Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Grading and Discussion

[Similitude]

Loved this.

Sucks they had to cut so much, but what they did keep was great. Lavender was cast perfectly (Well outside of the change of race).

Movie Wise...

6 > 3 > 5 > 4 > 1 >2

 

[CaptainCanada]

Also, while McG doesn't get most of her cool scenes from the books (it's a shame that OotP couldn't be four hours long to allow Maggie Smith to do McGonagall's material in that), she had two great lines here:

"And take Mr. Weasley with you. He looks far too happy."

and

"Why is it that whenever something happens, it's always you three?" (and Ron's response: "I've been asking that myself for the past six years.")

 

[Chekov's Phaser]

Just go out of the movie, and I loved it. It may not be the best one, I don't know yet, but it's in the top two. I'll go into more detail later. It's dinner time.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm going to have to wait until next weekend to see it. Been on and off about it since I heard there were so many cuts done from the books. I hate that the final battle is missing from the end since that was one of my favourite parts. I don't understand the reasoning if they're using the big finale battle since that is two movies and like four years away!

 

[RoJoHen]

Just had a hardcore debate (My brother and I who haven't read the books VS. My mom and sister, who have). My mom and sister had some serious issues with things being cut out of the movie, namely Voldemort's backstory and a big battle that is supposed to happen at the end.

My brother and I, having no real exposure to any of that stuff, thought the story was told just fine. We wish there had been some more explanation regarding the "half-blood Prince," but otherwise it was pretty solid. It's certainly not my favorite, but I still really enjoyed it, and the end was damned depressing.

 

[clint g]

Well, I checked it out in IMAX today and someone who was never a fan of the books I was pretty impressed with the movie. The 3D scenes were a bit distracting though but overall the sound and visuals were great in IMAX (the picture looked alot sharper than Trek did). Also, unlike the previous movie, this one made sense to me :lol

Loved this.

Sucks they had to cut so much, but what they did keep was great. Lavender was cast perfectly (Well outside of the change of race).

Movie Wise...

6 > 3 > 5 > 4 > 1 >2

I'm just curious, as someone who never read the books what race was Lavender originally and was anything cut critical to the story?

 

[CaptainCanada]

like four years away!

Two, actually; they're nearly done of filming, as I understand, with Part II of TDH coming out in 2011.

 

[TGTheodore]

Please NO SPOILERS about future installments.

Much appreciated, and thanks!

--Ted

 

[CaptainCanada]

I'm just curious, as someone who never read the books what race was Lavender originally

I don't think her race is ever specified in the books, though this being a Western story, that generally means white-by-default.

One of the earlier films (the third, I think) had her 'played' by a black extra; when they got around to recasting, since her role in the sixth movie is the first (and only, really) major part she has in the series, they cast a white actress.

 

[Broccoli]

Saw it tonight.

It was good, but could have used more teen angst.

 

[DarthPipes]

Just got back from it. By and large I thought it was very good and it was indeed very entertaining throughout. There are many parts in this movie that are just plain FUN. I felt my enthusiasm dwindle as the film went on as some scenes from the book did not translate well. This was due to writing (Steve Kloves) and to some of the performances (Rickman is so dispassionate during what was supposed to be an emotionally charaged climatic scene that it's not even funny).

I'm going to post more but right not, I'm exhausted and am heading off to sleep.

 

[Similitude]

I'm just curious, as someone who never read the books what race was Lavender originally

I don't think her race is ever specified in the books, though this being a Western story, that generally means white-by-default.

One of the earlier films (the third, I think) had her 'played' by a black extra; when they got around to recasting, since her role in the sixth movie is the first (and only, really) major part she has in the series, they cast a white actress.

Ah, you may be right about that.

 

[Messianni]

I voted Excellent. This was the first Potter film that I thought was better than, "meh, ok", which was essentially the reaction I had for most of the other films. Cinematically it's gorgeous and I'm happy David Yates is returning for the last two films. Likewise John Williams will be doing the score for the last two, which is good considering I thought the only disappointing thing in this film was the score. It was so bland.

Jim Broadbent was brilliant as always and the kids are really starting to show off their acting chops.

Having not read the last two books I knew nothing of what they cut out (but from what I've gathered, it's substantial). For those that have, do you believe this harmed the film in any way? I certainly thought it felt whole.

 

[Orac Zen]

Enjoyed the hell out of it.

Yeah, a lot of stuff was left out but that was inevitable unless the movie was four or five hours long, or they split it as well. A few characters had a lot of their stuff all but eliminated (Tonks and Lupin were basically name-checked, for example) and some had stuff added. The lack of the climactic battle was mildly annoying, but only mildly.

The movie looks incredible and the score was probably the best yet. Acting-wise, it was the first time Radcliffe impressed me even a bit. Evanna Lynch is so completely spot-on as Luna - however I'd envisioned the character has been completely blown away by her performances. Broadbent was too thin but otherwise excellent, and I liked the bloke who played teenage Riddle.

The teen angst scenes worked pretty well (the Won-Won / Lav-Lav bits were even more sickening than the book ) although aspects of them play rather differently than they did in the book. The final few scenes worked well - I'd expected to "miss" the funeral but the scene substituted in the movie was very effective.

That's all I can think of 'til I see it again. Really, really, really looking forward to the final installments.

 

[Messianni]

You know what the ending really reminded me of? Empire Strikes Back, both visually and emotionally.

 

[Cky]

It was good. I won't go in to a full tangent now, but there's lots of things they cut out of the book which really annoyed me. Some little simple things too that doesn't make the film much longer. Like Dumbledore telling Harry how he feels safer with Harry at his side, and things like that.

Also the character development here really wasn't great (except for the main three of course). I'm sure people will pick up on that statement and moan that either there was, or the book never had a real focus on the other characters, but, you know, it did. Tonks and Lupin seems completely rushed to me (as they get together at Dumbledore's funeral - which doesn't happen, wtf. (I know, it's going to be the opening scene in the next film, which completely pisses on Mad-Eye's parade).

Anyway, don't want to start now or I won't stop . Good movie, just annoying how much they decided to cut.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

It was solid but there were some issues, namely the beginning feeling really rushed and going absolutely no where. Also I really miss Voldemort's rise to power

 

[RoJoHen]

I have some Snape issues that I'd like to ask about. I haven't read the books, so the only characterization I have to go on is what's in the movies.

It was revealed in the last movie that Snape used to be a Death Eater but that he switched sides and became a spy against Voldemort. Also, even though he really doesn't like them, Snape has more than once been shown to help and protect the children. In #3, he protects them from Lupin when he becomes a werewolf. In #5, he tried to train Harry to resist Voldemort's mind control.

Honestly, until this new movie, I never even suspected that Snape was actually one of Voldemort's followers. I didn't even believe it in this movie until the very end when he killed Dumbledore. Although, I will say that he was very reluctant to accept the "unbreakable vow," and maybe it's possible that he killed Dumbledore so that Draco wouldn't have to...or maybe he was just trying to save his own ass.

I really don't know if I have a question in all that, but it's something that is really bothering me, and I can't wait for the next couple movies to come out so that I can figure out just what the hell is going on in Snape's head!

 

[darkwing_duck1]

It's this simple: HBP is where Rowling starts going off the rails. It's a DREADFUL book, and I have no intention of seeing any film derived from it, nor Deathly Hallows (a truely TROLLish mess of a book).

 

[Manticore]

It's this simple: HBP is where Rowling starts going off the rails. It's a DREADFUL book, and I have no intention of seeing any film derived from it, nor Deathly Hallows (a truely TROLLish mess of a book).

On the other hand, it's one of my favorites, trumped only by Deathly Hallows. So take that for what you will.

There's more to Snape's motivations revealed in Deathly Hallows, and hopefully the movie won't botch it up too badly.