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Weinermr
Member
08-18-2001
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 11:52 am
The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. For example, the whole subplot of Tonks and Lupin was replaced in the movie by one word - when Tonks called Lupin "sweetheart". Is this essential to the main plot? No. Do I dislike that everything else surrounding their relationship is discarded for the movie? Yes. Luna finds Harry in the Hogwarts Express, not Tonks. On and on and on and on. The more I think about these things the less I like it.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 12:05 pm
Yep. As I mentioned before it is very much a love/hate relationship for me. I do like a lot about the movies, I look forward to seeing them and for the most part I have a lot of fun watching them. I just can't help wishing that they could have done a better job of capturing the entire feel of the series. Don't get me wrong though - I still enjoy the movies. The main problem is that they are just not long enough and I'm often unhappy with what they decide to include and leave out and changes that they make for no apparent reason that do not make the story better.
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 1:57 pm
Some general book & movie spoilers below - I tried to be vague. I like Rowling's rambling too although I understand there's not room for most of it in the movies and that changes will be made. So okay, they left out the surprise about Snape & Slughorn's teaching positions. No introduction of the new Minister of Magic, no Dursleys, no news about Fleur getting engaged to Bill, no Neville and Luna wishing to get the D.A. back together, no apparition lessons. While disappointing, these omissions don't drastically affect the main plot. At least we saw Fred & George's shop. But skipping over the other memories about Riddle means Harry knows nothing about some of other possible horcruxes - what they may be or where they might be hidden. They're going to have to do some major scrambling in the next films to make up for that. The other things that bothered me the most were: 1) so little attention paid to the mystery of the Half-Blood Prince & not having Harry hide the book himself; 2) almost immediately revealing Draco's secret task and then making it all seem rather pointless since the Deatheaters simply show up and then run away; 3) the added scene of burning the Burrow, yeah it may have looked cool but the time could have been spent on something else - btw Errol and the attic ghoul better have gotten out; 4) that lingering shot of the wand in Dumbledore's office just because I hoped it wasn't meant to be the Elder Wand. (I don't recall if it was mentioned that Harry inherited Kreacher or if Harry was shown learning that it was Snape who had told Voldemort about the prophecy - was it? 'Cause those are kinda important too.) But the biggest problem was, as Jimmer has noted, that the movies focus so much on "Big Scenes" that there's been little time for character development or establishing the bond between Harry & Dumbledore. Based on the movies alone, one doesn't get a real sense of how deeply complex Harry & Dumbledore's relationship has become which blunts the emotion of what happens at the end of this film - and I'm afraid that may also be the case with Harry's realization in book seven of what Dumbledore believed happened to Harry and what it meant. I don't mean to be all negative, I thought the Ron & Hermione romance subplot was portrayed very well. But that's not enough. ETA: Oh and not showing Percy being estranged from his family - that was bad too.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 2:16 pm
I agree Calamity. By the way, it is very thoughtful of you not to spoil the future movies. I often forget that not everyone reads the books and it made me look back to make sure that I hadn't spilled anything. 
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Konamouse
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 4:45 pm
I agree they didn't really cover the mystery of the Half Blood Prince at all! And since that is the name of the movie, they should/could have done more on that area of the story - it seemed like an after-thought at the end when it was revealed who it was. But never "why" he called himself that. Considering how much of that magic was dangerous/black, it has a lot of meaning. Maybe the next movie will use "flashback" to the memories of Tom Riddle to help us understand how Harry can find the rest of the Horcruxes.

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Weinermr
Member
08-18-2001
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 6:12 pm
I'm glad I'm not the only one bothered by all of these omissions. And I'm bothered by it not only because of a purist attitude towards rendering the books into movies, but because it seems virtually impossible to explain so many of the things that will happen in the next two movies without having laid the background in the prior ones. There will be no "logic" to the sequence of events. There will just be alot of action, lots of flash, a fair amount of death, and an ultimately if not happy then satisfying resolution. If that's what stands for movie making these days, I understand why I don't see many of them any more. I find it necessary to say again that I enjoyed the movie, like Jimmer, but I'm increasingly disturbed by how it was put together. I really do wonder what Jo Rowling truly thinks about it.
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Frootjuuce
Member
02-25-2007
| Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 7:17 pm
I LOVED the "Ron thinking the moon is beautiful" scene!
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Jkm
Member
07-10-2002
| Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 9:20 am
I enjoyed this movie the most of any of them made so far. The guy playing Slughorn was the best adult actor IMHO the movie series has had. The special effect were a part of the movie for a change - not THE movie -- best quiddich scene yet- blend of effect and live people.... They used a lot of misdirection in the filming this time however - mostly I'm guessing to save time and money.... like jumping from scene to scene (harry at hagrids, then next scene with dumbledore - no wasted time on how to get from one to the other) Didn't waste effect on showing the death eaters actually walking out of the cabinate (showed the cabinate and then them walking around the room of requirement) One thing bothered me terribly -- so many characters - they did not say their name -- Did anyone ever actually say Luna's name in the film? Tonks name was never metioned etc... If I look at it just as a film I paid to go see - I liked it much - entertained, good effects, etc. As a potter fan - I'm wondering same as the rest - how are they going to finish this off? What other changes will this director make? He will have directed the final 4 movies... I read that the actor who plays dumbledore has not read the books - said he is in the movie and why read them and be disappointed at all the scenes left out - claims several others have not read them as well. Also heard that next to movies - movies 1 is the road show and 2 is the final battles/war.... Missed so many charactors - but just not enough time to satisfy everyone... I too would love for this to become a mini series in a couple of years or even a cartoon show for that matter....
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 1:13 pm
Maybe those important plot points will be brought about in the next movie. ??
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Monday, July 27, 2009 - 10:57 am
Saw it last night and I liked it.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, July 27, 2009 - 1:42 pm
It helps if you've read the books long ago, suffer from CRS and can't remember a thing about them. I had no recollection of what was to happen or what was missing. LOL. I enjoyed the movie, but it felt incomplete to me. I was also expecting a funeral scene. And then it just ended. Now we wait for the final 2 films and we already know the first one will feel incomplete because they are parts 1 and 2. I view the films as companion pieces to the books, kind of like drawings to go with them. I'm not sure how people who don't read the books get much enjoyment out of the movies and are not just left with a bunch of questions.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - 7:24 am
I think leaving out Dumbledores funeral was a big mistake. It was one of the most moving moments of the whole Harry Potter series. Maybe I need to reread the book. IMO, this movie missed the mark on almost every level and was disappointing. So many scenes seemed awkward and slighted to me. Why was Ron sitting by himself at the end and Harry and Hermoine looking out over Hogwarts? Overall a rather shoddy job of storytelling.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Friday, August 14, 2009 - 9:18 am
I finally saw it yesterday. I was a bit disappointed for many of the reasons already listed. I understand that they are trying to lead up to the ending but so much was left out. To have Harry just stand there while Dumbledore is killed was ridiculous. I don't know why they didn't go with the book's way. I still love seeing the characters and I'm hoping they do the final two up right.
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Abby7
Member
07-17-2002
| Monday, August 17, 2009 - 11:26 pm
dh and i saw it a couple of weeks ago. dh, who is more up-to-date w/books didn't have a problem with the movie (i read some of your posts to him). we both enjoyed it. however, i didn't like how the end was handled. we saw the first 12 minutes in 3D (i loved it): http://www.movietickets.com/movie_detail.asp?movie_id=72007
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