Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Review Thread

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by Sith

Help me out guys, I tried to watch the first movie but it seemed like such
a kids movie that it didn't interest me...It may of been that I watched it
right around the LOTR time, but does it get any better...I was cool with
Narnia, maybe watching them on blu would help?

each movie gets better and more "grown up."

[gunner89]

got back from seeing it, it was good and i enjoyed it, i thought it was the 2nd best so far, Azkaban is still better. i felt the movie had a real pacing problem and felt quite rushed in some parts. Some things were left out of the book and some things i suppose could have been left out, but some of the memories from the book didn't and they play quite a role in the last book.

The acting was very good, Jim Broadbent was brilliant and is a really good addition to the cast. The film was very ligh hearted considering the source material.

The effects were really good, especially the Inferi scene, but it was short lived and "rushed", it could have been so much more. Some of the camera shots were very cheesey, some of the camera pans are mentioned above and also a certain shot that reminded me of the end of Die Hard where Rickman falls of Nakatomi Plaza (hey maybe they did that on purpose, lol, considering he plays Snape). Overall it was a good film, but the scene where this "Die Hard" esque shot appears it would have been much more effective if it were done like the beginning of Vertical Limit where the dad cuts his rope.

As for everyones concerns about certain things, ill include them in spoiler tags below.

[Show spoiler]The astronomy tower scene: Harry isn't imobolized by Dumbledore, he is beaneath and looks through the cracks, he doesnt act because snape appears behind him and signals him to be quiet, the film relies on the audience thinking Harry stayed there because Snape was going to deal with it.

Also the students dont fight with the death eaters after, but Harry does chase someone, which you would have scene in the trailers.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Just got back from my screening, which to my surprise was only about less than 3/4 full

Well my thoughts... it was a good adaptation of what is really a fairly average book!

Jim Broadbent shines as usual and makes the price of admission well worth it... Other than that it's pretty much your by the numbers Harry Potter movie.

There is still not enough spectacle in the more recent films to make it worthy of multiple viewings!

Potterites will lap it up I'm sure, Whilst the rest of us mere "muggles" will simply brush it off and get on with our lives, or move on to the next big movie!

Just my two cents guys and gals... no need for fanboy flaming ok!

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by gunner89

[Show spoiler]The astronomy tower scene: Harry isn't imobolized by Dumbledore, he is beaneath and looks through the cracks, he doesnt act because snape appears behind him and signals him to be quiet, the film relies on the audience thinking Harry stayed there because Snape was going to deal with it.

[Show spoiler]Yeah, because Harry totally trusts Snape

[sokrman14]

I found the movie to be a well produced, acted and directed movie. If I only watched the movies and never read the books, I would think its fantastic. But being an avid reader of the books, I found way too many differences of important plot lines. I was only disappointed in the adaptation of book to film, not the film itself.

[gunner89]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

[Show spoiler]Yeah, because Harry totally trusts Snape

[Show spoiler]well he knew that Dumbledore trusted him and he had half a dozen death eaters above him and a headmaster who said he needed only Severus, so yeah i think in that situation he would have.

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by gunner89

[Show spoiler]well he knew that Dumbledore trusted him and he had half a dozen death eaters above him and a headmaster who said he needed only Severus, so yeah i think in that situation he would have.

[Show spoiler]He doesn't trust him until the end of Book 7. That is what makes the whole reveal at the end of that book even more meaningful. NTM the epilogue. Now Harry is going to blame himself for letting Dumbledore die instead of being mad at him for preventing him to help.

[dgator783]

I thought it was pretty good, alot of humor and the action scenes were pretty awesome....the only thing I didnt like was what was cut out from the ending of the book ....but I can see why....hopefully they open D.Hallows up with the funeral.....

[Mannyfresh84]

I just read that it now has the best midnight opening ever beating TDK. It made $22.2 million just from midnight screenings.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Whilst on the topic of Harry Potter I really hope that John Williams return for the 2nd part of the final movie happens:

http://filmonic.com/john-williams-re...eathly-hallows

[StillaYankee]

Setup for the next movie or no, Half Blood Prince was, well, half-a...d. I went with my wife & 4 kids. 3 of us read the book, 3 didn't but the reaction was the same from all of us--it stunk. I enjoyed some of the humor, yes but that was about all there was to like. Even the soundtrack was horrible. When I mentioned that to my kids they said "what sound, daddy?" Exactly.
Before I get hammered for being a 'Potter hater', I love the books & movies though I'm not a lunatic fanatic like some. I enjoyed the soundtracks of the previous movies. Also, at 49, I can count on 1 hand the number of movies I've gone to see & didn't like in my entire life. Too bad this movie won't be added to my HP blu-ray collection--since I started with blu-ray more than 2 years ago I've looked forward to the blu-ray release of the movies I've seen in theaters, since it usually sounds better in my theater!

[CYMBOL]

Originally Posted by Sith

Help me out guys, I tried to watch the first movie but it seemed like such
a kids movie that it didn't interest me...It may of been that I watched it
right around the LOTR time, but does it get any better...I was cool with
Narnia, maybe watching them on blu would help?

Yes, the series gets progressively darker and more mature.

Most kids have grown up with the Harry Potter movies. Having a 5 year old watch Harry Potter 1 is much different than having a 5 year old watch Harry Potter 4.

IMO the series started to REALLY get good starting with Harry Potter 3 (both the books and the movies). Perhaps because the stories became more intricate and grown up.

I recommend you stick it out - if by the end of the 3rd movie you've found it isn't clicking - move on.

[STARSCREAM]

I'm a huge fan of the books and can't help but come away feeling disapointed after just seeing this. They completely gutted one of the best parts of the book, the castle fight. I mean the freakin death eaters just strolled right out the front of the castle with no reisistance in the movie!

[GreenScar]

I really liked it. Gave it 4 stars. It's about time we get one that get the focus on characters and relationships right between the kids.

If you haven't figured out by now that the movies and books are different entities and that the movies are only based on the books you may be let down. It had been some time since I had read the book but there were moments in the movie where I missed seeing parts from the book but I realized that in the way they had abridged the previous stories this one flowed very very well. As stated earlier it will be very interesting to see if they filmed more of the memories not shown.

Radcliffe probably gave his best performance yet. The same goes for Watson and Grint. Alan Rickman is always a standout as he totally commands the screen while he's onscreen. Special mention has to go to Jim Broadbent as Slughorn. He was great in his role and showed a marked difference in his personality from while he was younger to present. He was very fun to watch.

John Williams was missed. I hope he comes back for the final installment.

The sound mix was great. Amazing use of the surrounds in the opening sequence with

[Show spoiler] the Death Eaters causing destruction.

I look forward to seeing this in digital presentation on Friday.

[GreenScar]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

[Show spoiler]Yeah, because Harry totally trusts Snape

[Show spoiler]
It works the way it's played out. He's uncertain what to do but wants to act. He's relieved when Snape shows up (Dumbledore had just sent him after Snape after all). It's also better in the film that Harry is sent downstairs by Dumbledore. He was of course reluctant, but went because of the respect he had for Albus.

[SonOfArathorn]

John Williams hasn't scored one since PoA? Hope you knew that. He's been "missed" for the last 3 films now.

[GreenScar]

Originally Posted by gunner89

[Show spoiler]well he knew that Dumbledore trusted him and he had half a dozen death eaters above him and a headmaster who said he needed only Severus, so yeah i think in that situation he would have.

You beat me to it

Originally Posted by kpkelley

[Show spoiler]He doesn't trust him until the end of Book 7. That is what makes the whole reveal at the end of that book even more meaningful. NTM the epilogue. Now Harry is going to blame himself for letting Dumbledore die instead of being mad at him for preventing him to help.

[Show spoiler]Let's wait and see how it plays out. I see him still able to be upset at Dumbledore for the simple fact that he left him. It's a very human condition to feel this way when someone dies. I think we're assuming we know what will be in the final two movies and what won't. This is more of a time will tell kind of thing.

[Vcize]

I liked the movie as a whole, but I'm so, so disappointed in how badly they butchered the ending.

It's pretty spoiler filled so I'll just cover it all up:

[Show spoiler]I thought having Harry go downstairs instead of Dumbledore immobilizing him was awful, there's no way he would have just stood there no matter what he promised Dumbledore. It was so out of character. But that's a minor squabble compared to the rest of the ending.

Why did they get rid of the battle at the end? Was it just a budget thing? Having the Death Eaters calmly stroll out of the castle with no one noticing while Harry plays cat and mouse creeping behind them, rather than having them fight there way out amidst chaos while Harry struggles to keep up was just...weird.

Then when we come back to Dumbledore's body everyone is just kind of there, calm as can be?

With as epic and tear-jerking as the ends of the 4th and 5th films were, I couldn't wait to see what Yates would do with the end of the 6th one since it had the most epic and tear-jerking ending of the books. But it was just...a huge disappointment.

During the death scene of minor character Cedric Diggory I felt like someone had ripped my heart right out of my chest. When Sirius died I could feel Harry's anger as he chased after Bellatrix and threw the Cruciartis curse at her. Now here we have the death scene of Dumbledore, the most important character of all that die in the series, and I didn't even get a little butterfly in the pit of my stomach. Hermione's sad faces always get to me, but even her fake tear here couldn't rumble up any emotion. In the book it's heart-wrenching as we go through page after page of finding out that Dumbledore is dead and not believing it, but here it just kind of happens, and we get some corny little candlelight tribute.

Meh, they had so much more to work with for this ending than they did for the last two yet the last two were a million times better, and a million times more heart-wrenching.

Also, I don't know why everyone raves over the acting in this one. I thought the acting, outside of Slughorn, was by far the worst of the series for each of the major characters in this one. Mainly because they were working with such an uneven script I would imagine.

[walruswarrior]

Originally Posted by Vcize

I liked the movie as a whole, but I'm so, so disappointed in how badly they butchered the ending.


With as epic and tear-jerking as the ends of the 4th and 5th films were, I couldn't wait to see what Yates would do with the end of the 6th one since it had the most epic and tear-jerking ending of the books. But it was just...a huge disappointment.

During the death scene of minor character Cedric Diggory I felt like someone had ripped my heart right out of my chest. When Sirius died I could feel Harry's anger as he chased after Bellatrix and threw the Cruciartis curse at her.

Meh, they had so much more to work with for this ending than they did for the last two yet the last two were a million times better, and a million times more heart-wrenching.

Also, I don't know why everyone raves over the acting in this one. I thought the acting, outside of Slughorn, was by far the worst of the series for each of the major characters in this one. Mainly because they were working with such an uneven script I would imagine.

Dude use spoiler tags for major plot reveals

[Vcize]

Oh yeah, and...

[Show spoiler]What the heck was the purpose of the vanishing cabinet if there was no fight at the end? He brought in all the deatheaters so they could....run away together? Riiiigghhtttt....