Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince Thread (SPOILERS)

[MerXAN]

They shouldn't have done that!

[magicalwands]

About the teaser: The trailer is proof of why John Williams should be brought back to write the music. All of the cues in the teaser were from previous movies. If it weren't for those, it wouldn't feel like another Harry Potter movie.

[Disneykid]

The film was screened last night for a focus group test audience. One of the audience members has written a detailed review for The Leaky Cauldron.org:

Part I
Part II

The reviewer is also answering questions on Leaky's forums here: http://www.leakylounge.com/Test-Screeni ... 64457.html

[Widdi]

The film was screened last night for a focus group test audience. One of the audience members has written a detailed review for The Leaky Cauldron.org:

Part I
Part II

The reviewer is also answering questions on Leaky's forums here: http://www.leakylounge.com/Test-Screeni ... 64457.html

Congrats HBP, you just knocked POA from the "worst movie" platform it's been holding for so long.

I pray there were tons of Potterheads in the audience who will write things like "WE WANT MORE STUFF THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN THE BOOK AND LESS SCENES INVENTED JUST TO GIVE HELENA BONHAM CARTER MORE TO DO TO MAKE HER WORTH HER FEE!" Seriously, completely cutting things like Dumbledore's funeral and all but two memories are unforgivable to me. There are certain things you just don't change.

If anything this total lack of respect for the story makes the DH decision seem even more money driven. For six movies you've had a chance to care about the story and you didn't, now all the sudden when you realize there is only one more left to adapt you care. Uh huh, that's believable.

I'll still see it opening night, just because it's become a tradition, but I highly doubt my opinion will change.

Can we please just get done with this series so ten years from now when someone who has grown up loving the books has made it as a director in Hollywood can remake them, and hopefully remake them well?

[magicalwands]

Here is a report from Mugglenet:
http://www.mugglenet.com/movies/movie6/ejsreview.shtml

It is a much more positive review, IMO. Eric praises a lot of the film and I agree with him a lot more than the report from The Leaky Cauldron.

[lord-of-sith]

Widdi, I'm sorry but I couldn't agree less!

The reviews make me very excited! I'll never, ever claim a Harry Potter movie is bad due to the fact that stuff is cut, STUFF HAS TO BE CUT! Naturally, Dumbledore's funeral is an extremely important event, but I have a feeling (and hope) that it will be moved to the beginning of the DH movie, to get it off with a bang.

I will admit that I may be a bit hipocritical in loving the fact that there'll be more HBC! But honestly, it makes a lot more sense to have Bellatrix commonly found amongst the death eaters, to give the audience a common returning character to associate the them with (besides Greyback, who is new) rather than just a random bunch of Death Eaters. Unfortunately, it seems Narcissa is actually brought in for only book purposes! She only appears in the beginning and then never again? I agree with whoever said they should have just used Jason Isaacs for that, to keep that character more present in the films.

The one thing everyone has to keep in mind is that in a book you can throw in random characters to their appropraite situations and it's fine, because you could briefly re-explain who that character is again. In a movie, it's different, because unless a character is very present, a general audience is likely to forget who they are. There are so many characters in Harry Potter that you have to cut some and fill in there role with existing ones for it to make sense in film form.

But, all in all, these reviews make me very excited for HBP (especially the small change to that last scene), and I think it will be well worth the wait!

[magicalwands]

But, all in all, these reviews make me very excited for HBP (especially the small change to that last scene), and I think it will be well worth the wait!

Yes, just two months and eleven days.

At this point I don't care how much of the film gets spoiled for me, I am still hating the idea of having to wait for the whole school year to be done until I get to see this.

(It's great to hear that Quidditch is back again!)

[Widdi]

Oh don't get me wrong, I know stuff has to be cut and I wouldn't want to see a word for word translation to screen, but I think that ever since they started these movies they have been making bad cuts. And I hate having something from the books sacrificed for an invented scene. Switching out the Carrows for Bella is fine in my books. What isn't fine is cutting some scenes that could be used to explain the plot in favor of an invented scene that really has no purpose other than to showcase an actress.

Smart cuts are something I have no problem with. Examples would be losing the Quidditch storyline from OotP, the Deathday Party from CoS or the Dursleys from GoF. But these movies have continuously made poor choices when it comes to story editing. So many in fact that maybe they should make the first movie of DH just an interview with the writers where they go back and tell you where they screwed up by cutting important plot information and characters from previous movies that are now really important to DH. I really don't know how anybody who has not read the books makes heads or tails of what is going on in the movie because they never take the few seconds required to explain anything they've showed you.

I just really believe they should have waited till all 7 books were released to make the movies. Then they could have had a planned the scripts better.

But really what bugs me even more than poor writing is the total lack of continuity between films. Nothing ever stays the same. It's almost like they visited 5 different Hogwarts castles.

[SpringHeelJack]

Nothing ever stays the same. It's almost like they visited 5 different Hogwarts castles.

See, this never really bugged me. When you get a new director, they have a new take, and that's just how it goes. I personally like that. To me, it's no more jarring than having a new actor playing James Bond. I mean, in an ideal world, would there be some guiding hand who oversaw all seven films? Yeah. But I mean, keep in mind, that would be a lot of work. I'm not saying it can't or couldn't be done, but imagine devoting at least seven years of your life creatively and physically to one project. It's got to be stressful.

[Widdi]

Different styles doesn't bother me too much, it's the fact that they don't film in the same places.

I'm for creative stamps on your projects, but there are some things that you should leave alone.

[Dottie]

Just imagine that it's the magic of Hogwarts that alters the appearance of the castle.

[Mooky]

I agree with you, Widdi. They should have waited for all the books to be released

I understand that in order for the book-to-film transition to work they have to cut things. The problem is they suck at cutting them - they cut so many important things from OotP and yet they leave Grawp in. I mean, WTF?

About the style change: Each of the four directors so far has given the series his own touch and that's OK. However, some things shouldn't be tampered with - I hate when they change things from film to film for no reason (Dementors, Death Eaters' masks, Hogwarts robes, and stuff like that). It may not seem like a big deal, but little things like that help films look like they're part of the same continuity.

And about that HBP report, all I can say is: Ginny haters must be really happy now, she's officially made into a slut - she initiates the kiss with Harry while she's still with Dean

[PeterPanfan]

Ugh. I completely despise the new Harry!Ginny kiss. There can't be a lead up. What made the kiss so special in the book was that is was so random and unexpected.

[Disneykid]

I don't see the big deal about Hogwarts continuity. I admit it bothered me that locales were changed in PoA, but the films have actually retained continuity since then, so it no longer bugs me. PoA changed the following:

* Gave the robes house color lining.

* Moved the Gryffindor dormitory at the top of a moving staircase rather than at the end of a hall (and with a new Fat Lady).

* Added a bridge leading from Hogwarts to the Forbidden Forest.

* Added a clock tower and courtyard.

* Moved Hagrid's hut and the Whomping Willow to the hills behind the castle rather than on fields beside the castle.

GoF and OotP kept all of those except the dormitory entrance only because we've yet to see it again since PoA. I can't think of any actual changes made in those two films except the redesign of the dementors, and even then it wasn't a drastic change.

As for the stuff the films leave out, I think they've done a remarkable job considering how multi-layered these stories are and the time constraints given. The following are the only exclusions I think actively hurt the films:

Prisoner of Azkaban

* The Marauders backstory. It takes away the significance of Harry's stag and leaves a plot hole as to how Lupin knows how to work the map (and why Harry keeps calling Pettigrew Wormtail in GoF). This is rumored to have been in an early test screening but removed when the audience (made up of non-readers) found it unnecessary. I'm not sure how true that is, though, since the final draft of the shooting script is available online, and there's still no explanation there (though the script does drop some good hints that are better than nothing).

Goblet of Fire:

* How Barty Crouch Jr. escaped from Azkaban in GoF. Such a big deal is made of Sirius' escape in PoA, and yet no one bats an eye in GoF.

* The Priori Incantantem explanation. The spirits of Voldemort's victims seem awfully random without it, and makes Ollivander's set up about the cores in SS seem pointless.

Order of the Phoenix:

* Lily's confrontation of James in Snape's worst memory. This was filmed but then cut out. Even though the filmmakers will be using the excised footage for DH, from a film perspective, it seems like they've lied to the audience. By having Lily in OotP, you've planted a seed that comes to fruition in the end.

* The scene where Harry asks Kreacher if Sirius is home in OotP. Not only does this exclusion make Harry seem wreckless, but it robs the relationship arc between him and Kreacher. It also makes Kreacher's inclusion seem random. Then again, Kreacher's supposedly not in HBP at all, so Kloves must have something up his sleeve for the locket usage in DH.

* Umbridge's confession to releasing the dementors. Without it, the attack in the beginning doesn't make much sense and falsely leads audiences to believe Voldemort sent them.

* The explanation of the prophecy. Once again, we end up with a random plot device that makes no sense without Dumbledore's monologue. Obviously the whole monologue would've stopped the film to a halt, but a 2-minute scene explaining Trelawney's prophecy and why Harry must stay with the Dursleys would've done wonders.

All other cuts I think were wisely done (S.P.E.W.) or can't be blamed on the filmmakers for not knowing the end of the story (lack of Mrs. Figg in SS, no locket or mirror in OotP). It's very possible that most of the stuff I listed was shot and then cut, especially since GoF and OotP both ran about three hours initially (GoF had 20 minutes removed, OotP a whopping 45). I really hope we get extended editions soon. If WB wants to distract us while we wait for HBP, that'd be the perfect thing.

As for the HBP reviews, the only things that bother me are these:

* Harry hitting on a waitress. Umm...what?

* Slughorn being more neurotic and less bombastic. This disappoints me as I really looking forward to Jim Broadbent playing him as Harold Ziedler in Moulin Rouge. I had a feeling that wouldn't happen, though, based on the odd expressions he has in the promo pics.

* Ginny initiating the kiss. Movie Harry is so passive compared to book Harry, and it's in HBP where he finally stops being a victim and takes charge. Giving him the receiving end of the kiss takes away from his character, even if it adds to Ginny's.

* The lack of the Ravenclaw diadem in the Room of Requirement. There's no excuse for this considering they filmed for many months after DH was already released, allowing them to reshoot.

* No Kreacher. What, then, are they going to do about the locket in DH? Movie audiences are not going to remember a character they saw for 30 seconds two movies previous, especially when there's no indication Harry even owns him in HBP.

* No funeral for Dumbledore. We get tons of time to grieve for Cedric in GoF (including yet another scene that was filmed and then cut), slight time to grieve for Sirius in OotP, and absolutely no time for Dumbledore in HBP? Yes, I realize we get a scene of the students and staff crowding around the body. My point is that there's no time to dwell on it or let it sink in. If I'm reading the reviews correctly, it looks like after everyone discovers the corpse, we fade to the scene where Harry decides to go after the horcruxes. If that's true, that means the movie ends (without credits) barely five minutes after everyone sees Dumbledore dead. That seems awfully rushed to me, especially for a character the audience has known for six films.

Other than those things, I have to admit I'm excited about the movie. The rest of the changes sound great, especially since HBP is probably the least cinematic book in the series next to SS. The cutting of the end battle doesn't bother me since that allows them to go all-out in DH without any direct comparisons. I just hope they know what they're doing when it comes to paving the way for DH since that's the finale this whole series has been leading up to, the grand opus, if you will.

And if you read this far, congrats. You get butterbeer.

[Disney's Divinity]

I read the review and I can't tell if I like or hate the way they've apparently done the ending (with everyone holding their wands up). Everything else is so-so, though I'm glad they've left the Lupin and Tonks "romance" out (though I'm guessing it'll be picked up on in DH, unfortunately.

You know, the only thing that makes me mad about the film adaptations is that they had the perfect cast and opportunity to make something great out of this and they didn't take advantage of that. I guess I'll just have to wait for the re-makes 20 years from now.

I mean, my mom can never tell why I love the books from the films, so I have to explain just how watered down they are. And it's too bad, as I think she would've liked it (she's never going to actually read the series) if given the chance. And isn't WB making billions off of this series? Why is it so hard to deliver quality results? They're unlimited as far as budget goes, I'm sure.

[disneyboy20022]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7242196@N02/2764002213/

[lord-of-sith]

I thought we all knew Twilight moved into the 21st spot? Or is that link supposed to be something else?

[PeterPanfan]

Either Michael is not up to date, or he's trying to show us what seems to be the poster for the film. Which looks horrible.

[Dottie]

It looks like a scan from a magazine that was released a few weeks ago since the old release date is still on it. And I think it is not THE official movie poster just one of the many character promo posters.

[disneyboy20022]

Either Michael is not up to date, or he's trying to show us what seems to be the poster for the film. Which looks horrible.

Yeah I had no clue....I was not up to date....apparently I was living in a box when this was announced....