Favourite HP movie so far

[gertiekeddle]

Perhaps we can return to topic.

[oierem]

Originally Posted by heathurrr

^ very well said.
while it is a small disappointment not everything is included, some things just arent 'movie-material'.
the people who create these movies need to think of the audience. yes, harry potter fans want to see every detail on screen, but theres also non-harry potter fans coming to see this and it needs to appeal to every market. thats where all the 'love' and whatnot comes in. thats what people like to see on screen. humor, love, heartbreak. it portrays well on screen so thats why that was done.

Some HP fans want to see every detail on screen. Some don't.

[jan74]

Originally Posted by oierem

Some HP fans want to see every detail on screen. Some don't.

What is your favourite HP film so far and why?

[merrymarge]

The reason I liked HBP was because I felt it followed the book. Except for the part of the Potions book. The book was all about the Half Blood Prince, and it wasn't mentioned. But, most of everything else was good.

[mexicant]

Okay, next one to go off-topic gets a special prize from me! ^_^ ...but I don't think you'll like it.

Want to talk about HBP? Try one of these threads:
Say something positive about the Half-Blood Prince
One thing, you would have changed in HBP movie
Half-Blood Prince Movie Reviews v.2

Talk about your favorite HP movie here. If it's HBP, that's fine - but this is not a thread to discuss is exclusively.

[LuMac]

I find the HP movies pretty lousy for the most part. They're near-impossible adaptions to begin with, but good acting(or more canon-compliant acting) could have made them somewhat respectable in my eyes. That sadly hasn't been the case.

That aside, I do have a soft spot for GoF. It's really the only movie in the series that captured the spirit/atmosphere of the book. GoF has this really colorful imagery and a certain indescribable energy to Hogwarts and I thought Mike Newell really brought that to life in the movie. It's also the lone movie that was able to pack an emotional punch with the BIG scenes. You do feel a sense of loss when Cedric's dead, or the hair-rising scene that is the LV-Harry duel. Even the humor worked - easily the funniest movie of the series. The acting for the most part is at its peak too. Loved the portrayal of Moody.

[DragonsBreath]

1) CoS (good)
2) PoA (good)
3) SS (good)
4) GoF (okay, could've been better)
5) OotP (okay.)
6) HBP (terrible)

[caitsQuill]

It's incredible to read all of these responses.. One person's description of my least favorite film is sometimes the same description I would give to my favorite film..

The Prisoner of Azkaban is probably my favorite film.

• Harry looks exactly like I imagined (tousled hair!)
• The cinematography is awesome
• I love the music (Buckbeak's flight!)
• It's magical, in a way that the later films are not
• I know lots of people dislike the opening because of Harry's underage use of magic, but I think it's a fun start to the film.

After that, I couldn't possibly put the other films in any kind of order. Except Goblet of Fire. That goes at the bottom. The very bottom. Actually, I don't think it even goes on my list. Ehem. Other than that, I enjoy all the films. It just depends on my mood. Sometimes I want the magic/innocence (PS and CoS) and sometimes I want the drama (OotP and HBP).

[Kelsey89]

Prisoner of Azkaban.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by caitsQuill

It's incredible to read all of these responses.. One person's description of my least favorite film is sometimes the same description I would give to my favorite film..


The Prisoner of Azkaban is probably my favorite film.

• Harry looks exactly like I imagined (tousled hair!)
• The cinematography is awesome
• I love the music (Buckbeak's flight!)
• It's magical, in a way that the later films are not
• I know lots of people dislike the opening because of Harry's underage use of magic, but I think it's a fun start to the film.

After that, I couldn't possibly put the other films in any kind of order. Except Goblet of Fire. That goes at the bottom. The very bottom. Actually, I don't think it even goes on my list. Ehem. Other than that, I enjoy all the films. It just depends on my mood. Sometimes I want the magic/innocence (PS and CoS) and sometimes I want the drama (OotP and HBP).

I liked that one myself (POA). Like you said, it's pretty well done in terms of how they handled things and the atmosphere was like the book.

Agreed about GOF though. Hated that one. There were some decent moments in it -- but overall, it's at the very bottom of the HP movies for me.

I'd probably have POA and HBP at the top, since they both made me laugh and smile at times.

[APolaris]

I'd have to say I have two favorites.

On a "fun to watch" level, there's no question in my mind that Goblet of Fire is the best film so far. It took a very long book and managed to succeed at balancing what to exclude without cutting too much out. It helps that it's built on one of the more exciting and variable books - battling a Hungarian Horntail one minute, attending a ball the next, meeting people from other countries, and confronting Voldemort head-on? Cedric's death was the only one IMO that was sufficiently portrayed of the three major deaths so far. If a non-reader were to ask me to name one film to watch I'd pick that one. I felt the exclusion of Bill and Charlie was its biggest downfall. I also found the character acting best in this one.

Artistically, I'd say Prisoner of Azkaban is the best one. It's not particularly what I'd call loyal to the book or nearly sufficient in its storyline explanations, particularly involving the Marauders, but its aesthetics are the best in the series IMO. It shows moods that the rest don't, and I actually liked the extras that showed the changing of the seasons. They added... flavor to the film. I was intensely disappointed by the lack of development in the characters/the side that makes you think, at least after I eventually read the book and then rewatched the film, but at least the side that makes you feel compensated for it in this one.

For Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, while they showed the "magic" and "school" sides best and were easily truest to the books, I personally felt they were the two weakest books in the series, due largely to their near-unreadability by anybody who's reached or passed puberty without cringing half the time. I recall almost half the flavor text in SS/PS consisting of childish rhymes, booger jokes, etc. That said, I did think they came closer to being watchable by adults as films than they did to readable as books. And for god's sake, did they have to include a shot of Harry with a toothy grin every 5 seconds, and did they have to include all that almost-narrative commentary? "Did you hear Harry Potter is the new Seeker? I always thought he'd do well." Yeah, yeah, we get it, now stop acting like we're freaking 5.

For Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, though I put them as the next funnest films to watch after GoF, I think honestly that they tried too hard to cut too much, similar to what Peter Jackson did to LotR, except that LotR was still a coherent if incomplete saga. In other words, they're good to watch independently but not so much as part of the series. Leaving in a good portion of the sideplot stuff that was cut, even enough to extend each by a mere 15-20 minutes, would have resulted in a more fully fleshed-out series that actually realized Rowling's world. They're fun to watch, and have some of the most exciting battle sequences, but honestly I didn't feel they even got the major plot points right, let alone the flavor-giving side arcs. For instance, OotP failed to include: Neville's parents, career advice, most of Snape's worst memory, the Rita Skeeter interview and date with Cho, the discussion about death between Dumbledore and Voldemort (and the arrival of Dumbledore right there instead of during the Death Eater battle made absolutely no sense in context), and virtually the entire discussion Dumbledore and Harry should have had at the end. IMO, these were the absolute minimum criteria that OotP should have met that it didn't, half of which IMO are more important than some of the stuff they did include, without which any coherence the films have as a series is at least partially tainted.

HBP screwed up Tom Riddle's history, Ginny's entire character development for the series, left the quidditch arc inconclusive, and wasn't nearly dramatic enough for the entire closing arc, massively downplayed the half-blood prince arc, most of the horcrux-related info, not to mention the total exclusion of Percy, Bill, and Scrimgeour. IMO, HBP is, after GoF, the single book in which the most series-defining and road-forking events occur. I would have preferred it to leave all of that stuff in even if it had to turn out as 3 or even 4 hours. It's not like they didn't have time.

[Mr_Twit]

PoA has it for me.

HBP totally would've, but at points seemed far too melodramatic and the ending really left a bad taste in my mouth.


However, in terms of capturing JKRs vision from the books the best, I'd go with the first two. The acting and production values were sub-par, but the entire world seemed to mesh with the books much more.

[SnakeSinister]

I love POA's creative style but I still must say GOF. That movie was so entertaining for me I saw it 3 times and I never do that.

I loved the ending with Voldy so much, it was so scary and well staged. I would like to also add how wonderful the music is in that film. I love the Hogwarts march and Voldemort's theme as well as the Hym to Hogwarts...then there is Nevel's waltz. Beautiful music.

[Tonks_Animagus]

Is there a way to see if I have posted here before? Hmm...

1)Prisoner of Azkaban just ROX! *yay for Remus, Sirius, Buckbeack and the creepy but oh-so-well-made dementors! *

2) Half Blood Prince

3) Goblet of Fire

4) Order of the Phoenix

5) Sorcerer's Stone

5) Chamber of Secrets

[Phrozenone]

My order has officially changed since I've rewatched the films recently.

1.) The Half-Blood Prince- Great acting, atmosphere, really good soundtrack, funny, serious, beautiful to look at, and a great 'calm before the storm' Funny to think I hated this movie when I first saw it Not pefect by any means and it does tend to drag in the middle but I just really love this one. The good outweighs the bad and you can tell alot of care was put into this one.

2.) The Prisoner of Azkaban- Awesome directing, amazing soundtrack, funny, Dumbledore and his strawberry conversation , tight script, and the best out of the earlier films. The reason it moved down from number 1 was because after watching it recently it does seem like Cauron showed off alot and it some cases it was more style over substance. HBP beats in my only half a point though

3.) The Order of the Phoenix- Gloomy atmosphere. Sad. Imelda Stauton.The first film I felt Hogwarts was part of the 'real world' so to speak. The script is a little over the place for me though and the editing in some spots is questionable. Awesome acting by Dan (probably his best acting in any of the films thus far....this was the first time I felt like he WAS Harry Potter) and Evanna Lynch was perfect casting. Grawp should not have been included though.

4.) The Sorceror's Stone- Great introduction to the world. This movie will always have a soft spot to me. The casting of the leads was genius and the only word I can think to describe it is magical. Hedwig's Theme was (and still is) amazing, the adult actors were all superb and for this one Chris Columbus style really worked.

5.) The Goblet of Fire- This movie is very fun to watch. Over-the-top, hilarious, quotable, and did I mention over the top?!? The acting is very un even though, Emma Watson is at her worse here. I don't think Newell got the atmosphere right and the graveyard scene, although really good, seemed more theatrical than I had hoped. This film has energy though, a loud soundtrack, and yes I will say it again...over the top.

6.) The Chamber of Secrets- It's a better made movie than the first one, the acting is better, but it goes on way to long. It felt like they avoided alot of the serious bits ( I wish they would've focused more on the mudblood/pureblood issue)and Dobby is annoying . I always skip the spider scene (this is the only movie where I skip a whole scene, which is probably why it's at the bottom). The film looks great though, Lochart is great, it has some great set pieces (the dueling club scene is a favorite), and 'Fawkes the Phoenix' alone makes it worth watching.

Overall I find that none of the Harry Potter movies are bad. They're all really good for the genre and it is just fun to watch it continue to grow. Each film has something that makes it stand out and for a series that's 6 films deep and still putting out quality films (I mean the 6th is my favorite!) is unheard of! Can't wait to do this again after I've seen all of them. I've grown up with this series and I'm glad to say I have yet to be majorly disappointed by any of the films.

[weasley9]

Originally Posted by Phrozenone

My order has officially changed since I've rewatched the films recently.

1.) The Half-Blood Prince- Great acting, atmosphere, really good soundtrack, funny, serious, beautiful to look at, and a great 'calm before the storm' Funny to think I hated this movie when I first saw it Not pefect by any means and it does tend to drag in the middle but I just really love this one. The good outweighs the bad and you can tell alot of care was put into this one.

2.) The Prisoner of Azkaban- Awesome directing, amazing soundtrack, funny, Dumbledore and his strawberry conversation , tight script, and the best out of the earlier films. The reason it moved down from number 1 was because after watching it recently it does seem like Cauron showed off alot and it some cases it was more style over substance. HBP beats in my only half a point though

3.) The Order of the Phoenix- Gloomy atmosphere. Sad. Imelda Stauton.The first film I felt Hogwarts was part of the 'real world' so to speak. The script is a little over the place for me though and the editing in some spots is questionable. Awesome acting by Dan (probably his best acting in any of the films thus far....this was the first time I felt like he WAS Harry Potter) and Evanna Lynch was perfect casting. Grawp should not have been included though.

4.) The Sorceror's Stone- Great introduction to the world. This movie will always have a soft spot to me. The casting of the leads was genius and the only word I can think to describe it is magical. Hedwig's Theme was (and still is) amazing, the adult actors were all superb and for this one Chris Columbus style really worked.

5.) The Goblet of Fire- This movie is very fun to watch. Over-the-top, hilarious, quotable, and did I mention over the top?!? The acting is very un even though, Emma Watson is at her worse here. I don't think Newell got the atmosphere right and the graveyard scene, although really good, seemed more theatrical than I had hoped. This film has energy though, a loud soundtrack, and yes I will say it again...over the top.

6.) The Chamber of Secrets- It's a better made movie than the first one, the acting is better, but it goes on way to long. It felt like they avoided alot of the serious bits ( I wish they would've focused more on the mudblood/pureblood issue)and Dobby is annoying . I always skip the spider scene (this is the only movie where I skip a whole scene, which is probably why it's at the bottom). The film looks great though, Lochart is great, it has some great set pieces (the dueling club scene is a favorite), and 'Fawkes the Phoenix' alone makes it worth watching.

Overall I find that none of the Harry Potter movies are bad. They're all really good for the genre and it is just fun to watch it continue to grow. Each film has something that makes it stand out and for a series that's 6 films deep and still putting out quality films (I mean the 6th is my favorite!) is unheard of! Can't wait to do this again after I've seen all of them. I've grown up with this series and I'm glad to say I have yet to be majorly disappointed by any of the films.

Completely agree with everything you said here! The only thing that's different about me is that I would switch Order of the Phoenix and Philosopher's Stone.

[ohsnapkid]

1) Prisoner of Azkaban (Strong in every facet, just a fantastic film)
2) Half-Blood Prince (When it hits the mark, it does so powerfully)
3) Chamber of Secrets (There's something intangible that just feels right, despite the corny and childish moments)
4) Order of the Phoenix (Solid, could've been better, but generally good)
5) Sorceror's Stone (The necessary treatment for the first film)
6) Goblet of Fire (Far too many misses and cheesy moments)

[wicked87]

The Good:
1. Prisoner Of Azkaban.The casting, the tone, the cinematography, the time turner sequence: almost everything is perfect in this movie.
2. Order of the Phoenix. A close second to me, it's the only movie that actually outdoes the book in my opinion. Then again, OOTP was my least favorite book.
3. Sorcerer's Stone Lots of awe and magic in this one, and it started it all! Bad technology though.

The Bad:
4. Half Blood Prince. A few funny scenes, but overall there was too much omitted from the book to make me happy. And the Harry/Ginny scenes were bad and awkward.
5. Chamber of Secrets So.Freaking.Boring.

And the Ugly:

6. Goblet of Fire. So ridiculously overblown in everything: the dragon scene, the characterizations of Barty Crouch Jr and Voldemort, the schools of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons being super masculine or feminine, Emma Watson's dancing eyebrows, etc. Ugh. Along with DH it's my favorite book and I felt they massacred it.

[Rickster]

My order :
1.POA
2.HBP
3.GOF
4.OOTP
5.SS
6.COS

[willfitz]

I have the book purists order, myself. Every time a movie creates an inconsistency, or does things which create flaws in the magical world it creates, it makes me dislike the movie. I understand that some people prioritize a movie's excitement over its plot and setting making total and complete sense, but I can't.

My favourite movie so far, therefore, is CoS, with PS as runner-up. I am hoping that in cleaving the final movie in twain, they will be able to finally adapt one of the longer books and keep faithful to the consistency of the magical world which makes the books, and the story, so great.