HBP Movie: Scenes that should/could have been in or excluded

They needed to show more about the Horcruxes, Harry has no ideas about three of them right now.

They needed a DADA class in there.

The scene I really wanted to see though was Dumbledore with the Dorsleys
Ohh, I was so disappointed when they didn't include Dumbledore meeting with the Dursleys. I was looking forward to Uncle Vernon having a hard time bullying Dumbledore! :lol:

I was also disappointed when there wasn't some kind of DADA class included. My favorite line of the book was cut:
"There's no need to call me sir, Professor." :lol:

Yes, the also should have included Dumbledore telling Harry was he thought the Horcruxes were. How is Harry supposed to guess what they are now? I guess they will most likely have him guess that Voldemort would make his Horcruxes be something valuable. *sigh*

Mainly, Tonks/ Lupin seemed like they had been married for years or something. It just gave the feel of old people problemless but boring love.
But Fleur/ Bill was really important, and I was annoyed they didn't include that.

I really wish the line 'There's no need to call me 'sir', professor.' was in. :rotfl: That would've been my favorite part in the movie.

I disagree with a lot of you. First off, the waitress scene. It was a good scene that didn't last to long, about 2 minutes, and foreshadowed one of the principal theme of the movie. Then, everyone is saying that it would have been better to have the dumby at the dursley's scene in the movie than the waitress. Well, Dumby at the Dursley's would have been a scene lasting at least 10 minutes, they didn't have that time.

The Burrow attack scene. Well for me it was a great scene. Without it, people who didn't read the books wouldn't have the impression that the wizarding world is under attack and that no one is safe no more. The scene helped establish the ginny/harry relationship that was almost unexistant up till then. It also reminded the audience of the vilains are and that they are still causing havoc in the world.

Finally, the omission of a battle at the end. I found they did it very well. Without having a fight, the DE seem even more powerful, they manage to get in and out of hogwarts before anyone noticed.

All of this set really well the tone for the two last films. There is danger in the air, and everyone knows it now.

Correct on all three points. I know the Harry Potter fandom well enough to know that all hell was going to break loose at the non-canon scenes. However, it's much ado about nothing.

The waitress scene works because it sets up a central theme (love), while simultaneously allowing for several jokes to occur. Naturally it's easy to understand why so many "fans" hate this scene.

The Burrow scene works well as it reinforces what is established at the beginning of the film - the fact that the wizarding world is no longer safe. It also has the most powerful Harry/Ginny scene (Ginny chasing after Harry). Personally I would have the shoe tying scene because it tells the audience nothing about Harry/Ginny that is not told better by the chase through the field a minute later.

As for the battle. I read HBP in preparation for seeing the movie and the battle is uneventful. At best you'd dedicate a minute or two to a battle that is far from spectacular. Having the battle as the finale would look particularly weak when you know that a far more spectacular battle (at the same location) awaits in DH.

Two weeks before actually - which only makes it even less believable, IMO. They did that beautiful opening shot showing Harry looking devastated at the Ministry and then come back seconds later and he's fine - it's like Sirius never existed and Harry doesn't care that he's dead.

I think having Dumbledore pick Harry up at the Dursleys would have made a lot more sense and contributed much more to the story.

Sorry, I'm getting technical here but it was actually minutes later ;) If you recall they had the MoM scene, then the whole opening attack, and then back to Harry who is now sitting in a cafe. You have a point though about Sirius and I think the Dursley scene would have been more entertaining. Seeing Dumbledore punish the Dursley's for not doing as he asked would have been great fun :lol: Best Dursley scene, IMO

Waitress scene was alright though, I didn't hate it or even particularly dislike it :shrug: I'm going to ask my friend about it tomorrow, I'm curious what he thought. Actually, I'm interested to know what he thought of ALL the differences :lol: I don't believe he was informed of the changes.

I wonder if so many people would have thought the borrow scene was unnecessary if it was in the book.

Anyway, what struck me as useless is the inclusion of Aragog. Surely a good screenwriter could have found another settings to Harry getting the memory from Slughorn... Aragog just pops out of nowhere and doesn't help the movie in any way. Sure, it's a nice CoS reference, but how many people (non-readers, that is) actually went "WAIT! Isn't that the great spider that attacked Harry and Ron in the second film?"
The fish story was pretty stupid IMO too.

Other then that they made many great desicions. I like how they expanded Luna's part, though I was looking forward to hear Quidditch commentary.

The Identity of RAB is revealed below. Not sure if that's a spolier, but anyway...



Oh, and another think... did anyone else thought they could have cut the RAB mystery and sign the letter as Regulus Black?

Surely it would have annoyed many fans, but there are many reasons to do so.
First, RAB is no mystery anymore - the solution is well known. Unlike the book, I find it very hard to believe that movie fans will actually rewatch the films looking for RAB clues, when the answer is at their fingertips. It's just not as mysterious as the book was.

And even if they would have looked for it, they'll obviously catch the Regulus reference in the beginning of HBP, and they'll realise it's the only fitting character, so that's it. Rowling made this mistake once - without a convincing red-herring or at least two fitting RAB's, pretty much everyone knew it's regulus before the book. So they'll watch the 7th movie confirm their guess and be dissapointed with how easy it was.

Also, revealing Regulus would have given the trio an excuse to return to Grimmauld Place (remember - in the films it isn't harry's possesion). And, that's kind of rude to introduce such a mystery minutes before the film ends.

Anyone agrees?

I wonder if so many people would have thought the borrow scene was unnecessary if it was in the book.

Anyway, what struck me as useless is the inclusion of Aragog. Surely a good screenwriter could have found another settings to Harry getting the memory from Slughorn... Aragog just pops out of nowhere and doesn't help the movie in any way. Sure, it's a nice CoS reference, but how many people (non-readers, that is) actually went "WAIT! Isn't that the great spider that attacked Harry and Ron in the second film?"
The fish story was pretty stupid IMO too.


That's an interesting question you pose. I don't know about others but for me it wasn't because it wasn't in the book though. I just found the scene bad overall. IMO, it was a horribly contrived sequence just to inject some unneeded action into the middle of the film.

As for Aragog, I agree actually now that you mention it. It's funny too cause many months ago I had these thoughts been when Aragog was confirmed to be in the film that crushed my hope of this big stupid spider being omitted. Oh, and I should make an amend right now to an earlier statement I made about HBP (the book) being "perfect" and that there isn't one part I don't enjoy. I actually do loathe Aragog's funeral, I think it's soo silly. I like Hagrid but he can be really weird at times.

I can't agree on the fish story though. I found it quite touching. Whether is is better than how he procured the memory in the book, I can't decide. I was hoping for something like how in the book he attempted a euphoria potion but failed to make this work- it could succeed.

I dunno, I suppose that might have seemed too easy or something. I just wanted it different to avoid the inclusion of Aragog...oh well :sigh:

Oh, but the pincers bit and the line in response to "does he have family?" made for some great humor. :rotfl: Harry/Dan was hilarious on Felix

I can't agree on the fish story though. I found it quite touching. Whether is is better than how he procured the memory in the book, I can't decide. I was hoping for something like how in the book he attempted a euphoria potion but failed to make this work- it could succeed.

I dunno, I suppose that might have seemed too easy or something. I just wanted it different to avoid the inclusion of Aragog...oh well :sigh:


What I'm saying is, Aragog itself isn't necessary. What's important is:
1) Harry used Felix
2) Slughorn was drunk
3) Harry made Slughorn feel guilty about not helping him to destroy Voldemort

These could have been done elsewhere, like after one of Slughorn's parties... no need for funeral.

What I'm saying is, Aragog itself isn't necessary. What's important is:
1) Harry used Felix
2) Slughorn was drunk
3) Harry made Slughorn feel guilty about not helping him to destroy Voldemort

These could have been done elsewhere, like after one of Slughorn's parties... no need for funeral.
I disagree. The subject of life and death and a reasonable excuse for the characters to be sitting around talking about it wouldn't have been very plausible following a party. Slughorn's story about his fish Francis followed nicely from Hagrid's teary-eyed ruminations, and this was a perfect segue for Harry to broach the subject of the memory. There's a reason Harry (in the book and movie) never succeeded in convincing Slughorn before Aragog's funeral--and it wasn't because Slughorn had never been drunk before.



As for useless scenes, what was the purpose of the attack on the Burrow? I saw the movie for the second time last night, and I still can't figure it out.

What I'm saying is, Aragog itself isn't necessary. What's important is:
1) Harry used Felix
2) Slughorn was drunk
3) Harry made Slughorn feel guilty about not helping him to destroy Voldemort

These could have been done elsewhere, like after one of Slughorn's parties... no need for funeral.

Oh yes, I completely agree. :tu:

Though as I mentioned, the funeral did provide set up for some great humor :lol: But yeah, it could have been done differently for sure. :agree:

. There's a reason Harry (in the book and movie) never succeeded in convincing Slughorn before Aragog's funeral--and it wasn't because Slughorn had never been drunk before.


The reason is - Harry never used Felix before.

The reason slughorn gave in isn't the death of a random spider which he didn't know, and was actually quite happy with it because he made some money off his venoms. It was because Harry made him remember how much he hates Voldemort for killing Lily, made him feel guilty for refusing to help, and convincing him this memory is crucial. The funeral is merely a setup for them to talk privately.

The reason is - Harry never used Felix before.

The reason slughorn gave in isn't the death of a random spider which he didn't know, and was actually quite happy with it because he made some money off his venoms. It was because Harry made him remember how much he hates Voldemort for killing Lily, made him feel guilty for refusing to help, and convincing him this memory is crucial. The funeral is merely a setup for them to talk privately.
Once again I don't think that's particularly true. Or even somewhat. A funeral sets the stage perfectly and saves us a lot of potentially dreadful dialogue.

Sorry, I'm getting technical here but it was actually minutes later ;) If you recall they had the MoM scene, then the whole opening attack, and then back to Harry who is now sitting in a cafe. You have a point though about Sirius and I think the Dursley scene would have been more entertaining. Seeing Dumbledore punish the Dursley's for not doing as he asked would have been great fun :lol: Best Dursley scene, IMO

Technically true, but I think they did establish that Harry was not sitting in the train station mere minutes after what happened at the Ministry. I think it was clear that was from what happened in the previous film and some time had passed.

However, it wasn't much time and I think that was clear too - a matter of weeks. So it did feel very out of place for Harry to appear to be so content and trying to pick up girls rather than grieving over the loss of his godfather. And it diminished the sense of danger lurking for him to be wandering around like that on his own - Dumbledore's mild admonishment didn't really have much impact because Harry just brushed it off and nothing more was said about it.

I didn't tell my parents or my husband about that change because I was curious how they would react - and it was pretty much as I expected. They were all confused and basically said the same thing - didn't his godfather just die? Not in the exact same words, but that was the gist of it. They didn't get why Harry would be doing that.

The reason is - Harry never used Felix before.

The reason slughorn gave in isn't the death of a random spider which he didn't know, and was actually quite happy with it because he made some money off his venoms. It was because Harry made him remember how much he hates Voldemort for killing Lily, made him feel guilty for refusing to help, and convincing him this memory is crucial. The funeral is merely a setup for them to talk privately.

Well, not entirely - the whole point of that was that Harry always had the ability to convince Slughorn to give him the memory. He could have done that without Felix Felicis, but he was too busy looking for a spell or potion to help him trick Slughorn into giving the memory rather than working on building a relationship with Slughorn and trying to convince him to do the right thing. Which was what Dumbledore wanted him to do all along.

The funeral provides more than a set up for them to talk privately. It also sets the tone for Harry to bring up how his mother died to save him. That would be a very morbid topic of conversation for class time, after class, or after a party - where Slughorn would be cheerful and in a party mood. At Hagrid's, he is glad that he was able to get some of the venom and Hagrid gave him the shank of unicorn tail hair, but he is also demonstrating an appropriate attitude of mourning for Hagrid's loss. The discussion goes from Aragog to heroes who died in battle - which leads to Hagrid mentioning Harry's parents in the book and Slughorn talking about the fish and how Lily gave it to him in the film. Both provide Harry a perfect opportunity to bring up how his mother died for him and that Slughorn should do the right thing so she wouldn't have died for nothing.

There are other benefits to including Aragog's funeral in the film as well. It reiterates Hagrid's love of creatures that others would consider monsters - hearkening back to his comments about dragons in the first film when he says that the acromantula are "vastly misunderstood creatures". It gives foreshadowing for the acromantula to be used in the final battle for DH part 2 because it reminds the viewer that these creatures exist and live in the Forbidden Forest. Both of which also go towards foreshadowing Hagrid throwing himself into the swarm of acromantula invading the castle during the battle and being carried off into the Forbidden Forest - putting him in place to carry Harry's body back to the castle after Voldemort "kills" him.

I really wish the line 'There's no need to call me 'sir', professor.' was in. :rotfl: That would've been my favorite part in the movie.

Oh, I loved that line! :tu: I wish there had been some kind of DADA class. Then we would have gotten more Snape (:tu:), and my favorite line in the book would have been included. I wanted to see the students practicing the non-verbal spells, that would have been hilarious. I just wanted to see Snape in his dream job. It would have been so cool!

Well, like a lot of people I think the waitress scene and at The Burrow.
I would have preferred to have seen Dumbledore at the Dursleys, because it was quite funny in the books so it would have been good in the film I think.
The Burrow scene because it wasn't in the book and I would have preferred more Voldemort backstory instead of it.

How can you even explain the Burrow scene when the "protections" for it are in full force until the wedding? In all cases the "protections" are used, they work up to a certain EXPLAINED point. They work on James/Lilly home until Wormtail turns traitor. They work on headquarters until the secret keeper, DD, dies. So how do they fail and allow for this stupid, useless scene and then go back to working until half way through DH? They will either have to pretend this scene never happened or pull some explanation out of left field for it.

The diner scene, though useless, didn't contradict anything and the time spent on it could have been spent better elsewhere.

Otherwise, excellent.

What I'm saying is, Aragog itself isn't necessary. What's important is:
1) Harry used Felix
2) Slughorn was drunk
3) Harry made Slughorn feel guilty about not helping him to destroy Voldemort

These could have been done elsewhere, like after one of Slughorn's parties... no need for funeral.

It seems to me (and my friends who saw the movie) that the whole Aragog scene seemed to pop up out of no where. I mean, yes it was in the book, but it just seemed to randomly pop up in the film. My mom didn't even remember who Aragog was until I told her. (then again, she hasn't seen CoS in a while.)

I need to watch this again before having a real solid opinion, but here is what I thought should have been in.

1) I really would have liked seeing a Snape DADA scene. That just would have been cool.

2) I think the Harry/Ginny thing should have been touched on more. And the kiss should have been just like in the book.

3) Dumbledore's funeral probably should have been added. But I didn't really see the end. (My 1 year old daughter had enough by that point)

Really, thats all I can think of right now. Once I can actually sit through the whole thing, I may have more.Seconded about the whole Snape DADA scene... that would have been interesting to see.

I think that they should have had Dumbledore pick up Harry over at the Dursley's... I would have just keeled over in laughter at the whole scene where he offers them mead... and Harry gets his first taste of the stuff.

I really wish the line 'There's no need to call me 'sir', professor.' was in. :rotfl: That would've been my favorite part in the movie.
Agreed. I really loved that line :rotfl:...

As for Tonks/Lupin... I was rather disappointed by it.

See I was upset at a lot of it, the cut out of chapter one with The Muggle PM, Luna not Tonks finding Harry on the train, no explaination of who the HBP is or where the book came from till the end, it seemed to me that the only thing that was the same was the main characters and the title. I mean the weasley's house didn't catch fire in book 6, Bellatirx didnt go running through a field in Book 6 she ran thru the ministry at the end of book 5 yealling "i killed sirus black" , where were all the other memories from Harry's trips with dumbledore, and Y leave out the funeral? didn't the fans deserve the funeral?

I realized that Snapes line "It's over" wasn't in it.
Also recently I was watching a TV Guide HP special about the premieres and stuff and they showed BTS stuff. There was one part where the trio was in Knocturn Alley and Ron and Hermione were helping Harry up on the roof or something (this is probably when they go up and spy on Malfoy in Borgin and Burkes). And I think in the HBO bts there was a moment between Ron and Hermione at this point. It's in cgold's avatar. I wish that couldve been in.

The Waitress scene. Completely uncanon and a total waste of time, that should have been used to show Dumbledore meets the Dursleys.
The Burrow attack was OK, but did they really have to burn it?

Do you think a poll would be good for this question?
Agreed. Yes it was funny... but I too would have loved to have seen Dumbledore meeting the Dursleys :lol:.

I don't think they seem to think a lot of things are important. They act just like the wizarding world, so oblivious to the things below them...such as house elfs who are again left out of the picture.

I need to watch this again before having a real solid opinion, but here is what I thought should have been in.

1) I really would have liked seeing a Snape DADA scene. That just would have been cool.

2) I think the Harry/Ginny thing should have been touched on more. And the kiss should have been just like in the book.

3) Dumbledore's funeral probably should have been added. But I didn't really see the end. (My 1 year old daughter had enough by that point)

Really, thats all I can think of right now. Once I can actually sit through the whole thing, I may have more.


1) I agree. I was hoping to have a scene with Snape teaching DADA. All the other movies made it quite clear that Snape always wanted to have the DADA post, and now he finally did.

2) I agree that it should been more accurate and like the book. However, the first thing that popped in my head during that scene was "Ah, so this is why the movie is only rated PG" lol.

3) I wanted to see more with the death as Dumbledore as well. Although, what was in the film did suffice for me.

I really wish the line 'There's no need to call me 'sir', professor.' was in. :rotfl: That would've been my favorite part in the movie.

Me too. I love that line. :lol:

I'm sure someone has said this but Dumbledore's funeral! I was so disappointed by that.

I really wanted to see the Apparation lessons. That would have been good.

I also would have like to have scene the big battle at Hogwarts at the end. That would have been cool. And it would have given a scense of how much the teachers and students love Hogwarts that they would fight for it.

Though the Burrow scene was pretty awesome it was completely unnecessary! I would really like to know why they make up scenes when they could just include the ones they took out.

Yes I agree. The waitress scene was a waste of time. It was a really bad start for the movie. They could have put more important parts in it instead. Like the new Minister of Magic, Dumbledore coming to the Dursleys', or...

The Burrow attack. I hated that scene. All the shaky cam in that scene was really jarring compared to the rest of the film. And the scene was completely pointless. I actually liked the waitress scene, though.

I actually found the waitress scene to be entertaining - out of context, that is. It just seemed strange to go from seeing Harry all bloodied up and mourning Sirius one minute to flirting with the waitress the next, to five minutes later being shown his developing feelings for Ginny. Not only did it almost cheapen his feelings for Ginny (for lack of a better term), but I think a scene with the Dursleys would've given us the opportunity to see him deal with Sirius's death and the Grimmauld Place/Kreacher will thing.

I didn't mind the Burrow scene either, I just felt that it was irrelevant and out of place. And was it really necessary for them to burn the Burrow down? I'm guessing they must've put the fire out, seeing as how Ron and Ginny went back to Hogwarts without seeming very concerned that their house was torched about a week earlier. Maybe it was a magical fire like the one Dumbledore started in Tom Riddle's armoir? We could've at least been shown the aftermath of the attack, or Lupin, Tonks, et al deciding that they should put up greater protections around the Burrow lest that sort of thing happen again.

Also, far be it for me to discourage any use of screen time on the gorgeous Freddie Stroma, but the Cormac scenes were kind of pointless, IMO. Funny, yes. But did they further the plot? No, not really. It was clear from the toothpaste thing at the Burrow that Hermione had a crush on Ron (not to mention the snogging mention at the Three Broomsticks, etc). I felt kind of skeeved out for Hermione whenever Cormac was present, actually.

On another note, I was surprised, in reading the previous posts, that so many people felt the Draco scenes should've been excluded. I liked seeing it unfold that way, rather than the standard "villian revealing their evil plan at the end of the story" method. I liked watching Draco's internal struggle, I found it to be realistic and interesting. Perhaps a little bit romanticized, but I thought they were still some of the most intriguing scenes of the entire film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHRLUYumYvE
In this BTS clip, at 55 seconds, it looks like Ron and Hermione have sort of a moment. Now, I don't know if thats supposed to be acted like that in that scene or it was just straight behind the scenes, not in the script at all.
I would've liked to see that in the film though!

The waitress scene for me was a waste and threw me off making me forget how the book started. I totally think the wheat field scene was pointless and time filler, I think the castle battle should have been put back in in place of the wheat scene. It looked really cool when Bellatrix was standing in front of the flames though surrounding the burrow.

Okay. I saw the movie Saturday, and now I can say what I would've liked to have seen.

Dumbledore's funeral. It was nice how they did the wand thing, but I still feel that the funeral would've been more effective. It also would've been nice to see how well Rupert could pull off a crying scene to that extent.

I would've liked to have seen more of Snape. I mean, yeah, he became the DADA teacher. Why didn't they show at least one class with him? Didn't Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and pretty much all of the other main Gryffndors still have DADA? Maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.

I knew it wouldn't have made it anyway since it was irrelevant, but...I really wish we could've gotten a Quidditch match with Luna commentating. lol

Something I really really totally hate they cut, was Snape's reaction to Harry's calling him a coward. Snape's reaction in the book was filled with so much emotion and anger. Getting right down to it, everything on the astronomy tower up to that point seemed 10000% off. I don't think it was in-character of Harry to not react after the others confronted Dumbledore. At least in the book, Harry was unable to assist, but in the movie, he was free to, but didn't. Seems that instinct would've prompted it.

I hate the fact that there was no battle in the school. Would've been nice to see Bill or even make reference that Fenrir was a Werewolf. :p I mean seriously, where was the Order?

The rating, imo, should've been PG-13...if so, maybe the stuff I mentioned above, would've been included.

I personally liked the waitress scene, even though it was kind of off for a marked man like Harry to be traveling, alone reading a wizard paper in a muggle establishment. To be honest, when watching that part, I was literally giggling at how silly it was. I too would've liked to have seen the Dursleys. Oh, does anyone else feel that the movie should've opened like the book did...with Snape? I don't care too much, just thought it would've added to the mystery more so.

Hmm, I would've changed Luna finding Harry on the train. Was too off for me. Why would Luna still be on the train? She's a student. I like Luna a lot, and the actress who portrays her, but this just was not right.

Oh, the Burrow scene. I know that it helped to establish Harry and Ginny trying to grow closer, and Ginny chasing Harry and them standing back to back and all was nice symbolism, but I just don't like the fact that the Burrow was burned down. Instead of doing all that for the Burrow, why not use it for the final battle at Hogwarts?

I also agree with Draco's constantly messing with the Vanishing Cabinet. There was no suspense to it. At least in OotP, even though we know what was done, it was nice seeing Umbridge or Filch or whoever, following the kids going into the RoR, leaving them curious as to what was going on. This movie could've done the same by showing Draco going in, and giving glimpses as to what he could have been doing.

Something that could've been included was Harry's paranoia about Draco, while annoying Ron and Hermione with his accusations.

They could've cut the romance. Well, more of it. It was kind of pointless to show Won-Won and Lav-Lav making out constantly.

Something that could've been altered...the whole Harry x Ginny thing. It was awkward and off....just like Ron and Harry's "skin" discussion. :lol:

I know people will disagree with me, but I vote for the exclusion of the scene with Ron under love potion, and consequential poisoning.
Rupert Grint never made me even smirk in six films, never.
And one attack on Katie Bell was more than enough.
The whole thing just looked out of place from the rest of the movie, and now I have confirm that it's Kloves's screenplay that makes Ron act like a dumb, for in OotP he behaves normally.But that played an actual role. If Ron wouldn't have eaten the candy, then he wouldn't have drank the mead and been poisoned and then we wouldn't have figured that someone definitely was after Dumbledore...but then again, the suspense was given away early with that. >_>

Once again, i disagree, (sorry, I'm not trying to start arguments) I much rathered the way it was done. To me, it shows his true bravery and trust in Dumbledore. And a few people have said why does Harry not do anything to Snape. Remember, Harry puts his full trust in Dumbledore, and Dumbledore trusts Snape. Harry thought Snape was going to help Dumbledore. And + this way we could see the shock and emotion in Harry's face. In the book it was different, Rowling could write about how helpless he felt. It would of been alot harder to share that emotion on screen.I agree with this somewhat, but, given Harry's character, seems that instinctively, he would've rushed to try and help. Being binded and unable to help Dumbledore seems more in-character for him. Also, it could be shown...use a "thought" type scene. Vocalize what Harry is thinking at the time..."I have to get out of here...I have to help Dumbledore..." that type of thing.

Well... it's not so much that I thought the line was dumb, but the fact that he said it was. Nobody, even Dumbledore, can Apparate into or out of the school grounds. I don't see why they didn't just walk down to Hogsmeade to do it and follow the rules.Probably figured that most of the audience wouldn't remember that, unless it's a book reader.

i would have loved to see the death eaters try to attack the students, i think that would have made the threat much more real. honestly, i think their presence at hogwarts was too short lived, i mean, they did have all of hogwarts in their grasp, and just to take off, i would never have expected that- especially from Bellatrix. but the parts i was really hoping to see was more of Riddles memories, like the Gaunts, and maybe even the lady with the treasures (hufflepuff cup, slytherin necklace.) i hated the waitress girl scene- it could have easily been replaced with Dumbledore balancing cups off the Dursleys ears:lol:

More quidditch more quidditch more quidditch!!

Check this out

http://www.howcast.com/videos/204924-How-To-Play-a-RealLife-Game-Of-Quidditch

I wish it wasn't raining I want to playyy

The things i would liked cut/added have already been mentioned but a more fitting funeral i think should have been done as we are losing a major character and even the way it happered wasnt shocling enough.....i wish harry had been paralysed and couldnt move.:whistle:

I think it would have been preferable to include at least part of the scene with Hepzibah Smith so that Harry would see Hufflepuff's cup as well as make the connection that the lcoket belonged to Slytherin. Then Harry would know that Voldemort made Horcrxes out of Founders' artifacts. Also, Dumbledore's speculation about the snake Nagini would have given movie Harry the same amount of knowledge by the end as book Harry.

I can't believe that no one (I have read) has mentioned what I missed the most from the movie...

My most missed scene was when Snape yells at harry that he is not a coward. They included harry taunt but not Snape's retort. I was quite disappointed by this.

I really miss Dobby. He's featured in the books and plays an important part. Why couldn't he have been included? Of course, the battle scene, Bill Weasley and putting the kiss after winning the Quiddich match would have been nice. In addition to Dobby, I also missed parts that included Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. If nothing else, they made up enough scenes, they could have made up some with them in it, too.

I'm guessing this has been repeated many times but Harry finding out Snape was responsible for his parents' deaths

I just realized they cut much of the Spinner's End scene...I always loved Snape's half-lying justifications to Bella but I suppose time wasn't on their side to do that

I can't believe that no one (I have read) has mentioned what I missed the most from the movie...

My most missed scene was when Snape yells at harry that he is not a coward. They included harry taunt but not Snape's retort. I was quite disappointed by this.


Oh yes. I was very disappointed when Snape didn't get furious and slash Harry - Snape only really comes out from his shell of Occlumency a few times in the series (excluding Pensieve scenes) and that scene is one of them...i remember that particular scene as being one of the biggest clues to Snape's true allegiance. They did the same thing in PoA (one of my few nitpicks about that movie) when they cut down on the scene where he comes within like two seconds of murdering Sirius

Anyone else think they sometimes make Snape not nasty enough in the movies?

The entire Burrow attack. Just seemed pointless to me.

The entire Burrow attack. Just seemed pointless to me.
I wholeheartly agree. It served no purpose at all and resulted in nothing. It could be left out easily. They never went back to the Weasley's again. Maybe it was to introduce Tonks and Remus as a pair for the last movie, but that could have been done in a better way. So really no purpose for that scene.

I wholeheartly agree. It served no purpose at all and resulted in nothing. It could be left out easily. They never went back to the Weasley's again. Maybe it was to introduce Tonks and Remus as a pair for the last movie, but that could have been done in a better way. So really no purpose for that scene.

Oh Tenshi ... you don't think it adequately showed how dangerous the wizarding world was outside Hogwarts? Plus how can any screentime given to Bellatrix be pointless?

Oh Tenshi ... you don't think it adequately showed how dangerous the wizarding world was outside Hogwarts? Plus how can any screentime given to Bellatrix be pointless?
Right, the whole Millenium bridge destruction and Diagon Alley attacks and news articles are not enough to prove that bad things are happening? ;)

As for Bella, she had her scenes at Spinner's End and the Hogwarts attack. She had enough scren time to show of her madnessssssss.

Right, the whole Millenium bridge destruction and Diagon Alley attacks and news articles are not enough to prove that bad things are happening? ;)

As for Bella, she had her scenes at Spinner's End and the Hogwarts attack. She had enough scren time to show of her madnessssssss.

We can never have enough Bellatrix madnessssssss. Fact! :p

Plus it doesn't hurt to reinforce these things, the Diagon Alley attacks and the Millenium Bridge collapse happened at the very beginning of the movie. I guess I just don't see the problem with a little bit of action to break up the movie.

We can never have enough Bellatrix madnessssssss. Fact! :p

Plus it doesn't hurt to reinforce these things, the Diagon Alley attacks and the Millenium Bridge collapse happened at the very beginning of the movie. I guess I just don't see the problem with a little bit of action to break up the movie.
Talking about Death Eaters. I think Fenrir could have been excluded too, they never mentioned him, we just saw the Most wanted poster. Did they ever mention that he's a werewolf? I can't remember.

He's goign to play a role in DH movies, so I guess they gave him screen time to introduce him to the audience.

Oh Tenshi ... you don't think it adequately showed how dangerous the wizarding world was outside Hogwarts? Plus how can any screentime given to Bellatrix be pointless?I don't feel it showed this at all. Hogwarts was described as being one of the safest places to be...not a random wizarding home in the country. Attacking the actual school would get the point across to show how dangerous things were becoming since a 'safe-place' would've been attacked as opposed to a random house.

I don't feel it showed this at all. Hogwarts was described as being one of the safest places to be...not a random wizarding home in the country. Attacking the actual school would get the point across to show how dangerous things were becoming since a 'safe-place' would've been attacked as opposed to a random house.
But they did attack the school, for sure to show how good the defense is against intruders and that they have to find another way inside. But the DE attacked it.

I don't feel it showed this at all. Hogwarts was described as being one of the safest places to be...not a random wizarding home in the country. Attacking the actual school would get the point across to show how dangerous things were becoming since a 'safe-place' would've been attacked as opposed to a random house.

I agree. The attack on the Burrow wasn't very effective - and, really, it made Bellatrix and Greyback appear rather lame as villains because all they did was lure them out of the house, set it on fire, and then leave. There wasn't any point to it. I think the attacks shown in the muggle world with the bridge and Diagon Alley - as well as the Death Eaters attempting to get past the protections at Hogwarts - were a lot more effective and would have been sufficient. They didn't need the Burrow attack at all, IMO.

But they did attack the school, for sure to show how good the defense is against intruders and that they have to find another way inside. But the DE attacked it.What attack? No one's life was threatened 'cept for Dumbledore's movie wise. Seriously, they should've dropped the Burrow scene and saved that time and used it for the battle at Hogwarts. Students' lives being threatened along with the teaching staff and the Order would've been really affective, and would've really driven the point home that one of the safest places of their world, was no longer safe. The attack on the Burrow to me came across as, "We don't like those Weasleys since they're friends with Harry Potter, a mudblood, and are blood tratiors! Let's bully them and set their home on fire which they should be able to put out since they're all capable wizards!":lol:

I agree. The attack on the Burrow wasn't very effective - and, really, it made Bellatrix and Greyback appear rather lame as villains because all they did was lure them out of the house, set it on fire, and then leave. There wasn't any point to it. I think the attacks shown in the muggle world with the bridge and Diagon Alley - as well as the Death Eaters attempting to get past the protections at Hogwarts - were a lot more effective and would have been sufficient. They didn't need the Burrow attack at all, IMO.That bugged me too about Fenrir and Bellatrix. They were much too tame, as we know that out of the followers, those two would kill without thinking twice about it.

As for the attacks on Diagon Alley and of course the bridge, I can see the significance of those, but yeah, no point with the Burrow, 'cept for Harry x Ginny stuff, and even that wasn't done very effectively. -_-

What attack? No one's life was threatened 'cept for Dumbledore's movie wise. Seriously, they should've dropped the Burrow scene and saved that time and used it for the battle at Hogwarts. Students' lives being threatened along with the teaching staff and the Order would've been really affective, and would've really driven the point home. The attack on the Burrow to me came across as, "We don't like those Weasleys since they're friends with Harry Potter, a mudblood, and are blood tratiors! Let's bully them and set their home on fire which they should be able to put out since they're all capable wizards!":lol:
I don't mean the Tower scene and "attack". That one really sucked, there was no attack at all. There was a really short scene showing how DE try to intrude Hogwarts by flying into it, bouncing off the invisible defense wall.

I don't mean the Tower scene and "attack". That one really sucked, there was no attack at all.Oh, okay, as that bugged me immensely when seeing it. I was "okay" with the rest of the movie, but that was a big offense to me, along with the lack of Snape's furious reaction over being called a coward. There was a really short scene showing how DE try to intrude Hogwarts by flying into it, bouncing off the invisible defense wall.True, and yet Dumbledore and Harry could apparate (sp?) right in with no problems at all. :lol:

What attack? No one's life was threatened 'cept for Dumbledore's movie wise. Seriously, they should've dropped the Burrow scene and saved that time and used it for the battle at Hogwarts. Students' lives being threatened along with the teaching staff and the Order would've been really affective, and would've really driven the point home that one of the safest places of their world, was no longer safe. The attack on the Burrow to me came across as, "We don't like those Weasleys since they're friends with Harry Potter, a mudblood, and are blood tratiors! Let's bully them and set their home on fire which they should be able to put out since they're all capable wizards!":lol:

That bugged me too about Fenrir and Bellatrix. They were much too tame, as we know that out of the followers, those two would kill without thinking twice about it.

As for the attacks on Diagon Alley and of course the bridge, I can see the significance of those, but yeah, no point with the Burrow, 'cept for Harry x Ginny stuff, and even that wasn't done very effectively. -_-

I agree. I can see why they would want to have some type of action scene in the middle of the movie, but the attack on the Burrow just wasn't effective for what they were trying to show because Bellatrix and Greyback did not appear to be attacking for any reason - they just lured them out of the house and set it on fire. It was just a pointless show of special effects. I think it would have made more sense if they'd kept the twins going into the village so George could flirt with the muggle girl who liked his "magic tricks" and one of them return for help saying that Death Eaters were attacking with everyone rushing off to help.

Oh, okay, as that bugged me immensely when seeing it. I was "okay" with the rest of the movie, but that was a big offense to me, along with the lack of Snape's furious reaction over being called a coward.True, and yet Dumbledore and Harry could apparate (sp?) right in with no problems at all. :lol:

Yeah - the lack of a real battle at the end was detrimental to the overall effect. The Death Eaters just marching out of the school with only one person trying to stop them - who was so easily dispatched by Snape it bordered on ridiculous for them to have even included that - was not believable. At the very least, they should have shown the teachers attempting to intervene with some kind of battle taking place - even if it was short, it would have been something.

I did like the shot of the Death Eaters trying to get into Hogwarts and bouncing off the protective enchantments though - great way for them to show that Hogwarts was well protected. From the outside at least.

I'm not really bothered by them showing that Dumbledore could apparate from Hogwarts - it was established in the book that he could life the anti-apparition jinx if he chose because he did so for the Great Hall so they could learn how to apparate. But that was still a cautious act - Dumbledore limited that to the Great Hall only so it still would not have been possible for anyone else to apparate inside of Hogwarts. They could only apparate within that one room. What bothered me was that it didn't make any sense to have Dumbledore lift the anti-apparition jinx on the tower and leave the school vulnerable. Not only did that make Dumbledore appear rather reckless, it also made the entire plot of Draco working so hard to fix the Vanishing cabinet pointless because the Death Eaters could have just apparated straight to the tower. I think it would have made more sense if they had walked out to the gate at least and apparated from there - beyond the protective enchantments.

What attack? No one's life was threatened 'cept for Dumbledore's movie wise. Seriously, they should've dropped the Burrow scene and saved that time and used it for the battle at Hogwarts. Students' lives being threatened along with the teaching staff and the Order would've been really affective, and would've really driven the point home that one of the safest places of their world, was no longer safe. The attack on the Burrow to me came across as, "We don't like those Weasleys since they're friends with Harry Potter, a mudblood, and are blood tratiors! Let's bully them and set their home on fire which they should be able to put out since they're all capable wizards!":lol:

That bugged me too about Fenrir and Bellatrix. They were much too tame, as we know that out of the followers, those two would kill without thinking twice about it.

As for the attacks on Diagon Alley and of course the bridge, I can see the significance of those, but yeah, no point with the Burrow, 'cept for Harry x Ginny stuff, and even that wasn't done very effectively. -_-

i was thinking exactly the same. the burrow wasn't destroyed in the books, it's very weird they did that in the movie. and indeed they should have used the time it took for 1. the battle at hogwarts and 2. more ginny/harry love

I think they could have--and should have--included the memory of Voldemort's mother/ring. If possible, seeing Snape teach Dark arts might have been interesting too, but oh well. The memory of how Voldemort's mother and how he came to be felt left out only because it kept being referred to flippantly. "Oh this ring? The tale's thrilling, but some other time", "Not only was that diary a horcrux, but so was this ring, which belonged to Voldemort's mother. Trust me, you DON'T want to know the REALLY COOL, INTRIGUING story of how it made my hand like this".

Lame. Apart from that, I really liked the movie.

The attack on the Burrow scene and waitress scene seemed rather pointless to me... Also, I wouldn't mind the three romances being cut somewhat. I'd have preferred to see some more informative and logical scenes instead.

I would've enjoyed cutting Lavender. Downplay the HeRon relationship. Also axe the poisoned Ron scene; that was excruciatingly bad for me. I didn't enjoy it at all (the cursed necklace was enough).

Also definitely favour cutting the joke shop. A real attack on the eyes and ears, that scene. Completely unnecessary and the reuse of the "Fireworks" track from OoTP was embarrassing.

Ok, I liked the Burrow scene, bit of action and the war being shown as being close to Harry, conveyed perfectly what the filmmakers said it was for. And showed some Harry&Ginny-ness, grand with me.

Things that should have been cut, that stupid shoelace thing!! cringeworthy!! The waitress/train station thing, didnt get to me because it was out of character for Harry but just because it was utterly irrelevant and pointless. And the bit with asking Harry about Hermione. Just wierd.

I also didnt like how aggressive Lupin was when answering Harry's query. I know Tonks said he's like that the first night of the cycle but I dont care, Lupin's aggression didnt fit Harry's somewhat passive stance on it at all.

I'd have liked to see
- Dumbledore collecting Harry from the Dursleys rather than The-Boy-who-Lived wandering outside the blood wards and deliberately putting his life in danger.

- Harry inquiring about AD's blackened hand; I've failed to notice if it actually was charred at all in the movie, they could have made it more visible.

- AD knowing about the existence of horcruxes; it's hard to believe for me that he would destroy the ring without knowing it's one.

- a brief glimpse of a lesson in apparition, it would be weird for the three to start apparating in DH out of the blue.

- extended sectumsempra scene. The one in the movie seems awfully out of character to me for both Snape (no punishment? no cold fury? no inquiry how HP came accross his own spell?) and Harry (no apologies about him not meaning to harm DM that way)

- DEs fighting Hogwarts staff and students in their flight, it feels extremely improbable that noone would try to give a chase except for a few Aurors (it seems like noone was even woken up by all the noise). They could have included all the above-mentioned scene instead of the Burrow attack that doesn't contribute to the plot in any way.

- Harry being immobilised by AD rather than scurrying this way and that downstairs like a trapped rabbit; that seemed way out of character for him to me, not coming to the aid of AD.

- SS not reacting to Harry's "Fight back you coward" provocation. He seems too inhumane, not getting really annoyed even in situations that are emotionally the tensest of all the HP movies so far.

- a brief explanation of why SS calls himself "Half-blood Prince"; it leaves a non-reader completely clueless, which I don't think it should, considering the title of the movie. Hermione could have mentioned coming across SS's blood-status and the name of his mother in the last scene, and HP could have sworn vengeance upon him rather than "It was always Snape" which is far from showing the consuming hatred he feels for SS after AD's murder.

- AD's white tomb... The trio could have well contemplated their next moves outside at the tomb instead of on the balcony. And the phoenix could have been more visible and his farewell song could have been heard- I thought at first it was Hedwig coming before I saw the tail, and a non-reader who was at the cinema with me had no idea the leaving bird was AD's pet.


As for DaDA and info on Horcruxes, I can live with that. I guess they'll have Harry watch the vialed memories that AD showed him in the next movie or something, and the DaDA lessons weren't that essential for the plotline, although I'd have loved to see the "There's no need to call me sir" scene which is wittier than most of what the scriptwriters thought up.

Oh yes. I was very disappointed when Snape didn't get furious and slash Harry - Snape only really comes out from his shell of Occlumency a few times in the series (excluding Pensieve scenes) and that scene is one of them...i remember that particular scene as being one of the biggest clues to Snape's true allegiance. They did the same thing in PoA (one of my few nitpicks about that movie) when they cut down on the scene where he comes within like two seconds of murdering Sirius

Anyone else think they sometimes make Snape not nasty enough in the movies?

I completely agree. The thing I liked about Snape in the books is the extremes his character takes...from almost killing Sirius to basicly being Harry's savior. While I love Snape and Alan Rickman's portrayal of him the movies, I wish Snape could be more....well Snape-like.

While I'm talking about Rickman, I love his dramatic pauses and slow drawn-out dialogue (as I read Snape's lines in the book, I now read them this way lol), but he is becoming Yoda. He says all his lines this way now and it's almost a parody of the Philosopher's Stone Snape in HBP imho.

I didn't really think the burrow attack was that bad. I do think that the reason for adding it and cutting the battle at the end make no sense. They cut the battle at the end so that it wouldn't be repetitive to the battle at Hogwarts at the end of DH2. They then added an attack on the burrow to add some action in the middle and to show the danger that people are in in their homes when there is an attack at the beginning of DH1 at the burrow. Makes no sense at all.

The only things that really bugged me at all were the waitress scene - not a very Harry-like thing to do, if you ask me - he's never really been that confident when it comes to girls, so that was kind of weird.

And the scene where the Death Eaters tried to fly into the Hogwarts grounds.

Other than that, I actually really enjoyed the movie, and this is the first movie that I've seen where they've taken a lot of creative license and I actually approve. I think Yates did an amazing job.

Anyone else think they sometimes make Snape not nasty enough in the movies?

I do think so, but I think they're doing it on purpose.
I mean, even my friend, who has never read the books, knew that something else was going on with Snape because of the fact that he warned Harry in the Astronomy Tower not to make any noise just before he killed Dumbledore. She kept bugging us for information, but we told her if she wanted to know, she'd just have to borrow our books. :)

I said this before but I really wanted to see Snape's justification of his past actions to Bella in the Spinner's End scene...suppose that would have bored the non readers though

The Waitress scene. Completely uncanon and a total waste of time, that should have been used to show Dumbledore meets the Dursleys.
The Burrow attack was OK, but did they really have to burn it?

Do you think a poll would be good for this question?
AMEN! The Waitress scene was a waste of time and money. Harry would never hit on some random waitress. And if he let a muggle see the Prophet, he would probably have gotten in trouble with the MoM.

"I am not worried Harry - I am with you"

More memories/Horcrux explanation/Voldemort backstory

A battle at the end

And I would have loved to have seen Snape's DADA lesson

they should have put in the battle which ruined the end of the movie but it was still good

I sort of wish we could have an extended edition of the dvd with the parts in that were cut, such as the courtyard scene where Harry says 'Don't worry about me, i'll be with dumbledore' and then include the line in the cave 'I'm not worried harry, i'm with you'.

I also want to see the moment in Nocaturn alley when Hermione and Ron help Harry onto the roof and get really close together.

I can't think of any others at the moment, but i would like to see them all.

That ridiculous, out-of-character, pointless waitress scene. I hate it with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns :grumble:

The Burrow scene. I don't think it's bad - but I think it's a waste of screen time that could've been used for important canon.

Funeral.
Tom's memory when he discovers the cup and the locket.

That's it.

I didn't really like HP and HBP, I felt they left out too much that Harry learns about Snape and Lord V. I also felt given the powerful ending of movie action scene of OOP, the battle scene between the DE and Harry was underdone... where was OOP, Neville, Ginny etc.

So much that it would have needed to be a four hour movie...

- Snape actually teaching DADA; the professer/sir interchange would have been hilarious, and Snape's glowing description of the ever-changing nature of the Dark Arts would have helped make him look like the bad guy everyone is supposed to hate until The Prince's Tale.

- The crucial Pensieve memories of the Gaunts (why is Voldemort so evil) and the Founder's Relics (how is Harry supposed to find the Horcruxes without this information?).

- The House Elves, Dobby and Kreacher, fighting and trailing Draco. I get why they actually showed us Draco working on the Vanishing Cabinet, and I think it works better than just hearing Harry go on and on about his suspicions. But now there's this big hole in what they have to do in the DH movies, with finding out the story of the real locket from Kreacher, and giving movie-goers a reason to give a dam when Dobby dies.

- Ginny actually breaking up with Dean. They establish that she was going with him, and that she was fighting with him some, but then she kisses Harry without any evidence that she's ended it with Dean. It makes her look a little bit tramp-ish. Cheating is :td::no:.

- Consequences to Harry for almost killing Draco with the Sectumsempra spell. There's a student bleeding to death, and the kid responsible gets to just run off and hide his book? What? :err:

- A tiny bit of contact from Hagrid about how he misses the Trio coming for CoMC classes and the occasional afternoon tea, and a couple hints of Aragog dying. It seemed really strange to me to have him just plunked in to the story line without any foreshadowing. Other things got foreshadowed brilliantly; this was right out of left field.

- Comparison and contrast between the Remus/Tonks and Bill/Fleur ships. It would have given a reason for werewolf Fenrir Greyback to be in the movie; as it is, there really isn't much of one.

- More fighting on the way out of Hogwarts than just Bella going bonkers, dancing along the table, putting out all the lights and smashing the glass. The end was a bit slow, an action scene would have moved it along, and it would have made the Aurors look like they were capable of actually doing something instead of being effortlessly swept aside by four DE's and a boy.

I'm okay with there being only one Quidditch match; it's better than the complete lack of Quidditch we got in movies 4 & 5, especially when you consider how important Quidditch is to Harry up to this point.
I didn't really miss the Apparition Lessons, though I suppose it could have been fun to see them on screen. Interesting to see how filmmakers would/will handle the concept of getting splinched.
I also didn't miss Dumbledore's funeral, but only with the understanding that they are supposedly going to open the next film with that scene. They'd better, or I will be furious and there will be blood.

As should be obvious by the title and nature of the thread, everything above is nothing but my own humble, muddled opinions, and really have no relevance to anything except perhaps futher discussion with my fellow PotterHeads. Love you guys.

The Burrow scene was awesome, but IMO, it could have been replaced with some more Quidditch scenes, or possibly by a "Dumbledore's Funeral" scene...

I agree. The part of the Burrow scene I feel could have been excluded was the part when Harry, Ron, and Ginny are sitting on the couch. I would have liked to see more with Dumbledore's death and the battle to take up the time that was used for the scene with Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

Where is Bill and Flure? Also for all the non-readers they have no clue Greyback is a werewolf just that he is hairy. I understand why the director cut the duel scence from the movie because we get a duel at hogworts at the end of DH but now that DH is going to be two movies with that buffer movie in between you could have had the duel in the 6th movie as well. THis way we get Bill turning into a werewolf and get a nice raw meat joke in the next movie.
Also why does in Burrows burndown? We all know that isn't in the book and has no point in the movie. You don't think a minstry of magic worker's house getting burned down by death eaters doesn't get talked about? or the feact that Ron's house burns down but nobody mentions anything to him when they get back to school. That just realled bugged me about the movie.

After watching the movie, i feel the film does not do the book any justice. HBP is my favorite book of the series because we learn so much about Riddle and we were introduced to horcuxes. There are so many parts in the movie that I feel is wrong.
1. the 1st scene- meeting btw DD and Dursley replaced by the waitress flirting w harry.
2. the absence of harry using the invisibility clock, in the hogwarts train and most importantly, when DD was killed.
3. the lack of Riddle memories - they only showed two memories! would love if they show Riddle returning to Hogwarts 10 years later, showed his transformation from a handsome boy to his somewhat disfigured face..
4. the burning of the burrows- thought it was not relevant to the storyline.
5. Horcruxes not fully explained- how is harry going to find them?? and DD never explained to harry what it could be !!
6 teen romance- i thought it takes up half the movie time which could be better used.
7. harry not paralysed at the tower when DD was killed
8. the confrontation btw harry and snape after DD's death is too short- i don't feel there is enough hatred from harry.
9. the absence of the Order when the death eaters broke into hogwarts. and no hogwarts battle! i know they are saving it for the last movie- but i thought it could be done differently.....

I also thought there was a slightly odd scene where Ginny
says: "Take my hand" and Harry waits a whole five seconds before grabbing her hand.

I think this was a tad bit of a waste, there really was a ton of Ginny/Harry interaction enough as it was, plus the use of this irritatingly short scene cut down on time that could have been used to create a more exciting battle at the end of the movie. Not to mention this scene didn't add anything to the plot or movie other than to extend the time.

You guys have better ideas for directing the HBP movie than the director did. It's such a shame how much they left out. The movie wouldn't have been that much longer with some of the scenes mentioned and it would have been ten times better.

I also thought there was a slightly odd scene where Ginny
says: "Take my hand" and Harry waits a whole five seconds before grabbing her hand.

I think this was a tad bit of a waste, there really was a ton of Ginny/Harry interaction enough as it was, plus the use of this irritatingly short scene cut down on time that could have been used to create a more exciting battle at the end of the movie. Not to mention this scene didn't add anything to the plot or movie other than to extend the time.



The scenes with Harry and Ginny were terrible, they made everything so awkward and for someone whose a non reader this kind of just comes out of the blue. They really didn't make them seem like they have a good connection with each other.

The Harry/Ginny shoelace scene. I didn't find it romantic or screaming of sexual tension - I found it more... odd? I mean, who does that... :p

AMEN! The Waitress scene was a waste of time and money. Harry would never hit on some random waitress. And if he let a muggle see the Prophet, he would probably have gotten in trouble with the MoM.

He didn't hit on her. He awkwardly maybe tried to ask her out or something, and she basically beat him to it. And we don't know how "random" she is (i.e how often Harry visited that diner). I figured a fair amount "to keep his mind off things."

Possibly true about the "muggle" seeing the "moving prophet" but that's just a newspaper left behind - I am sure other magical people have mistakenly done that before.

The Harry/Ginny shoelace scene. I didn't find it romantic or screaming of sexual tension - I found it more... odd? I mean, who does that...I totally agree.
I don't know, I have this weird over-thinking feminist mentality of "why are you being subservient to him...." I'm sure that's not how to intrepret it but....
I really apologize to everyone, but seriously, couldn't they come up with something better? I mean, they cut the Blazing Ginny apres Quidditch yet added in a shoelace tie. Not good, not good at all. Where is the powerful, self-secure, mouthy Ginny we love. She would be like "Tie your own shoelace, man...."

And I love Harry....

But I guess this is true love, Kloves!Movie style.....

Other scenes that could be excluded - the Burrow destruction scene. Though it was pretty good and represented the loss of something dear and safe to Harry, it didn't make as much of an impact as maybe it could. I think I would rather see other scenes in the book that I was dying to see in film but - alas - were cut.

Obviously, I haven't seen the movie yet and am in no position to really add an opinion, but based off what I think... I don't the the funeral would have worked,

It would have worked. It was a crucial part of the book. And was defenetly needed at the end. Instead of adding parts that where not needed such as the subway and the burning of the burrow, they could of made an excellent funeral scene.


We need to consider the funeral from a movie standpoint. They *do* have a budget, and the funeral would require tons of extras, quite a few special effects, etc. They probably needed to conserve their budget. I think the wand tribute was a fitting substitute, because the funeral had so many major characters present (some of their actors might have been unavailable).


Special effect such as Gwarp, he mermaids, the centaurs and the blue flames into a white tomb. With all the unnecessary scenes they put in, they could of used the money they used to make those scenes and make the funeral instead. Even with a short budget, they could of done a lot better.



While I enjoyed the movie, there were far to many short scenes that caused the movie to be choppy. The one scene that bothered me most was the sectumsempra scene in the bathroom between Draco and Harry. After Snape enters Harry simply leaves. There appears to be absolutely no punishment, which is odd by itself, I would have liked to see a scene depicting Harry's first detention where Snape assigns him to rewrite student transgressions at Hogwarts.


I agree. I also think that the fight scene could of ben done a lot better. Such as instead of a few small cuts, one large one across his chest. Like it was said to be in the book. And blood gushing from his chest after the spell hits him and then fall back instead of just falling back and laying on the ground And, a lot more blood could of ben spilled. Not to mention, there was no moaning myrtle at all in the movie and she was an important part of the movie. For it was her that told Harry and Ron that a boy was crying in the bathroom. Not to mention, Harry was not to speak after he entered the bathroom. Draco was supposed to look up and see him in the mirror and then start to fight. And, the fight scene could of ben a lot more longer. A lot went wrong there. Him crying could of ben more than 8 seconds long. And I mean really sobbing.

They did a pretty poor job on the movie.



The one thing I would like to have seen most is the constant obsession with Draco and how it nearly causes Ron and Hermonie to get fed up with him. And, the kiss after the match instead of in the room of requirements. Ginny was not even supposed to be there with him. He was to be the one to go in. and I'm supprised that Harry did not uncover the cabinet in the RR. One would think that after seeing it in the shop, he would recognize it right away in the RR. The funeral was another big thing that I would like to have seen. And the Detentions.. And the part in the beginning with the Dursleys.
There's so much that I would love to have seen put in.. A pity that this movie was the most horrible one. made.

Cringe-worthy scenes/lines:

-Dumbledore asking Harry about his relationship with Hermione
-Whatever the waitress was mumbling about "Harry Potter" in the opening scene... speak up, girl!
-Why the entire teaching staff was standing there watching the whole Lavendar/Ron/Hermione drama scene in the hospital wing
-Aragog scene could have been shortened
-Why did Ginny run after Harry during the Burrow fire scene when Lupin couldn't/didn't?
-Random nameless Aurors walking around... at first I didn't know if they were bad guys or good guys.. HAHA

There were more, but all in all, my fave HP movie so far!

Scenes that I didn't like in the movie were:

- The first 6-7 minutes of the film (i.e train station, cafe, Spinners End).
- The entire teaching staff was standing there watching the whole Lavendar/Ron/Hermione drama scene in the hospital wing.
- Dumbledores effort to try and 'connect to Harry on a personal level', just came off as perverted IMO.
- The whole Attack on The Burrow scene, it achieved nothing and the time could have been much better spent on more important scenes.
- The Harry/Ginny kiss scene, I just didn't like the way it was done.
- Death Eaters bouncing off Hogwarts 'force-field'. I think this was such a childish way to show Hogwarts was protected, and also far too Sci-Fi.
- I continue to detest the way OotP and HbP show people apparating, just a pet hate of mine :shrug:.
- And finally I didn't like how The Millenium Bridge was destroyed. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it actually being destroyed, however having Death Eaters fly (apparate) threw it, was a pretty lame way to do it IMO!

P.S This post makes it seem that I didn't like this movie at all, but this couldn't be further from the truth. I enjoyed it immensely! :) Most things were done brilliantly!

Why Death eaters apparate ln the movies leaving a smoke trail after them? Apparating is not like that.

Why they keep ruining important scenes with stupid decisions when most of us could do it better? Come on, they are supposed to be good directors.

The battle at the burrow and the burrow burning down and, The subway part at the beginning. Those two where not needed at all. And a excellent funeral scene could of ben put at the end of the movie if those two did not exist.

I think the Burrow scene should have been left out it was so pointless and the time used to make the Harry/Ginny kiss longer (they were is love after all) The kiss in the movie was like one you gave to a close female/male friend. The subway scene to what was the point of it at all I did not get it. Over than that it was a very good movie.

My problem with the Burrow scene is not the way it was done. It would have been interesting IF it followed cannon. The "protection" thing is important thoughout all 7 books. Protection on the Burrow doesn't fail until the Ministry falls in DH. So how do you explain the deatheaters were able to attack the Burrow? I don't mind them messing around with details a little but to me this is against some bare bones stuff.

I'm still highly amused by the hatred of the Waitress scene. In my mind I imagine a whole heap of people reacting to this like Lavender did in the Great Hall after being dumped :D

Cringe-worthy scenes/lines:

-Why did Ginny run after Harry during the Burrow fire scene when Lupin couldn't/didn't?

There were more, but all in all, my fave HP movie so far!

Perhaps because she loves him more than Lupin does and is therefore more willing to put herself in harm's way.

The Waitress scene. Completely uncanon and a total waste of time, that should have been used to show Dumbledore meets the Dursleys.

totally agree, i enjoy seeing the dursleys and being at #4 Privet Drive, and i think the actors who portray them probably get a little angry that they have dropped out of more than 1 film. i hope they come back for DH

The waitress scene was stupid and cheesy, and whenever they showed Draco in the room of requirement was a waste of time, especially since it was supposed to a surprise at the end. And even though it followed the book, I think Aragog’s funeral was a waste of time because it just randomly showed the spider’s body. Why couldn’t Harry and Slughorn just go to Hagrid’s, get drunk, and then get the memory? The writers could’ve figured some way for the conversation to lead to Lily’s death. I didn’t like how Hermione’s canaries were there, either. I think just seeing her frowning at Ron at the after party was enough. And Harry hiding the book with Ginny was stupid; he should’ve just hid it himself. And in the bathroom scene, I think it lingered on too long with Harry just staring at Draco in pain. It just showed him screaming and I’m like, “I don’t want Draco to die. Where’s Snape? Snape needs to save him…” And I don’t like how the Death Eaters just destroyed the Great Hall; it would’ve been better for an actual battle scene to take place. Maybe it could’ve been very short without showing everything that happened, and then they could’ve actually told what happened, showing the effects in the hospital wing. And in Diagon Alley, I think the trio should’ve just followed Draco, instead of dilly-dallying all around.

The burrow scene was not needed, but after thinking about it for a week, I'm pretty sure that it is for the seventh movies. I think they're going to have a wedding somewhere else, and Harry, Ron and Hermione can go to Bill and Fleur's house without explaining how they didn't want to go to the burrow, because the burrow will just be gone. Sure, they're not following the book, but do movies ever follow the book completely?

I agree. I can see why they would want to have some type of action scene in the middle of the movie, but the attack on the Burrow just wasn't effective for what they were trying to show because Bellatrix and Greyback did not appear to be attacking for any reason - they just lured them out of the house and set it on fire. It was just a pointless show of special effects. I think it would have made more sense if they'd kept the twins going into the village so George could flirt with the muggle girl who liked his "magic tricks" and one of them return for help saying that Death Eaters were attacking with everyone rushing off to help.

Absolutely agree. As a friend of mine put it, it felt like nothing more than a silly attempt to parade Ginny around in a bathrobe. Nothing was really accomplished in that scene. Battle? What battle? We just had a couple of wizards running around and pointing wands at weeds.

It would have been more effective if the other Weasleys were involved, there were more Death Eaters, and people were actually fighting. It just felt ridiculous that while Harry, Ginny, Remus, and Tonks were going after Bellatrix and Greyback, everyone else was just...there. And when Bellatrix set the Burrow on fire, why was everyone just staring at the house burning? Certainly most of them knew how to use Aguamenti (and Harry very clearly demonstrated this spell later on in the cave scene), they had their wands out--for me, it really made the Weasleys look, well, slightly idiotic. For me, the scene would've been a little more affecting if it had shown someone at least trying to put out the fire and failing. Whatever the movie was trying to accomplish with this, it fell short. Very short.

It also puzzles me why only two Death Eaters were sent to deal with a houseful of trained wizards, whereas a whole group of them had to be at Hogwarts where they were almost completely unopposed despite Bellatrix's racket in the Great Hall.

Yeah - the lack of a real battle at the end was detrimental to the overall effect. The Death Eaters just marching out of the school with only one person trying to stop them - who was so easily dispatched by Snape it bordered on ridiculous for them to have even included that - was not believable. At the very least, they should have shown the teachers attempting to intervene with some kind of battle taking place - even if it was short, it would have been something.

I did like the shot of the Death Eaters trying to get into Hogwarts and bouncing off the protective enchantments though - great way for them to show that Hogwarts was well protected. From the outside at least.

I'm not really bothered by them showing that Dumbledore could apparate from Hogwarts - it was established in the book that he could life the anti-apparition jinx if he chose because he did so for the Great Hall so they could learn how to apparate. But that was still a cautious act - Dumbledore limited that to the Great Hall only so it still would not have been possible for anyone else to apparate inside of Hogwarts. They could only apparate within that one room. What bothered me was that it didn't make any sense to have Dumbledore lift the anti-apparition jinx on the tower and leave the school vulnerable. Not only did that make Dumbledore appear rather reckless, it also made the entire plot of Draco working so hard to fix the Vanishing cabinet pointless because the Death Eaters could have just apparated straight to the tower. I think it would have made more sense if they had walked out to the gate at least and apparated from there - beyond the protective enchantments.

Exactly. The group of Death Eaters would have been better off going to the Burrow. The only purpose they served at Hogwarts was to be Draco's cheering squad/bodyguards. And really, with all that noise Bellatrix was making, no one turned up to investigate? Like you, meesh, I was hoping for at least the teachers to show up and try to stop them. It would only take a few minutes (minutes that could have been shaved off pointless scenes like the waitress scene and the overdone Harry/Ginny bits) to show McGonagall firing off a Stunner or something.

The first scene should definetly not be there. It was a muggle place! What, the hell did harry think reading a magic newspaper with moving pictures there? ;p That should have made place for a Dursley scene, i was waiting for!
Also, i liked the burrow-Weasley scene, but, well, it shud have made place for the hogwarts battle. Definetly. And i guess thats it ;p

they should have definetly showed the hogwarts battle scene! I missed it so much! i mean, it was kinda important. Without it Draco's help to get the deatheaters into the castle was just pointless. He could of just killed A.D himself, coulden;t he? I mean HE was meant to do it. And if he woulden't (cause I think no one ever expected he would) Severus was meant to, and he was always in the school, so I see no sense of the Deatheaters coming in the school, watching Albus die, ruining the great hall and running away. So the battle was a important scene, and they did'nt make it :/

I kinda missed some of Tom's memories too, and the Rosmerta scene, also there was no Fleur saying she is beautiful enough for both of them ;p (Bill & her) and of course the funeral.

but the battle should have definetly be there! Most important.

Oh! And I did not miss the fox scene . Don;t laugh xp I just felt sorry for the guy, I mean he was just a little cute fox, walking around and Bella just snapped hip ;p Poor fella ... The scene would have been dramatic :D

I would have totally redone all the Harry/Ginny scenes. The Burrow scene was not needed although I think it will be rebuilt and the wedding will be there in the next film.

It would have worked. It was a crucial part of the book. And was defenetly needed at the end. Instead of adding parts that where not needed such as the subway and the burning of the burrow, they could of made an excellent funeral scene.





Special effect such as Gwarp, he mermaids, the centaurs and the blue flames into a white tomb. With all the unnecessary scenes they put in, they could of used the money they used to make those scenes and make the funeral instead. Even with a short budget, they could of done a lot better.






I agree. I also think that the fight scene could of ben done a lot better. Such as instead of a few small cuts, one large one across his chest. Like it was said to be in the book. And blood gushing from his chest after the spell hits him and then fall back instead of just falling back and laying on the ground And, a lot more blood could of ben spilled. Not to mention, there was no moaning myrtle at all in the movie and she was an important part of the movie. For it was her that told Harry and Ron that a boy was crying in the bathroom. Not to mention, Harry was not to speak after he entered the bathroom. Draco was supposed to look up and see him in the mirror and then start to fight. And, the fight scene could of ben a lot more longer. A lot went wrong there. Him crying could of ben more than 8 seconds long. And I mean really sobbing.

They did a pretty poor job on the movie.



The one thing I would like to have seen most is the constant obsession with Draco and how it nearly causes Ron and Hermonie to get fed up with him. And, the kiss after the match instead of in the room of requirements. Ginny was not even supposed to be there with him. He was to be the one to go in. and I'm supprised that Harry did not uncover the cabinet in the RR. One would think that after seeing it in the shop, he would recognize it right away in the RR. The funeral was another big thing that I would like to have seen. And the Detentions.. And the part in the beginning with the Dursleys.
There's so much that I would love to have seen put in.. A pity that this movie was the most horrible one. made.

I basically agree. I also think that they could have mentioned early that Fudge had been replaced by Scrimgeour (no need for "The other minister" scene). Unfortunately Scrimgeour has only been cast for 7 and therefore we never hear that Harry is "Dumbledore's man through and through" .

I didn't think the Burrow scene was needed. It was a little annoying. I like how they had Ginny running after Harry and then Harry ends up saving her, but still, I think that it could have done without that one.

I'm not sure if this is the best place to put this, but is anyone slightly disappointed in some of the lines heard in the trailers that didn't make it to the final cut in the film? Nothing major, obviously, but I would have liked to see them remain in the film. I suppose they could be part of extended or deleted scenes on the DVD at least.

A few I can remember off the top of my head:

1. Dumbledore's line during the Horcrux scene... "In my life, I have seen things that are truly horrific. Now I know you'll see worse."

2. Snape's line on the Astronomy Tower... "It's over."

3. Hermione's line about Slughorn... "You didn't honestly think you'd get him to reveal his deepest, darkest secret..." --- I don't see where this would fit in besides a cut scene

I didn't miss Snape's "It's over" because I feel like Rickman's regretful sort of delivery would have telegraphed his true allegiances, but these other two:


1. Dumbledore's line during the Horcrux scene... "In my life, I have seen things that are truly horrific. Now I know you'll see worse."

3. Hermione's line about Slughorn... "You didn't honestly think you'd get him to reveal his deepest, darkest secret..." --- I don't see where this would fit in besides a cut scene

I really do wish had been in the film - or the scenes that included them, if the case may be. I also noticed Arthur's "Times like these, dark times, they can bring people together - or tear them apart" wasn't in the film.

I really do wish had been in the film - or the scenes that included them, if the case may be. I also noticed Arthur's "Times like these, dark times, they can bring people together - or tear them apart" wasn't in the film.

Ah, I knew I was missing one from the trailers. I would have liked to hear Mr. Weasley's line as well.

Actually, I really liked the whole Horcruxes scene we saw via the script leak. There was a bit more dialogue about the Horcruxes (and it looks like it was in the film at some point due to the editing in the scene), and of course the "flashes" of the Horcruxes included Dumbledore's hand decaying and the Hufflepuff cup. I can only hope for an extended sequence on the DVD (to an already good scene, I should add).

1. the 1st scene- meeting btw DD and Dursley replaced by the waitress flirting w harry.I would also have preferred the Durselys to the waitress. They may have changed it to make a quicker scene and/or to introduce the romance theme.

2. the absence of harry using the invisibility clock, in the hogwarts train and most importantly, when DD was killed. Harry did use the invisibility cloak on the train.

4. the burning of the burrows- thought it was not relevant to the storyline. I actually liked that part. It established the increasing danger facing the wizarding world.

5. Horcruxes not fully explained- how is harry going to find them?? and DD never explained to harry what it could be !! I was upset about this at first but then I realized that more Horcrux information isn't needed for the HBP movie. It is needed for DH part 1 so that movie viewers know that central plot element. Somebody who watches a movie once would't remember it a year later. I'm sure that's what the movie director/writers have in mind.

6 teen romance- i thought it takes up half the movie time which could be better used.I liked the inclusion of the romance part from the book, except I thought they did the Harry/Ginny part very poorly.

7. harry not paralysed at the tower when DD was killedI didn't like the way they portrayed Harry in the DD death scene. Actually, I don't think I would have liked it done like the book either. That seemed like the weakest point in the story to me. It seemed terribly dangerous for DD to freeze Harry like that. But I can't think up a better scene either.

8. the confrontation btw harry and snape after DD's death is too short- i don't feel there is enough hatred from harry. I'd agree with that. Even a little more time for Snape's "I am NOT a coward line" would have helped.

9. the absence of the Order when the death eaters broke into hogwarts. and no hogwarts battle! i know they are saving it for the last movie- but i thought it could be done differently.....I would have liked to have seen this, but it might have taken a lot of movie time to do it well.


I would have like to have seen DD's line "I am not worried Harry - I am with you", which I believe was actually in a trailer.

I would have loved to have heard Luna's little spiel about the Rotfang Conspiracy. It was my favorite line in the book, I thought that was hilarious; it could have easily been added with 15-20s of movie time. A minor point.

I don't understand why they didn't put Ravenclaw's diadem in the room of requirement. It wouldn't have added any time, it could have been just sitting somewhere in the background for book readers to notice and just part of the junk for everyone else.

Oh, people in my house thought that the teenage Riddle was terrible. He was spooky, but he shouldn't be spooky. He was handsome, charming, deceptively smooth, and that's why he could worm information out of Slughorn. The Riddle from COS would have been good if he isn't too old for the part. Using a 10 year old to portray a 16 year old Riddle was pathetic.

I would have like to have seen DD's line "I am not worried Harry - I am with you", which I believe was actually in a trailer

It wasn't in any trailers as far as I'm aware, but it was in fact in the test screening of the movie. They likely cut it because they cut the scene between Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the courtyard right before he leaves with Dumbledore. With that scene included (Harry says something along the lines of "I don't need luck, I'll be with Dumbledore"), it would have been a nice parallel to Dumbledore's line. Without it though, it might not have had as much impact. Also, I think I heard that some of the test screen viewers didn't like the way the line was delivered, so that may have been another contributing factor.

Still, hard to say without seeing it for ourselves. I'm hopeful it will be in the DVD as a deleted or extended scene.

is anyone else mad about the Death Eaters being able to fly?
i know it was like that in the 5th movie too but they flew waay too much in this one! now when voldy flies in the beginning of the seventh movie, it wont matter cause the death eaters can do it!
sure its a way to show more action and make it more cool but it just kinda ruined the beginning of the movie for me.

I was waiting for the battle between the Order and the Death Eaters before DD dies but it didn't appear..as well as the appearance of Rufus Scrimgeour..?:lol:at the beginning of the book...

is anyone else mad about the Death Eaters being able to fly?
i know it was like that in the 5th movie too but they flew waay too much in this one! now when voldy flies in the beginning of the seventh movie, it wont matter cause the death eaters can do it!
sure its a way to show more action and make it more cool but it just kinda ruined the beginning of the movie for me.

exactly ! I kinda liked the beginning, the way they got to Diagon Alley, but the fact they could fly ruined it alot :/ Couldn't they just give them some brooms?! It would have been the same effect but more realistic! Now Voldy's flying and Snape's won't be special! sheesh, that one made me mad in the 5 movie, but now? That was too much. I would definitely love a broomstick version, and some invisability clokes, so the muggles wouldn't see them.

Disappointed that they didn't add the battle at Hogwarts. It would make more sense why the Death Eaters had to sneak in through the Vanishing Cabinet. Yes, they destroyed Hogwarts, but I wanted to see some bloodshed!! hahaha, but yes, I was very disappointed they didn't add the battle.
Also, Dumbledore saying, "I am not worried, Harry. I am with you" would have added even more to the emotion of the cave scene. Although I was already in tears, it would have sent me bawling.

And wanted more of the Ron/Hermione moment, especially Ron saying, "I love you, Hermione" and her saying, "Don't let Lavender hear you saying that." I thought that was one of the cutest Ron/Hermione moments in the book, and I would have loved to see that on screen. But I was satisfied with the ron/hermione stuff, especially the hospital scene. :D

I wanted more Neville, too. His only lines in the movie were him explaining why he was serving drinks at Slughorn's party, but that alone had me in a fit of giggles. He's so cute! Even though he wasn't in HBP that much in the book, they could have at least correctly include him in the Slug Club on the Hogwarts Express. :grumble:

Also, to add on to my essay of a rant, they should have included the student apparation classes. Just saying. :lol:

EDIT: OH! Just thought of another one that rather upset me. MORE LUPIN/TONKS. Or at least more Tonks. I mean, as much as I love Luna, it wasn't her that was supposed to find her and do Episkey! And I just love Lupin/Tonks.

I agree with a lot of the others here.

I would have loved more Neville and Dean stuff - they could have atleast given Dean a line !

I still would have liked to see Tonks find Harry on the train and oh, the H/G triumphant kiss ala the books but the kiss we got was more in tune with how they've been done in the movies so ....

After just seeing the movie again I was left wondering why they had all of those scenes with Draco in the room of requirement, and why they actually talked about vanishing cabinets beforehand. It made every audience member know what Draco was up to, but in the book we didn't even know what he was doing-or if Harry was just reading too much into it. That's what made the Death Eater entrance and the Dark Mark above the castle such a terrible surprise. And there wasn't even a Dark Mark at the castle when Harry and Dumbledore came back! It seemed like they missed out on some great dramatic moments by showing the audience members exactly what was going to happen.

After just seeing the movie again I was left wondering why they had all of those scenes with Draco in the room of requirement, and why they actually talked about vanishing cabinets beforehand. It made every audience member know what Draco was up to, but in the book we didn't even know what he was doing-or if Harry was just reading too much into it. That's what made the Death Eater entrance and the Dark Mark above the castle such a terrible surprise. And there wasn't even a Dark Mark at the castle when Harry and Dumbledore came back! It seemed like they missed out on some great dramatic moments by showing the audience members exactly what was going to happen.


That's usually the problem when going from book to movie because in a book it's a lot easier to just write it out and make it more secretive as for a movie they usually tend to reveal too much to the audience just so they can keep up.

ps. Wicked I love your sig. I was just talking to my manager today about that exact quote because we are huge office fans and I just recently got him to start watching Harry Potter.

The burning of the burrow and the kissing scene w/ Ginny in the room of Requirement. they could have left in the part where Harry kissed Ginny after the match. They should have put in the part where the DA and the Death Eaters were fighting in the school i waited for so long to see that part and it wasn' t even there

I really have to get this out of my chest….. The waitress?.......I mean, we already know that Harry is a big boy, I was actually expecting to see Dumbledore in Privet Drive. I wanted to see uncle Vernon’s expression when he would call at the door. (There are so many good characters that for the length of the books can’t make it to the film; no need to add others that have nothing to do with the plot or the books… it was a big disappointment.) Besides Harry doesn’t need any link to the muggle world he loves the magic world.

And the Burrow oh please…isn’t there some sort of rule that the bad guys in HP are really bad guys¿¡ they would not call on your door just because they were bored, when they attack they mean business, no way that if Harry and Ginny have confronted Bellatrix and the werewolf they could have survived. Especially if you are going to cut the battle at Hogwarts… again no need to add a scene that is not even in the book when there are so many good scenes that are cut off to begin with.

Dumbledore caring about Harry’s love live? Especially when he asks about Hermione, I mean Dumbledore is a brilliant man and we know he cares about Harry, and I think everyone but Ron is wide aware of Hermione’s feelings.

Sorry about the long post but really¡¡¡¡¡

Maybe it is just worst because they made us wait all this time and therefore there was a lot of anticipation...

The most important for me were the remaining horcruxes explanation, the fight inside Hogwarts…(can you imagine an scene with the DA and Howgarts teachers against the Deatheaters fighting in the main hall or in the enchanted starcaise? How could they not have given us that…even just for a bit you don’t have to save it all for the 8th movie)… What about Harry and Ginny, she takes the initiative in the movie… Why? They like each other period. No need to make Harry look like he is a chicken who can confess or show his feelings… But mostly to think that Harry would just stand there when Dumbledore was woundless and surrounded with deatheaters you have to be….. It is so not like Harry to behave like this even if he would have been killed, he would have fought, if it wasn’t because of Dumbledore’s spell and it would have been so easy to add it to the movie, that is actually the reason why is so easy for Draco to do the Expeliarmus on AD.

That's usually the problem when going from book to movie because in a book it's a lot easier to just write it out and make it more secretive as for a movie they usually tend to reveal too much to the audience just so they can keep up.

ps. Wicked I love your sig. I was just talking to my manager today about that exact quote because we are huge office fans and I just recently got him to start watching Harry Potter.

Thanks! I don't think I've laughed harder when Michael said that about the Dementors. Good for you for getting someone into HP! Share the wealth :)

As for Draco, I think they could have shown he was up to something without showing exactly what he was doing. Then Draco could've explained what he did to Dumbledore-oh well. I just wish they would have done that.

The most important for me were the remaining horcruxes explanation, the fight inside Hogwarts…(can you imagine an scene with the DA and Howgarts teachers against the Deatheaters fighting in the main hall or in the enchanted starcaise? How could they not have given us that…even just for a bit you don’t have to save it all for the 8th movie)… What about Harry and Ginny, she takes the initiative in the movie… Why? They like each other period. No need to make Harry look like he is a chicken who can confess or show his feelings… But mostly to think that Harry would just stand there when Dumbledore was woundless and surrounded with deatheaters you have to be….. It is so not like Harry to behave like this even if he would have been killed, he would have fought, if it wasn’t because of Dumbledore’s spell and it would have been so easy to add it to the movie, that is actually the reason why is so easy for Draco to do the Expeliarmus on AD.

Completely agree with everything you just said :tu:I was never a huge Harry/Ginny shipper compared to some of my friends but I was bothered with how it played out-just plain awkward. I think they just cast the wrong girl to play Ginny-she is nothing like the character in the books, and Harry was more active in pursuing her than just letting her make all the moves like they did in the movie. And you're right-the only reason Harry didn't do anything is because he physically couldn't, not because he chose too. Harry is far too passionate and reckless to let Dumbledore be killed without doing anything.

Pretty much, my opinion is really with everyone else, The Burrow scene was stupid and achieved absolutely nothing storywise!! Reminded me of the clown from IT, pretending to be attackking the victims but not really!! Might as well have had Bellatrix hide behind a door in Hogwarts and jump out and scream "Boo!" for all the good that scene did!!

Oh and the Waitress scene and how Harry's night was ruined, as noted by Dumbledore!! Yeah, she gets off at, ahem 11, Harry's what, just turned 16?? Am I the only one who finds that sick and slightly...too far out there to be portrayed properly!!

Oh and the Waitress scene and how Harry's night was ruined, as noted by Dumbledore!! Yeah, she gets off at, ahem 11, Harry's what, just turned 16?? Am I the only one who finds that sick and slightly...too far out there to be portrayed properly!!

You certianly are not the only one, don't worry! ;) :lol:

Exactly. The group of Death Eaters would have been better off going to the Burrow. The only purpose they served at Hogwarts was to be Draco's cheering squad/bodyguards. And really, with all that noise Bellatrix was making, no one turned up to investigate? Like you, meesh, I was hoping for at least the teachers to show up and try to stop them. It would only take a few minutes (minutes that could have been shaved off pointless scenes like the waitress scene and the overdone Harry/Ginny bits) to show McGonagall firing off a Stunner or something.

I get the feeling the idea was that Dumbledore personally would be exempt from the jinx - it wasn't lifting the jinx overall but simply allowing the Headmaster, and only the Headmaster, to apparate. If I'm honest I'm surprised that wasn't done in the books.

For me the scenes I didn't like, or things in them I disliked, were:

- The Terrorism/The Burrow scenes - an unusual reason from me: both of these scenes gave the impression, especially the terrorism one, that the Death Eaters can fly which is going to detract from Voldemort's ability in DH. I know it's meant to be apparition but they're casting spells and moving things while apparating, and at the Burrow they apparate back to the house while the Order members run there? What?

- The Ginny/Harry scene - yech *fingers down throat* I think it was the music more than anything, it started before anything happened and I just knew it was coming. I personally would've rather it happened instinctively, in a more surprising fashion than being framed and laminated.

- Dumbledore's Death scene - why was it necessary to deviate from the book by having Harry remain below instead of petrified and cloaked? From a movie production point of view I don't understand it; the change in scene didn't save much, if any, run-time and the CGI effects required were minimal - in all honesty the original scene would not have been hard to reinact on the screen so I couldn't understand this change.

Scenes I felt should've been included:

- Discussion of Voldemort's Horcruxes - this should've definitely been discussed at more length after Harry obtained the memory from Slughorn; just five minutes with Harry and Dumbledore ascertaining what the Horcruxes would be and just WHY they're so powerful; as HP readers we know why but as a movie goer I didn't feel the gravity of these pieces of magic was quite expressed well enough, it was like: yeah, use it to be immortal, have fun, good game.

- Apparition classes + Harry's Apparition - just to tie between HBP and DH because in DH we're going to mysteriously see Harry apparating and wonder how.

- Dumbledore's Funeral - the size and grandeur of the funeral really kicks home the loss of Dumbledore IMO.

Dumbledore telling the Dursley's off.

Yes!!!! That would have been one of the best scenes!!!

Besides, why would Harry be in the train station in the first place? (The obvious answer being that he was meeting Dumbledore there.) I kind of have a feeling that they purposely cut that scene out :(

Hagrid demonstrating how vital Dumbledore was to Hogwarts and his reactions to his death needed to be seen to show the greatness of his death

The memory of the Gaunt's would have been nice but I guess unnecessary.

The waitress scene was definitely unnecessary and kind of stupid. So they should have cut that and had DD come to collect Harry at the Dursley's. And they should gave had more Riddle memories, the kiss b/w Ginny and Harry the way it was in the book and Hagrid mourning DD's death

First post!

Man there was a lot of scenes I thought should have been included and a good deal I thought should have been left out as well. But as this is the 'what should have been included' thread, I'll stick with that (um mostly). :) Most of these have already been mentioned.

-Dumbledore picking up Harry from the Dursleys. It really was an awesome scene.

-More memories. I feel there are going to be massive plot holes in the seventh movies as they've left out the Founder's relics. In my opinion they focused too much of the movie on the teeny love stuff, and not enough on crucial plot points. Those are the things that a novel can include, as they are just fun little tidbits, but a movie cannot, especially when they are leaving out crucial things.

-More of Dumbledore from the books. I don't know who this Dumbledore who is so keen on what exactly Harry and Hermione's relationship is but I want my Dumblee-dore back!

-I also think they could have done the build up at the end better. Imo, it was much more dramatic in the books when Harry was leaving Hogwarts with Dumbledore, and gave the Felix potion to the DA members because he knew something bad was going to happen. And then, when they got back (in Hogsmeade) and they saw the Dark Mark over the castle, it was very chilling. And then I thought Harry under the invisibility cloak rather than Harry below the floor was a lot better. Because in the books he really was powerless to stop anything from happening.

-And regarding the above, where was the fight at Hogwarts?

Overall, I was disappointed with the movie, as I was five times before. Besides the crucial things that (I feel) should be included, and actor choices I disagreed with even when rumors were first flittering in regarding a movie being made. Besides all that, I just don't see any care anywhere in the movies. It's hard to explain, but I think that something like Harry Potter should be done by a director and team that really loves the books. I miss all the little things they could be including rather easily but don't. Like Ravenclaw's diadem, as someone mentioned earlier. Such a thing would not be noticed by regular movie goers, but us fans would have spotted it right away. I don't know if this point is really coming across clearly, but I hope you guys understand me.

- The battle at Hogwarts was the most egregious omission to me. Oh to see Prof. Mcgonagall taking on the death eaters, not to mention Ginny, Luna and Neville. We totally miss out on the development of Neville into a stronger character. Would have gladly traded the burrow scene for the battle at the end. Didn't feel like that scene added much.

- Ginny/Harry was developed much better in the book(s). I think a lot of the disappointment in how Ginny/Harry played out has to do with lack of screen time devoted to letting the viewers get to know Ginny - her humor, strength, etc. Hated how they combined Ginny and Dean kissing with Harry trying to get Slughorn's attention. It totally glossed over Harry's conflict at that moment by trying to kill two birds with one stone.

- Much prefer first kiss scene in the book compared to the movie. I wonder if they felt it was too similar to Ron and Lavender hooking up (after Quiddith, in the common room, publicly). I think in general they were trying to go very sweet and awkward with Harry/Ginny to contrast with the darkness and the more slapstick of Ron/Lavender.

- Obviously more on the horcruxes. It will be interesting to see how they resolve this omission in DH.

Can probably come up with some more on further thought.

I totally agree with you ^^ about everything!
There will definitely be major plot holes in DH with regards to the Horcruxes and Bill and Fleur's wedding, which is just going to suddenly happen it looks like :shrug:
And there definitely should have been more action towards the end. At least a bit of a fight...
All in all I liked the movie, but was disappointed at the same time :grumble:

Also, they wasted a ton of screen time showing how Draco got the death eaters into Hogwarts when they didn't really need to be there if there was to be no battle.

My son, who has not read all the books, asked me how Draco just happened to know where to find Dumbledore which lead to a discussion as to how in the book they set a trap with the death mark. It would have been more logical and also saved us from Dumbledore apparating in and out of Hogwarts which we all know he can't do.

Waitress scene worthless especially when two scenes later Harry is to be looking longingly at Ginny through the window.

The waitress scene was definitely unnecessary and kind of stupid. So they should have cut that and had DD come to collect Harry at the Dursley's. And they should gave had more Riddle memories, the kiss b/w Ginny and Harry the way it was in the book and Hagrid mourning DD's death
I agree with you totally, I would have prefered to watch Harry being picked up at Number 4 privet drive while he is sad about Sirius and not flirting with a waitress.
I also agree with you about the memories, that is one thing I dont see how they are gonna fix, how will Harry know about the cup? About Nagini? Will Hermione be so clever as to guess Nagini is one, I would so hate that. I am gonna hold my horses and not jump into conclusions but I really think they should have had DD hint about these two.

About the kiss, I have endlessly written very long posts about how much I hate it, so I wont go into detail once again, lets just say I hope the Hallows film somehow manages to make up for this. (even though I doubt it cause they have a whole complex plot to develop to be paying attention to romance, this was the film to settle relationships and they messed up this one , if you ask me. )

The only dissappointment i found in this movie was the ending.
I felt that it was too abrupt, like there should've been more.
The only reason I knew that was it was that I read the book.
My parents, who haven't, got completely confused during the ending.

Another thing is why didn't Riddle say "Horcrux" in Slughorn's memory? Because then when Harry went to ask Slughorn he asks him about "rare piece of magic" that he doesn't know the name of... that sounded kind of dumb really. Plus DD has been off traveling looking for Horcruxes when he didn't even know what Riddle had asked about... :no:

And the whole Ginny/Harry kiss was just wrong. She was supposed to be taken by surprise by him liking her at all so it would have been sooo much better if he kissed her at least. But really they should have done their kiss the way it was in the book :grumble:

Subway scene for sure

Another little bit of humor from the book that didn't make the movie was the "It's not Lavender" bits where Ron hasn't broken up with her but is spending time with Hermione and is deathly afraid that every girl that walks around the corner is Lavender.

I hate to say it ppl but this movie mad me mad! I wanted to walk out of the theater when the burrow burnt down. There was no point at all to that scence. I mean really. It NEVER burns down. It was a good 15 minutes that they should've used on the battlescene! THEY SKIPPED IT! They also didn't do a good job of explaing the horocruxes at all. They are splitting the last book into two movies so they don't leave anything out but they skipped a whole lot in this one that starts off the last book! The best parts of this movie were with harry and hermoine. The acting was sooo much better. Too bad it was when they were acting drunk! I hope that the directors read these forums and understand what they did wrong so they can correct it the next time around!

I hate to say it ppl but this movie mad me mad! I wanted to walk out of the theater when the burrow burnt down. There was no point at all to that scence. I mean really. It NEVER burns down. It was a good 15 minutes that they should've used on the battlescene! THEY SKIPPED IT! They also didn't do a good job of explaing the horocruxes at all. They are splitting the last book into two movies so they don't leave anything out but they skipped a whole lot in this one that starts off the last book! The best parts of this movie were with harry and hermoine. The acting was sooo much better. Too bad it was when they were acting drunk! I hope that the directors read these forums and understand what they did wrong so they can correct it the next time around!


I didn't like the burrow scene either but it did have a minor point to it, which was to show that the WW wasn't safe anymore. No one seems to of liked it but it really did have a point. I too wish the battle was in it but at least we will get a huge one in part II....and do you honestly think a director is going to come in these forums and read this stuff?

That flirting/burning down the Burrows part was absolutely unnecessary.

And I wished they would've just shown the Dark Mark trap and not have Dumbledore go Apparating out of Hogwarts. :/ And where did the passionate! Harry go? They should have just did the kissing scene like it was in the book.

AND, AND I REALLY WISHED THAT THERE WAS MORE NEVILLE SCREEN TIME. :(

I was looking forward to 'Dumbledore's man, through and through'; with Scrimgeour trying to get Harry to give the impression he was working with the Ministry. Thought it would give Harry a more grown-up aspect. Not a necessary scene, but better than burning down the Burrow.

Seeing Ron become the hero, winning Quidditch without Harry, would have been great. Much better to have the H/G kiss in this scene instead of the flaccid kiss in the RoR.

They also missed a golden opportunity to include Ravenclaw's diadem in the RoR.

Including Plegm, I mean Fleur, and Bill would have been good, since we see them get married in the next movie. A short scene about them could have set up the wedding nicely.

I don't like what they did to Neville. Making him a waiter-schmuck instead of the determined, powerful wizard he's turning into was very bad. Dirtbags. (no offense to waiters)

I just saw the movie for the second time yesterday, and while I thought it was a great movie, I have some problems with it. I understand that they probably left out a ton of the details about horcruxes because they'd rather explain it at the beginning of the next movie(s), so people won't forget. Easy enough using the book that Hermione gets, or whatever. What I don't get is how Harry is possibly going to know what he's looking for - unless he somehow gets a message from DD or talks to his portrait or something, which would bother me, personally, but I guess we'll see how they do it.

What really bothered me about this movie is the little changes that they made that so much affect the storyline of the next book - changes that really didn't need to be made at all!! ie, Ginny hiding the book, Harry doesn't see the diadem - could have had him pick it up and look at it while walking around the mass of objects in the room, or just had it lying in the background... Dumbledore's wand just being left laying on his desk...Dumbledore saying that horcruxes could be anything, commonplace objects - have him say that he has an idea of things Voldy may have used and just come back to that in the next film!

I agree with so many people on this thread that I don't think Harry would be able to figure out all the things DD told him in their lessons on his own. It took DD years to put together all the pieces. I always found that luck has so much to do with them finding all the horcruxes in the book, so for him to figure it all out and find them and destroy them would be really pushing it, imo.

I also was disappointed by the omission of the fight scene at the end - and of some of the great lines of the book, some of which were even shown in the trailers!

Lastly, one of my favorite things about the 6th and 7th books was the building up to the Ron and Hermione kiss. Not a huge plot point at all, but personally I was bummed about it - it seemed to me that they are already a couple at the end of this one. Ginny says "about time" or something when Hermione is holding Ron's hand in the hosp. wing, and then it's unclear whether they're together, though I thought I saw something...

** Request to anyone going to see it again - when Malfoy gets out of his bed in the hospital wing and is walking to the RoR to let in the DEs, he turns a corner and in the foreground you see a bunch of students just kind of hanging out in the hallway - some are sitting by the window to the right - I caught a quick glimpse of a couple leaning up against the wall making out. I could have sworn it looked like Ron and Hermione!! But the moment was over too quickly for me to be sure. Would love if someone could keep an eye out and let me know! Thx!

Other than those, I don't really have any more gripes that I haven't read here - Harry and Ginny's kiss was lame, the burning of the burrow was pointless and mean, the omission of the memories, etc...
Thought the comic relief was good!
Feels good to vent!!

Apologies if this has been brought up already (so many good ideas in this thread).

After DD dies, there is the near-silent shot of his seat in the great room.

What if, instead of this, they had used a near-silent shot of the white tomb?

*****

DD did show Harry that there were many other memories to be explored. I wonder if, in the next film, they will reveal that more memories were seen than were actually shown on screen in the HBP movie? This might be done to contain the main aspects of the Horcrux search in one film (DH).

Scenes that I didn't like in the movie were:

- The first 6-7 minutes of the film (i.e train station, cafe, Spinners End).
- The entire teaching staff was standing there watching the whole Lavendar/Ron/Hermione drama scene in the hospital wing.
- Dumbledores effort to try and 'connect to Harry on a personal level', just came off as perverted IMO.
- The whole Attack on The Burrow scene, it achieved nothing and the time could have been much better spent on more important scenes.
- The Harry/Ginny kiss scene, I just didn't like the way it was done.
- Death Eaters bouncing off Hogwarts 'force-field'. I think this was such a childish way to show Hogwarts was protected, and also far too Sci-Fi.
- I continue to detest the way OotP and HbP show people apparating, just a pet hate of mine :shrug:.
- And finally I didn't like how The Millenium Bridge was destroyed. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it actually being destroyed, however having Death Eaters fly (apparate) threw it, was a pretty lame way to do it IMO!


I agree. The whole scene int he cafe was a waste. The waitress even mentioned that she thought she saw the pictures in the Daily Prophet moving, but, must have been mistaken. Harry wouldn't have been stupid enough to read that there.

I missed the usual opening scenes at the Dursley's. Harry's dislike for their home and how happy he is to get to Hogwarts is always reinforced by that.

i agree about the out of characterness of the waitress scene. i think it was trying to convey two things
-in the book, they have the scene with dumbledore and harry in the closet next to the burrow, and harry says how he doesnt want to mope around anymore. he doesn't seem to grieve that much in the book either, but has a pretty nice summer at the burrow. i think this was showing that he is growing up: instead of being angsty and sulking, like in Ootp, he gets his mind off stuff with girls. im sure it wasn't intentional either, the (i think) perfume billboard at the train station and dumbledore saying 'youve been reckless this summer harry', it SEEMED to imply that he had been hooking up with girls the whole time.
-relating to that, when harry likes cho, it is the least sexual passionate thing, just kind of preteenish. butt i think that the waitress scene is supposed to show that harry is kind of growing up, as are the rest of them. our kids are growing up past the kiss under the mistletoe kind of thing. and it puts a really sexual tone to the movie. (why didnt they just make it pg13? lol)
i think the burrow scene was out of place and confusing. i had no idea what was going on. i think the actual christmas scene is really good, with scrimgeour and percy comign to visit. and instead of tying harry's shoelace, ginny could have taken the maggot out of his hair.
dumbledore asking about hermione and harry? (As well all his comments about harry and the waitress) it was just weird, because it just seems really out of character for dumbledore to be so involved in harry's romantic life (the question came across to me as almost: 'what are your extracurricular activities? dating hermione?). i guess it was good tho because it reiterated the fact that no, harry and hermione will not end up together.
i LOVED the aragog scene, though they mightve had the part with hagrid sending them the note with tears and ron being like '***? i hate spiders!' which would make it even funnier that harry was going to hagrid's, he coulve been like 'i decided i felt really sad about aragog' and ron would be like 'err'
but the pinchers line is definitely my favorite in the whole movie.
the whole lupin tonks thing was kinda wierd too. JUST EXPLAIN IT! who cares if its a little long? they couldve had a little backstory (ie tonks instead of lupin at the train station) but that mightve just been too much romance for one movie.
the room of requirement stuff got on my nerves, they didnt even mention what room it was in, which would have been nice since movie five was all about the room of requirement, for goodness sakes. i liked the draco part, because we get to follow another character aside from the trio, a character who previously only played the part of a obnoxious, yet harmless, bully. now, this boy is no longer a bully, but he is much more dangerous, and much more vulnerable. i think it slowed down the movie a little bit just how much they had, but if they had had a more substantial explanation for the cabinet (And explained that draco is only doing this because voldy is mad at lucius), it wouldve been more worth it.
as for the final battle, im glad it wasnt in the book. the point of it was more to bring them to the hospital wing. they coulve had a scene with tonks getting attacted again by fenrir, which would reiterate what a precarious position lupin is in, and then had tonks declare her love for him anyway, which would have been a nice segway into the wedding in the next movie. or they coulve had the death eaters chased out by the order, a contrast to how the order is completely overwhelmed in book seven, with no injuries at all.
my last big complaint was ron sitting there while hermione and harry talked. if he had been doing something, it wouldve been different, but i guess he didnt have any lines and he was needed for the whole trio thing at the end, so it fit i guess.
the main thing that bothers me about movie six is the lack of i guess culmination in the end. it was refreshingly different from the others in that way, but the movie wouldve had more of a point if more of the voldemort scenes were included, giving a real face and character to this villain. it wouldve been really artistic and made for a much better movie. sometimes violent action isnt needed for intensity and drama.

The waitress scene was completely unnecessary, as many others have already said. I wished they would've just made the Dursleys scene and have DD tell them off. That would've been brill.

The Burrow being attacked by DEs, the scene where they just completely messed up the Great Hall & the Harry/Ginny scene were some of the scenes I would've loved to change/take out. :) I thought I would see more Neville/DA screen time in HBP, but oh well. :/

I get the feeling the idea was that Dumbledore personally would be exempt from the jinx - it wasn't lifting the jinx overall but simply allowing the Headmaster, and only the Headmaster, to apparate. If I'm honest I'm surprised that wasn't done in the books.

For me the scenes I didn't like, or things in them I disliked, were:

- The Terrorism/The Burrow scenes - an unusual reason from me: both of these scenes gave the impression, especially the terrorism one, that the Death Eaters can fly which is going to detract from Voldemort's ability in DH. I know it's meant to be apparition but they're casting spells and moving things while apparating, and at the Burrow they apparate back to the house while the Order members run there? What?

- The Ginny/Harry scene - yech *fingers down throat* I think it was the music more than anything, it started before anything happened and I just knew it was coming. I personally would've rather it happened instinctively, in a more surprising fashion than being framed and laminated.

- Dumbledore's Death scene - why was it necessary to deviate from the book by having Harry remain below instead of petrified and cloaked? From a movie production point of view I don't understand it; the change in scene didn't save much, if any, run-time and the CGI effects required were minimal - in all honesty the original scene would not have been hard to reinact on the screen so I couldn't understand this change.

Scenes I felt should've been included:

- Discussion of Voldemort's Horcruxes - this should've definitely been discussed at more length after Harry obtained the memory from Slughorn; just five minutes with Harry and Dumbledore ascertaining what the Horcruxes would be and just WHY they're so powerful; as HP readers we know why but as a movie goer I didn't feel the gravity of these pieces of magic was quite expressed well enough, it was like: yeah, use it to be immortal, have fun, good game.

- Apparition classes + Harry's Apparition - just to tie between HBP and DH because in DH we're going to mysteriously see Harry apparating and wonder how.

- Dumbledore's Funeral - the size and grandeur of the funeral really kicks home the loss of Dumbledore IMO.

YES! YES! YES! To everything you've said here! :tu: :tu:

I think the waitress scene was to show how Harry is starting to pick up some ladies. After I saw that scene the first time I watched it, I told my friend, "Harry Potter has become Harry Player." :lol: But it was just so unnecessary. They could have used that scene to show Dumbledore picking up Harry at the Dursleys. I really wanted to see that. But, whatev. It didn't bother me that much; it was a bit comical.

Also, I did sorta like the Burrow on fire scene, because it was high-energy and fast-paced...and I loved seeing Lupin and Tonks. But it was just completely unnecessary. It didn't add to the plot; they're all just going to go about their lives. And it's not like the Burrow is gone forever; the wedding is still taking place there and everything. So, they should have excluded that and instead used all that time to put in more Horcrux scenes.
Oh, and I also didn't like that whole Harry/Ginny exchange with her in the bath robe and tying his shoe. :shrug: So unnecessary and just awkward to watch.

They should have included the scene that discusses which are Voldemort's remaining horcruxes (Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, etc.), instead of showing us that unnecessary fight scene at the Burrow.

The horcrux memorys and the events that lead to Harry having ideas of where they are (seeing the diadem, etc.), the Harry/Ginny kiss (though I understand why they changed it), Dumbledore's funeral ( I really hope they do start DH with it), as great as the wand lighting at the end was I really wanted to see Hagrid carry out his body, I cried so hard reading that in the book, and I wanted to see if they could bring that emotion to life on screen

The H/G kiss!! I hated the movie version so much! Why couldn't they have done it like the book?? Plus after the kiss they had like no relashionship. But they were still together at the end of the movie??? Stupid...

Another thing is how Harry was just standing there when DD died. He would have never just stood there. They should have immobilized him.

I was alright with no funeral, actually. Plus they might oven DH with it.

I didn't like Harry flirting with the stupid waitress.

Ok I think that Spinner's End should have been longer and more like the book. I really like that scene in the book, not so much in the movie. Bella wasn't even angry with Snape! Why didn't they just take out the part when they clean up the stupid muggle house and take out the Burrow on fire scene. Then they could have had a longer, more cannon Spinner's End scene.

Speaking of the Burrow catching on fire...I hated that scene so much. So pointless.

I don't like how Lupin and Tonks were dating already. The whole reason Tonks has that brown, ugly hair is because she is depressed about Lupin not wanting to date her. Lame!

I know there are probably tons more but those are the main ones.

Where were Bill and Fleur? :p

Where were Bill and Fleur? :p

Off-screen :( I wanted them in this too. Now their relationship in DH will come across as a bolt from the blue.

Where were Bill and Fleur? :p
Their relationship and Molly and Fleur's eventual reconciliation was one of the best parts of HBP in my opinion, I really missed that. Like Noldus said, their marriage will be a bit of a shock for people watching the film who haven't read the book. I can see why it was not included though, Bill hadn't been in the films at all at that point and I dont think then would have been the right time to introduce him, I'd say the oversight was failing to introduce him in GoF..

I wanted them to be introduced at Christmas time. Having Greyback attacking him would be an effective way of telling us that Greyback was gathering an army of werewolves.

the only thing i really liked about the movie was 1 scene that they added onto (the one w/ hermione and and harry where hermione's crying) and at the end she was like "is that how it feels when you see ginny with dean?" to harry or something like that
and i like the actor that they chose to play tom riddle when he was at the orphanage
other than that i very much disliked the movie...in my eyes they got everything wrong. i mean, they tried to make aragog's funeral humorous by having slughorn accidentally break 1 of his pincers of and every1 in the theatre was laughing when that happened but i felt like crying cuz hagrid was so sad about losing aragog...and hbp's spells were hardly in there at all except sectumsepra (obviously they couldn't do levicorpus cuz they used it in OOTP film but still at least leave in Muffliato or something) so it was random at the end with snape like "oh i'm the half-blood prince" and the whole harry/ginny think shouldn't have been so drawn out, like they never even showed her breakup with dean (at least i don't think they did?) and she's going around liking harry, and they didn't do anything worth mentioning in the bill/fleur or tonks/lupin relationships.... :( yeah sorry i didn't like the movie

Narcissa was shown too little. I would have liked to see her more distraught. Spinner's End needed to be more intense.

Shame on you Kloves for not writing the funeral and at least a little battle where they could have also had the Gryffindor hourglass shatter. WHY DIDN'T RON SPEAK IN THE FINAL SCENE?!

WHY DIDN'T RON SPEAK IN THE FINAL SCENE?!

Seriously! I found it immensely awkward that Ron was sitting behind Harry and Hermione watching them talk. :whistle:

Also, what happened to Prof. Firenze?

I heard that Ron AND Ginny did talk in the Astronomy scene! It was not in the final cut, but it should be in the deleted scenes.

1) The whole Ginny and Harry thing. It's a complete waste of screen time. I'm sorry. I just think it really didn't work out that well on-screen.
2) Harry and the waitress. Another waste of screen time.
3) Dumbledore falling from the tower in slow mo. It didn't look real to me. Definitely not how I imagined it.
4) Harry's reactions after Dumbledore's death. He just stood there. No scream. No movement. No nothing.
5) Snape's line: "I am the Half-Blood Prince" It was a good line but I did not feel the build up on to that scene.. as if it were just a last bit added in order to reveal who the Half Blood Prince was. For a non-fan, that's completely mental.
6) Nobody battled the Death Eaters in the final scenes. They just allowed them to terrorize Hogwarts. No actions from anyone. Ugh. We want wand fights!

There certainly are more scenes I would've wanted to add/exclude. I'll get back on this after the DVD is released..

" as great as the wand lighting at the end was I really wanted to see Hagrid carry out his body, I cried so hard reading that in the book, and I wanted to see if they could bring that emotion to life on screen."



I hate to tell you this but they don't care about emotions and if you ask me not a huge amount about the books either.The actors in general are ok except Dumbledork the scripts go downhill with every movie.They want special effects not a good story.I don't understand how JKR can say they are any good

I honestly feel like they should have had Winky the elf in there as well as Peeves.

As well as more on Harry learning to apparate and more on Sirius' family.

There should have been more of a fight scene in the Half Blood prince movie as well.
Gibbon should have died.

Should Have Been Excluded:
Opening scene in the cafe.
Ginny and Harry in Room of Requirement.
Harry and Hermoine on the stairs.
Bellatrix kicking dishes off the tables and blowing up the Great Hall.
The burning of the Burrow, in fact, the whole section from the time Lupin and Tonks were saying their "good-byes to the Weasleys.
Most of the flirting scenes.
The scene with everyone holding up their wands after Dumbledore's fall was okay, but, wasn't that important and could have been left out without any loss.

Should Have Been Included:
DUMBLEDORE'S FUNERAL , Fawkes' song, and Dumbledore's tomb.
Dumbledore picking Harry up at the Dursley's. (It was important that Harry return there to maintain his "protection" and, neither GoF nor HBP even shows him at their home. It would have also been hilarious.)
More scenes about the HBP's potions book and how it helped Harry -- important information.
More scenes with Snape - after all he IS the Half Blood Prince.
The Battle of the Astronomy Tower should have been longer and more detailed. So much happened during this fight that would carry over to DH.

I just watched Half-blood Prince twice in two days, so I have a pretty clear catalog of the scenes in my head- and I honestly think most of the movie was done extremely well. Well paced, good acting in general, and with seamless special effects, which is more than I can say for any of the other five films. Mercifully, Kloves killed off what was becoming a staple in the Potter films- long, rambling, pointless gag scenes which are embarrassing to sit though and, at best, provide only a fleeting moment's amusement: e.g. the hunchback in the Leaky Cauldron repeatedly offering Harry food in PoA. That sort of scene eats up screen time faster than you say "you-know-who", especially when there are many in one film. I mean, the minute, more or less, which was wasted by the aforementioned scene in PoA could have been used to explain the origin of the Marauder's Map, or any number of things which would have advanced the plot. However, as I said, there is nothing quite that agonizing in HBP, although the cafe scene does come close! ;) To start there:

Iffy or completely pointless scenes:
1. The cafe scene. Not only did it use screen time, it undermined Harry's mourning for Sirius. The book specifically informs us that he spent that summer doing nothing, lying on his bed, consumed with grief and guilt over what happened- however, the movie would have us believe that he spent the months following his godfather's death "riding around on trains" and flirting with waitresses! Besides, the situation with the girl isn't like him, even apart from his grief. Romantically, he's at an awkward stage between breaking up with Cho and falling for Ginny, and I highly doubt that the prospect of an evening with a pretty Muggle girl would attract him- even if the canon Harry would have had the guts to ask her out then and there, which doesn't seem likely!

2. The entire Burrow scene. All the awkwardness between Harry and Ginny could have been omitted with no loss, not to mention the sudden and inexplicable (to non-readers, at least) relationship between Tonks and Lupin. The chase through the reeds was suspenseful and looked cool, but that, along with the fire scene, only hindered rather than advanced the plot. The only thing that really happened to advance the plot was Mr. Weasley telling Harry about the Vanishing Cabinet. The rest of the time at the Burrow is just cumbersome and unnecessary, and must have used at least ten minutes of screen time.

3. All of the little flirtations between Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny. (e.g. "You've got a bit of toothpaste") They seem small and unimportant by themselves, but none of them are in the books or essential to plot/character development, and put together they take up quite a large chunk of time. Plus, they're often nothing less than embarrassing to watch. It takes two really good actors to act out an "awkward moment" which isn't also awkward for the audience, and in my opinion none of the young actors pull it off.

4. Luna finding Harry on the train. Sometimes it seems to me that the script writers decide to change things just 'cause they can, and in my opinion not one change they've made has ever equaled or surpassed what JK wrote. In this instance it just turned out silly. "Your head's full of Wrackspurts!" Umm... okay?

5. The Astronomy Tower scene. This is another instance where the filmmakers cut something which worked perfectly well in the book, and added something which just makes you say "yeah right!" Are we really supposed to believe that Harry would look on doing nothing while first Draco, then a bunch of Death Eaters, and then finally Snape, surround, harass, and eventually kill a weak and unarmed Dumbledore? It's just a huge, glaring problem which can't be explained away. I realize that the filmmakers wanted to make the scene extra gut-wrenching by having Harry trust Snape and then be apparently betrayed by him, but they did so at the cost of Harry's entire lovable, self-sacrificing character. Even if it's just barely plausible that Harry might have stayed quiet while Dumbledore was still alive, having him just stand there looking confused after the "Avada Kedavra" was spoken is simply laughable. Where's the agonized scream, the bitterness, the hatred against Snape, the stunned disbelief? Not here, apparently.


Okay, now the scenes which could have been included after we get rid of all of the above. ^


1. More Tom Riddle memories. The ones that did made it into the film are incredibly well done, and are some of my favorite scenes. I'd love to see the bit where Voldemort comes to apply for the DADA post- I can see both Ralph Fiennes and Frank Dillane pulling off the half-transformed Riddle incredibly well. And even if they decided to leave out the Gaunts and Hepzibah Smith, there could have been additional discussion of the Horcruxes: what they might be, and possible locations. According to the movie as it stands, Dumbledore is now dead and the cup, the diadem, and Nagini have not been mentioned as horcrux-candidates (the cup and the diadem haven't been mentioned at all, in fact), and there's no plausible way for Harry to figure out anything about them.

2. I don't think the decision to have Ginny tell Harry to get rid of the Half-blood Prince's book and taking him to the Room of Requirement (and their kiss taking place there, of all places) was the best idea. And, of course, this is tied in with the Sectumsempra scene, with which I was not at all satisfied. I would re-work that entire section of the movie if I could, and return the hiding of the book and the H/G kiss to their proper places; as well as adding a lot more emotion from Harry during the Sectumsempra scene. (Has anyone else noticed that when the Harry from the book cries/screams/falls to his knees, the Harry from the movie just stands and looks puzzled? It's quite irritating.) Also, Snape's reaction to Harry using his own spell on Draco was quite anticlimactic. He's absolutely livid in the book- in the movie he hardly gives Harry a glance. :no:

3. In a continuation from my last point, I really don't think the titular book itself got enough development in the film. JK did it brilliantly- slowly building the drama, starting with the book giving Harry helpful tips in class, to teaching him dishonest little spells, then more dangerous ones, then to a horrible spell like Sectumsempra, and then, finally, the dramatic revelation of the Half-blood Prince's true identity right when you hate him most. Really, the book had such a small part in the film that I'm sure some non-readers were confused as to why the movie is named after it.

4. I'd redo the ending of the movie to include the battle, the scene in the hospital wing, and probably Dumbledore's funeral as well; although the funeral could have more impact if included at the beginning of DH. I realize that the filmmakers left out the battle in order to avoid redundancy with the final battle in Deathly Hallows, but the fact that they omitted it really negates the entire Vanishing Cabinet plot. Are we supposed to believe that they went though all trouble that so that Draco could have some moral support from his aunt while he killed Dumbledore? A failed attempt to take over the castle makes the whole thing much more believable. And all of the hospital wing scene, including the Lupin and Tonks' drama, the Phoenix song, Harry breaking the news of Snape's supposed treachery, etc, is gone. Instead there's a rather pointless scene with Harry dawdling around in Dumbledore's office.

5. I'd like to have just a bit of visual evidence in the film that Snape actually is teaching DADA! The jinx on the position hasn't been as big a theme in the movies as it is in the books, but all of the five previous teachers have at least gotten some screen time in their respective films. However, in HBP, there's just that one hurried line by Dumbledore indicating that Snape will be filling the position- but there's no scenes in his class! Not even a reference to it again! I felt that this was a badly judged omission, especially since the whole darn movie is named after Snape! :lol:



There's a lot more stuff I would change/omit if I could, but these are the largest issues for me. All that said, I still thing HBP stands head and shoulders above the other Potter films, and was a nice build-up for Deathly Hallows! :tu:

Another scene that I forgot about (how could I???) was Neville as a waiter at Slughorn's party. What the heck was that all about??? Wonder who's brilliant idea that was? It was so stupid I can't even begin to describe my reaction to it.

While I was really disappointed that the battle got left out, I was more annoyed that they left out Dumbledore's funeral. I felt like it was a key point in the plot and would have carried over to DH a great deal.

I felt like burning the Burrow was also unnecessary and a waste of time.

Posted in the "Did they change the HBP film since autumn?" thread, regarding the cafe scene in HBP.

I do not understand people's hatred of this scene. It was nothing more than a humorous scene that served as a transition between the attack on the Millennium Bridge and Dumbledore's first appearance, as well as an introduction to the romantic-comedy tone of the majority of the film. It is not even significant enough to criticize, in my opinion.




On the contrary, I think that the scene in question had some significant problems. :)

For one thing, and the issue which was for me the most problematic, was the complete disrespect the filmmakers displayed for both the circumstances during which the scene is supposed to have taken place, and for the character of Harry himself. Consider this passage from the books:


"It was cruel," said Dumbledore softly, "that you and Sirius had such a short time together. A brutal ending to what should have been a long and happy relationship."
Harry nodded, his eyes fixed resolutely on the spider now climbing Dumbledore's hat. He could tell that Dumbledore understood, that he might even suspect that until his letter arrived, Harry had spent nearly all his time at the Dursleys' lying on his bed, refusing meals, and staring at the misted window, full of the chill emptiness he had come to associate with dementors.

So, according to this, Harry spent his time in the months following Sirius's death almost comatose, holed up in his room, consumed with grief, and with only Dumbledore's imminent arrival to pull him out of his complete stupor. According to the films, however, Harry had been "reckless" that summer, "riding around on trains" in order to take his mind off things. So, taking the circumstances from the book into account, Harry should never have been in that cafe to begin with. He should not have been anywhere near the Muggle subways. He should have been alone in his room, riddled with horrible, heart-numbing grief over the death of someone he loved, not killing time by hanging out with cute waitresses. And that brings us to the specific incident with said waitress.

First of all, if there's one thing we know about the book-Harry, it's that he's really socially inept. This is the guy who, when faced with the prospect of asking out a girl he had known for over a year, could not even get the words out in a coherent manner. There's no way that book-Harry would ever have the guts to ask out a strange girl whose name he doesn't even know; even assuming he'd be so inclined. Harry had spent the previous year having his emotions pulled too-and-fro by Cho Chang, culminating in their uneasy separation shortly before Sirius's death. In OoTP, he shows nervousness almost to the point of panic when faced with the prospect of spending a comradely few hours with Cho in Hogsmeade; I highly doubt that the idea of an romantic evening (or even, to use Dumbledore's words in the film, a whole night! :scared: ) with a Muggle waitress would appeal to him in the slightest.

Secondly, but equally problematic in my view, is the way the film treats the girl herself. She is nameless, characterless, a Muggle, has almost no screen-time, and is really a complete nonentity; and I suppose that was the subconscious excuse the filmmakers came up with to explain their utterly shameful treatment of her. However, none of those reasons justify introducing a female character solely so that a male character can flirt with and then abandon her. Harry commits himself to meeting her later in the evening, and then goes off with Dumbledore while making no attempts to contact her or cancel their plans. (You can see her standing right there waiting for him, and he runs off! It sickens me!) The feeble attempt the film makes to close the episode only ends up aggravating it; Dumbledore makes a jocular-yet-suggestive comment about Harry missing out on a "wondrous night" with the girl, whom he refers to as "very pretty", seemingly encouraging Harry to objectify and disrespect women: something that the book-Dumbledore would never have regarded as okay. Harry casually responds that he'll "go back tomorrow and make some excuse" in order to patch things up with the girl, but shows no qualms when Dumbledore informs him that he won't be going back at all. The incident and all mention of it ends there; and, to put the icing on the figurative cake, Harry is making eyes at Ginny through her window twenty seconds after casually dismissing the girl he asked out earlier that evening! The entire thing feels humiliating and objectifying, the film is the worse for it, and I don't think it's at all surprising that so many people find fault with it. :)

Posted in the "Did they change the HBP film since autumn?" thread, regarding the cafe scene in HBP.





On the contrary, I think that the scene in question had some significant problems. :)

For one thing, and the issue which was for me the most problematic, was the complete disrespect the filmmakers displayed for both the circumstances during which the scene is supposed to have taken place, and for the character of Harry himself. Consider this passage from the books:



So, according to this, Harry spent his time in the months following Sirius's death almost comatose, holed up in his room, consumed with grief, and with only Dumbledore's imminent arrival to pull him out of his complete stupor. According to the films, however, Harry had been "reckless" that summer, "riding around on trains" in order to take his mind off things. So, taking the circumstances from the book into account, Harry should never have been in that cafe to begin with. He should not have been anywhere near the Muggle subways. He should have been alone in his room, riddled with horrible, heart-numbing grief over the death of someone he loved, not killing time by hanging out with cute waitresses. And that brings us to the specific incident with said waitress.

First of all, if there's one thing we know about the book-Harry, it's that he's really socially inept. This is the guy who, when faced with the prospect of asking out a girl he had known for over a year, could not even get the words out in a coherent manner. There's no way that book-Harry would ever have the guts to ask out a strange girl whose name he doesn't even know; even assuming he'd be so inclined. Harry had spent the previous year having his emotions pulled too-and-fro by Cho Chang, culminating in their uneasy separation shortly before Sirius's death. In OoTP, he shows nervousness almost to the point of panic when faced with the prospect of spending a comradely few hours with Cho in Hogsmeade; I highly doubt that the idea of an romantic evening (or even, to use Dumbledore's words in the film, a whole night! :scared: ) with a Muggle waitress would appeal to him in the slightest.

Secondly, but equally problematic in my view, is the way the film treats the girl herself. She is nameless, characterless, a Muggle, has almost no screen-time, and is really a complete nonentity; and I suppose that was the subconscious excuse the filmmakers came up with to explain their utterly shameful treatment of her. However, none of those reasons justify introducing a female character solely so that a male character can flirt with and then abandon her. Harry commits himself to meeting her later in the evening, and then goes off with Dumbledore while making no attempts to contact her or cancel their plans. (You can see her standing right there waiting for him, and he runs off! It sickens me!) The feeble attempt the film makes to close the episode only ends up aggravating it; Dumbledore makes a jocular-yet-suggestive comment about Harry missing out on a "wondrous night" with the girl, whom he refers to as "very pretty", seemingly encouraging Harry to objectify and disrespect women: something that the book-Dumbledore would never have regarded as okay. Harry casually responds that he'll "go back tomorrow and make some excuse" in order to patch things up with the girl, but shows no qualms when Dumbledore informs him that he won't be going back at all. The incident and all mention of it ends there; and, to put the icing on the figurative cake, Harry is making eyes at Ginny through her window twenty seconds after casually dismissing the girl he asked out earlier that evening! The entire thing feels humiliating and objectifying, the film is the worse for it, and I don't think it's at all surprising that so many people find fault with it. :)

Very good post. I completely agree with the points you have made.

Just to add to that thought, something else that irritates me about that particular scene (the diner), is the way Harry is openly reading the Daily Prophet in a muggle diner. The book Harry would never have openly displayed something magical in a muggle-inhabited area.

Also, during the given times I doubt Harry would simply spend so much time away from the Dursley's when he knows Voldemort is after him and is likely orchestrating a plan which involves his capture.

As much as I enjoyed the movie, this scene really put me off until about half-way through the movie when I realized I could look past the scene.

So, according to this, Harry spent his time in the months following Sirius's death almost comatose, holed up in his room, consumed with grief, and with only Dumbledore's imminent arrival to pull him out of his complete stupor. According to the films, however, Harry had been "reckless" that summer, "riding around on trains" in order to take his mind off things. So, taking the circumstances from the book into account, Harry should never have been in that cafe to begin with. He should not have been anywhere near the Muggle subways. He should have been alone in his room, riddled with horrible, heart-numbing grief over the death of someone he loved, not killing time by hanging out with cute waitresses.

You forgot another part of that chapter from the book:

"But while I was at the Dursleys'..." interrupted Harry, his voice growing stronger, "I realized I can't shut myself away or ---or crack up. Sirius wouldn't have wanted that, would he? And anyway, life's too short.....Look at Madam Bones, look at Emmeline Vance.......It could be me next, couldn't it?"

Sure, Harry did spend most of the summer sitting in his room, refusing meals and staring at the wall, but as we can infer from this passage, eventually he realized Sirius wouldn't have wanted him to torture himself like that and crack up. Which is where the film picks up. In the film, perhaps, after realizing this, he decided to go out there and be reckless. He says in the film he's been riding trains for the past few days because it takes his mind off things. He's taking Sirius's advice from the POA film about the ones we love never really leaving us and how we can find them within ourselves, and purposely channeling Sirius's spirit and being reckless himself. He's trying not to think so much. He's trying to do stuff to take his mind off Sirius so he doesn't crack. In the film, I get the sense that Harry leaps at the opportunity to date the waitress because SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HE IS. He wants to be someone else for a while, he doesn't want to be the famous Harry Potter anymore, he wants an escape. He's living on his instincts now because thinking too much hurts him.

First of all, if there's one thing we know about the book-Harry, it's that he's really socially inept. This is the guy who, when faced with the prospect of asking out a girl he had known for over a year, could not even get the words out in a coherent manner. There's no way that book-Harry would ever have the guts to ask out a strange girl whose name he doesn't even know; even assuming he'd be so inclined. Harry had spent the previous year having his emotions pulled too-and-fro by Cho Chang, culminating in their uneasy separation shortly before Sirius's death. In OoTP, he shows nervousness almost to the point of panic when faced with the prospect of spending a comradely few hours with Cho in Hogsmeade; I highly doubt that the idea of an romantic evening (or even, to use Dumbledore's words in the film, a whole night! :scared: ) with a Muggle waitress would appeal to him in the slightest.

The waitress hits on him though. He is being socially inept in this scene. he's sitting in the cafe hiding behind his daily prophet. He's not leaning back in his chair, scoping the place out, making eyes at all the girls in the area. You're making it sound like he's acting like the Fonz. :lol: The girl is intrigued by him and starts the conversation. Harry is sort-of awkward, but since this girl doesn't know who he is, he leaps at the chance to date her and be someone else, to escape, to forget. It's a different grieving process. Movie-Harry wasn't Book-Harry from the very beginning. They are vastly different, as are most characters from book to film. This is just something I've come to accept over the years. Book-Harry isn't interested in dating girls, but Film-Harry is. The waitress is the initiator here, not Harry. She even finishes his sentence for him. The key for harry is that this is a muggle girl who likes him not because he's the famous Harry Potter and that is a key part of Harry's character even in the book, specifically during HBP.

Secondly, but equally problematic in my view, is the way the film treats the girl herself. She is nameless, characterless, a Muggle, has almost no screen-time, and is really a complete nonentity; and I suppose that was the subconscious excuse the filmmakers came up with to explain their utterly shameful treatment of her. However, none of those reasons justify introducing a female character solely so that a male character can flirt with and then abandon her. Harry commits himself to meeting her later in the evening, and then goes off with Dumbledore while making no attempts to contact her or cancel their plans. (You can see her standing right there waiting for him, and he runs off! It sickens me!) The feeble attempt the film makes to close the episode only ends up aggravating it; Dumbledore makes a jocular-yet-suggestive comment about Harry missing out on a "wondrous night" with the girl, whom he refers to as "very pretty", seemingly encouraging Harry to objectify and disrespect women: something that the book-Dumbledore would never have regarded as okay. Harry casually responds that he'll "go back tomorrow and make some excuse" in order to patch things up with the girl, but shows no qualms when Dumbledore informs him that he won't be going back at all. The incident and all mention of it ends there; and, to put the icing on the figurative cake, Harry is making eyes at Ginny through her window twenty seconds after casually dismissing the girl he asked out earlier that evening! The entire thing feels humiliating and objectifying, the film is the worse for it, and I don't think it's at all surprising that so many people find fault with it. :)

She's an extra...her name and back story is not important. Dumbledore comments about how he fears he might have stolen a wonderful night from him and how the girl is pretty. So perhaps we get a little sign of Dumbledore's manipulative side. He's not a perfect angel even in the book. He is a bit mischievous. Besides, the girl isn't his girlfriend. She was just a random muggle girl who was hitting on him. A girl who doesn't like him just because he's the famous Harry Potter/chosen one but he quickly gets over her and falls for Ginny. Someone who knows who he is, but doesn't care. We get many signs that Harry is still grieving over Sirius in the film. It's subtle because Harry is an introvert but it's there. Harry is distant in this movie. We can see in the odd look here and there from Harry. It's one of the reasons Dan's performance blew me away on opening night. For example, Harry's expression after the 'Skin' conversation with Ron in the dorm when he says he's going to sleep and he turns on his side and is staring at the marauder's map. The longing/lost/emotional look on his face is so powerful and says it all. I get the impression that Harry is a lot more reckless and edgy this year because of his grief. He's just not wearing it on his sleeves. He's got a darker manipulative streak to him this year. Instead of dwelling on it, he's decided to focus all his energies on defeating Voldemort and the death eaters. In the film, he rushes without thought into the death eaters trap at the Burrow as Bellatrix's taunts about killing Sirius ring through his mind. His paranoia and obsession with Draco, his immersion into the HBP's book etc, are all a product of his experiences of losing Sirius. He just wants to defeat as many death eaters as possible and stop Voldemort at all costs.


The character arc was shifted in the film, especially at the end of OOTP. Harry goes further along in overcoming the loss of Sirius in the film, with the possession scene which they turned into a character-developing moment for Harry in the movie. He realizes the good and wonderful side of loving and understands it gives him something worth fighting for. There's also the fact that harry and Sirius weren't as close in the films as they are in the books, unfortunately, but that's not really HBP's fault. I attribute that more to POA, GOF and OOTP and Gary Oldman's performance. I didn't think he played a good Sirius.

I don't see a problem with this scene, personally.

The Burrow On Fire scene was so out of place, i actually said "what?" out loud, confusing my boyfriend. Hes like "what is it?" Im like "well...umm..ill tell ya later." It didnt belong there and i have no idea why it was there.

The scenes with Tom Riddle and Hepzibah Smith should have been there. Along with the Gaunts. Oh well. I was aware they cut these scenes before i saw the movie but still, they should have been there.

Scenes involving Snape teaching DADA should have been added. I was looking forward to seeing his teaching that subject on film. Booo...

Yeah I totally didn't get the Burrow Fire scene either, I think they should have just kept to the book and had the small battle happen.

I got really angry when they didn't include Winky or the Kitchens or Peeves! They should have all been included instead of adding nonsense!

I always wondered what's the purpose of the Burrow scene. It's totally is irrevelant to the story. I guess they only wanted to show how Harry and Ginny were fearing for and trying to protect each other, :no:. I wish they excluded this scene.
Also it bugs me how they make it look like Bella and Greyback are on good terms and how they make him look like a DE from the inner circle..

I have been thinking that the funeral scene, and the fight scene would have been important. They were certainly the best parts of the book for me.

This movie actually makes me rather angry... Not because I don't like it, I do, but because there were so many important things that were replaced by things which did not need to be there.

The Burrow on Fire scene is my most hated scene in the entire series, it does not add anything to the storyline, infact I actually believe it dumbs it down a bit, and does nothing for the Ginny and Harry romance. I understand that they thought the battle of Hogwarts was going to be repetitive, but wouldn't you rather see something that is repetitive but done right? I don't know...

The Harry and Ginny kiss is also so half-a**ed that it makes the scene pointless, then we don't even hear of them being together until Hermione mentions it later, by which time, anyone who has not read the books would have forgotten about it.

Which brings me to another pet peeve. Hermione, I love you and all, but if you keep stealing Ron's lines we may see a premature end to our friendship. And WB, stop dumbing him down!

I could go on and on but right now, I have to go have some chocolate... Make myself less angry :)

The Harry and Ginny kiss is also so half-a**ed that it makes the scene pointless, then we don't even hear of them being together until Hermione mentions it later, by which time, anyone who has not read the books would have forgotten about it.
I know :no: It was SO pitiful, that was a major let down for me. I mean... I'm actually not even that big of a fan of either of them separately, but together I think they make a really cute couple. And that part where they kiss in the book made me cry. Seriously, and I don't cry at many things.... It just has SO much emotion and passion in the book! ugh! such a let down on that one.

iambeffy wrote: "And WB, stop dumbing him down!"

I'm a little puzzled as to why so many people are so angry about the portrayal of Ron in the film. I mean, he is quite funny in the books as well

I'm a little puzzled as to why so many people are so angry about the portrayal of Ron in the film. I mean, he is quite funny in the books as well

It's not the fact that he's funny in the films, he's the comic relief character and I realise that, it is the way he is shown to be 'dumb'. His signature personality traits, such as his courage and loyalty, are lost completely because the screen writers seem to be so intent on making him nothing but funny. His character looses it's depth in the films.

It's not the fact that he's funny in the films, he's the comic relief character and I realise that, it is the way he is shown to be 'dumb'. His signature personality traits, such as his courage and loyalty, are lost completely because the screen writers seem to be so intent on making him nothing but funny. His character looses it's depth in the films.

Well, I agree that he's courageous and loyal and I think this side of him is shown very clearly in OoTP, where he supports and speaks out for Harry several times when most other people disbelieve him and also tries to connect with Harry when Harry is frustrated and angry. But Ron also has other signature traits, like insecurity and a tendency to be insensitive, although it's not intentional.
Apart from the Quidditch scene where the quaffle hits him squarely on the head several times, I don't think he's shown as foolish, it's mostly his insecurity which is being focused, which sometimes makes him do or say quite funny and occasionally foolish things. As the relationship with Lavender progresses in HBP for instance, you can see that he's feeling awkward while being genuinely confused about what to do and how to handle it.
There is no lack of depth in his portrayal there as I can see.

One of the scenes that I wanted to see that wasn't included was when Snape told Harry not to call him a coward. I was waiting for it, and it never came. :no:

One of the scenes that I wanted to see that wasn't included was when Snape told Harry not to call him a coward. I was waiting for it, and it never came. :no:
Yes :no: that was extreeeemmeeely moving. Especially after reading DH and going back and re-reading HBP, you kind of know what he must have been thinking when Harry said that.... ohh its so sad :sad: That was really horrible that they left that out.


One thing that I have to say that is positive though (kinda :lol:) is that I actually didn't hate Gambon in this movie. I really thought he would do Dumbledore's death completely wrong!! And I was actually slightly impressed. So basically I came into the movie expecting it to be horrible in that part and it was just ok I guess? Thats a tad bit depressing, but it was better than I expected soo.... yea :sigh:

One of the scenes that I wanted to see that wasn't included was when Snape told Harry not to call him a coward. I was waiting for it, and it never came. :no:

OMG. That was my biggest gripe about the film as a whole. I would have completely forgiven the Burrow scene had they put Snape's (REALLY IMPORTANT) line in there, but alas! They did not. The rage. The anger. My poor boyfriend...he had to be on the receiving end of my ranting about that after we saw it. Harry says "Fight back you coward!" and i was all "Here it comes!!! :love:" And then...nothing. :no::grumble: I sat there with my hands in midair with a look of disbelief. No just no.


Gambon was excellent in the film! Its the first time he really nails the character. He felt like Dumbledore totally.

You guys probably discussed this already, but I keep asking myself How on earth will Harry know about the cup and Nagini , they totally cut those memories. They will have to come up with something belivable. I will indeed hate it if they make Hermione come to the brilliant conclusion that Nagini might be a Horcrux. And the cup, this one puzzles me. How on earth will Harry know about the cup. Decarus came up with some possibilities last time I wondered about this. Still, I do hate the fact they cut up something this important and included something as pointless as the Burrow attack.

I really think they will have Bellatrix just say it when they are at Malfoy Manor. She will simply mention the cup. I think that is just the easiest thing to do. With the snake there has always been a connection there where Harry saw through the snakes eyes. I think that Harry should make the leap and realize though.

I agree though. The loss of the memories about Voldemort's past and the horcruxes were the greatest loss for me. I understand why they did it, but i don't really like it.

Well I think if they scrapped the movie and re-did it entirely it'd be better. That being said, had they kept the "In Noctem" scene I would have been so much happier. That song and scene was amazing, but they cut it out...soo yeah.

Like everyone said the Bellatrix/Fenrir scene at the Burrow was just dumb. They should have had the final battle and the memories. The memories we're the whole book anyway. I would have minimized the love scenes, and including Dobby would be a plus.

And Michael Gambon made me want to smack a baby. He was the exact opposite of Dumbledore.

and including Dobby would be a plus.

I agree.
And Michael Gambon made me want to smack a baby. He was the exact opposite of Dumbledore.
really?
this is the first time I liked Gambon´s portrayal of Dumbledore.( exept for his interest in Harry´s love life)

I agree.
really?
this is the first time I liked Gambon´s portrayal of Dumbledore.( exept for his interest in Harry´s love life)

The part when Harry and Dumbledore realize Voldy has many horcruxes, and Dumbledore sits down and is all nervous and jerky. That is not Dumbledore, never once does he get all worried, at least outwardly.

The part when Harry and Dumbledore realize Voldy has many horcruxes, and Dumbledore sits down and is all nervous and jerky. That is not Dumbledore, never once does he get all worried, at least outwardly.


We are gonna get told off for discussing Gambon in here. There is a thread for that.:) But anyway...
I am just going to add that I prefered his portrayal in this film than in the other ones. I do think his nervousness was due to the fact that in a film they need to show the audience what one as reader has read in the book. I think it was their way of showing the audience how terrible this was, making DD act worried helped them in order to enable the audience to realize the magnitude of the issue.

But in all , I think he did a better job than he had done before. For the first time I could see him as DD.

There is a thread for that.Indeed there is - right here (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=116226). :) And there's also The Best Dumbledore v.3 ( http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=116226)

Back on topic we go! :)

You guys probably discussed this already, but I keep asking myself How on earth will Harry know about the cup and Nagini , they totally cut those memories. They will have to come up with something belivable. I will indeed hate it if they make Hermione come to the brilliant conclusion that Nagini might be a Horcrux. And the cup, this one puzzles me. How on earth will Harry know about the cup. Decarus came up with some possibilities last time I wondered about this. Still, I do hate the fact they cut up something this important and included something as pointless as the Burrow attack.

All they really have to do is have Harry mention (at the Burrow in the beginning) that Dumbledore told him about the cup and Nagini.....

And I had so wished they had included Dumbledore's visit to the Dursleys, with the glasses clanking their heads, and Dumbledore telling them how disappointed he was with how they treated Harry.

All they really have to do is have Harry mention (at the Burrow in the beginning) that Dumbledore told him about the cup and Nagini.....
I think you had suggested that also the last time i wondered about that. It´s pretty simple and it would work perfectly. Sorry , but I have been so much time away I had honestly forgoten these simple solutions to this issue.

Another thing I keep wishing they had included is the" Dumbledore´s man, through and through" moment and line. I was really looking forward to it.

Yeah, I was also looking forward to "Dumbledore's man through and through".
Also Snape's Worst Memory was disappointing and I was expecting a lot more from the ending of HPB. It was almost as though the climactic events were completely skipped out.

Another thing I keep wishing they had included is the" Dumbledore´s man, through and through" moment and line. I was really looking forward to it.

I wish they'd kept that in - even if it wasn't in the same context I bet they could have put it in somewhere.

I've just re-watched the film and wish they hadn't put in the random smashing the Great Hall scene :no: I think a chase through the castle would have been better and probably taken up the same amount of time. I know there is sort of, but it isn't very good IMO.

i was really dissapointed that the movie does not mention the battle that was going on while draco was "trying" to kill dumbledore i think that was an important element to the story and they just ignored it in the movie. Also the part where Bellatrix (who wasnt even at Howgarts in the book) randomly destroys everything even Hagrids hut, it just didnt make sense to me because it had no explanation, like in the book.

This movie had that teaser trailer that set up young Tom Riddle so well and then in the movie he has about 2 seconds of screentime. I think the movie was missing all of that wonderful backstory we got on Tom Riddle.

This movie had that teaser trailer that set up young Tom Riddle so well and then in the movie he has about 2 seconds of screentime. I think the movie was missing all of that wonderful backstory we got on Tom Riddle.

i COMPLETELY agree! i wish we could of seen the scene with Merope...i think that was an important part of the story! plus that was one of my favorite parts of the book

The last, let's say, 100 pages of the book and the last 20 minutes of the film are hardly comparable. I think that if any section of any of the films really should have closely mirrored the narrative in the books, I really believe that this was the time, but, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Although I really liked HBP, I wish that it was a more accurate adaptation towards the end.

However, the fact that they left out some, in my opinion, pivotal moments of the book actually makes me more excited and more curious about DH. I'm nearly dying with anticipation!

There was a deleted scene I wish they would've included in the theatrical cut, and that was right before Draco lets the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. The song playing in the background, "In Noctem", is so beautiful and just the tone and the ominous feeling of the scene was a perfect little addition to the film. The shot of Snape was so eerie but it spoke volumes about thecomplex ordeal he was experiencing and had to face in the future. I think it's regrettable that they left it out.

Yes, I agree that Tom Riddle should have been given more screentime. All the memories and scenes for him were really vital to the plot of the story that it was a shame, really, that they only gave him so little attention in the movie. It would have made a non-HP reader understand the plot a bit more, as this also paves the way for the plot of DH.

I just wish they had managed to get nearly all of the Riddle memories. They were my favorite things from that book. I'm just glad I went in knowing they weren't all gonna be there or I'd have been disappointed. Ah well.

Well, no Dumbledore's funeral, no phoenix song...

and not enough Tom Riddle (= Pensieve scenes).

I do still think that Dumbledore's funeral wouldn't have fitted in. His 'wand tribute' was much more effective and worked well in transition. I was so happy that we got to see Fawkes at the end - that was a stunning shot.

I really wish we got to see Lilly in Snapes worst memory. I would have liked to have seen her standing up for poor Severus and see her fighting with James but maybe also show hints of her attraction to him....idk I guess we can see some of this in DH provided they keep that part in.

I know people love to rag on the Burrow sequence but it has two purposes.

First, most of that entire sequence is about Ginny and Harry, more specially, how far Ginny's willing to go for Harry. This scene, along with scenes I'm sure will make it into Deathly Hallows, represents why Ginny's the one for Harry. Like Harry in that sequence, she didn't even blink. She went into action to stand by Harry's side and not do it alone.

Second, that sequence is also about the danger and how far Voldemort's grip is in the Wizarding world. Even the Burrow, Harry's other sanctuary besides Hogwarts isn't safe. The audience, at the point in the film, needed a reminder of the threat. Just reporting on the various kidnappings wasn't going to cut it. We need a visual clue of the threat.

As for the Pensieve scenes dealing with Tom Riddle, I've thought about this over and over again and from a cinematic standpoint, they just couldn't have worked. I really truly wanted the one scene were Tom asks to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's a brilliant scene and gives reason to Ron's comments in the first film, I think, as to why the position is cursed.

But even that, I can understand why it was gone. Those scenes would've killed the momentum of the film. They are crucial to understanding the differences and similarities between Harry and Voldemort but the brilliant thing about the films since movie one is that they have actually touched on those differences and similarities through out. You don't really need it to be stated again. The torture scene at the end of Order of the Phoenix proved that.

What we did get are THE MOST important Pensieve scenes because they deal specifically with Harry's assignment from Dumbledore.

As for the Horcruxes, I'm kind of glad that they made Harry's search in Deathly Hallows more difficult. It makes for a much more interesting narrative. In the book, because of Dumbledore's brilliance, he pretty much gave Harry all the clues, save one. With film six, they gave you an idea of how Harry will find the clues. Couple that with Hermione, it's going to be interesting how Harry gets those clues.

Now, I say that and they do have one way to quickly give Harry the clues in the next film and that's the Dumbledore's Will sequence. That's definitely one way to do it.

As you can tell, I think Half-Blood Prince is the best film by a mile, in terms of adaptation.

I know people love to rag on the Burrow sequence but it has two purposes.

First, most of that entire sequence is about Ginny and Harry, more specially, how far Ginny's willing to go for Harry. This scene, along with scenes I'm sure will make it into Deathly Hallows, represents why Ginny's the one for Harry. Like Harry in that sequence, she didn't even blink. She went into action to stand by Harry's side and not do it alone.

Second, that sequence is also about the danger and how far Voldemort's grip is in the Wizarding world. Even the Burrow, Harry's other sanctuary besides Hogwarts isn't safe. The audience, at the point in the film, needed a reminder of the threat. Just reporting on the various kidnappings wasn't going to cut it. We need a visual clue of the threat.

It would have been fine if the film MENTIONED IT AGAIN! There was no mention of that event after it took place. There was no eluding to it. No worry, nothing! Therefore it was a just a Big Lipped Alligator Moment. Therefore it made no sense.

I said it once and ill say it again. Snape needed to say it. "DO NOT CALL ME A COWARD!" :td::grumble::argh:

The silent empty chair scene, while a very nice touch, shows the need for some establishing shot that further emphasized the grief.

Heck, the closing exposition was so poor, they could have ended the movie with a silent shot of the white tomb (maybe not completey silent - a subtle phoenix lament would have been a nice touch). Then go right into the closing credits, picking a more emotionally appropriate selection of music.

Yeah, IMHO that's what they should have done. Then some better-handled exposition after the credits, simply to establish Harry's determination to continue the work he and DD had started, and Ron/Hermione's pledge to be at his side.

Just my opinion.

Actually, the very next scene, Hermione rips Harry about his actions at the Burrow. She's completely worried. Not to mention, there is a close up of the Daily Prophet about more disappearances...given the audience the idea that it's getting very, very dangerous out there for our heroes and their world.

Again, mentioning the threat throughout the film wasn't enough. We needed a visual of the threat and that's the Burrow sequence.

Personally I would have removed all the Lavender Brown scenes and added more of Voldemort's back story.


Lavender added nothing to the movie, other than some light comedy.

Personally I would have removed all the Lavender Brown scenes and added more of Voldemort's back story.

Lavender added nothing to the movie, other than some light comedy.

Oh no! You are forgetting HBP is essentially a book about snogging. ;)

Personally, I liked Lav-lav's scenes. But I agree about Voldemort's past.

Actually, the very next scene, Hermione rips Harry about his actions at the Burrow. She's completely worried. Not to mention, there is a close up of the Daily Prophet about more disappearances...given the audience the idea that it's getting very, very dangerous out there for our heroes and their world.

Again, mentioning the threat throughout the film wasn't enough. We needed a visual of the threat and that's the Burrow sequence.

She says "its so easy for them to find you!" She never mentions the Burrow nor does Ron or Ginny. Other than Hermiones line about the DEs being able to find Harry, we got nothing out of that scene. It was poorly done if they wanted to show immediate threat. Instead, they could have shown The Death Eaters doing damage in other areas and the characters mentioning it over the Daily Prophet.

But again, you're missing the other aspect of that scene and that's the story between Ginny and Harry.

And to be frank, the real reason the scene exists is because, by getting rid of the Battle at Hogwarts at the end(I agree with the omission), they needed another action sequences.

By doing the Burrow sequence, they killed a lot of thematic birds in one scene.

Heck, the closing exposition was so poor, they could have ended the movie with a silent shot of the white tomb (maybe not completey silent - a subtle phoenix lament would have been a nice touch). Then go right into the closing credits, picking a more emotionally appropriate selection of music.


Ooh, I never thought of that.

That would've been so beautiful and haunting. A simple, silent shot of the tomb would have contrasted quite nicely with all of the chaos that had just happened prior to his death.

I do really like the ending they decided to use, however. Having the trio together and alone, quietly discussing the beauty of Hogwarts and contemplating the trek they must soon take-it was bittersweet but it made me really excited about DH.

Ooh, I never thought of that.

That would've been so beautiful and haunting. A simple, silent shot of the tomb would have contrasted quite nicely with all of the chaos that had just happened prior to his death.

I do really like the ending they decided to use, however. Having the trio together and alone, quietly discussing the beauty of Hogwarts and contemplating the trek they must soon take-it was bittersweet but it made me really excited about DH.

Only problem is it wasn't the Trio it was Harry and Hermione, with Ron sitting in the background and only joining them at the end.
That spoilt the ending for me.