Comments on: Best ‘Half-Blood Prince Week’ Urls!

By: Tinuvielas

Tinuvielas — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:12:07 +0000

My 11 year old daughter – who is a huge HP, not fan, but reader (and listener – I think she knows half the books by heart) told me her judgment after watching it: “Boring. For a long time, nothing happens, and then all of a sudden too much happens.” That sort of sums it up…
Personally, I had difficulties remembering even one scene after watching HBP, either positive of negative, which is a problem since I have to do a public discussion on it this weekend… Somehow it just rolled along, a nice-ish illustration of the book, with a very disappointing ending – especially the out-of-character scene with Harry just standing there. As such it’s typical of the whole franchise, I guess – trailers for the books. Too bad for the cast, most of whom I like.

By: John

John — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:39:29 +0000

It topped the Movie Blooper list! So... It wasn't faithful to the story -- It didn't capture the biggest moments and themes (e.g., "I am with you") -- and it had sloppy production values, even after an extra few month's special attention. Why do we go to the movies again?

By: clio

clio — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:35:36 +0000

I was more than ready to enjoy the movie. It was the first we all went to see in the theater rather than waiting for the dvd to come out (my wallet is still smarting).
Alas. My favorite of the stories turned into my least favorite of the movies. It lacked charm. Narrative elements were strung together with very little sense of narrative! And then this happened, and then this happened, and then this… Characters seemed to pop up and depart without any characterization. Relational moments were smashed in without any time for the audience to come to appreciate the relationships. We were given no time to linger over a funny or profound or dramatic moment. Time to move on! Sorry Dumbledore’s dead, Harry. Oh, and Ron’s okay with you and Ginny. Yeesh.
I’ll grumble my way to movie(s) number 7 and hope that someone in the editing department comes to understand that there’s more to telling a story than stringing episodes together.

By: pj

pj — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:31:54 +0000

My thoughts post-viewing of HBP: ….well, just let me say that I found the movie relatively entertaining in spite of my overwhelming disappointment. The Burrow’s burning sequence was unnecessary and the astronomy tower/ Dumbledore’s death scene was so woefully inaccurate (in my opinion) that I felt cheated out of a great screen moment a la OoTP/Dumbledore vs Voldemort in the MoM. The humor was good…a nice counter to the tension overall. Still, the lighter moments do not make up for the gaffs and poor interpretation of the book.

I hope Yates doesn’t mess with DH…it’s not like we don’t all know how the story ends, right? Guess that’s the privilege of “adapting” from book to screen. Ah well, I’ve camped on this idea before.

By: blacks_descendent13

blacks_descendent13 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:01:51 +0000

I actually liked the movie. OK so the book is better. Books that have had movies made out of them are usually going to be better than the movie itself, no matter how much of the book is actually in it. The only exception is with the book Wicked, because the musical Wicked will always be the best.

What happened with the Weasley’s house was the only thing I’d have to go against. Seriously, are they going to rebuild or what? I mean, in the 7th book, they have Bill and Fleur’s wedding there in which Shaklebolt sends news that the Minister of Magic is dead (if i remember right). If anything, it was just to show people that the Death Eaters are serious business.

As for the major fight scene, I saw on the local news channel with one of the anchor persons saying that this one was a bit too violent. Violence my foot! The only violent thing that happened was Dumbledore getting killed, which was the main part of it. The rest of the stuff- the cursed necklace, the love potion/poisoned mead, and the vanishing cabinents, etc- were all done pretty well. Kudos to this movie.

By: revgeorge

revgeorge — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:13:43 +0000

Arabella, right on with the meaningless, punchless HBP line! Anyway, the more I watch the films the less I feel any sort of real hatred between Harry & Snape. Animosity, yes. The closest we came to hatred, though, was in the occlumency lessons in OOTP.

By: Arabella Figg

Arabella Figg — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:49:37 +0000

There’s a director’s cut, but it has yet to be made!

Don’t forget Snape’s jawdroppingly meaningless “I am the HB Prince!” at the end, which completely caved for lack of joist. So much for the film’s title.

By: j.b.v

j.b.v — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:06:56 +0000

jbv’s Dad:
High marks on the duplicity/angst of Snape. Nice and ambiguous. High marks on Slughorn. Loved the Liquid Luck scene. Didn’t mind the romance; thought it should have been a bit more grim. Like the feel of a WW2 London type of relationship. Like the book. I got the feeling the good guys are playing around with puberty while Malfoy’s fighting a war. High marks on Malfoy.

The last half hour was dismal. Why didn’t Dumby stupify Harry? Harry wouldn’t have stood there. He wouldn’t have trusted Snape. Why NOT do the largest battle of all the books up ’til this time? The denoument in the bell tower was way too cheerful. Hermione’s lines were . . . bland. Tell me there’s a director’s cut and that stuff got left out at the last minute. Yikes.

Big let down. Anticlimatic. The credits rolled and I went, “Oh . . . .” If the movie was three hours, how many fewer people would have gone? I think we’re in for a penny, in for a pound.

I do have to say that John, your reading is right on, but we are in the vast minority. Look at those articles at the top. No wonder many Believers are put off.

By: j.b.v

j.b.v — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:54:09 +0000

i did not like the movie to much on the relashionships and the climax was the wrost bit of the movie i mean harry would never just stand there. the other thing is the fire at the burrow never happen just more for the thing between ginney and harry. they could have done so much with the fight at hogwarts, but they stuck with just knocking over tables and cups. I personally was disappointed with the movie, if i buy the movie it will only have all the movies

By: inked

inked — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:58:54 +0000

Just in from the film. The story arc is maintained however discombobulated from the book story. One understands the script as advancing the story. One misses the books richness, but hey, it’s still 2.5 hrs in length. I was personally disappointed in the Tower scene as climax. NO real feeling of climax. The end bit with Snape was also disappointing. No instructions for Harry to lend the ambiguity needed.

Initial and probably final thought: Yes, I will buy the video – if only to complete my collection.

Books are best!