Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince--SPOILERS!!!

[mildoo]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I wouldn't mind if it Bill?Fleur was replaced with Tonks/Lupin since Bill has only ever been in the photograph in PoA. It is still a wedding and the events that take place during the wedding will be the same.

 

[Bamboota]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

when ron ate those chocolates and was all goo goo gaga....and at slughorn's christmas party when potter was behind the curtain with hermoine and then that kid puked on snape's shoes. Jim broadbent also cracked me up..the way he moved and some of his facial expressions were just hilarious. And when harry took the liquid luck...then were lots of one-liners that i thought were funny. It was nice seeing ron, hermoine and harry having fun and laughing...and trying to get a handle on their emotions. I thought they did all those scenes very well.

lol!! Yeah ron was funny!!

 

[Giant Chicken]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Took my wife to see it this evening...

I thought the movie was okay. To be fair, the movie was probably better than I am giving credit due to the fact that I had a bad headache throughout the second 1/2 of the movie.


I didnt like all the goofyness that was added. So much sillyness when it came to all of the love relationships and then also alot of the Slugworth scenes.

They could have done a better job showing Harry's addiction to the HBP potions book. I also found it amusing how Draco had to dramatically pull the curtain off the transporting box over and over again. (Did he climb back up evrytime and put the curtain back on?)

And lastly,

Spoiler:

Was very bummed about Dumbeldore's death being off screen. I wish we had the chance to see the entire death scene and not just a flash of blue light.

 

[pixletwin]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

What? Seeing him falling down in slo-mo wasn't enough?

 

[Entropy]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

What? Seeing him falling down in slo-mo wasn't enough?

No.

Diggery's death was more moving and shocking.

It seems Yates was loath to show too much as it would upset the kids, but that's the whole point of scene like that. To move us, shock us and upset us. We see Dumbledore get hit from Harry's obscured pov then the close up Hans Grubber slo-mo fall. Then just a close up of his face as Harry brushes aside his hair. Weaksauce. I didn't need to see impact but it needed to be more intense and real. The silence that followed was a cheap, derivative version of Gandalf's fall. It was such a crucial moment and not properly milked for its true power and potential.

 

[galactiboy]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

One other thing about that sequence...

Spoiler:

I wasn't particularly happy with the change to how Harry witnessed the death. The addition of a little extra Snape deception (shushing Harry) was okay for the film. But the idea of Harry being frozen and unable to help seemed more painful to me than him just standing there, watching the death and then waiting to give chase.

 

[Agent0028]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

In response to Galactiboy

Spoiler:

In the book Harry was immobilized by Dumbledore. Did they do it differently in the movie? My cousin disliked Snape shushing Harry, although she can't explain why. It doesn't sound like a change I care too much for either.

 

[Darth Waller]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I'm seeing this tomorrow.

* backs out of thread without reading anything *

 

[galactiboy]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

In response to Galactiboy

Back atcha

Spoiler:

Basically Dumbledore tells Harry to hide (below the stairs) and not say or do anything to interfere... I guess continuing the promise from when the got the Horcrux. So basically Harry just watches it all unfold and does nothing but look anxious.

I thought it was more powerful when he was invisible and immobilized, so basically forced to watch in the book.

 

[Darth Caedus]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Back atcha

Spoiler:

Basically Dumbledore tells Harry to hide (below the stairs) and not say or do anything to interfere... I guess continuing the promise from when the got the Horcrux. So basically Harry just watches it all unfold and does nothing but look anxious.

I thought it was more powerful when he was invisible and immobilized, so basically forced to watch in the book.

Spoiler:

I pretty much agree with you. Before it happened, I was thinking that he was going to be immobile and trying to free himself to help Dumbledore, not just watch it happen. Like the only thing holding him back from helping Dumbledore was that Dumbledore didn't want him too. That would have shown the emotional state of D's death much more than how the film depicted it.

On a side note, I LOVED how Snape hushed Harry before he went up to finish the deed. Added more reason for Harry to hate Snape on the way out

 

[galactiboy]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Spoiler:

On a side note, I LOVED how Snape hushed Harry before he went up to finish the deed. Added more reason for Harry to hate Snape on the way out

Yeah, that was the only saving grace of that scene. While not in the book, it definitely added an extra layer of deception.

 

[Darth Caedus]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Only just remembered, but the scene with MacClaggen licking his fingers was hilarious.

 

[tomandshell]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I think that one of the big issues for Harry (and the reader/viewer) is whether or not to trust Snape. While different from the book, I like how the movie handled the confrontation at the end.

I think that

Spoiler:

not having Harry immobilized and helpless was an interesting choice, because Harry had to choose whether or not to obey Dumbledore and trust Snape. That will increase movie Harry's sense of guilt and responsibility for Dumbledore's death. In book/movie five, Harry should have obeyed and instead he acted out on his own by heading to the Ministry, falling into Voldemort's trap and getting Sirius killed. In book/film six, Harry was maturing and learning to quit jumping ahead without thinking--he actually made a decision to stop for once and follow orders/instructions without overreacting. Having Snape silence him gave the sense that Snape was going to head upstairs and save the day, and that Harry's trust in him was appropriate. For first time viewers, Snape comes off as even more evil after doing that--reassuring Harry and responding to Dumbledore's "Please" by killing him. He really does seem to be revealed as a villain, and his "shhh" seems really wicked. Of course, seeing the scene play out with the knowledge of Snape that we receive in the seventh book, you can watch it with a different perspective. Snape really is silencing Harry to hide and protect him, and at the same time he is fulfilling his vow to protect Draco (keeping himself alive and trusted by Voldemort) while at the same time following the already dying Dumbledore's orders to kill him. Without the knowledge of Snape's true loyalties, he comes off as the villain, but knowing everything about him and his situation, the scene plays quite differently. The whole issue of whether or not to trust and follow the guidance of the Half-Blood Prince is a big part of the plot, and the climax is what ties the potions book subplot together with the rest of the story. Harry chose to trust Snape (moreso in the movie than the book) and from his perspective, the result was a disaster. In the end, he will find that his trust was well placed.

 

[pixletwin]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Tom gets it.

Seriously though, why are we using spoiler tags on a movie about a book that has been out for 5 years? No one felt compelled to use spoiler tags for Lord of the Rings.

 

[The Mike]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I didn't remember this from the book but it has been a while, if so though its inclusion in the film took away from everything you posted Tom

Spoiler:

The scene before they take off to the cave Snape says to Dumbledore that he asks too much and you could initially think he is referring to Potter until he tells him that Snape already agreed and he has to. Just that line alone had a lot of people in the theater saying "Its part of Dumbledore's plan, remember when..." or "Its a set up because he said..."

I remember closing the Half Blood Prince thinking the betrayal was monsterous, I didn't feel that after this. Had that scene been removed it was have been really powerful and while some people may not have remembered to those who did or are as observant as some diehard Potter fans are it waters it down a bit.

 

[MooMooEgg]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I dont want to go through almost 80 pages of posts, so sorry if this was mentioned.

Was anyone disappointed with the IMAX 3D portion of the film? I saw it today, and it was the first 20 or so minutes where there was almost no action. It was really disappointing to pay extra for the IMAX 3D and not have it be worth the price.

Order of the Phoenix had 3D as well, but it was the last 30 minutes or so, so there was the chase through the room with the shelves of glass balls, the wizard fight in the cave, and then the awesome battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort. All of that was amazing, and it really put the 3D sequences of HBP to shame.

But aside from that, I did like the movie and thought it was probably the 2nd best of the series (behind Azkaban).

 

[tomandshell]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Where did you see it in IMAX? I thought it had been delayed because of Transformers' contract for a full month.

 

[MooMooEgg]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Where did you see it in IMAX? I thought it had been delayed because of Transformers' contract for a full month.

Lincoln Center AMC in NYC. I thought it was delayed too, but Fandango said that the three or 4 major IMAX theaters were playing it this week =)

Edit: here's the blurb:

* The following theatres will open July 15th:
AMC Loews Lincoln Square IMAX Theatre- New York, NY
AMC Century City 15 & IMAX- Los Angeles, CA
Omnimax at Museum of Science and Industry- Chicago, IL (IMAX Dome- this film will not be presented in IMAX 3D at this location)

 

[nash]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

They have one Imax here in NYC Lincoln Center that has it on Imax.

 

[Agent0028]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Thanks for the response Galactiboy.

It's interesting to read people's various reactions to changes and such.