What cuts from OotP are you upset about?

[Esellesar]

Thank you whoever said it was a Red Beam.

And the part about Sirius being dead, we don't know for sure yet, and JKR has never confirmed it.

Back to the thread, I do think that the vision of Snape as a kid should have been longer too. Seeing Lily would have been nice since her eyes supposedly deal with something very important in this next book. I really did think that this movie was the best one so far, and not to forget that this was the longest book so it was going to be difficult to fit everything in.

[Toppa]

Originally Posted by Vasheba

I had to go run look that up...he ducked the red and then got hit with an unspecified color blast. So we're both wrong.

The fact that she said a second blast of light hit him (right after he dodged the first red blast), and that his eyes "widened in shock" and that he only "died" when he fell through the archway, leads us to assume that it was a stunning spell and not the Avada Kedavra.

[Heart]

Originally Posted by Toppa

Do I really have to defend why I was disappointed with their handling of SWM? It was my favourite chapter and they did not do it justice. Also it not only showed a lot of character development of the Marauders (then and now) but it allowed Harry to acknowledge that his father had some faults. It also was the catalyst for the further degeneration of Harry's and Snape's relationship. In short, it would have been the coolest scene of the movie considering I'm not a fan of the flashy stuff like they tried to do at the MoM.

I loved the chapter too, bu...by, uhm, showing James, his own Dad, who he's ALWAYS admired, being basically Dudley, wouldn't this make him have even more faults?

And I'm sure in Half-Blood Prince this will get developed upon. Harry will probably ask Lupin how James ever landed his mom, ect.

I don't really see Lily really needed in that scene. All they need is a five minute Lupin/Harry talk next movie which I can see happening.

It just has to be like the one they had in the fire in OOTP:

'Lupin, my Dad, he...he was horrible. He was a bully? Snape did nothing to him! How could my Mum ever like him?!'

And then add in the stuff Lupin said in OOTP book.

[Toppa]

Originally Posted by Vasheba

I think I'll have to rewatch this bit to be completely sold. It just went by so fast. I do think that you get the point that James is bullying Snape though. I think a lot of people are just disappointed there's no young Lily.

Not only that there was no Lily, but we didn't get to see the dynamics among the Marauders and what it was about Wormtails character that made him go over to Voldy's side and betray his friends.

Originally Posted by Heart

I loved the chapter too, bu...by, uhm, showing James, his own Dad, who he's ALWAYS admired, being basically Dudley, wouldn't this make him have even more faults?

And I'm sure in Half-Blood Prince this will get developed upon. Harry will probably ask Lupin how James ever landed his mom, ect.

I don't really see Lily really needed in that scene. All they need is a five minute Lupin/Harry talk next movie which I can see happening.

It just has to be like the one they had in the fire in OOTP:

'Lupin, my Dad, he...he was horrible. He was a bully? Snape did nothing to him! How could my Mum ever like him?!'

And then add in the stuff Lupin said in OOTP book.

You think it'll get developed in HBP? Good luck with that.

*Ahem*

Last thing: how dare they let Harry go by for half of the movie without his scar??! lol

[Vasheba]

Originally Posted by Toppa

Not only that there was no Lily, but we didn't get to see the dynamics among the Marauders and what it was about Wormtails character that made him go over to Voldy's side and betray his friends.

Ahhh....but that's what makes books such a great medium compared to movies. You really get the development of the minor characters.

And Sirius is dead. Dead by AK, dead by drapery - still dead. It was beautifully done in the movie I thought.

[Heart]

I still liked the movie's handle of death.

What would the fans react if Sirius got stunned...and fell through a ten foot arch with red drapes of death?

They would of thought he had fallen through the first class drapes of the Ministry of Magic and just wanted the free orange juice and extra room.

[mugglemom22]

I thought the movie was great until the end. The showdown between Dumbledore and Voldemort missed the mark, it even happened in the wrong room. Albus is described as walking around the room as if he was out on a walk (or something like that...he seemed unworried). In the movie he looked stressed. No moving statues and no Fawkes to the rescue.

Worst of all was the omission of Harry's rage in Dumbledore's office following Sirius's death. I was really looking forward to that scene. Instead we see a few moments of quiet discussion between the two. Disappointing. 10 more minutes added to the movie at the end would have made all the difference. Perhaps someday they will release a director's cut with this footage.

[SnapeSlave]

I'm irritated that they didn't include more about Grimmauld place. (Sirius's mom, for example, which they kept under wraps the entire time and didn't address.)

[ClaudiaB]

There are so many things that I believe should have been kept in the movie. At Grimmauld place there are so many things that are important to the plot and outcome of the story. I also missed Dobby's return. I also miss the quidditch matches (Ron seems to get the short end of the stick in the movies). The circular room that spins in the ministry of magic. This could have added to the suspense and overall action of the movie. Hopefully future movies will stick closer to the book!

[cgold]

Now that I've watched the movie I'm most upset about:

• Quidditch storyline
• Visit to St. Mungo's to see Neville's parents
• Hermione's part in getting Rita Skeeter to tell her story

The problem I have with the movie is that it was extremely unenjoyable. They took out a lot of interesting scenes and left a lot of uninteresting ones. I think just a couple fun storylines (which Quidditch would have provided) would have been some relief from the stark boredom I felt while watching the film.

Cheers

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by cgold

Now that I've watched the movie I'm most upset about:

• Quidditch storyline
• Visit to St. Mungo's to see Neville's parents
• Hermione's part in getting Rita Skeeter to tell her story

The problem I have with the movie is that it was extremely unenjoyable. They took out a lot of interesting scenes and left a lot of uninteresting ones. I think just a couple fun storylines (which Quidditch would have provided) would have been some relief from the stark boredom I felt while watching the film.

Cheers

• Quidditch: Not needed. Aside from Quidditch rubbing it in the rest of the houses faces that they are the champs, Quidditch in OoTP was to show the unfairness of Umbridge (and her evilness), Ron's ability and just a old tradition of having quidditch in the for the sake of quidditch.
  
  Ron's quality of being a competent person was shown in his quick thinking in his ability to get the inquisitorial squad off their backs near the end. Umbridge's inherent toad evil was emphasized by her other acts. Basically there was no need to put in 3 more points where 1 point would do just fine.
  
  
• St. Mungo's: Well I guess it's purpose was to show another facet of the wizarding world, but really I think the MoM was good enough to show that anyways. If St. Mungo's was kept in, it'd be like the entire MoM sequence again but with different content. It really wasn't needed to any degree and Neville's substitution of him telling Harry about his parents was good enough and in fact probably far more heart wrenching than the novel. The funny thing is despite my affinity for suitable substitutions I almost wish he would explain that his parents are bonkers due to the torture and that's why he's living with his gran.
  
  
• Rita Skeeter: I imagine not too many people care about her from GoF or remember her and not to mention that the consequences of her actions in GoF was never fully realized. Regardless the idea about Voldemort coming back should be left for the end where it counted and not as some sort of rebellion against the establishment. They already are rebelling anyways.

[Robinho]

1. Quidditch
2. St. Mugos
3. Talk between Harry and Dumbledore
4. The fight between harry, fred and malfoy.

[NikMalfoy]

I was definitely dissppointed about there being no Quidditch and no St Mungo's. But I have to say it was was probably the best or second best. I liked how much we saw Voldemort and now its trying to make us aware of How much of a threat he is becoming. But did you guys notice that it was the longest book in the series but it was the shortest movie in the series? What was up with that, they could of definitely explored it more.

[danno]

I thought the movie was great, but things that weren't big that were left out were the whole fight at the MOM (you know, the brain room and everything) and St. Mungos, mainly because I wanted Lockhart to get a cameo. I thought the movie was great though.

[cgold]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

Quidditch: Not needed.

Needed to relieve the stark boredom of the movie. This could be just me but the movie was almost completely unentertaining and I felt like scratching my eyes out to make the pain of watching the most boring and uninteresting movie I've seen in a long while go away. That was the necessity for me. Everything doesn't have to be entirely related to the plot. Unimportant stuff are almost always the most enjoyable parts of the movie and I can think of countless ways they could have actually made it relevant somehow even if it wasn't in the book. Furthermore, unnecessary but entertaining stuff increases the quality of a movie. It provides something else to enjoy while you absorb plot points made in previous scenes instead of plot point after plot point after plot point being bombarded to the point where you actually miss the point. I would never watch this movie over and while I disliked GOF (which is a star movie compared to OOTP), I would have paid to rewatch it because individual scenes were fantastic unlike OOTP which was just one boring scene after another except for some Umbridge scenes and Snape. I don't know how much it will gross in the end but if it grosses the least of all the Potter movies, it will prove 2 points I've been making:

1. GOF was not very good and therefore not very good advertisement for OOTP.

2. OOTP was **** and not enjoyable enough for repeat viewers as the others were.

If it doesn't turn out to be the lowest grossing I'll still feel the same way but I guess I can't justify it is all. Right about now Chris Columbus is starting to look like a genius because only Cuaron has done better than him in my opinion and this was Columbus working with poor special effects and even poorer kid stars. These movies now have excellent special effects and the kids have gotten good but the quality of the movies...ugh!

St. Mungo's: Well I guess it's purpose was to show another facet of the wizarding world, but really I think the MoM was good enough to show that anyways. If St. Mungo's was kept in, it'd be like the entire MoM sequence again but with different content. It really wasn't needed to any degree and Neville's substitution of him telling Harry about his parents was good enough and in fact probably far more heart wrenching than the novel. The funny thing is despite my affinity for suitable substitutions I almost wish he would explain that his parents are bonkers due to the torture and that's why he's living with his gran.

While the scene with Neville and Harry wasn't terrible in anyway and wasn't one of the moments I wanted to scratch my eyes out I actually find it laughable that it could possibly be suggested that it even managed to capture 1/10th of the emotion in one of the most poignant scenes in all the Harry Potter books so I can have no further comment on this issue as it would be pointless.

Rita Skeeter

Just another moment to relieve the boredom. Not necessary but still essential to my enjoyment. OOTP managed to keep the most boring storylines and make them even more boring that they were in the book. The movie was just too dreary and uninteresting. It was unnecessarily dreary even given all that Harry was going through.

I just watched Transformers this weekend and I just couldn't get over the difference. They were not definitely the same type of movie as Harry Potter should be filled with more despair but Transformers was so entertaining and it wasn't the storyline, it was the little unnecessary touches they added and funny moments they included that actually made that movie entertaining to watch. It's actually one of the most entertaining movies I've watched all year. Better than all the other blockbusters. It just didn't come together that well at the end but the first half was still great enough to save the movie.

Cheers

[Rustyspoonman]

There were 2 things I wish they added, but it ust my opinion.

1) St. Mungos: Explains what happened to Neville' parents and that the wound Arthyr got from Nagini could not be cured either by muggle means or certain magic spells.

2) This one I guess would be considered minor. The conversation between Harry and Nearly Headless Nick about if Sirius can comeback as a ghost and why were very few people choose the option to become a ghost.

[Quetozin]

No Dobby, obviously. They made the Dumbledore/Voldemort fight scene entirely too short. They portrayed Dumbledore to lose the duel, which in reality, it was stalemated, and Voldemort fled. Dumbledore is far superior to Voldemort, talent, wisdom, and power, therefore, they should most certainly not have made it seem Dumbledore was losing that fight. They cut out ALL of Firenze, it didn't even show him, or I can't really remember, but I'm quite sure it didn't show him. Oh, and the scene where Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley, Dawlish, tried to arrest Dumbledore. They merely showed Dumbledore disappear. Whereas, in the book, Dumbledore stunned everyone, blew up his office, explained things to Harry and McGonnagal, then dissappeared. In the final duel between Dumbledore/Voldemort, it didn't show the statues being thrown in the way of Voldemort's curses, either. On the whole they cut far too much, it's especially disappointing, since I can't even remember everything they cut, but I remember feeling a sense of disappointment, while watching it.

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by cgold

Needed to relieve the stark boredom of the movie. This could be just me but the movie was almost completely unentertaining and I felt like scratching my eyes out to make the pain of watching the most boring and uninteresting movie I've seen in a long while go away. That was the necessity for me. Everything doesn't have to be entirely related to the plot. Unimportant stuff are almost always the most enjoyable parts of the movie and I can think of countless ways they could have actually made it relevant somehow even if it wasn't in the book. Furthermore, unnecessary but entertaining stuff increases the quality of a movie. It provides something else to enjoy while you absorb plot points made in previous scenes instead of plot point after plot point after plot point being bombarded to the point where you actually miss the point. I would never watch this movie over and while I disliked GOF (which is a star movie compared to OOTP), I would have paid to rewatch it because individual scenes were fantastic unlike OOTP which was just one boring scene after another except for some Umbridge scenes and Snape. I don't know how much it will gross in the end but if it grosses the least of all the Potter movies, it will prove 2 points

Well I do admit that while OoTP is fantastic and as a film is miles above GoF, I do agree and find it a little less rewatachable than GoF. GoF has some fantastic scenes, but OoTP to me was more polished as a film. I'm not against unneccsary stuff, but often the greatest of films the unnecessary stuff serves a dual purpose to advance the plot and storyline of the film. In this case PoA and even a film like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang of which there was hardly ever a waste/downtime part of the film that never fit inside the film.

Quidditch on the otherhand, useless now. Even in the novel when OoTP had quidditch it certainly lost it's charm as well with whatever activities were surrouding it. By this time it just compounded with the fill in _____ event during this annual scheduled event feeling of the books it felt more forced than natural. Quidditch could be fun if shot right (and that's a big IF) but to include that storyline seems a waste even if for just relief of boredom. It was boring in the first place.

While the scene with Neville and Harry wasn't terrible in anyway and wasn't one of the moments I wanted to scratch my eyes out I actually find it laughable that it could possibly be suggested that it even managed to capture 1/10th of the emotion in one of the most poignant scenes in all the Harry Potter books so I can have no further comment on this issue as it would be pointless.

Well it all depends on who directs it. The problem that we might have from this idea is that if so much effort is poured into making Neville's parents circumstance being poignant filmwise, we'd have to make Neville presence even more significant. Ron and Hermione were barely in the film enough as it is so that might take time away from them; Lucius' invovlement with Death Eaters is already spread out way too thin for him to have a proper grasp that he equals a villain in the series so really, trying to make Neville's circumstance somehow as poingnant as in the novel just offers up a logistical nightmare as to how to include it; let alone Harry's own thoughts and feelings. Someone could have included it to make it poignant, but really what purpose would it really serve where it already has been summed up in the film so well or better than most? If a picture is worth 1000 words then if done right that single scene could be worth the few pages that it was in the book.

Just another moment to relieve the boredom. Not necessary but still essential to my enjoyment. OOTP managed to keep the most boring storylines and make them even more boring that they were in the book. The movie was just too dreary and uninteresting. It was unnecessarily dreary even given all that Harry was going through.

I doubt it would have been especially fun for me really, I'd personally think it'd be more dreary to introduce this because the film was fine with the singular streamlining of the plot. To add this would have just made it seem bulky and boring.

I just watched Transformers this weekend and I just couldn't get over the difference. They were not definitely the same type of movie as Harry Potter should be filled with more despair but Transformers was so entertaining and it wasn't the storyline, it was the little unnecessary touches they added and funny moments they included that actually made that movie entertaining to watch. It's actually one of the most entertaining movies I've watched all year. Better than all the other blockbusters. It just didn't come together that well at the end buit the first half was still great enough to save the movie.

Cheers

I agree. But Transformers is a different breed but share simliarities with OoTP in the fact that it basically hammered the point home that whatever would be done in here would supercede the expectations of character development and plotline. Transformers did that excellently because Michael Bay basically super action power drived the fact that Huge Battling Robots > character development. It isn't that he's a bad director but that he knows how to direct stereotypes and cliches WELL. Some people might complain about the motivations or even development of relationships of trust between the two main human characters or even between Spike and Bumblebee, but look at it...There are HUGE ROBOTS in front of yolu, forget character development.

OoTP on the otherhand did something similiar in the sense that they were more of a film-centric film than a storyteling film. So I liked the flashbacks, the montages, the newspaper headings, everything that made the plot oh so efficient. I've always wanted something more film-like to occur in the HP series and this by comparison elevated the film to me. However that same elevation also made the films far less suited for repeat viewings becuase it's so engrained into film cliches such as montages, flashbacks and other things at least to me. It's still a good film, but not great and in it's pursuit to being a film that is treated more like a film than any other HP movie so far it sort of loses some of it's quality.

OoTP I still like it because cinematically it's amazing. There's loads more symbolism in the film than GoF which is just a film geek's paradise for interpretation but what I like the most about it is how it really references the previous 4 films. It really touches upon everything or even take shots from previous films that makes me enjoy the references of the Film Potterverse much like how the latter books reference the Book Potterverse. I can understand how it could be boring but as a film geek, there's a lot to be excited about.

[cgold]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

OoTP I still like it because cinematically it's amazing. There's loads more symbolism in the film than GoF which is just a film geek's paradise for interpretation but what I like the most about it is how it really references the previous 4 films. It really touches upon everything or even take shots from previous films that makes me enjoy the references of the Film Potterverse much like how the latter books reference the Book Potterverse. I can understand how it could be boring but as a film geek, there's a lot to be excited about.

It's hard to really agree or disagree with what you're saying because nothing you're saying is necessarily wrong but I didn't find OOTP enjoyable. Your quote above is one of the lovely parts of OOTP and if combined flow and symbolism of OOTP could have met the lovely scenes of GOF we would have had another good movie like POA. I'm still not sure how great it would be though. If you think of Titanic for example, that King of World scene was really not important but it was a defining scene in the movie. This is what I'm talking about. OOTP was too stark and almost completely without any defining moment for me. In GOF I think of the Yule Ball, in POA I think of the Time Turner sequence, COS and PS had similar scenes that really stays with you and encourages you to rewatch those parts. In OOTP scenes like these were few and far between for me because they were simply not enjoyable. I just think that while Quidditch, St. Mungos and Rita Skeeter were unimportant in the books, the movies change things all the time and these scenes could have been changed dramatically to fit into the plot while still remaining true to the story. OOTP has been one of the most disappointing movies I've seen in a while and that's because in the trailer it seemed to have so much potential.

Cheers

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by cgold

It's hard to really agree or disagree with what you're saying because nothing you're saying is necessarily wrong but I didn't find OOTP enjoyable. Your quote above is one of the lovely parts of OOTP and if combined flow and symbolism of OOTP could have met the lovely scenes of GOF we would have had another good movie like POA. I'm still not sure how great it would be though.

Yeah OoTP I could understand from more POV's than the previous 4 films why someone would dislike it. I personally like it mainly for how long I've spend on the my thread so reviewing things in finer details for the previous 4 films really kept me into perspective in regards to watching OoTP.

But I understand why someone could find it unenjoyable. My friend who's a movie buff humoured me by attending the film (he suggested it BTW) and thought the film was pretty terrible and we share similiar tastes in film. Which brings me to my next point:

If you think of Titanic for example, that King of World scene was really not important but it was a defining scene in the movie. This is what I'm talking about. OOTP was too stark and almost completely without any defining moment for me. In GOF I think of the Yule Ball, in POA I think of the Time Turner sequence, COS and PS had similar scenes that really stays with you and encourages you to rewatch those parts. In OOTP scenes like these were few and far between for me because they were simply not enjoyable. I just think that while Quidditch, St. Mungos and Rita Skeeter were unimportant in the books, the movies change things all the time and these scenes could have been changed dramatically to fit into the plot while still remaining true to the story. OOTP has been one of the most disappointing movies I've seen in a while and that's because in the trailer it seemed to have so much potential.

Cheers

I think as a whole the OoTP film reflects what the general population thought of the novel; it's filler. I mean aside from Sirius' death there really doesn't seem to feel like a whole of a lot is going on. While it should have been advancing, perhaps to the point of just saying, "Hey what're we going to do about this whole Voldemort thing" it seemed to take a step back and casually just toss in "Well I can write a whole book about how no one would admit Voldie is back. Instead of advancing let's take a step back". OoTP kind of felt like that in general at least when I read it.