Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (spoilers inside)

[weflyhigh]

just got back from screening the movie

pre-review notes
- I'm not a big harry potter fan.. I've only read the first book and started the second (years ago when they came out)
- I have seen the other movies, though (the first couple a few times, the later ones only once)

review
the movie seemed boring. I could see how it would be more interesting to someone that is really in to the series, but I could also see how they wouldn't like the movie because of the fact that they are really in to the series:

there was A LOT of hermione granger/ron weasly/other ppl cheesy love&relationship stuff... kind of got really lame after a while

is ron a fucking retard, too?
hermione is fucking BANGING. he should hit so hard but instead he hooks up with some nasty thing

after the movie ended I was talking to someone and they said there was a huge fight scene that was in the book that wasn't in the movie...
that makes me mad because there was almost NO fighting/fight scenes in this entire movie. there was ONE cool scene where zombies are being fought off, but other than that I was dissappointed. I wanted to see people shooting magic spells and shit at each other with swirling dust all around them... and dragons...

overall it was OK, and will do really well in the box office, but I found it to be rather boring. At least it wasn't too long.. although I wouldn't mind it being longer if there was more action




oh and OMG hermoine is so fucking hot. she's number 2 on my celebrity list, under Vanessa Hudgens

spoiler alert added to thread title -ATMod DrPizza

EDIT:
Did anyone else CRACK UP when that potion teacher goes up to Harry and invites him to a slumber party that he likes to have only with his special students?
I started laughing so hard when he said that and then the entire theater also started laughing because of me.. hahaha I thought it was hilarious

 

[SirStev0]

pretty much I got what I already know. Emma Watson is banging hot.

Babe THHHHHHHHHHHHHreeeeeeeeeeeaadd. Quick scare away more of the community.

 

[paulney]

Snape kills Dumbledore!

 

[Wag]

Considering the movie is ~98% @ Rottentomatoes I'd say it will do quite well indeed. I'll probably catch the IMAX version when it comes out at the end of the month.

 

[z0mb13]

wow 98%!!!

 

[KLin]

hmm, 98% on rt, 8.3/10 on imdb, yet the OP says it's boring.

 

[gorcorps]

http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/harrypotter6

86 on metacritic (RT is worthless) which is about what I expected. Seems like if you go in knowing what to expect you'll be entertained, but they aren't going to be known as the most amazing movies of our time for sure.

Also, I don't get the whole Emma Watson thing. Every time I see her in something not HP related she looks incredibly thin and sickly.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I have read all of the books, the last two several times and the movie Half Blood Prince was shockingly bad(just got back from a midnight showing). Avoiding spoilers for the movie the book revolves around Harry discovering certain vulnerabilities that would allow Voldermort to be destroyed, the movie pays only a passing nod towards that element. Given what the final installments revolve around this oversight was profoundly moronic. Why Voldermort is the way he is, what kind of genetics and environment he dealt with and how that shaped him, how he made the choices in his life that led to the creation of powerful objects that are crucial to him, all absent from the movie. All utterly critical story points.

They removed a fairly good sized battle from the end of the movie, added in a very small skirmish that doesn't happen in the book near the middle, and pretty much totally rewrote the entire script. A great deal of the time they would reproduce the setup for something that happened in the book, but totally change what each character said for no savings in dialogue but for a MUCH weaker story overall. Whoever wrote the screenplay isn't worthy of taking out JK's trash. Not that I think she is the pinnacle of literature, but she is leagues beyond what the pathetic sap is who wrote this script.

They also changed some key elements that happen on top of one of the towers at the end of the book, I don't want to spoil anything but let's say that they made Potter seem like a pathetic pussy compared to what actually happened. The romantic relationship that Harry had was only brushed on slightly while the movie spent a hefty length of time dealing with Lavendar Brown. They may have actually included every bit of Lavendar Brown from the books, in the original story she was a non important side story(obviously they can't make a 12 hour movie, but if they did and followed the book in its' entirety her part wouldn't be any larger then it is in the movie).

Without comparing it to the book, the movie was boring, one thing of interest took place at the very end to do with the larger storyline, but other then that it was a fairly poorly done teenage romance flick with moderate humor. I don't think they could have done much worse then they did with the movie.

 

[xanis]

Just got back from the midnight showing myself. My impressions were about the same as yours, and I've read the entire series.

I understand that they needed to cut some stuff out in order to make it a reasonable length, but they cut out some awesome stuff and replaced it with way too much bullshit and subplot nonsense. It was kind of irritating and frankly, a little boring.

The one thing that bothered me was the scene where Bellatrix and Fenrir show up at the Burrow and play a little game of hide-and-go-seek and eventually proceed to burn the place down. IIRC, that particular seen was NOT anywhere in the 6th book. Actually, I'm pretty sure it wasn't anywhere in the entire series. I understand that it was probably thrown in for dramatic effect, but IMO, it wasn't in the book so it shouldn't have been in there.

/two cents

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
I have read all of the books, the last two several times and the movie Half Blood Prince was shockingly bad(just got back from a midnight showing). Avoiding spoilers for the movie the book revolves around Harry discovering certain vulnerabilities that would allow Voldermort to be destroyed, the movie pays only a passing nod towards that element. Given what the final installments revolve around this oversight was profoundly moronic. Why Voldermort is the way he is, what kind of genetics and environment he dealt with and how that shaped him, how he made the choices in his life that led to the creation of powerful objects that are crucial to him, all absent from the movie. All utterly critical story points.

They removed a fairly good sized battle from the end of the movie, added in a very small skirmish that doesn't happen in the book near the middle, and pretty much totally rewrote the entire script. A great deal of the time they would reproduce the setup for something that happened in the book, but totally change what each character said for no savings in dialogue but for a MUCH weaker story overall. Whoever wrote the screenplay isn't worthy of taking out JK's trash. Not that I think she is the pinnacle of literature, but she is leagues beyond what the pathetic sap is who wrote this script.

They also changed some key elements that happen on top of one of the towers at the end of the book, I don't want to spoil anything but let's say that they made Potter seem like a pathetic pussy compared to what actually happened. The romantic relationship that Harry had was only brushed on slightly while the movie spent a hefty length of time dealing with Lavendar Brown. They may have actually included every bit of Lavendar Brown from the books, in the original story she was a non important side story(obviously they can't make a 12 hour movie, but if they did and followed the book in its' entirety her part wouldn't be any larger then it is in the movie).

Without comparing it to the book, the movie was boring, one thing of interest took place at the very end to do with the larger storyline, but other then that it was a fairly poorly done teenage romance flick with moderate humor. I don't think they could have done much worse then they did with the movie.

I covered some of those things in my post, but you're right on the money. The ENTIRE main plot of the 6th/7th books revolved around the Horcruxes, and it was only covered for what... maybe 15 minutes? Ridiculous.

 

[SLCentral]

The projector shut off on me right after Dumbledore died. That said, I enjoyed the movie. As much as I would love for it to be more like the books, I've come to expect the opposite from the past five, so it didn't phase me that much.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Maybe edit your post and give a spoiler warning SL? Some people may not have read the books and may not be aware of that happening

To fill you in on what you missed, the final scene was removed completely from the movie. What is supposed to follow that event never happens, a quick clip with Ron and Hermonie saying they would go with Harry is all there is.

 

[beat mania]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Maybe edit your post and give a spoiler warning SL? Some people may not have read the books and may not be aware of that happening

I'm sure if you ever logged onto any forum in the last 5 years you would've read the "spoiler".


No fight scene is no biggie : all they do is yell gibberish and point their wands, coupled with bad CGs anyway. What's there to see?

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: beat mania

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Maybe edit your post and give a spoiler warning SL? Some people may not have read the books and may not be aware of that happening

I'm sure if you ever logged onto any forum in the last 5 years you would've read the "spoiler".


No fight scene is no biggie : all they do is yell gibberish and point their wands, coupled with bad CGs anyway. What's there to see?

I've never read any of the books but saw the movies and have no idea what most of you are even talking about.

 

[sportage]

Midnight showing.
In 8 theaters.
Parking was packed.
Must of been 150 just waiting in lines to get food.

The movie?
Im not a potter fan, seen them all but still not sure of the total over all plot,
other than its a wizard school.

However, this was the most entertaining of the series.
A long film, everyone was hooked throughout the film.
Several sub plots going on at the same time.

Effects were the best of all the series films. A+
Potter fans will not be disappointed.
Non Potter fans will enjoy a well made film.
Every character did a splendid job.
You can tell they have advanced in their acting abilities.
Entertaining...

 

[Fingolfin269]

So it sounds like if you're a fan of the books you will not like this movie. I'm going to hold off until next week before seeing it but I always go into these movies expecting the worst. For all the shit Peter Jackson and co. got with Lord of the Rings I must give them credit when it comes to actually delivering the core even if they did have to appease the investors by tinkering with the story a bit.

BTW, what has been your favorite HP movie thus far? I'm a huge fan of Azkaban. After that I'm not so sure which I put in second place.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Without comparing it to the book, the movie was boring, one thing of interest took place at the very end to do with the larger storyline, but other then that it was a fairly poorly done teenage romance flick with moderate humor. I don't think they could have done much worse then they did with the movie.

This.

I went to the movie at midnight with my gf. The entire movie could have been compressed into about 30 minutes of actual plot development. The first ~2 hours was 90% romance/subplot/unimportant details. The last ~30 minutes was about 90% plot development that was actually important.

There was way, way, way, WAY too much romance BS. It seemed like the movie was a teenage love story and NOT a story progression of the Harry vs Voldemort story. There was little to no humor (maybe 2 scenes I chuckled at).

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/harrypotter6

86 on metacritic (RT is worthless) which is about what I expected. Seems like if you go in knowing what to expect you'll be entertained, but they aren't going to be known as the most amazing movies of our time for sure.

:roll:

Metacritic: 85% based on 4 reviews.
RT: 95% based on 120 reviews.

I don't understand how people don't seem to get it, that RT just compiles ratings from other reviewers.

 

[lokiju]

After seeing one preview that showed nothing that happened in the book already, it made me have my doubts that this will be very good.

I'll still see it though.

But I'll never understand wtf is the point of taking a story that's right there for someone to put on film and just shorten it, cover the key elements and call it a day versus the constant removing key parts from stories and then adding in stuff that was never there in the first place.

This happens time and time and time again though with books that are made into movies.

 

[Lamont Burns]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
I have read all of the books, the last two several times and the movie Half Blood Prince was shockingly bad(just got back from a midnight showing). Avoiding spoilers for the movie the book revolves around Harry discovering certain vulnerabilities that would allow Voldermort to be destroyed, the movie pays only a passing nod towards that element. Given what the final installments revolve around this oversight was profoundly moronic. Why Voldermort is the way he is, what kind of genetics and environment he dealt with and how that shaped him, how he made the choices in his life that led to the creation of powerful objects that are crucial to him, all absent from the movie. All utterly critical story points.

They removed a fairly good sized battle from the end of the movie, added in a very small skirmish that doesn't happen in the book near the middle, and pretty much totally rewrote the entire script. A great deal of the time they would reproduce the setup for something that happened in the book, but totally change what each character said for no savings in dialogue but for a MUCH weaker story overall. Whoever wrote the screenplay isn't worthy of taking out JK's trash. Not that I think she is the pinnacle of literature, but she is leagues beyond what the pathetic sap is who wrote this script.

They also changed some key elements that happen on top of one of the towers at the end of the book, I don't want to spoil anything but let's say that they made Potter seem like a pathetic pussy compared to what actually happened. The romantic relationship that Harry had was only brushed on slightly while the movie spent a hefty length of time dealing with Lavendar Brown. They may have actually included every bit of Lavendar Brown from the books, in the original story she was a non important side story(obviously they can't make a 12 hour movie, but if they did and followed the book in its' entirety her part wouldn't be any larger then it is in the movie).

Without comparing it to the book, the movie was boring, one thing of interest took place at the very end to do with the larger storyline, but other then that it was a fairly poorly done teenage romance flick with moderate humor. I don't think they could have done much worse then they did with the movie.

As far as the storyline regarding Harry's task in 6 and 7, since book 7 is split into 2 movies, perhaps it will be more explained and set out there. I think 6 and 7 needed to be 2 movies each, to do it right.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: weflyhigh
just got back from screening the movie

pre-review notes
- I'm not a big harry potter fan.. I've only read the first book and started the second (years ago when they came out)
- I have seen the other movies, though (the first couple a few times, the later ones only once)

review
the movie seemed boring. I could see how it would be more interesting to someone that is really in to the series, but I could also see how they wouldn't like the movie because of the fact that they are really in to the series:

there was A LOT of hermione granger/ron weasly/other ppl cheesy love&relationship stuff... kind of got really lame after a while

is ron a fucking retard, too?
hermione is fucking BANGING. he should hit so hard but instead he hooks up with some nasty thing

after the movie ended I was talking to someone and they said there was a huge fight scene that was in the book that wasn't in the movie...
that makes me mad because there was almost NO fighting/fight scenes in this entire movie. there was ONE cool scene where zombies are being fought off, but other than that I was dissappointed. I wanted to see people shooting magic spells and shit at each other with swirling dust all around them... and dragons...

overall it was OK, and will do really well in the box office, but I found it to be rather boring. At least it wasn't too long.. although I wouldn't mind it being longer if there was more action




oh and OMG hermoine is so fucking hot. she's number 2 on my celebrity list, under Vanessa Hudgens

of course it sucked. it went down to pg. (all others were pg-13).

whenever a sequel goes down to a lower rating (rated r to pg13) it sucked!

but i wonder why they made it only pg?

was the book that tame?
thought as the series went on, the story line got darker and darker. like hermoine in a S&M scene or something

 

[S Freud]

I stopped reading the books after Goblet of Fire and I stopped seeing the movies after Azkaban(sp?) my main reason for not seeing the movies anymore came down to just basic disappointment in how far they would stray from the books. I understand you can't turn an 800 page book into a movie but they would change ridiculous amounts. Sounds like this one was no different.

 

[secretanchitman]

i loved the first 3 movies, but hated 4 and 5. ill probably end up seeing 6 soon, but im honestly not getting my hopes up.

 

[ryan256]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
I have read all of the books, the last two several times and the movie Half Blood Prince was shockingly bad(just got back from a midnight showing). Avoiding spoilers for the movie the book revolves around Harry discovering certain vulnerabilities that would allow Voldermort to be destroyed, the movie pays only a passing nod towards that element. Given what the final installments revolve around this oversight was profoundly moronic. Why Voldermort is the way he is, what kind of genetics and environment he dealt with and how that shaped him, how he made the choices in his life that led to the creation of powerful objects that are crucial to him, all absent from the movie. All utterly critical story points.

They removed a fairly good sized battle from the end of the movie, added in a very small skirmish that doesn't happen in the book near the middle, and pretty much totally rewrote the entire script. A great deal of the time they would reproduce the setup for something that happened in the book, but totally change what each character said for no savings in dialogue but for a MUCH weaker story overall. Whoever wrote the screenplay isn't worthy of taking out JK's trash. Not that I think she is the pinnacle of literature, but she is leagues beyond what the pathetic sap is who wrote this script.

They also changed some key elements that happen on top of one of the towers at the end of the book, I don't want to spoil anything but let's say that they made Potter seem like a pathetic pussy compared to what actually happened. The romantic relationship that Harry had was only brushed on slightly while the movie spent a hefty length of time dealing with Lavendar Brown. They may have actually included every bit of Lavendar Brown from the books, in the original story she was a non important side story(obviously they can't make a 12 hour movie, but if they did and followed the book in its' entirety her part wouldn't be any larger then it is in the movie).

Without comparing it to the book, the movie was boring, one thing of interest took place at the very end to do with the larger storyline, but other then that it was a fairly poorly done teenage romance flick with moderate humor. I don't think they could have done much worse then they did with the movie.

I met Matthew Lewis (kid who plays Nevill) at Dragoncon last year and asked him about the movie for Half Blood Prince. What he told me was basically a summed up version of this. The movies are being changed so much that its almost a different story now. They are missing huge chunks of major story elements. I'm betting the whole 'sectum sepra' scene was omitted as well. Did they even include the potions book so we know why this episode has its title?
The movies have been steadily going downhill. The first ones were good. 4 was decent, 5 was meh. I haven't seen this one yet and will probably wait til it comes out on DVD before paying money to see it.

 

[Insomniator]

I can't believe they are still coming out with these movies... they are old as hell now... everyone I know that ever liked it grew out of it years ago.