Favorite / Best Harry Potter movie so far? v3 NOW WITH POLLING GOODNESS!!!

Title is rather explanatory. Go forth my lemmings!

I voted for POA, but shouldn't there be an option for GOF?

Anyway, I think POA is the best because it was directed fabulously, with stunning camera work, lighting and background detail, the best musical score, the best story, the best characterisation (people say Hermione was the focus and was a pink power ranger, but to me she was always a pink power ranger, and I don't know how you can say she is the focus when it's Harry who fights the dementors, Harry whose godfather is chasing Pettigrew, Harry who rides on Buckbeak, Harry who rides the Knight Bus, etc..) and the best acting. The change in the grounds was great, gave the landscape a real personality, and I think Cuaron managed to capture the pure spirit of the books without sticking rigidly to the plot.

:lol: I sense and anti GoF bias!

I voted for HBP. I would have voted for OotP, but I'm not a HBP thread junkie for nothing!!!

Errr whoops... Corrected now...

But I voted for HBP, not OOTP!!!

My vote changed when GoF was added!!!!

Can anyone change it back? :(

If you can't change it, OotP was my choice of the movies that are out...

I changed it. Guess the other votes are right still since they are in front of the GoF option. :)

I voted for CoS.
I hope to be able to vote for HBP, after it comes out, but there is always the chance that I will be disappointed. I hope not but only time and watching the movie will tell.

OotP was my choice. :)

I am sure HBP will be very good but I can't vote for something I've not seen yet. :D

I was torn between PoA and OotP but I voted for OotP. Neville is awesome in it, Luna is introduced, and Dan does his best acting to date.

Just as Mad_Druid, I was torn between OotP and PoA.
But I voted the fifth movie, PoA has the best cinematography and directing, but the screenplay is really bad.

Anyway, I think POA is the best because it was directed fabulously, with stunning camera work, lighting and background detail, the best musical score, the best story, the best characterisation (people say Hermione was the focus and was a pink power ranger, but to me she was always a pink power ranger, and I don't know how you can say she is the focus when it's Harry who fights the dementors, Harry whose godfather is chasing Pettigrew, Harry who rides on Buckbeak, Harry who rides the Knight Bus, etc..) and the best acting. The change in the grounds was great, gave the landscape a real personality, and I think Cuaron managed to capture the pure spirit of the books without sticking rigidly to the plot.

Could not have said it better myself :tu::tu:

I think the acting in this film was great (Emma pre eyebrow takeover...thanks Newell! :grumble:) and everyone was on top form. POA got the feeling right moreso than Order..which was ALMOST there..but not quiet.

I'm still hoping and waiting for a film to top POA. But overall this film just is the most solid. John Williams soundtrack is AMAZING and works VERY well with the film and the fact that 'A Window From the Past' wasn't used in OOTP makes it not the best for me by default :lol::lol::lol:

I have voted for HBP. I know it's not out yet, but it was my second favorite book and I really think they are going to create the movie to be like the book in many ways. My second favorite Harry Potter movie is OotP, than GoF, PoA, CoS, and SS. It may be in order, but this is the order of how I like them.

I voted for OotP, but PoA is a close second.

GoF. I would have actually voted for CoS but I prefer GoF because I think it was the best. COS was the closest in that it followed the book extremley well.

PS/SS. Although I was torn between it and CoS. I loved how Columbus as director, and he did an amazing job introducing the wizarding world. I also loved how close to the book it remained.(Even though that is why many people hate it. :lol:) I don't have as many problems with these two as I do the rest of the series.

I picked OoTP. I really like how this one was done and I think it is the one that stayed most true to the book and even had little things that only avid book fans would catch.

I hope HBP is going to be good, but we will just have to wait and see :whistle:

POA - They just did the time turner scene so well and the dementors "shudder"

I voted for PoA too. It was amazing. :D I really loved all of the suttle hints at Time throughout the movie, the great acting performances of Gary Oldman and David Thewlis, and most of all just the dark sense of something bad coming that was present throughout the whole movie. They say that happened in OotP, but I really saw nothing like that. OotP was by far the worst movie.

Not a huge HP movie fan but I voted OotP

I voted for PoA too. It was amazing. :D I really loved all of the suttle hints at Time throughout the movie, the great acting performances of Gary Oldman and David Thewlis, and most of all just the dark sense of something bad coming that was present throughout the whole movie. They say that happened in OotP, but I really saw nothing like that. OotP was by far the worst movie.

I am amazed at how many people like PoA the best!:wow:

Yes the acting was great and Gambon probably portrayed his best Dumbledore...

BUT I hate Cuaron and the "creative liberties" that he took with that film!!!

The Characters are wrongly portrayed And it's missing the MARAUDERS STORY (NOT Kloves fault btw, it was CUT by Cuaron)

I also dislike the changing of Hogwarts, the PS/SS and CoS Hogwarts was SO MUCH Better and more architecturally aesthetic!

Here's how I rank them:

1. Sorcerer's Stone
2. Chamber of Secrets
3. Order of the Phoenix
4. Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Goblet of Fire

I am amazed at how many people like PoA the best!:wow:

I'm delighted. :rockon: :D That movie just has a beautiful feel to it. :)

I'm used to adaptors taking creative liberties with favourite books ;). And I've seen a lot worse. :cool:

I also dislike the changing of Hogwarts, the PS/SS and CoS Hogwarts was SO MUCH Better and more architecturally aesthetic!

I'm the complete opposite. :D I vastly prefer the Hogwarts aesthetics, the location of Hagrid's hut (past those extremely cool standing stones), surrounding Scottish mountains et al, from the Cuaron film onwards. :)

So far my two favourite HP films -- OotP and PoA -- are doing well in the poll! :tu:

Ok everyone in my last post I posted the list of the HP movies in order of how I like them and I voted for HBP, but I am regreting it. My birthday is comming up soon and I know that my mom knows how much I like the Harry Potter movies so she'll probally get me the rest of the HP movies that I don't have. I'm then going to have a Harry Potter movie marathon and then I'll post the real list of how I like them. Darn, I shouldn't have voted! Can I vote again? Gosh, I really gotta stop talking about myself. Please someone tell me if I'm talking about myself to much.

I chose Order of the Phoenix, mainly because of the AWESOME battle near the end. While I didn't like them not saying the full prophecy, I thought it stayed way closer to the book than GoF, and it's a longer book! Amazing job all in all, I think.

i voted for ootp but i love gof too...

GoF cut WAY too much of the story in between the tasks in my opinion. AWESOME book (it's my favorite) but I did not like the movie at all.

Yes the acting was great and Gambon probably portrayed his best Dumbledore...
And Mr. Gary Oldman playing Sirius Black :whistle: (:drool:). This one really had a great cast and good characters. The surprise at the end and the time turner thing on screen was done brilliantly, IMO.

BUT I hate Cuaron and the "creative liberties" that he took with that film!!!
I loved them! I think this is exactly what the film needed to get a boost into attracting more adult viewers and not just becoming "kids" movies. This one was so much more realistic, yet unrealistic and magical. I loved the way it looked.


The Characters are wrongly portrayed And it's missing the MARAUDERS STORY (NOT Kloves fault btw, it was CUT by Cuaron)
In your opion of course about the characters ;). I thought they were portrayed lovely especially by the new cast. I would be interested in discussing what was thought to to be so bad.

I agree about the Marauder's story, that was the movies biggest downfall (IMO). I was so upset when they didn't explain the map :sigh:


GoF cut WAY too much of the story in between the tasks in my opinion. AWESOME book (it's my favorite) but I did not like the movie at all.
While I wasn't crazy about the book, I agree too about the film. There are so many things that I didn't like about this one. Starting with the 20 min (exageration...I know) Dragon scene. I also would have liked to see the maze the way it was written, I don't like how they changed it into just a foliage eating machine.

I was happy that OoTP made up for it though. I think it is the best so far. It captured the darkness, the humor, the terror, of the book. I think the sreenwriter was great and stayed as true as possible to the book. The acting was :wow:, espcially Dan. It makes me very excited to see what they come up with for HBP.

I voted for POA because I think stands on it's own as not just a Harry Potter movie, But a Good Film. I think Alphonso Cuaron is a beautiful director.


BUT I hate Cuaron and the "creative liberties" that he took with that film!!!



I thought they made the movie more interesting and cool. I've read the books, I know how they go. I'm interested in seeing them adapted in a new medium. I think that Cuaron was the most successful in creating a good movie, and not just a book adaptation.

And I agree that Gambon was still in Dumbledoreland in POA. Then he left..

I loved the werewolf, it was spine-tingling. and The Whomping willow.

Plus, I would rather them leave stuff out than change things around.

OotP by far. It really captured the intensity of the books, had a very clear and coherent story, much better writing, actual depth to the characters, and featured the greatest wizard duel to ever be filmed. Goldenberg's script mostly did away with the cheesy attempts at humor and cornball lines found in Kloves' previous scripts. But it's not perfect; the dialogue is sometimes too treacly ("and I feel sorry for you!"), and the Cho storyline not well-resolved.

Goblet of Fire is runner-up, with good action and suspense, but it suffers badly from the aforementioned forced humor and corniness, and has some gaping plot holes.

Prisoner of Azkaban did steer the film series in the right direction, and also looked beautiful. However, Ron and Hermione didn't have much depth to them, and that brought the film down a bit for me.

BUT I hate Cuaron and the "creative liberties" that he took with that film!!!

The Characters are wrongly portrayed And it's missing the MARAUDERS STORY (NOT Kloves fault btw, it was CUT by Cuaron)

I also dislike the changing of Hogwarts, the PS/SS and CoS Hogwarts was SO MUCH Better and more architecturally aesthetic!

I couldn't have put it better myself. :tu: I was shocked at how little Cuaron understood of the story or the characters involved. Pretty pictures set to music is only going to get you so far - without the story and characters, it's just going to fall apart. I really wish Columbus had stayed on for that one - or that they had at least gotten a director who understood the story and the characters.

I also agree about the changes to the castle grounds. The look was all wrong and things were not where they should be. It just didn't have the right feel to it. The layout in the first two movies was the best.

Here's how I rank them:

1. Sorcerer's Stone
2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Chamber of Secrets
4. Goblet of Fire
5. Prisoner of Azkaban

I go back and forth on where I rank COS and GOF. I think COS was a more faithful adaption, but there are problems with the characters and things that just don't make any sense - like Hermione being the one to explain what "mudblood" meant. GOF was more accurate in regards to the characters, but the editing was a bit choppy and I think they focused too much on the tournament rather than the actual story.

SS and OOTP are definitely the best adaptions overall, IMO. They were both faithful to the story and accurate with characterization. My only complaint with SS is that they didn't have the budget necessary for good special effects - particularly the CGI. OOTP is a lot better in that regard. But I'm willing to overlook that because I understand budget constraints and, for me, the story and characterization is more important.

Anyway PoA is the best movie for me, and for a lady named J.K.Rowling too.
That settles me.

I'm unsure about my favourite. It has been a while since I've watched the films. I have my disappointments with all of them, PoA being having the most, and PoA would be my least favourite. The first two and just too boring and fluffy and do little for me, although they stay very true to the books. Goblet of Fire was a mess, IMO. OotP probably was the one I enjoyed the most, but only because I've seen it a couple of times and therefore having properly nitpicked over it. I think that HBP will be a lot better than the rest, purely because OotP was good and I trust Yates, and also because I feel that it's a book that can be condensed a lot and is perfect for a movie. So I chose HBP. :)

I am amazed by how many people like PoA. That was tied with OotP for worst films. GoF was simply the best. I mean, that was a masterpiece. I know there was weak parts and such, but give me a break. Here is how I rank.

1 - Best 4 - Worst

1. Goblet of Fire
2. Chamber of Secrets
3. Sorcerer's Stone
4. Order of the Pheonix
4. Prisoner of Azkaban

The most faithful adaption was CoS. It was an amazing movie. Really true to the book. I wish Columbus would have stayed for PoA, it wouldn't have been that horrible. SS was pretty good. A bit dull for a first, but it was an increddible adaption. GoF was amazing. I like what they cut and how they fixed what they cut. PoA and OotP, wow. OotP is defently better than PoA by like a half a point but they have too much rushing and cutting.

With music, GoF blows my mind away. OotP doesn't live up to GoF, but it is better than PoA. CoS and SS is really good though. PoA soundtrack, really annoying.

I hate the Mexican director for messing the HP movies up. He shouldn't have changed a THING. The best director was Mike Newell. Yates is a runner up, tied with Columbus. HBP will tell me if I like Yates. But the problem with OotP wasn't the director, as much as Goldberg. They should have waited for Kloves, it would have been a more faithful - to - the - book - movie.

OotP was really bad with how things happen. A good character dies and Harry says "O well, now we have something worth fighting for!" Whats that though? Love? Hate? Sirius? It didn't say!

PoA - HBP's DD is better than the SS - CoS DD. I think he is more... Idk, DDish...

GoF - 9/10
CoS - 7/10
SS - 6/10
OotP - 2.5/10
PoA - 2/10

HBP -

Needs to have a similar feeling to GoF and CoS, it's one of the reflecting books of the three, (though mostly CoS).

HBP - 8/9

I voted for the first movie (because, in my heart, it will always be a fave and the best) but really it's a tie between PoA, which I appreciate more with each viewing, and OotP, which was the first movie that I actually wanted to see in a theater more than once. There were so many good moments and the story was pretty tight- cuts aside I enjoyed the movie simply as a movie. The best bits, for me, were the opening bit where Harry saves Dudley. It set the tone for the whole movie has being darker even with the washed out brightness of the scenes. I also liked the fight scenes at the Ministry and Harry's possession by Voldemort. At no point did I even miss the cuts, because it all flowed together so well- my opinion, of course ;)

I'm shocked- how could people actually like OotP? It's supposed to be dark, yet there is not a single dark scene until the very end. It is the shortest film yet the longest book by far, and that they packed everything in there wasn't the case. There was so much wasted time with the stupid Filch scenes and waaay too much DA. And why was the veil transparent? That just looked dumb. "At least we have something that Voldemort doesn't, and that's something worth fighting for." That doesn't even make sense. Voldemort is fighting to take over the world, they're fighting to stop him from doing that. Just my opinion, but I absolutely hated almost everything about this film. :)

I voted for Goblet of Fire. I don't really know why I did that because I think PoA is actually my favourite. But GoF seems to me to be the film that had the least wrong with it. CoS is actually among my favourites too which is weird because it is my least favourite book.

I'm shocked- how could people actually like OotP? It's supposed to be dark, yet there is not a single dark scene until the very end. It is the shortest film yet the longest book by far, and that they packed everything in there wasn't the case. There was so much wasted time with the stupid Filch scenes and waaay too much DA. And why was the veil transparent? That just looked dumb. "At least we have something that Voldemort doesn't, and that's something worth fighting for." That doesn't even make sense. Voldemort is fighting to take over the world, they're fighting to stop him from doing that. Just my opinion, but I absolutely hated almost everything about this film. :)
:lol: Lol this post made me laugh but I agree, although I would say I hated the film.

I'm shocked- how could people actually like OotP? It's supposed to be dark, yet there is not a single dark scene until the very end. It is the shortest film yet the longest book by far, and that they packed everything in there wasn't the case. There was so much wasted time with the stupid Filch scenes and waaay too much DA. And why was the veil transparent? That just looked dumb. "At least we have something that Voldemort doesn't, and that's something worth fighting for." That doesn't even make sense. Voldemort is fighting to take over the world, they're fighting to stop him from doing that. Just my opinion, but I absolutely hated almost everything about this film. :)

I'm shocked by your comments... I find OotP to be the best of the films and it definetly is dark (not as much as the book but still darker than the previous installments.) Honestly, did we see the same movie??

I'm shocked- how could people actually like OotP?

Because it's a much better class of film than films one and two, IMO, which are charming but far too long and rambly. :)

I loved Harry's teenage angst, everything Filch, the DA scenes, that wonderful battle in the Department of Mysteries ... it was all great. :tu: I even liked Grawp. :) And I can't stand Grawp in the book. :p

Enjoyed it so much I saw it six times. ;) Definitely my favourite of the franchise so far. :)

I am delighted that OotP and PoA are doing so well in this poll! These are the best HP films in terms of quality film-making. Although GoF was pretty good too. :)

You give me faith, HP fans. ;)

I voted PoA because it's my favorite book and thus my favorite movie. I really enjoyed the director's style, the action, the storyline, and the music. My second choice would have to be OotP though, because it had great action as well (and it's my second favorite book in the series), as well as some great humorous points.

Because it's a much better class of film than films one and two, IMO, which are charming but far too long and rambly. :)

I loved Harry's teenage angst, everything Filch, the DA scenes, that wonderful battle in the Department of Mysteries ... it was all great. :tu: I even liked Grawp. :) And I can't stand Grawp in the book. :p

Enjoyed it so much I saw it six times. ;) Definitely my favourite of the franchise so far. :)

I am delighted that OotP and PoA are doing so well in this poll! These are the best HP films in terms of quality film-making. Although GoF was pretty good too. :)

You give me faith, HP fans. ;)

Well, I couldn't say better... OotP is also my favorite so far. Ron is more in character, i think Yates understood well the story and the characters. And Dolores Umbridge is simply obnoxious.

I'm shocked by your comments... I find OotP to be the best of the films and it definetly is dark (not as much as the book but still darker than the previous installments.) Honestly, did we see the same movie??I have to disagree... I didn't find it dark but for the opening dementor scene, and the final battle. PoA had that dark feel for nearly the entire film. And PoA just had this mysterious element, that you knew something wasn't what it seemed to be the whole film. I actually loved how they put in Pettigrew on the map and that scene, because it added another mystery to the plot which was all tied together at the end. IMO, PoA was much. much better than OotP. :)

I have to disagree... I didn't find it dark but for the opening dementor scene, and the final battle. PoA had that dark feel for nearly the entire film. And PoA just had this mysterious element, that you knew something wasn't what it seemed to be the whole film. I actually loved how they put in Pettigrew on the map and that scene, because it added another mystery to the plot which was all tied together at the end. IMO, PoA was much. much better than OotP.

I'll have to agree and disagree with your statement. I thought OotP was great too, Crazy Muggle. I was very pleased and yes, thought PARTS of it were dark. I think it could have been much darker (agreeing with you DeathlyH). You're right, PoA had a very mysterious, what's going to happen next kind of feel. It had a dark feeling throughout because of the Sirius being a mass murderer out to get Harry.

I do think that OotP was more haunting than anything. The music, the possession scene, how alone Harry feels throughout the entire film. We feel his pain and that he feels so separated from everyone else. IMO, OotP was more somber than dark.

GoF is 1st for me with OotP in a very, very, very close 2nd.

I think the best HP movie is OoTP. My points for this are few and far between, but I think they really "make" the film so to speak: ~it explains a lot without being over dramatic, and drawn out, ~the actors are much more grown up in this movie, which is important to character development as well as the plot of the book (parts of which were not put in the movie), ~the movie follows the story just enough not to make it boring (much like Chamber of Secrets!)

I think the main gripe I had about OoTP was the battle scene between DD and LV. It just didn't make me feel like I was actually watching two wizards.

Just my $0.02.
~SweaterVest014 :)

I voted for OotP. It's my favorite book because of the whole tyranical teacher plot, and Imelda Staunton did a fabulous job. Fred and George's escape is also brilliantly done.

I'm very easily influenced, though... Usually my favorite HP movie ends up being the one I have watched last. :whistle:

Goblet of Fire because although it had some really bad lines, I loved the long-haired-everyone, it didn't seem too long, minor characters were given worthwhile screentime and there just seemed to be the best synergy amongst the actors portraying the students.

PoA, no question. The acting was much improved from the first two (disregarding "He was their friend!" of course), but it was before the movies felt, to me, like a bunch of scenes thrown together. It felt like a movie. It's the only one I can watch again and again and never get sick of.

I love all the movies - except for the extremely cheesy lines, like "There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid" :lol: - but my favourite is Prisoner of Azkaban.

PoA is my favourite book and my favourite movie, and people usually think I'm insane because of this, because the movie butchered the Marauders plot-line which is a big reason I love the book so much. Yes, as an adaptation of the book, it left out a lot and added in annoying shrunken heads, but I liked the creativity. I don't go watch the movies to get a carbon-copy of the book in visual form, I go to get a different experience and that's what Cuaron gave us.

I loved the fade-ins/outs, the colours, the transitions in time with the whomping willow, the score, etc. I loved how they kept the mood dark with the crows and the sound of Macnair sharpening the blade, and the shots of the flowers dying around the dementors. The "Double, Double Toil and Trouble" theme song was a nice add-in, especially because it's from Macbeth which is Jo's favourite by Shakespeare (not to mention, it's a nice reference to the Weird Sisters). They did the Time Turner scenes extremely well so that it wasn't confusing. Overall I thought it was an amazing film and it can easily stand on its own.

I don't go watch the movies to get a carbon-copy of the book in visual form, I go to get a different experience and that's what Cuaron gave us.

It's so nice to hear this on the movie forum. :tu: I agree completely. :)

I too loved Cuaron's creativity. Such as:

I loved the fade-ins/outs, the colours, the transitions in time with the whomping willow, the score, etc. I loved how they kept the mood dark with the crows and the sound of Macnair sharpening the blade, and the shots of the flowers dying around the dementors. The "Double, Double Toil and Trouble" theme song was a nice add-in, especially because it's from Macbeth which is Jo's favourite by Shakespeare (not to mention, it's a nice reference to the Weird Sisters). They did the Time Turner scenes extremely well so that it wasn't confusing. Overall I thought it was an amazing film and it can easily stand on its own.

The Time Turner sequence was so well executed ... :agree:

I voted OOTP but right next to it, would be POA.

OOTP:
I really enjoyed OOTP, the script was great, I liked how we could recognized parts of the book (ex; emotional range of a tea spoon) and it was the most truthful from the book. Most of the acting was great, in particular Gambon who was better portrayed here than in GOF (Dumbledore really annoyed me in GOF, too over the top and non true to the book). Although Radcliffe is much better since COS, I think his best performances yet are in POA and OOTP. I loved the scenes where Harry shouts at Dumbledore, the legilimens scene with Rogue and the flashbacks, of course the duel scene and most of all, the feeling of sadness and despair Harry feels throughout the movie.

POA:
I almost voted for POA as the best movie, and this is strange in a way, as the book was my least favorite, but I found the movie great. The photography of this movie is the best, the script is excellent and the story flows well. The actors, particularly Lupin (Thewlis) was exceptional, he was not what I imagined him to be when I read the book, but at his first scene in the movie, I loved him. Every scene Lupin and Harry have together, is unique and moving. Also it's the movie where Sirius is introduced and I think it was done brilliantly, as in a very small amount of time, we go from Sirius Black the killer, to actually like him and miss him when he leaves at the end. Filming the time turning sequence could have been a disaster, but they succeded at demonstrating something not so easy to explain and made it something clear for all viewers.

You know, I never quite understood or accepted, the fact that Harry could not kill Pettigrew in Hagrid's hut the 2nd time when he had the chance, but watching the movie I finally understood why it was best not to do so.

So my list would go like this:

1- OOTP
2- POA
3- GOF
4- COS
5- SS

I'll have to agree and disagree with your statement. I thought OotP was great too, Crazy Muggle. I was very pleased and yes, thought PARTS of it were dark. I think it could have been much darker (agreeing with you DeathlyH). You're right, PoA had a very mysterious, what's going to happen next kind of feel. It had a dark feeling throughout because of the Sirius being a mass murderer out to get Harry.

I do think that OotP was more haunting than anything. The music, the possession scene, how alone Harry feels throughout the entire film. We feel his pain and that he feels so separated from everyone else. IMO, OotP was more somber than dark.


The problem with OotP, IMO, is that it was so foggy. By foggy, I mean that it did not have a specific focus. Yes, the theme was obviously isolation, but the exact plot was so hodge podge and all over the place that I just felt like I was watching a slideshow of events, rather than a story.

Overall, I felt there was a lack of feeling, flavor, or otherwise emotional pull. It didn't make me feel anything because, IMHO, it was very bland, with subplots that we could've done without and too many characters. Why have Lupin if we are not going to ever register his existence?

The emotion in individual scenes, too, did not linger and overlap into future scenes. After Harry sees his father being a git, wouldn't he be a little bit upset? No, he moves on into the next scene like it's no biggie. And, after Sirius dies, I missed Harry's anger. I understand why they cut CAPS!Harry from most of the film, but here I think that it was necessary.

And! Speaking of CAPS!Harry... if we were going to replace him with Moody!Harry, why does he state in his letter: "I'm just so angry... all the time." Harry isn't angry all the time at all. Why does he write that to Sirius?

I felt the characterizations of certain characters were thrown off (Sirius, Dumbledore...), Grawp and Kreacher had no place in the movie (I can understand the insertion of Kreacher after Jo's advice, but why not replace Grawp with Dobby and make his inclusion worthwhile?), and the unclear streamline for the movie made me dislike it. It is my least favorite.

My favorite Harry Potter movie is Prisoner of Azkaban. It is a standalone movie and carries the essence of the book throughout: IMO, many somebodies who haven't read the books, or maybe seen the other movies, can understand the plot and what's going on. Certain things that aren't necessarily necessary were cut, making a streamlined, focused movie with beautiful shots and an emotional pull. Despite some icky lines ("he was their FRIEND!" and "is that what my hair looks like from the back?!"), I felt that the characterizations of Dumbledore, Remus, Harry, and many of the other characters were spot on. This is Gambon's finest work as Dumbledore, IMO, and I think that many people would agree that his energy and quirky "tea party attitude" befits Dumbledore really splendidly here.

I don't go watch the movies to get a carbon-copy of the book in visual form, I go to get a different experience and that's what Cuaron gave us.

Exactly :D

I voted for POA, but shouldn't there be an option for GOF?

Anyway, I think POA is the best because it was directed fabulously, with stunning camera work, lighting and background detail, the best musical score, the best story, the best characterisation (people say Hermione was the focus and was a pink power ranger, but to me she was always a pink power ranger, and I don't know how you can say she is the focus when it's Harry who fights the dementors, Harry whose godfather is chasing Pettigrew, Harry who rides on Buckbeak, Harry who rides the Knight Bus, etc..) and the best acting. The change in the grounds was great, gave the landscape a real personality, and I think Cuaron managed to capture the pure spirit of the books without sticking rigidly to the plot.

i agree with everything just said.

Oh bother, I made a mistake. I meant to vote for Chamber of Secrets and I clicked on GoF instead. :blush:

I liked CoS because it was closer to the book, and Tom Riddle was so marvelously well-cast. It was also the first time we saw Jason Isaacs as Lucius, and the casting there was perfect also.

GoF - there were too many things cut out, and too many changes I disagreed with. So, I can't change my vote, but I want to put what I feel on record here. :)

I'm torn between my choice of the best movie. I have two that are so close together POA and OOTP, but both have negative points for me but also some very good points, so i can't chose :lol:

POA- I loved this so much,i think they time turner sequence was done so well and Alfonso kept so many good things in the movie. It had amazing camera angles and effect, transformations between the scenes were good too, and they acting choices and acting overall (excluding ''He was their friend!!'') was brilliant, i overall enjoyed the film. however there are a few things that irritated me, just a few points, i didn't like the marauders explanations cut out, although it didn't cause too much of a stir i guess i found it enjoyable in the book. Also just small lines htat made it annoying: 'Is that what my hair looks like from the back?' and the random student that had more lines than ginny 'It;s like catching smoke with your bare hands'. But i must say overall it was brilliant, landscape, lighting, brilliant!! :)

OOTP- I really enjoyed this in the cinema. But again, i though parts of ti were great, and other parts maybe weren't so great. I loved the transformations between scenes, the daily prophet things that moved into different scenes were amazing and really kept the movie flowing. the acting was amazing, and the new cast additions were in my eyes perfect for thier roles as far as i am comcerned. The ministry scenes blew me away, the effects were fantastic only i wished it could have been longer. It was the longest book but Yates made it into the shortest film...the death of Sirius wasn't...wasn't what i expected in my own mind but it still blew me away, and i admit i cried. Dan's acting had improved so much, expecially in the posession scene where his emotions really made me blub. i loved the music and how the lines were taken from the book whcih was a great touch to the film. However, i felt that some parts were too rushed and could have been longerm or other parts added in. Mainly the pace i guess of the film wasn't so good, and the 3 second Snapes worst memory which i would have liked to have been longer :lol: And only one acting part annoyed me and unfortunately it was Emma. She's a great actress but in some of it her over reactions really killed some scenes for me, and makes me cringe, but otherwise i love the film a lot!!!

I voted for PoA. My first instinct was PS/SS, but I think that PoA really found the balance between magical fun and a dark storyline. The movie was the most alive, in my opinion.

I voted OotP. It was pretty good, plus it had Helena Bonham Carter whom I love.

Even after four year, PRISONER OF AZKABAN is still the best. At least for me.

The Chamber of Secrets.
Because, after watching all movies (till HP 5) I find this the most mature, and the most Harry Potter of all.

I think in the future, all the FX of HP 3,4,5, very attractive movies for kids indeed, are old and gone, this movie 2 be the most valuable of all for it´s quality and for being the most Harry Potter of all.

Then, HP 3. Yes, another of my favs, HP 4 is not that far, I like it too.

But definitely:::: OOTP is the worst of all!!!! Is not because is a bad movie as a movie: It has great actings (Imelda Staunton) and Dumbledore was far away better than Dumby in HP 4... but what a waste of all the best moments in the book, what a waste.
Total dissapointment!! I just can´t watch this without thinking about the dissapointment...
Just look at the Dumby vs Voldy battle, gosh, gosh, so fast and they focus on Harry XD Gosh, no words. Well, all the battles were so short. While we have a lot of BORING unnecessary stuff.

The Order is one of my favorites books, this as well as Prisioner of Azkaban... but not the movie.

For sure I am not interested in the next Yates films, as far as I have seen (No Dumbledore funeral, adding Bellatrix and stuff where they should not be. Happy endings, less drama, more teenagers affairs. No Dobby in HP 7) looks terrible, terrible.

I voted for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In ranking order?

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I do love them all, but have a slight prefence. Phoenix was amazing for the fight scenes at the end, but I love Stone for the feast, castle at night and Quidditch scenes. Love Goblet for the yule ball, the task scenes were okay, Harry with Cedric's body was...terrible in my opinion. :D

I'm so surprised that people liked OotP. I agree with what JustAnIllusion said a few posts before this. There's just no focus of this movie. They switch so often from Harry's disturbed dreams about Voldemort and the Department of Mysteries to the ridiculous DA scenes (and Filch... :grumble: x 100). And maybe it's even better that Harry had basicly no reaction to Sirius' death because if we were only seeing their relatiobship through OotP it wouldn't seem like they were that close.

Cuaron did an incredible job with the scene coming out of the Whomping Willow where Sirius and Harry talked by the castle. Meanwhile in OotP we see them together for about two minutes of screentime and they don't show much emotion around each other at all. Throw in the three second long Snape's Worst Memory, the fantastically cheesy line at the end (which doesn't even make sense) and the super animated-movie like Filch/DA scenes, and you have the worst HP movie of them all: Order of the Phoenix.

Unsurprisingly, I voted for POA. It is still after all this time the best produced and realised HP film IMO, and after reading all seven books I also think myself that it did the best adaptations of the themes and characters needed at the time to help us on our way to DH. Yes, the Marauder plot was underhanded in the film, but after seeing how little that plays out in the final two books and thus films you realise that they aka the Marauders, are more of a nice footnote than anything and that the key element of their point, the friendship and betrayal by Pettigrew of it, WAS shown well in the film itself.

I couldn't choose between Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix. -sighs longingly-

So I chose HBP. Who knows, it might be good.

Oh I forgot to mention, very important, Philosopher´s Stone. Yeap, as well as Chamber of Secrets.
Probably I like HP 2 even more, but HP 1 is HP 1. Totally Harry Potter, both, the best of the movies concerning the books. Already classics, both.

So thus far the fan order of favorite movies are:

POA
OOTP
GOF
PS/SS
HBP (:lol:)
COS

That's pretty much the order of my favs personally (Well except HBP...I think it's hilarious that even though it's unreleased it's STILL better liked than CoS :lol::lol::lol:)

One thing I think would be interesting for everyone to try is watch the films in fav order. I watched POA and OOTP back to back the other day and I REALLY enjoyed that...they bounce off of each other better than I thought. Here's hoping HBP replaces POA as my fav..it's been to long..I'm ready to have a new one :lol:

What's interesting to me is the huge margin by which the last 3 movies are preferred over the first two. On a forum like this I would expect the opposite, as I know a lot of people on here love the canon and plot heavy style of those first two movies. I'm glad people know a good film when they see one, irrespective of how much plot it has. Come on POA!

For me OOTP was the best of the films to date, it held all of the crucial plot points yet was well paced and had some good action. It gets my vote.

Still I'm frankly dissapointed but not really surprised that POA polled so well. In my opinion Cuaron did a great deal of damage to the HP stories on film and the whole film was a complete and utter shambles as far as I was concerned. Still as I said it's unsurprising that it has polled so well as Cuaron seems to have an almost fanatical support base here and being consistantly derided and mocked for criticising him and his style is what stopped me from participating in the movie discussions.

With that in mind I'll be content in having had my vote and I'll probably be having very little else to do with this discussion.

What's interesting to me is the huge margin by which the last 3 movies are preferred over the first two. On a forum like this I would expect the opposite, as I know a lot of people on here love the canon and plot heavy style of those first two movies. I'm glad people know a good film when they see one, irrespective of how much plot it has. Come on POA!

Well, technically it's not a huge margin between the last 3 and the first 2 because SS and GoF seem to be considered Equal!

I do find it a bit odd, PoA and OotP are EQUAL, GoF and SS are EQUAL, and CoS is just doing TERRIBLE!

Even HBP is doing better than CoS and it's not even released yet!!! :lol::lol::lol:

I was hoping we could define a CLEAR Fan Favorite, but there is 2 constantly battling it out for the Top Spot, neither has pulled away! :sigh:

Despite the fact that the first two movies were the most "book based" movies so far, IMO, they weren't the best. I think that because they just went on and on...... There was none of that magical humour in them that came along ver often in the books.

And POA was a huge step out because you could see difference in the lighting, the clothes etc. It was very obvious that another director had directed. I didn't choose this because it didn't fit my personal description of the book. To be honest after seeing the movie my favourite book is no longer PoA. (I liked it though.. just not as much) It also cut out the three ideas that were my favourite. One was the whole marauder thing.. that was my favourite aprt. Next I wanted to see them win the cup :(
And third I wanted to see a serious Harry and Sirius connection and the story to be perfect. I wanted him to see that this was his fathers best friend. I wanted him to see his afther in his mind (being a rebel and whatnot)

I didn't choose GoF because.. IMO it was awkward. It seemed wrong everytime someone talked because of *** way it was made IMO.

I chose OotP because I think even though it cut out quite a bit that it was pretty straight forward. I seemed the most as to what I imagined. I thought it was really good.

I chose GoF.

I watched the movies in order pretty recently, and was actually surprised that GoF was now my favorite. I'd thought PoA would be, but I really feel like GoF kept all the characters the same as the books. Ron is quite funny and a bit sulky, Harry is the unlikely fumbling hero with a dry wit, and Hermione is a bossy smarty pants with a mothering complex. The only person ooc is Dumbledore, for obvious reasons. And best of all, the characters are all given the appropriate amount of screentime. In PoA, I hated that Hermione got sort of blown up to something more than she is in the books, and I hate-hate-HATE that she got Ron's line of "If you want to kill Harry you'll have to kill us, too" in the Shrieking Shack. That is RON's line,and so important in showing Ron's loyalty and bravery.

I felt like GoF managed to really capture the feel of the book series, too. It had the light, funny moments that make me love the books and characters so much, but it also had the dark, creepy moments that need to happen for the story to remain true. I think Newell made the right choices in what to cut and what to keep, though Gambon needed serious directing in the Great Hall scene. But I loved how the tasks were translated to film, they were really scary, I thought. I kind of felt like Ron, where actually watching Harry take on the Tasks made me more aware of how dangerous they actually would be for his character. And Hermione made me cry in the Yule Ball scene. The bit I would've liked to be improved was Harry's crying over Cedric. But that aside, I think the younger actors give their best performances in this movie.

OotP is probably my least favorite. I felt like if I hadn't read the book, I'd have not understood what was happening. It seemed jumbled and patchy, with a bunch of short scenes being played out of sequence. I did enjoy Daniel Radcliffe's performance, but I felt Emma Watson didn't do a very good job in this movie. She seemed to over-act. And Rupert Grint was a bit hard to hear at some parts, because he mumbled his lines. Michael Gambon was consistant in not playing Dumbledore properly... but that's for another thread, I'm sure :-P

Order of the Phoenix by a mile. It is the only one of the movies so far that I actually enjoyed. The previous four were enjoyable I suppose, but really, had absolutely nothing on the books IMO. OotP however, I felt, really captured the book, and worked a whole lot better because of it. Also, it does help that Luna Lovegood was better than I could ever have imagined, and Ginny, Neville and the trio are all improving rapidly. Daniel and Rupert in particular did a brilliant job last time round. Even Gary Oldman, who I greatly disklike as Sirius got my tick of approval.

I can't see how HBP is going to translate very well to film. I don't care enough about Gambon as Dumbeldore to be moved by his death, in fact I'll probably be cheering, and Draco, being cast as such a charicature in the previous films, will not make a very good transition to the serious and troubled character he is in book 6. I'm sure however, that, as usual, Alan Rickman will save the day, and they'll do an alright job regardless.

Order Of The Phoenix Ftw!!!

I voted for ootp
I think that hbp will be very good if the book is anything to go by, but as we know the films do not usually live up to the books which is a shame, but i think that most of the hp films so far have, but we can only wait till the movie actually comes out before we decide anything,

OotP is probably my least favorite. I felt like if I hadn't read the book, I'd have not understood what was happening. It seemed jumbled and patchy, with a bunch of short scenes being played out of sequence. I did enjoy Daniel Radcliffe's performance, but I felt Emma Watson didn't do a very good job in this movie. She seemed to over-act. And Rupert Grint was a bit hard to hear at some parts, because he mumbled his lines. Michael Gambon was consistant in not playing Dumbledore properly... but that's for another thread, I'm sure :-PI agree. Once again, I still think that OotP did not have any specific focus or plot... it was very confusing for non-readers as a couple of my friends told me afterwards. PoA, on the other hand, was very clearly laid out, with a clear plot the whole time, thus showing the Sirius posters, the dementors on the lake... PoA is the superior film by far, and OotP is the inferior one by far. IMO.

My favorite would have to be Order of the Phoenix. Even thought they forgot to put alot of the important stuff into it (prophecy, Neville's parents, etc.) the acting in this film was phenomenal.

Despite it's many deficiencies I think OotP is the best one. The pace is good for a movie and the acting of Imelda Staunton and Evanna Lynch is outstanding. The trio's acting is a lot better also. Emma finally seems to have her eyebrows under control in this one.:lol:

The biggest error in the movie is how Ginny, Luna and Neville just seem to "apparate" in Umbridge's office. If you have not read the book it just does not make any sense.

I loved all the films, but my favourite is PoA, because it didn't go on for too long, not much was cut out of it and it's also my favourite book.

My favorite would have to be Order of the Phoenix. Even thought they forgot to put alot of the important stuff into it (prophecy, Neville's parents, etc.) the acting in this film was phenomenal.

The more I watch that movie the more I see how AMAZING the acting is. I think it was just odd because I was so used to them acting badly :lol:

But I can honestly say after watching all the films recently that OOTP was the first time I didn't see Dan Radcliffe ACTING like Harry Potter...he WAS Harry Potter. Even Dudley in the beginning isn't as bad as I thought originally....and Emma...I know Yates had a hard time with her but it payed off...she was SO natural through most of the movie. There are of course points where she over does it but I am REALLY impressed with her in Order. If there's one thing I'm excited about with HBP is the acting...I bet we're going to be BLOWN away.

Also I didn't realize how CHEESY COS was until recently...although that's mostly a script thing. It's just soooo corny (Not just the ending I might add although that is a part of it :lol:)

I also see now the OOTP is leading as favorite...come on my POA lovers! We must take back first place :evil: lol

Well I think POA was the best The GOF follows and I hope HBP isn't disappointment

I'm another POA supporter. What can I say, the marauders introduced.

I also liked how there was a real context, like you knew where things were a bit, instead of just all these random corridors.

The dementors were fantastic too, as well as some of the screenshots.

Although, I hated the werewolf - it was way to big, in OotP doesn't it say that there were only a few minor differences like the tufted tail.

I also liked the OotP movie due to Evanna Lynch - Luna's my favourite character after the marauders, but the soppy ending of OotP ruined it for me.

Im a CoS and GoF Supporter and PoA and OotP hater.

All you go to bloody .... :rockon: what? is a song! :whistle:

I pick the Order as the best. Pretty good considering it was an 800 page book turned into a 2 and 1/2 hour movie.Thought it was just a really good movie and I felt that the important plot scenes weren't really left out for the most part. I am not going to be all upset if they don't get everything in. Lots of good acting in my opinion. Loved Luna, Umbridge was worse than in the books for me! I absolutely hated her in the movies. Great acting. Dan did his best in OotP. Oh yeah the Voldemort/Dumbledore scene was awesome, first awesome dueling scene in all the movies. I thought the positives outweighed the negatives.

I voted for the Order the the Pheonix, because in my opinion that is the best movie made so far. I was thinking about voting for the Half Blood Prince, but seeing how I haven't seen it, and it could be a total flop (though hopefully it wont be), I chose to stay safe and vote for The Order of the Pheonix. I like the fifth movie because it has some really good acting in it compared to some of the previous movies, the whole movie in my opinion had a different feel, that I liked. :D And overal it was awesome except for a few small scenes that they could of done better.

I would have to say Prisoner of Azkaban. I really like the scenes that they added on in that one. Especially the time-turner stuff.

I voted for POA which I loved, and I think it's the best made of the 5 films so far. It's not perfect but it's close. The look and feel, the pacing, music, special effects, all are spot on. I've always liked Dan as Harry but I especially like him in this, he's actually allowed to show a bit more personality, and I thought his chemistry with both David as Lupin & Gary as Black was excellent. In fact, I perferred the warmer take on Harry & Sirius's relationship in this movie to the more tenative and awkward connection they make in the book.

OOTP is my second favorite, it had great performances & set design, and I really liked the music. The scenes towards the end at the department of mysteries were strangely beautiful. Unfortunately, I think there are some pacing problems and sloppy moments. Cho was not properly introduced & her story was not resolved, for one.

I thought Newell did a good job with GOF too. Actally, I'm pretty fond of all the movies so far. Columbus's films are kind of pokey but he did establish the look of the wizarding world that the other directors have built on and assembled a wonderful cast, for the most part.

I voted for OOTP. I thought the acting was better than it had been in the past, and I really liked how the themes (of power, for example) were dealt with so extensively as well as the plot. I love the scene after Harry's kiss with Cho, when he's with Ron and Hermione in the common room. The acting is so natural there :)
My second favourite is POA. I thought the Time Turner stuff was cleverly done, and I liked the directing.

I voted for GOF, but POA came a very close second. It (Azkaban) had the advantage of having a good plot, good characters, good directing, and (mostly) good acting - but Goblet had one thing all the others lack - the most fantastic score! Patrick Doyle took the groundwork that John Williams had laid down (brilliantly :) ) and led us into another realm. It was superb, subtle where needed, dramatic, exciting - everything that the movie deserved. I, for one, would love to see him return, but I think the final movie is a done deal.

I see into the future: The Half Blood Prince will be awesome!

I was torn between POA and GOF. I eventually picked POA because it's the one I watch the most often of all the movies that are out. I love Lupin.....

I like it as original and pure as possible, Hollywood can bugger off!

Philosopher's Stone without a question =)

OoTP FTW. It's my favorite book and favorite movie.

I was torn between SS/PS and OotP...

SS/PS cuz it's the movie/bok that started it all.
OotP cuz there are some AWESOME action scenes!!!

ultimately.....I voted OftP :D:D

I love PoA and OotP. I didn't really know what to think of OotP the first time I saw it, but its really grown for me and it got my vote, but PoA is definitely a very close second.

In OotP I really enjoyed the montages, the music was good and I liked when they had music playing in Gryffindor Tower, Grawp was great, the acting was so much better than in previous films, I liked the feel of the film, I enoyed the way the portrayed angry/moody Harry, Umbridge and Luna were good too and I loved how much they managed to include from the book, even if the book is my least favourite. :D
I think the only things I didn't like about the film was the dialogue in certain parts, I got the feeling that things were being said just because it was written in the book. Like Harry saying Cho was crying when they kissed (I didn't see any tears) and when Fred and George saying they thought they could hear Harry's 'dulcet tones' and telling him not to bottle up his anger when Dan wasn't even shouting.
Harry's 'I feel sorry for you' and 'we have something worth fighting for lines' were silly imo too.

I really liked PoA too though.
The dementors were great, the scene on the train was really well done, I liked the shrunken heads, I enjoyed Harry threatening Vernon when he was leaving Privet Drive. The use of the Whomping Willow was good too, I liked that the film showed the seasons change, not like GoF. The time sequence was great, and I loved the feel of the film too. Snape teaching DADA was funny too and the time turner part was done really well too. I'm actually not even bothered that they cut out the bit about the Marauders, its not really that important. Peter was called Wormtail in GoF and Harry referred to Sirius as Padfoot in OotP so its not been left out the films completely and people wo haven't read the books can figure out who made the map if they really wanted to.
I don't think anything in PoA bothered me apart from the freezeframe thing at the end, and the 'He was their friend!' scene.

I can't see how HBP is going to translate very well to film. I don't care enough about Gambon as Dumbeldore to be moved by his death, in fact I'll probably be cheering
I agree, I've been worried about the HBP film since I read the book. Not because of the actors, I just don't think the memories are going to work well and I kind of wish they weren't bringing quidditch back, though I guess they want to include it in this film because its their last chance.

i liked ootp followed by poa and cos i cant wait for hbp

I love them all and found it so hard to choose!!

I voted PoA, but OoTP comes in as a close second (just!). Like so many others have said, I loved the time-turner scenes in PoA, and I also loved it when Harry rode Buckbeak. I was also impressed with how well the movie adapted, given that it was the first one with a new director (and a new Dumbledore too!). I was bracing myself to be disappointed, but I wasn't. :tu:

I really enjoy watching OotP. I think it is my favorite, though it was so hard to choose between it and PoA.

Azkaban.

Although I might be biased because it's my favorite book.

I'm quite fond of OotP though - and that was my least favorite book - so, go figure. In fact, I actually thought OotP was better than the book (*ducks flying fruit*): the scene in the end where Harry drove out LV by remembering his loved ones and realizing that LV didn't have strength actually gave the story some meaning.

I really enjoy watching OotP. I think it is my favorite, though it was so hard to choose between it and PoA.

I dunno why, but I found OotP insatiably boring. I couldn't watch it more than twice, and the second time was a strain... of course, I didn't attempt again until it came to HBO, but even then I couldn't make myself sit and be entertained.

I feel it hasn't much flavor; it's all a bit bland. The themes are hitting us over the head: ISOLATION, ISOLATION! Yet, the path of plot and exact storyline, as well as the single goal in the movie, is muddled. Too many characters, pointless inclusions like Grawp, and a few major plotholes later... because I didn't feel anything when watching it, OotP is my least favorite film. I mean, I hated GoF, but at least I'll watch it again, if just to laugh.

Anyway.. PoA got my vote :D I watch that everytime it comes on.

I dunno why, but I found OotP insatiably boring. I couldn't watch it more than twice, and the second time was a strain... of course, I didn't attempt again until it came to HBO, but even then I couldn't make myself sit and be entertained.
I feel the same way when I watch POA, it seems to stray so far from the characters and the story it's almost unrecognisable from the book never mind the cartoony comedy attempts.

I still feel that OoTP was the best to date, fast paced and few irrelevant scenes.

I wanted to vote for the SS/PS but when I read the parenthesized description of HBP, I was tempted and gave in..lol

I really the movie would give my vote justice..lol

As for the other movies, well, everyone has his own preference, right?..just don't think PoA, GoF, and OotP were given the right treatment for their movies..

I voted for PoA. It's always been my favorite and it definitely has the best acting, as well as an amazing camera work. It's also the only movie where I like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore... in GoF and OotP, he's far too harsh and demanding for my liking. (I really hope that will change in HBP...)

OotP comes pretty close though, especially because the scene with Sirius makes me cry all the time.

OoTP is my personal favourite. My favourite book too actually. PoA is really exceptional too - I love the atmosphere of it, and the characters really came into their own. They felt like real teenagers too for the first time I think.

OoTP first. PoA second. Hopefully HBP will be as good as these or even better!!

Half-Blood Prince is gonna be the best. It has always been my favorite out of all seven books. The storyline is the most intriguing, and has the most meaning. It's where most of the things that Harry needs to do and why different things happened is explained, like the prophecy, the Horcruxes, etc.

Ok I am changing my vote. (well I can't change it on the poll, but I will say it here.) Mine used to be Order of the Phoenix but now it's Half-Blood Prince. Yes I know it's not out yet, but from what I can see in the trailer, it's going to be good. :tu:

I wanted to vote for the SS/PS but when I read the parenthesized description of HBP, I was tempted and gave in..lol

I really the movie would give my vote justice..lol

As for the other movies, well, everyone has his own preference, right?..just don't think PoA, GoF, and OotP were given the right treatment for their movies..

I agree. Though, I have to say, GoF was a lot better than PoA, and had a lot more of the central plot than OotP.

I think they should have rearanged the CASTLE and NOT the grounds. It ruined it and was waay to obvious. Though, I do like the darker tone. Its ashame Columbus chose not to return though. I would have loved to see what he did with PoA and wheather or not he would have picked Gambon as Dumbledore.

Half-Blood Prince has more votes than PS/SS and CoS put together :lol:

It's too late now, but I wish I could change my vote to HBP. From the looks of the trailer, that one's going to be better than PoA. But I'll just have to wait and see I suppose. I'm hoping that DH turns out to be the best (or two best) of all of them. :D

I agree. Though, I have to say, GoF was a lot better than PoA, and had a lot more of the central plot than OotP.

I think they should have rearanged the CASTLE and NOT the grounds. It ruined it and was waay to obvious. Though, I do like the darker tone. Its ashame Columbus chose not to return though. I would have loved to see what he did with PoA and wheather or not he would have picked Gambon as Dumbledore.

Columbus was the one who picked Gambon. He saw him on stage in London, thought he was perfect for the Dumbledore role, and pushed for him to get the part.

I agree. Though, I have to say, GoF was a lot better than PoA, and had a lot more of the central plot than OotP.


it was way better than PoA! and the trailer was really good, in fact, way too good that I was quite disappoint when I saw the movie itself[no sarcasm there]..lol


I think they should have rearanged the CASTLE and NOT the grounds. It ruined it and was waay to obvious. Though, I do like the darker tone. Its ashame Columbus chose not to return though. I would have loved to see what he did with PoA and wheather or not he would have picked Gambon as Dumbledore.

yes, I still wonder how PoA, GoF, and OotP would have gone Columbus still directed them..I heard he was big fan of the book, and it showed in SS/PS and CoS..

yes, I still wonder how PoA, GoF, and OotP would have gone Columbus still directed them..I heard he was big fan of the book, and it showed in SS/PS and CoS..

Yes it definitely showed. Meaning the films were, imo, boring. I didn't want a carbon copy of the book. If I did, I would have just READ THE BOOK! You want to see your favourite book as a visual medium, use your imagination. The films are adaptations because they adapt from the source material to create a story that suits fans and general moviegoers.

That is why - as judged by the poll above - films like PoA and OoTP are people's favourites, because they took from the books and excited it. They differ from the books, to their advantage, and people who like PS/CoS simply because they stayed true to the books amaze me, for even Rowling has expressed her admiration for the later films.

Out of the first five movies,I pick GOF.It was so fun to see Snape banging Harry and Ron's heads with he book.Also Cedric's father crying after his son's death has been the most sentimental thing in the whole series.There is also the fact that I really feel :love: for someone cast only for GOF.So hot:lol:

I like Prisoner of Azkaban the best. Alfonso Cuaron is the best director of the series. He did a better job than Columbus before him. Columbus made the movies too childlike and Cuaron came in, giving it his own brand of magic.

I like GOF for the Voldemort scene!! I loved how Ginny seemed to grow up more in that film as well But, the overall best made and entertaining movie so far is POA!! That is so well made. I LOVE the camera work and the over all look of the film. The climax in the shrieking shack was fantastic!! I always jump at Snape coming in off camera in the backround in that scene!!

I like GOF for the Voldemort scene!! I loved how Ginny seemed to grow up more in that film as well But, the overall best made and entertaining movie so far is POA!! That is so well made. I LOVE the camera work and the over all look of the film. The climax in the shrieking shack was fantastic!! I always jump at Snape coming in off camera in the backround in that scene!!
I agree in part to that, the outdorr setting and camera work in POA were a vast improvement over that in COS, I only wish they could have made a similar improvement in telling the story and faithfully representing the characters which, IMO, they destroyed. The interior sets looked kind of dirty and dingy in that film too.

This is a toughie because both Order of the Phoenix and Prisoner of Azkaban were pretty good. They both seemed like the movies that related most to the books. They had a minimal amount of those cheesy lines that they add for humor, and in both the action is intense, and the characters as a trio face important decisions together, and they show that very well in the movies.

Yes it definitely showed. Meaning the films were, imo, boring. I didn't want a carbon copy of the book..

..That is why - as judged by the poll above - films like PoA and OoTP are people's favourites, because they took from the books and excited it


hmmm..curious..I was rather quite bored with PoA, GoF, and OotP..must be a matter of preference then..


If I did, I would have just READ THE BOOK! You want to see your favourite book as a visual medium, use your imagination.


well, you actually don't see the visualisation of the book with your own eyes when you just use your imagination, do you?..


The films are adaptations because they adapt from the source material to create a story that suits fans and general moviegoers.


i know don't have a background on film adaptation and whatever rules or guidelines they have and follow as to what a GOOD adaptation is, but it doesn't really to me -- I still didn't like how the concerned movies have been made, and i'm sticking to it..and like i said, it's just a matter of preference..if the general movie-goers prefer the treatment of the film professionals, it's ok..it's their choice..


They differ from the books, to their advantage, and people who like PS/CoS simply because they stayed true to the books amaze me, for even Rowling has expressed her admiration for the later films.

well, i was surprised when i first heard JK said that, to be honest..

and if you're wondering why I like PS and CoS just because the movie stayed true to books -- the reason is simple, because I wanted the book to really come to life in the films, as how they're supposed to..

well, you actually don't see the visualisation of the book with your own eyes when you just use your imagination, do you?..


Er, yes. At least I do...doesn't everyone? I get a running movie in my head as I read. Happens with some other really well written stories as well, but the HP series worked particularly well for me. The books are so descriptive, and the characters are very well written. Vision is actually processed by the brain, not the eyes, so I've never given a second thought to the fact that I see movies in my head while I read, I thought it happened to everyone.

By the way, I voted for OotP, though it was a close call with PoA.

I Voted For The Newest Movie Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince Even Though It's Not Out Because I Know It Will Be Amazing :)

Er, yes. At least I do...doesn't everyone? I get a running movie in my head as I read. Happens with some other really well written stories as well, but the HP series worked particularly well for me. The books are so descriptive, and the characters are very well written. Vision is actually processed by the brain, not the eyes, so I've never given a second thought to the fact that I see movies in my head while I read, I thought it happened to everyone.

By the way, I voted for OotP, though it was a close call with PoA.

:lol: of course I saw it my mind when I read the book..the books are too good to actually miss from one's mind out..my point was, for lack of better word, the 'physical' manifestation of the characters, the moments, the magic written in the book..like how you are able to appreciate when you see it in and on the big screen..like, really see it without putting too much effort in imagining?..:lol:

and it just occurred to me, PoA may have not been really that bad..i realised it while riding on a cab to school, and remembered all that were shown in the movie..hehe..i guess i am in need to watch it again for re-evaluation..OotP, however, for me was a sure disappointment..so was GoF..

I voted for OotP because it's the one that had more character development from Harry and secondary characters like Neville and Luna. It was not just the Harry-Ron-Hermione story all the time like the other ones had been. Ok, it wasn't exactly like the book, but it was a very great film, it had story, it had good characters, it had good action scenes, good effects, and you don't get bored easily... I would only change my vote for HBP, but only if it's way better than OotP, that's exactly what I'm hoping for :love:

I liked all of them but the ones that seem to stand out for me are POA and SS.

I voted HBP. It will rock. :p

I am going to be honest, but my favourite movie is "The Chamber of Secrets"
I think it was very well done.

And I simply cannot express my sadness that Richard Harris could not continue the role of Dumbledore. He was perfect for the role. He had that soft, fatherly figure portrayed perfectly.

I would say the PoA and PS are both tied in a close second.
To be perfectly honest, I was disappointed with a lot of the OoTP, however; this could be because the book is so rich and full of detail.
The GoF wasn't bad at all either.

I cannot believe OotP is winning - it is a MUTILATION. A MUTILATION, I say.

I voted PoA, which I would never have expected myself to do when I came out of the cinema after seeing it - I was fuming about the things they missed out and the stuff they put in instead and the things they just ruined. But many of the problems with it run through all the films (lack of acting skills and half-moon specs for example), but PoA is at least funny. I don't think any of them is anything to hang in the Christmas tree (as the Swedes say - but in Swedish :scared:).

But many of the problems with it run through all the films (lack of acting skills and half-moon specs for example).

Well in this POA Dumbledore wore his specs all the time. :) And I'd argue that it had by far the strongest acting from the adults. Every adult character actually had a personality, they had their own quirks and nuances. Sure the kids weren't perfect, but they were far better than in the first two movies, and I'd argue that this is the only performance where Emma Watson's performance felt natural.

Order Of The Phoenix, actually right alongside Prisoner Of Azkaban but that one got a few minus points because they NEVER MENTIONED WHO THE MARAUDERS WHERE *bursts out in tears*

OOTP. Tight script, canon behaviour of Ron and Hermione, and better acting.

On POA I loved the look and the camera work, just a tad more canon would be nice (Marauders?).

I appreciate Columbus' work on the early two movies.

I feel the only real miss of the series is GoF. Awful acting and way too much emphasis on the Tournament and Yule Ball.

I really enjoyed them all.

The one that is my least favorite is POA because they left out nearly everything about the marauders. I mean really, they couldn't have thrown in "By the way Harry, the father you never knew and would like to know more about had a nickname. It was Prongs. That's right! The same Prongs that helped make the marauders map your using and will continue to use through the series."

Well in this POA Dumbledore wore his specs all the time. :) And I'd argue that it had by far the strongest acting from the adults. Every adult character actually had a personality, they had their own quirks and nuances. Sure the kids weren't perfect, but they were far better than in the first two movies, and I'd argue that this is the only performance where Emma Watson's performance felt natural.
I agree with everything, and I loved the kids acting in this one. They just felt like the characters instead of dan, emma and rupert.

I dunno why, but I found OotP insatiably boring. I couldn't watch it more than twice, and the second time was a strain... of course, I didn't attempt again until it came to HBO, but even then I couldn't make myself sit and be entertained.

I feel it hasn't much flavor; it's all a bit bland. The themes are hitting us over the head: ISOLATION, ISOLATION! Yet, the path of plot and exact storyline, as well as the single goal in the movie, is muddled. Too many characters, pointless inclusions like Grawp, and a few major plotholes later... because I didn't feel anything when watching it, OotP is my least favorite film. I mean, I hated GoF, but at least I'll watch it again, if just to laugh.

Anyway.. PoA got my vote :D I watch that everytime it comes on.

Did you read my mind? I agree. I always find hard to describe how I feel about ootp. The word that is keep coming back to me is lifeless. Its odd. Its like there is nothing to the movie. It doesn't feel like a story being told. Gof was my least favorite until ootp came out.

OOTP is actually my favorite film. I was really sad about the stuff they cut out, but i loved the filming style! it made it more believable. It actually felt more fast-paced than the others.
I've loved them all, but i can hardly watch the first two anymore. First reason- know them by heart, can quote every word. Second reason- the acting was so cheesy! haha i still love them though.

OOTP is actually my favorite film. I was really sad about the stuff they cut out, but i loved the filming style! it made it more believable. It actually felt more fast-paced than the others.
I've loved them all, but i can hardly watch the first two anymore. First reason- know them by heart, can quote every word. Second reason- the acting was so cheesy! haha i still love them though.

Actually, it was too fast-paced compared to the others..

I think we can categorise HP fans into these two brackets: they either like PS/CoS, and do not care for the exposition-lite later films. Or, they appreciate PS/CoS but find them too tediously attached to the source material and prefer the experimental, more engaging narratives of PoA, GoF and OoTP.

Personally I fall in the later category. :D

I think we can categorise HP fans into these two brackets: they either like PS/CoS, and do not care for the exposition-lite later films. Or, they appreciate PS/CoS but find them too tediously attached to the source material and prefer the experimental, more engaging narratives of PoA, GoF and OoTP.

Personally I fall in the later category. :D

I'd say there's a third category, too. Those who think POA is great, and that the other 4 all vary from mediocre to beyond terrible. I'm in that category. ;)

I'd say there's a third category, too. Those who think POA is great, and that the other 4 all vary from mediocre to beyond terrible. I'm in that category. ;)

Haha, yeah. I'll give you that.

I'd say there's a third category, too. Those who think POA is great, and that the other 4 all vary from mediocre to beyond terrible. I'm in that category. ;)
I feel the opposite actually, POA was a low point in the films for me. Had GOF not gone some way to redeeming the series I would have given up on the films at that point. In a way I'm glad I didn't because OOTP was my favourite to date. Well paced, stuck to the story and didn't have and ridiculous cartoon moments and drastically out of character performances.

People's main argument for PoA being the worst seems to be just because the Marauders' storyline was left out. The Marauder storyline was interesting, yes, but not necessary to the plot of the whole story. So not including that had no significance in later films. But in OotP they leave out the entire storyline of the prophecy, which was the basis on why the whole story started, and people are okay with that? :huh: OotP was so boring, IMO. The whole film was completely full of useless filler. The DA storyline was way overdone, and not enough focus on Harry's bottled up anger. I just didn't find much that I liked in this film. :shrug:

People's main argument for PoA being the worst seems to be just because the Marauders' storyline was left out.
Not at all, that was, to me at least, a minor issue and one that could have been easily addressed with nothing more than a couple of well placed lines of dialogue toward the end.

Where POA went wrong IMO was for the most part in the gross misrepresentation of the lead characters and the irrelevant cartoonish attempts at humour. There were other issues as well but these were the main ones for me.

POA all the way, it's by far the best looking and who cares what got left out of it much more was left out of OoTP shortest film bigggest book where's the sense, Ootp could have had a few more bits in it but i have accepted that the films are bassicaly overviews of the books, the joy is filling in the parts they left out in your mind but POA is the best, dementors and Lupin what more could you want.

POA is the best, dementors and Lupin what more could you want.

How about Canon Ron and Hermione?
That is what I hate the most about PoA. Ron being reduced to a coward with awful facial expressions and portrayed as a fool, whilst Hermione is the brave, clever Heroine, with super strength who gets Ron's brave line in the S S and worries what her hair looks like from the back and takes over during the Time-Turner Sequence.

I could have accepted the Marauders being left out if Ron and Hermione had been more Canon.

PoA was my favorite.

People's main argument for PoA being the worst seems to be just because the Marauders' storyline was left out. The Marauder storyline was interesting, yes, but not necessary to the plot of the whole story. So not including that had no significance in later films. But in OotP they leave out the entire storyline of the prophecy, which was the basis on why the whole story started, and people are okay with that? :huh: OotP was so boring, IMO. The whole film was completely full of useless filler. The DA storyline was way overdone, and not enough focus on Harry's bottled up anger. I just didn't find much that I liked in this film. :shrug:

that's why I went for the first 2 movies..PoA onwards were all disappointments for me..most have been out of place since then when i actually thought they should've gotten better than the 1st two..

POA is the best, dementors and Lupin what more could you want.

How about Canon Ron and Hermione?
That is what I hate the most about PoA. Ron being reduced to a coward with awful facial expressions and portrayed as a fool, whilst Hermione is the brave, clever Heroine, with super strength who gets Ron's brave line in the S S and worries what her hair looks like from the back and takes over during the Time-Turner Sequence.

I totally agree. Losing canon Ron and Hermione was a horrible part of POA. Ron is brave and stands up to Malfoy. Hermione could have cared less about what her hair looked. It is bad enough thay are altering the book characters, but they are also changing the movie characters from the previous films, SS and COS. They should be consistent. But I still do believe they should have added in the bit of who the maurauders were. Rowling has said that Harry is a boy looking for a father. This is why it is important that they should have said who the mauraders are. And honestly, if they had time to pay attention to the detail of adding in the stupid talking heads in the knight bus, they could have used that time and effort to talk about the mauraders.

I voted POA, I loved that movie and I love Cuaron. My least favorite was OOTP I think, except for Luna, I love her<3

POA definately

My vote goes to POA!.....It's my favorite out of the movies SO far!....It's really well done and i think it captured the spirit of the HP books the best out of all the movies!...I think that Alfonso Cuaron was the best director for the films....And the worst is David Yates because OOtP was totally different from the book....It felt like the dementors had sucked out the soul of the film....There was barely any emotion shown from the characters and i found the whole movie dull although belatrix and Luna were entertaining....I'm hoping that HBP might be as good as POA!!!!...

Prisoner of Azkaban for sure. Loved it, just for the way the characters were growing up, the time travel thing, the plot was excellent and hello Gary Oldman!!

If I had to choose a second, I think I'd go with Order of the Phoenix, because it made a very long book into a very classy looking, adult film. It was like everyone had finally grown up! And Umbridge was scary fantastic!

My favorite is PoA. Here is the list of the films in my order, from good to bad: PoA, OOTP, SS, CoS, GoF

I can barely watch Philosopher's Stone anymore... I think it's just that everyone grew up so quickly after it!! They all look so different now!

I watched it the other day though, and I really enjoyed Richard Harris!

While I love the books, I've never been overly crazy about the movies. It's not uncommon that the movies leave out crucial plot points and add extra fluff that was never in the books. The acting from the main trio isn't as good as it should/could be - Rupert Grint's pretty good, Emma Wattson fairly good (though I hate how the scriptwriters and director(s) have turned Hermione into a more girly character, which I think is part of the problem), and what somebody could say in defense of Dan Radcliffe's performance, I do not know.
But enough ranting. I'd have to say that OotP is my favorite movie because it kept with the spirit and, for the most part, the plot of the book without leaving a bare skeleton or making confusing transitions into unexplained scenes. GoF drove me nuts because the storyline that kept true to the book was a bare skeleton, not to mention all the unexplained scenes/transitions (e.g. the Quidditch World Cup and how Harry got to the Weasleys/why he was there) and the unexplained appearance of flying horses and a giant ship at Hogwarts. I felt lucky to have read the books beforehand.
But back to OotP. I also felt that the performances of supporting actors/actresses - most notably newcomers Imelda Staunton as Umbridge and Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix - were phenominal and most definitely a large part of what made the movie as good as it is. I feel that none of the Hogwarts teachers get enough on-screen time.

I feel that none of the Hogwarts teachers get enough on-screen time.Except for the DADA teachers, I agree. The DADA teacher usually ends up taking too much screen time. The only ones I felt haven't were Quirrell (who I thought was excellent) and Lupin (my favorite of all of them, books and movies). Umbridge took up way too much screentime, IMO. But I agree, the other teachers, like Flitwick and McGonagall, barely get any time at all which is too bad.

Hmm, if I had to rate them right now I'd say:

OotP
PoA
GoF
CoS
SS

GoF may leap frog PoA even though I love what Cuaron did. PoA has a re-watchability problem for me with the time turner. When you've seen it a few times it kind of gets tedious to watch it repeat.

I'm planning to watch them all again in order and I'm curious to see how I feel about them afterwards. I may change my mind altogether. :)

Except for the DADA teachers, I agree. The DADA teacher usually ends up taking too much screen time. The only ones I felt haven't were Quirrell (who I thought was excellent) and Lupin (my favorite of all of them, books and movies). Umbridge took up way too much screentime, IMO. But I agree, the other teachers, like Flitwick and McGonagall, barely get any time at all which is too bad.
In some ways, yes, you have a point. I do agree that Quirrel and Lupin were perfect in both their performances and their on-screen time. I can see how Lockhart may have had a bit too much time (more important scene(s) could, perhaps, have taken the place of a scene such as the pixie scene). Though at the same time, the DADA teachers have always (well, usually, at least) played a pretty integral role in the story. I mean, for OotP, Umbridge's scenes were cut a bit short compared to the book. I'm not complaining about that, though, since even I, a rather picky viewer, could see that it was necessary.

I also agree that Lupin, Quirrell and Lockhart were excellently portrayed. But I also agree that more time needed to be devoted to other teachers. It sometimes feels like the students are, well... not students. I know that this is also down tot iming constraints, but I would adore seeing more of Snape or McGonagalls classes. The only time I ever really saw them as students being taught was the first film, where a few classes were shown.

I feel like, that for a group of films centered in a school, not a lot of teaching gets done! It seemed, during Order of the Phoenix, that the OWLs were being sat with no preparation or stress! Having just done major exams, let me tell you: the stress should have been there!! :D

There are less and less classroom scenes in each progressing movie. I think the reason is, that they really don't work as good in the movies. I mean, if they introduce each new spell like a teacher demonstrates it by waving his or her wand and saying an incantation and then we see the students struggle with it, it's not particularly entertaining, because it becomes repetitive. Charms and Transfiguration classes are basically like that. History of Magic lessons are supposed to be boring, so I'm glad that we never saw one of those.

There are less and less classroom scenes in each progressing movie. I think the reason is, that they really don't work as good in the movies. I mean, if they introduce each new spell like a teacher demonstrates it by waving his or her wand and saying an incantation and then we see the students struggle with it, it's not particularly entertaining, because it becomes repetitive. Charms and Transfiguration classes are basically like that. History of Magic lessons are supposed to be boring, so I'm glad that we never saw one of those.

I agree with this, but in all fairness the way the classes are done in the first two films are rather boring and they could have done a few things to make it much more interesting than what it actually was. Same with the Quidditch. It is only from POA onwards that they cut back a lot on the class time and made Quidditch exciting again and in all fairness to the film makers, when you do read the books you again realise just how boring the classes are unless someone is mucking up or one of the spells goes really wrong.

I know a lot of people think that SS was really corny, but still the forst HP film was the best. Yeah, the acting wasnt great, neither were the special effects but the sets and all the characters portations were awesome. it wasnt action packed or even funny, and it was like a children;s movie. But it still rocked

I agree with this, but in all fairness the way the classes are done in the first two films are rather boring and they could have done a few things to make it much more interesting than what it actually was. Same with the Quidditch. It is only from POA onwards that they cut back a lot on the class time and made Quidditch exciting again and in all fairness to the film makers, when you do read the books you again realise just how boring the classes are unless someone is mucking up or one of the spells goes really wrong.

Yep, I agree with you there. It was only from PoA onward that things seemed to mature a bit, which I understand and accept, but I did wish for more from the first films. Classes are classes, and I know that if there were too many in the films I'd be bored, but I love the "it's a school!" point too, which appeals to me.

I know a lot of people think that SS was really corny, but still the forst HP film was the best. Yeah, the acting wasnt great, neither were the special effects but the sets and all the characters portations were awesome. it wasnt action packed or even funny, and it was like a children;s movie. But it still rocked

I still agree with you too though. I like PS/SS myself, just because it was the first one and I was so young. I liked it then, but today I'm not so young so I don't appreciate it so much. :tu:

Yep, I agree with you there. It was only from PoA onward that things seemed to mature a bit, which I understand and accept, but I did wish for more from the first films. Classes are classes, and I know that if there were too many in the films I'd be bored, but I love the "it's a school!" point too, which appeals to me.I think there were too many classes in SS/PS-CoS, and not enough during GoF-OotP. PoA I think got it just right.They also only showed classes that were important, but still more than 1 like in GoF. It was good for me, and that's another reason why IMO PoA is the best to date.

HBP!!!!! because it is ALL ABOUT VOLDEMORT!!!!!!:clap: and Hero is adorable with the sadistic gleam in his eye :love:.

But if I hadn't chosen HBP, i would've chosen PoA. It was the most enjoyable and accurateish movie for me

That's my list:
-HBP
-POA
-COS
-OOTP
-GOF
-PS
I think the Half Blood Prince will be the best so far, I'm sure the part of the cave will be too creepy, but I'm upset because Christian Coulson wont return in that one, I'm sure he'd have done great job, Hero seems to be great though.
In POA, all actors grew up so much, which made the movie more enjoyable. I also love the time turner thing, Trealawny's prophecy and the part of the werewolf in the forbidden forest.
COS was so nice, I really enjoyed it, Christian Coulson's performance was AWESOME :clap:
-In OOTP I loved Helena Bonham Carter's performance, the way she screams and taunts Harry was so real.
-GOF was great all the tasks seemed to real especially the first one :tu: Voldemort's return was perfect :clap:
-PS is great but I dont think that I'll enjoy it any more. Not after Dan, Emma and Rupert have grown up so much.

I voted for POA, but shouldn't there be an option for GOF?

Anyway, I think POA is the best because it was directed fabulously, with stunning camera work, lighting and background detail, the best musical score, the best story, the best characterisation (people say Hermione was the focus and was a pink power ranger, but to me she was always a pink power ranger, and I don't know how you can say she is the focus when it's Harry who fights the dementors, Harry whose godfather is chasing Pettigrew, Harry who rides on Buckbeak, Harry who rides the Knight Bus, etc..) and the best acting. The change in the grounds was great, gave the landscape a real personality, and I think Cuaron managed to capture the pure spirit of the books without sticking rigidly to the plot.

Same here.:whistle::tu:

I'm really hoping Half-Blood Prince will be the best of the series, but as of right now, I think Order of the Phoenix is, followed closely by Prisoner of Azkaban.

Prisoner of Azkaban is the best film for me.

i think the best movie(when it comes to going by the books and following them properly) is Prisoner of Azkaban. The other all have a hint of (we have changed it/them slightly to be more movie-scene appealing)...which i don't like!

Yes...i understand that there are people who only watch Harry MOVIES and don't read the books, and they maynot like the movies if they follwed the book to a point, but they should still follow the books 100% in my eyes.


So yes...PoA for me lol :whistle:

It's amazing that Prisoner of Azkaban is the highest one, considering that it was one of the first and also that the general film quality has gotten better as we go along. Aside from that, it's also possible that we pick it because it was so book perfect. Outside of that, Order of the Phoenix is my next favourite- and I think that's also because it's quite close, again, to the book. :D

i think the best movie(when it comes to going by the books and following them properly) is Prisoner of Azkaban. The other all have a hint of (we have changed it/them slightly to be more movie-scene appealing)...which i don't like!

Yes...i understand that there are people who only watch Harry MOVIES and don't read the books, and they maynot like the movies if they follwed the book to a point, but they should still follow the books 100% in my eyes.


So yes...PoA for me lol :whistle:

Yes, PoA by far, IMO.

Have you seen all the stunning things that they have done with Camera Angles? And just the general "flowy" aura of the film is great.:D

I have watched OOTP about 15 times so far. The fight scene at the end was awesome!

POA comes in second.

I have watched OOTP about 15 times so far. The fight scene at the end was awesome!

POA comes in second.

I don't have copy of OotP, just PoA, CoS, and SS.

I still like PoA the best anyway, so...:relax:

PS is my favourite and IMO the best in terms of book to film adaptation.

PS is my favourite and IMO the best in terms of book to film adaptation.I disagree. While it is true that the film covered the events of the book more than any of the other films, it completely missed the tone and overall feel of what I imagined Hogwarts and this magical world to be. It's really just the pages of the book on screen but lacks the depth and spirit of the series.

I disagree. While it is true that the film covered the events of the book more than any of the other films, it completely missed the tone and overall feel of what I imagined Hogwarts and this magical world to be. It's really just the pages of the book on screen but lacks the depth and spirit of the series.

Maybe so, but technically IMO it was by far the most true to the books in terms of plot and content compared with 4, 5, etc.

I liked the first film, personally...:)

I felt that PS and CoS were the most magical of the series. For me PoA completely missed the point of the story, had terrible acting from the child characters and spent too much time on the look than the story. PS had good character portrayal, plenty of magic, told the story well and looked fine (IMO). By no means is it a masterpiece but compared to the other HP movies I'm incline to think it's pretty "bloody brilliant".

Maybe so, but technically IMO it was by far the most true to the books in terms of plot and content compared with 4, 5, etc.

I liked the first film, personally...:)Oh, yeah, no doubt. Like I said, it was the most faithful in terms of events and following the book. However, I felt it really missed the tone and spirit.

Funny, I see people say the fifth film is so unfaithful, when I beg to differ. Yes, it cut alot from the book, and alot of what was cut was unnecessary fluff. But, for the majority of everything there, I found it very faithful to the book. I was surprised that the film even kept some of the books dialogue. In my opinion, of course. :)

I felt that PS and CoS were the most magical of the series. For me PoA completely missed the point of the story, had terrible acting from the child characters and spent too much time on the look than the story. PS had good character portrayal, plenty of magic, told the story well and looked fine (IMO). By no means is it a masterpiece but compared to the other HP movies I'm incline to think it's pretty "bloody brilliant".Heh, I feel the opposite. I thought the young actors really improved in Azkaban, I felt they were really just having fun in the first two films, but it was in Azkaban that they bothered to go deeper with their characters as the story was. I also always felt the first two weren't that magical, whereas Azkaban is more subtle and detailed, which I feel is more believable.

Favorites in order
OotP
PoA
SS/PS
GoF
CoS

Didn't put in HBP coz i havent seen it so i cant rate it!! :)

It was between PoA and OOTP..but I voted OOTP..Somehow the film seems so well-made and mind you, we're talking about the longest book of the series.So, making it into a film must have been a tough task and I think Yates more than pulled it off:tu:

PoA is my ABSOLUTE favorite! it introduces Siriusm( even though i dont think he looks anything like him, ) but i also like GoF, and its VERY close.

GOF was the one I hated THE most. It was too out of character, it was the worst acted and the worst filmed.
POA was my second hated. Cuaron was confused as to whether it would be R/Hr or H/Hr so he added both.
SS/COS was amazing.
OOTP was my favorite one out. It brought canon back to the movies
I voted HBP because I know it will be amazing.

OotP hands down. It had so much action and stuff. Plus I liked all the blue filters.

I voted HBP because I'm just so excited, I want to see it right now so that kind of clouds my judgment! I also loved the first two films, you could really feel the magic! Also because I got a packet of sherbet lemons free when I brought PS on video! :)

I voted for GoF, I used to like PoA best, but Goblet is so much darker. When I had seen the film, I had only read the book once - in 2002 - So I couldnt really remember much other than the general jist of it, so I never had the same feelings as others who had maybe known the book a little better. When I reread the book after the film, I was so suprised at how much it had left out - but the fact is that I didnt feel lost at all with the story and I knew exactly what was going on, so thats why I like it best. Because its good. :)

I LOVED OotP! :clap: Not many people do but it really did have the BEST directing job! :D It flowed perfectly, the acting was improved (they weren't bad to begin with but they just became better. :D), and the action was amazing. I probably would have extened Snapes memory but even with that little scene you were able to get the gist of it.

I voted PS/SS, it had a lighter theme to it, compared to the rest of the movies, that I liked. Plus, I thought it had cool Special Features.

Goblet of Fire, without a doubt! In fact, sometimes I do not even count it as my favorite 'Harry Potter' film, but as a good movie all on it's lonesome. Although much was left out(as should be expected) I thought the film was incredible.

I did enjoy Order of the Pheonix, but was less than impressed after seeing it. The book was, obviously, much more complex than the movie, and I certainly hold it against the director for mismatching crucial scenes from the book and displaying them at awkward times throughout the movie. However, something was missing from the story. The scene at the Department of Mysteries was a joke compared to what readers imagined while reading those chapters of Order of the Pheonix. But, that's just my beef ;)

I choose OOTP simply because it was the most real to me. Yeah, they didn't follow the book that closely and it was a bit jumpy, but the young actors have really grown up a lot, and I thought Dan and Rupert especially rose to the occasion. I can't wait to see what HBP was in store.

This is how I would rank the films:
1. OOTP
2. POA
3. SS
4. GOF
5. COS

I liked the Prisoner of Azkaban the best. Though I loved Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets as well.

OotP is the best movie out of the bunch in my opinion. Though, not in terms of being true to the books. It would have been perfect if the Death Eaters didn't fly...

Goblet of Fire!! I saw it like 4 times in the theater, I loved the graveyard scene with Voldemort it was so well done! Also Ginny came into blossom to where you could picture her with Harry. POA is a fantastic film as well. Alfonso Curon really had a unique direction for that.

How is COS in last place? I think its the best movie, really good parts in this movie. I also like some of the CG in this film, the basalisk looks amazing
John Lennon

I don't understand why people think that POA was the best.

I don't understand why people think that POA was the best.

Because it told a moving story without bogging down the flow with pointless scenes and exposition, because it looked and sounded incredible, the actors were fantastic, it was paced well and stayed true to the book story and spirit while making sure it was cinematic, both in presentation and plotting. Yes, it omitted a few things (though the identity of the Marauders is heavily implied) but it was by no means worse off for doing so (with the possible exception of the stag Patronus not being explained). It is still the Potter film with the highest ranking on metacritic.

Which did you think was the best film?

I don't understand why people think that POA was the best.

It's the most stylish to date and it has a wonderfully magical atmosphere. :cool:

I love the score, I love the locations, I love Dawn French as the Fat Lady, I love the Knight Bus, the Monster Book of Monsters, "turn to page 394" :rotfl: , I love David Thewlis as Lupin ... and on and on I could go. I missed Sirius saying to Harry, "You are your father's son" ... but I still love the film.

OotP had more depth for me as a story. It's probably my favourite.

But I still think PoA rocks. I can happily rewatch it any time.

And it's better than Prince Caspian. :lol:

Tough choice. After LONG consideration I went for POA, because it's just so stylish, visually - I LOVE how they re-designed the school and the grounds for that. And the camera, lighting and design of the CGI-ed details is just so wonderful. And the film is very well crafted as a story - IMHO better than all the others.

My other chpice would be OOTP. I like the book better than any of the others that have been filmed so far (It's DH-OOTP-POA-GOF-PS-HBP-COS for me, when it comes to the books). I think they put together the story well, and the acting is much better than any of the others. But I don't think it's as well made as POA.


What's interesting to me is the huge margin by which the last 3 movies are preferred over the first two. On a forum like this I would expect the opposite, as I know a lot of people on here love the canon and plot heavy style of those first two movies. I'm glad people know a good film when they see one, irrespective of how much plot it has. Come on POA!


Well - in fact, it's just that the purists are the loudest here, but there are quite a few voices who argue for good adaptations over close adaptations. if you look at the numbers involved in arguing for 'as faithful as possible' or 'so disappointed because this line wasn't in' you'll see that it is actually a small but very vocal group of posters. It's interesting that this poll shows a different picture, but I am not exactly surprised about it.

I think we can categorise HP fans into these two brackets: they either like PS/CoS, and do not care for the exposition-lite later films. Or, they appreciate PS/CoS but find them too tediously attached to the source material and prefer the experimental, more engaging narratives of PoA, GoF and OoTP.


Erm. I think GOF doesn't belong with the other two. IMHO, GOF is full of pointless action scenes - the dragon chase is a travesty, IMHO - they should have taken those valuable minutes and done some more useful character development stuff - but all the Triwizard challenges are essentially boring, at least to me. There is even some stuff I find intensely embarrassing (the entrance of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs is a case in point - excrutiating and pointless stereotyping). The more often I watch GOF the less I like it, actually. A pity that the whole movie doesn't live up to the quality of the last 20 minutes or so (it's amazing from the point where Harry and Cedric touch the portkey). If the whole film had had that quality, it would be the best by far.......


I just hope that HBP continues in the trend of OotP. :) It looks visually impressive, so it might just be the best yet. I have to say, that in spite of the pointless (IMHO) split I have high hopes for DH.

There is even some stuff I find intensely embarrassing (the entrance of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs is a case in point - excrutiating and pointless stereotyping).

I liked the Beauxbatons entrance. :blush:

I'll get my coat. :D

I don't understand why people think that POA was the best.
Nor do I but it does have some positive factors. Outdoors it was visually appealing and well filmed though I wish that could have carried on to the indoor scenes too, the whole feel of the castle was dingy and grubby to me.

I love the score, I love the locations,
:agree: That much was appealing.

I love Dawn French as the Fat Lady,
:no: Can't agree with that, I much preferred the understated dignity of Elizabeth Spriggs.

I love the Knight Bus,
Again I disagree, it was over the top and way too drawn out, and the less said about Lenny Henry the better.

the Monster Book of Monsters,
Not bad.

"turn to page 394" :rotfl:,
Score one for the great bat. :p

I love David Thewlis as Lupin
He did a good job with what he had to work with but they could have given him more.

OotP had more depth for me as a story. It's probably my favourite.
:agree: Mine too, by far the best to date.

But I still think PoA rocks. I can happily rewatch it any time.
Sorry but I just cringe every time. It's the only HP film I can't sit through.

I liked the Beauxbatons entrance. :blush:
Me too :eyebrows:

Admittedly both entrances were a tad over the top.

Admittedly both entrances were a tad over the top.

They were, but they're like my guilty pleasure scenes:p I do like them.:whistle:

My list would be in the order of:

PoA- Because I just thought it flowed spontaneously. Cinematographically, it was very good. The climax scenes with the time turner were done well. I love Thewlis as Lupin and I adore Buckbeak! That was one neat piece of work. Also, I thought Alfonso Cuaron was easily the most creative of the directors. The little things, like the Ron/Hermione moments were my favs.:clap::tu::tu:

OOTP- Toughest book to make into a film so far, IMO. The lengthiest, and to abridge it is a tough task. I thought they did a decent job. It was very slick.:clap::tu:

PS- Things were so much simple and cute here:love:

GoF- It could have been much much better, but it had its moments too.:relax:

CoS- I. hate. it. I dont even like to justify why I hate it , because it is so pointless. Ron was made to look like a stupid comic sidekick, the lines were all messed up, it was oh too contrived, marring even a brilliant performance from Kenneth Branagh. Even when I plan on doing a HP Movie Marathon, its this movie that haunts me and I hate watching it.:td::td:

:no: Can't agree with that, I much preferred the understated dignity of Elizabeth Spriggs.

See, this is the thing I can't quite understand. :) Rowling's books are full of wicked humour. It seems to me that Dawn French's fun Fat Lady (an extremely minor character who I never give a second thought to in the book) is totally in keeping with the whimsical, quirky spirit of Rowling ... who has a lot of fun with her creation.

But each to their own, of course. :D

Again I disagree, it was over the top and way too drawn out, and the less said about Lenny Henry the better.

He was fun. :D :evil:

CoS- I. hate. it. I dont even like to justify why I hate it , because it is so pointless. Ron was made to look like a stupid comic sidekick, the lines were all messed up, it was oh too contrived, marring even a brilliant performance from Kenneth Branagh. Even when I plan on doing a HP Movie Marathon, its this movie that haunts me and I hate watching it.:td::td:

I loathe the final line of CoS and switch the film off before it ends, because I just can't bear it. But Draco is a blast in CoS :D, on great Evil!Draco! form and I also like the yummy Christian Coulsen as a teenage Tom Riddle. :eyebrows: He was very well cast. :)


I am always astonished by the mixed reactions among the HP fandom to the HP films, given how very faithful all the films are to their source material.

I loathe the final line of CoS and switch the film off before it ends, because I just can't bear it. But Draco is a blast in CoS :D, on great Evil!Draco! form and I also like the yummy Christian Coulsen as a teenage Tom Riddle. :eyebrows: He was very well cast. :)

Oh yes, Christian Coulson is the saving grace of the film, if there can ever be one. I LOVE him:eyebrows: And yes, like you said, very well cast.

"There's no Hogwarts without you Hagrid" has always been in the wonderful league of lines like " I love magic". :err::eeep:

However, if "sleek" was the criterion, OOTP is the best. :tu:

"There's no Hogwarts without you Hagrid" has always been in the wonderful league of lines like " I love magic". :err::eeep:

I like "I love magic". :lol:

"There's no Hogwarts without you Hagrid" is :td:

However, if "sleek" was the criterion, OOTP is the best. :tu:

PoA and OotP are my favourites. I suppose they are both sleek. :)

I like "I love magic". :lol:
Oh well..thats ok:lol:

PoA and OotP are my favourites. I suppose they are both sleek.
That they are. My two top fav HP films!:)

I really liked the entire Ministry sequence in OOTP. The visuals were brilliant. Especially the prophecies falling, rack by rack.:tu::tu:

That entire climax bit, was top notch.:tu:

The DA Scenes were brilliant too.:D

Fred and George's exit was awesome.:rotfl:

Imelda Staunton was perfect as Umbridge!:relax:

These almost wrestled the crown from PoA, IMO. But as a complete film, it fell a few points below PoA.

Being the optimist, I'm praying for HBP to overshadow both PoA and OOTP, to be the best:tu::p

I really liked the entire Ministry sequence in OOTP. The visuals were brilliant. Especially the prophecies falling, rack by rack.:tu::tu:

That entire climax bit, was top notch.:tu:

The DA Scenes were brilliant too.:D

Fred and George's exit was awesome.:rotfl:

Imelda Staunton was perfect as Umbridge!:relax:

Agreed, on all counts. :D :agree:

I love the battle in the Department of Mysteries -- seeing that in IMAX was fabulous -- and I prefer the Twins' exit from Hogwarts to how it is done in the book! Apart from Peeves ... Peeves was just wonderful there. :D

These almost wrestled the crown from PoA, IMO. But as a complete film, it fell a few points below PoA.

Now, that's interesting. Judged purely as a film narrative, PoA is the best, as it tells a complete story in itself. It is also astoundingly faithful to the source material: I honestly can never understand the fandom's complaints about the film.

OotP is also a very satisfying film narrative. Perhaps because the kids are older, and Harry's teen angst is a big draw :p ... and the story grows ever more darker. :cool: I only have very minor criticisms of OotP: mainly, that there is not quite enough exposition (just a few lines here and there would do). But, it's peanuts. :)

My perspective on the HP adaptations is very much coloured by being a Tolkien fan. I really don't think that HP fans realise what massive liberties Peter Jackson took with the text! And yet, somehow, he got most of us geeks eating out of his hand. :lol: (And, my goodness, it could have been so much worse, believe me. Doesn't bear thinking about!!)

That's why I find the changes made in the HP films so very minimal. I never get what the fuss is about, honestly, it's such peanuts compared to what Jackson put me through. :lol: :relax:

Being the optimist, I'm praying for HBP to overshadow both PoA and OOTP, to be the best:tu::p

That would be good. :) It certainly has that potential. :D

I voted for PoA. Surprising because I'm one of those people who after watching the movies, spends days cribbing about what they changed, and PoA probably has the most changes from the book. But everybody's acting was so spot on that the feel of the movie really came across perfectly for me.

In contrast, GoF and OotP, while having some really brilliant moments, were ruined for me because of the bad characterization. GoF's Angry! Dumbledore and even worse, OotP's Snarky! Dumbledore just annoy me soooo much that I have to refrain from throwing something at the screen everytime I hear (or even think about) "Don't you all have sudying to do??"

I have high hopes from HBP though, the trailers seem really promising!
*fingers crossed*