hurt this movie. By the end it kind of ends up being Snape, but Voldemort is no where to be seen, and nobody else really fills in. Draco certainly doesn't. I imagine the Weasley attack kind of makes Bellatrix be the main villain of the piece until the end.

 

[Procutus]

Well, just a few thoughts here, most of which I think have pretty much been mirrored by those who have posted above me.

First, I gave the film a 'Dumbledore'. It's not only a really great Harry Potter film, it's just a damn good film in general.

Like many of you, I really like the way the three leads (Radcliffe, Watson and Grint) have matured as actors and as a consequence, so have their characters. Was disappointed in the way the Harry/Snape confrontation was handled and Snape's reveal of who he was. Though it's been quite a spell since I read the book, I seem to recall it came off a bit more satisfying in the book than here.

My only other real complaint would be that we didn't get to see Dumbledore's funeral, but I realize by that point, the film was already getting long and that most likely would've added another ten to fifteen minutes to the running time. I reckon that they can always do a flashback to it in either Part 1 or Part 2 of TDH, sort of the way that Peter Jackson changed some of the sequencing of events in LOTR.

Of the other characters, my hat's off to Helena Bonham Carter, who comes across as truly deranged, appearing both freakish and sexy at the same time. One has to wonder if Bella was this nuts before she spent time in Azkaban (Orac Zen, I love your avatar!)

That's it for now. I may add some minor thoughts in the days to come.

 

[RoJoHen]

I know you're not asking me, but I'm answering anyway. I attempted to read the first book many years ago, and I thought it was awful. I couldn't even get halfway through it before I gave up.

However, I really enjoy the movies, so I'm trying to remain spoiler-free as much as humanly possible.

why do you come here if not to learn information about the series as to what has happened and what might/will happen....

But this is a movie discussing thread not necessarily a book discussion thread. Even though I already know what happens, I respect others desire not to be spoiled.

Exactly. I'm here to talk about the movies, not the books.

 

[JediKnightButler]

You don't think those were useful? I saw a lot of useful things that Dumbledore was teaching Harry.

By having him watch "This is your life, Voldemort" for the better part of a YEAR? A year that could have been spent teaching Harry spells and battle tactics and USEFUL things for fighting the DEs and their boss?

No, I don't think they were "useful". I think that Rowling was too busy swinging her "pawn of fate" theme hammer to understand that she was making her characters look like idiots. She'd been doing it for five books at that point, but here, in book six, with NOTHING else going on for much of the book she can't hide it in the background.

And I liked the romances personally. They balanced out the book very well.

Noting against the romances IF they were properly paired. Ginny/Harry has NO basis in the prior five books other than Ginny's stalker-crush on Harry. He shows ZERO interest in her until "magically" in book six he gets all jealous and crap over her. Again, remember how Molly got Arthur...

And Ron/Hermione is even WORSE. I have never seen such a badly matched pair in fiction. Ron is crude, slothful, arrogant, jealous and ultimately disloyal. He has NOTHING to offer a bright, well educated, well-bred young lady like Hermione.

It's obvious that Rowling was setting up Harry/Hermione in the first book with Hermione's almost declaration to Harry in the catacomb trials. Hermione is the obvious parallel to Lily, both of them being the brightest witches of their respective generations.

Then Rowling in a fit of stupidity dumps all that in favor of "oh, GINNY has red hair so she MUST be Harry's perfect match"...(again with the "puke smilie")

I have to say that I definitely agree with you about the romances. I always imagined Harry and Hermoine getting together by the end of the series, or at least Harry and Cho- since he was clearly interested in her but Harry/Ginny just seemed to come out of the blue as did Ron/Hermoine. I saw them as being more "friends" but there always seemed to be a lot more chemistry between Harry/Hermoine, particularly in the last book

 

[JediKnightButler]

I voted average

While I thought that they did a decent job with the material, I felt like they cut too much that was important (or will be important) to the following movies such as :

1.)The Prime Minister meeting with the new Minister of Magic. Important to know about the change in leadership at the ministry and that Voldemort and his followers are beginning to have an impact on muggle society as well- although THAT is somewhat addressed in the opening scene with the bridge being collapsed by Death Eaters (referenced in the book)
2.)Dumbledore meeting with the Dursleys- important to setting up DH and Harry's final return to Privet Drive and the significance thereof. It should've been seen IMHO.
3.) Snape's "I'm not a coward!" line. That was one of the high points of the confrontation between Harry and Snape at the end. Why this was cut is totally beyond me. That whole confrontation scene with Dumbledore's death didn't really resonate with me much at all (in spite of the fact that I knew that Dumbledore was going to die).
4.) No FUNERAL????? WTF!!! That was a significant scene in the book and to have them cut THIS was inexcusable IMHO but, as some here have suggested, they may cover this in flashbacks in DH. Glad they kept Fawkes flying away.

Despite some of these flaws, I thought that the film was otherwise fairly good. The best scene in the movie, like with the book, was the cavern scene where Dumbledore and Harry find the faux Horcrux. That scene was the most faithful to the book, as well as visually impressive with Dumbledore's fire circle to ward of the Inferi. The actors and actresses all seem comfortable in their roles. I liked how Broadbent played Slughorn as well.

Ultimately, however, I have to face the cold, hard reality that there will probably NEVER be a *perfect* movie adaptation of pretty much anything and that I should just go to the movies and enjoy them for what they are. The real fun is listening to Jim Dale read/perform the books on CD, however.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

You don't think those were useful? I saw a lot of useful things that Dumbledore was teaching Harry.

By having him watch "This is your life, Voldemort" for the better part of a YEAR? A year that could have been spent teaching Harry spells and battle tactics and USEFUL things for fighting the DEs and their boss?

No, I don't think they were "useful". I think that Rowling was too busy swinging her "pawn of fate" theme hammer to understand that she was making her characters look like idiots. She'd been doing it for five books at that point, but here, in book six, with NOTHING else going on for much of the book she can't hide it in the background.

And I liked the romances personally. They balanced out the book very well.

Noting against the romances IF they were properly paired. Ginny/Harry has NO basis in the prior five books other than Ginny's stalker-crush on Harry. He shows ZERO interest in her until "magically" in book six he gets all jealous and crap over her. Again, remember how Molly got Arthur...

And Ron/Hermione is even WORSE. I have never seen such a badly matched pair in fiction. Ron is crude, slothful, arrogant, jealous and ultimately disloyal. He has NOTHING to offer a bright, well educated, well-bred young lady like Hermione.

It's obvious that Rowling was setting up Harry/Hermione in the first book with Hermione's almost declaration to Harry in the catacomb trials. Hermione is the obvious parallel to Lily, both of them being the brightest witches of their respective generations.

Then Rowling in a fit of stupidity dumps all that in favor of "oh, GINNY has red hair so she MUST be Harry's perfect match"...(again with the "puke smilie")

I have to say that I definitely agree with you about the romances. I always imagined Harry and Hermoine getting together by the end of the series, or at least Harry and Cho- since he was clearly interested in her but Harry/Ginny just seemed to come out of the blue as did Ron/Hermoine. I saw them as being more "friends" but there always seemed to be a lot more chemistry between Harry/Hermoine, particularly in the last book

Not really. I don't understand the Ginny/Harry hate. It was well done in my opinion.

Setting up but retracting. Who knows. They were bloody ELEVEN at that time. Did you know who you wanted to marry at eleven? They became great friends. Not all romances work out that way.

 

[Joy]

Just so ya'll know, they DID film Dumbledore's funeral. So either it was cut and will be on the DVD, or it will be the beginning of DH1. Myself, I can see it being the beginning of DH1, which will stylistically match up to how HBP's beginning was basically a segue from the end of OOTP.

Joy

 

[Orac Zen]

[...] (Orac Zen, I love your avatar!)

Thanks. It's a great pic - really lent itself to the idea I had after seeing the movie.

 

[Othello]

Below average. I was bored out of my mind and wishing i had chosen to go to the Transformers movies instead.

 

[TGTheodore]

One question I had: (remember I don't read the books ahead of time). Ginny seemed very odd when she was hiding the book from Harry. And it was all done offscreen.

I can't decide if this was the scene where she realizes she loves and Harry and the actress just didn't do it well, or if she was somehow betraying Harry (possibly by transporting the book back to the other vanishing closet) despite her feelings for him.

I assume it's the former since Rowling herself let spill a little spoiler some time back, but the look in Ginny's eyes, to me, showed more regret and remorse than they did love.

--Ted

 

[RoJoHen]

One question I had: (remember I don't read the books ahead of time). Ginny seemed very odd when she was hiding the book from Harry. And it was all done offscreen.

I can't decide if this was the scene where she realizes she loves and Harry and the actress just didn't do it well, or if she was somehow betraying Harry (possibly by transporting the book back to the other vanishing closet) despite her feelings for him.

I assume it's the former since Rowling herself let spill a little spoiler some time back, but the look in Ginny's eyes, to me, showed more regret and remorse than they did love.

--Ted

I agree that this was kind of an awkward scene. I wasn't entirely sure what was being accomplished.

 

[Wrongway Janeway]

That was added to the film. Ginny had nothing to do with helping Harry hide the Potions textbook in HBP.

Snape had ordered Harry to bring him the textbook after the fight with Malfoy in the restroom. Harry ran back to the common room, traded his book with Ron's, and used the Room of Requirement to hide the old one.

The kiss with Ginny came after a quidditch match in the common room. That scene was given to Ron and Lavender in the movie.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I actually got to see it this weekend and I voted Hermione, above average but I really enjoyed it. Have skipped through most of the pages on the thread so I'm sure most of you guys have talked about the differences from the book and movie so I'll skip that part. I liked the acting in this movie, was probably the strongest out of the other films, Daniel Radcliffe especially was good. Helen Boham Carter was awesome as Bellatrix and one of my favourite characters in the books and movie. Ginny and Harry was handled great as was Hermione and Ron they cut out all the bit about Ron getting over his head with Quidditch and thus the reason the two of them weren't present at Aragogs funeral. Lots of tears in the theatre when Dumbledore (including myself) died and Alan Rickman is brilliant as Snape, except they left out the bit about his mother. Oh by the way it was awesome seeing Quidditch again one of my favourite visual aspects about the Potter films. One of the things that I like about these movies is that it feels like going to a reunion of old friends or family members because I know these characters so well .I was already half way through the movie when I thought to myself I really want to see Deathly Hallows Part I and II now.

 

[The Sneeze Police]

I voted average in the context of the previous HP films.

On the upside, it looked lovely and it felt otherwordly, moreso than previous films. I enjoyed the performances of most of the actors although a couple of performances felt a bit uneven...most notably Ginny.

It felt long and I looked at my watch more than once. I purposely did not re-read the book prior to, so the film would feel fresher to me (a sorta nod to other posters who prefer to evaluate the films on thier own...), but at times it felt a bit tedious.

 

[Mooch]

I wish these movies had "extended editions" like the LotRs movies. It seems like a missed opportunity.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

I thought it was quite bad. I've read the entire series and think it's charming for the most part, but have always found Rowling's writing to be all plot and no theme, which seriously weakens it as fiction, IMHO. This lack of thematic strength has tended to leak to the films so that if a driector can't pull one together out of the material, then the movie is seriously weakened as a film. So far, only PoA and OotP have managed to find a theme. Can't figure out why Yates couldn't manage to find one here.

The pacing was deadly slow, Harry lacked any sort of throughline and the actors, except perhaps Felton, all seemed to be "acting", not feeling and being as characters. It felt terribly staged and static in a way I haven't seen since the terrible Chris Columbus movies. Cuaron's PoA had far more budding adolescent sexual tension, which was definitely missing here. Plenty of romance, but no passion. The climax was robbed of all its emotional weight by the plodding pace.

 

[Daneel]

The latest box office results, if anyone's interested: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has earned $159,662,000 after five days in release. Pretty impressive, but by comparison, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned $200,077,255 after the same amount of time.

Too bad... Admittedly, I haven't seen either film yet, but there's no doubt in my mind that I'd consider HP & THBP to be a superior movie.

 

[TGTheodore]

The latest box office results, if anyone's interested: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has earned $159,662,000 after five days in release. Pretty impressive, but by comparison, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned $200,077,255 after the same amount of time. .

I believe Transformers II debuted on more screens ...

--Ted

 

[Rackon]

For a movie, there should be some element that stands alone, even if the arc goes on. And you just can't do that with this story.

Actually, I think you could have done that with this movie -- if, for example, the whole "relationships" main plot been about finding true friends/true loves and learning to never put living life aside, no matter how dark the circumstances might be. There are some elements of that to this story, but it isn't a fully realized arc. Had the film done that, not only would it have found a way to mesh the romance elements with the main story, it would have that "element that stands alone."

But, alas, they didn't seize upon that opportunity.

So far, Prisoner of Azkaban reamins the best example of a fine movie. The rest are increasingly less faithful adaptions (not that a good adaption makes a good movie).

I absolutely agree that Azkaban is the best film. It, too, is an adaptation. But it manages to fully meld all of its elements together into a coherent whole, unlike the films 4-6. Though, for what it's worth, 6 was the best film since Azkaban.

I agree POA is the best of the films so far - and that's because Cuaron is easily the most sophisticated filmmaker of the directors who've tackled HP so far. Indeed, he's a most remarkable visual storyteller, and POA is the most lyrical of the lot. It's a great movie that also happens to be a HP movie.

Yates doesn't have Cuaron's distinvive sty;e or an equal grasp of cinematic language, but he is marvelous with actors, and the performances and emotional strotytelling in HBP makes it #2 in my book. The character moments are beautifully judged - dare I say "magical". Broadbent's Slughorn is a revelation, and the scene where he finally gives Harry the memory Dumbledore seeks is extremely touching. The film doesn't build quite to the climax as one expects - in fact the whole last act seems a bit slowly paced, which robs the finale of a bit of dramatic impact. I think a good 10-15 minutes could've been cut without disaster - but the good things are so wonderful in this edition I'm willing to forgive any minor flaws. At the moment when the wands are raised there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

For the record - I am so glad that Gambon became Dumbledore.

OOP is #3 for me.