Harry Potter Movies

[Deleted]

I didn't like PoA but I think that does partially have to do with my love for the book (it is my favorite) and my respect for Alfonso Cuaron. I figured that the two would combine to form something amazing and I was let down. I thought the film was rushed and confusing and after the care taken with the first two films where the books were concerned, I was surprised to find that so much - stuff that I thought was integral to the plot and that greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the book - was cut out for no discernable reason. The film was short for a HP film - adding an extra twenty minutes to clear up some plot points or make the thing as a whole feel less rushed would, imo, have made a big difference. Everything about the movie seemed to go at breakneck speed and didn't add up to a satisfactory experience for me.

My father can be described as a casual movie goer where Harry Potter is concerned. He sees the films in the theatre and doesn't really see them after and has no desire to read the books. He was extremely confused by the ending of PoA but wrote it off as a failure to remember key plot points from the first two films. His confusion led him to not want to see GoF. He had to be persuaded that just because he didn't understand PoA that didn't mean he wasn't going to understand GoF.

[abbynormal]

ThursdayNext, I'm sorry your father felt that way but who we know personally doesn't really matter. I don't know anyone who voted for Bush. Again, if most people were that confused with the movie, it would've flopped, and so would have GoF.

susyhomewrecker said:

(And ;D to "Steve 'I heart Hermione' Kloves!" So true... )

Heh. He's coming back for HBP you know...

[franticjoy]

abbynormal said:

ThursdayNext, I'm sorry your father felt that way but who we know personally doesn't really matter. I don't know anyone who voted for Bush. Again, if most people were that confused with the movie, it would've flopped, and so would have GoF.

Unless you personally wrote the script, I don't understand the problem with others thinking the movie could have been more coherent. Perhaps, since I am one of the whiners who think it wouldn't have been that hard to clarify a fairly important plot point while still making the movie interesting, that opinion isn't valid?

At least we can all agree to hate Grawp. Ugh, and Steve Kloves. That I do agree with you on- Ron's and Hermione's characters, and their characters together, have been very badly mangled.

[kafka]

abbynormal said:

ThursdayNext, I'm sorry your father felt that way but who we know personally doesn't really matter. I don't know anyone who voted for Bush. Again, if most people were that confused with the movie, it would've flopped, and so would have GoF.

That seems like an incredibly rude, condescending, dismissive and insulting response.

[Maddiemoo]

At least we can all agree to hate Grawp. Ugh, and Steve Kloves.

Hee! That makes me want to bust out my (hypothetical) "Fuck Kloves" shirt and add "and Grawp" underneath in permanent marker.

But Grawp isn't quite so bad as Kloves because at least Grawp doesn't have a pervy thing for Hermione.

...that I know of.

[susyhomewrecker]

Well he does call her "Hermy!"

[Deleted]

ThursdayNext, I'm sorry your father felt that way but who we know personally doesn't really matter. I don't know anyone who voted for Bush. Again, if most people were that confused with the movie, it would've flopped, and so would have GoF.

My poor dad! (Only kidding. I don't agree with this statement, but I hope that you didn't mean to completely dismiss my opinon just because it doesn't correspond to your own.)

With a franchise like Harry Potter, it is much harder to judge the audience response to the film by box office revenue. I mean, I didn't like PoA but I paid to see it in the theatre AND I was there opening day to see GoF. You do seem unimpressed with individual responses to the films, but in a way, I am doing on a small scale what you are doing on a large scale. You point to overall critical consensus and box office revenue as signs that PoA was "good" while I point to my own response, as a fan of Harry Potter and the filmmaker and my father's, as a casual fan of the franchise, to say that the film was "bad". All of the millions of dollars and critical kudos in the world won't convince me (or my father) that PoA was a majorly flawed film.

I understand that my feelings aren't necessarily the majority and I do think Cuaron did the series a huge favor by showing that it is possible to deviate from the books in a way that Colombus never dared and that kids can handle the darker aspects of the books. Without Cuaron and what he did with PoA, I don't think we would have gotten the great GoF, my favorite of the Potter series.

[incognito]

Again, if most people were that confused with the movie, it would've flopped, and so would have GoF.

Well, since most people who watched the movie are probably familiar with the books (I'm assuming), that would explain why most people were not confused. I had read book 3 so I definitely wasn't confused, but I can see how I would be if I hadn't been familiar with it.

That's my main problem with the movies...they can't stand on their own. You need the books to keep from going, "What the hell?"

[Maddiemoo]

That's my main problem with the movies...they can't stand on their own. You need the books to keep from going, "What the hell?"

Exactly. During PoA, I knew what was going on, but I kept getting distracted, thinking about how someone who hadn't read the books wouldn't know what the hell was happening and why Harry all of a sudden thought his dad was Bambi.

[seton]

My 2 cents: I have never read the HP books and have no intention to. I have seen HP 1,3,4 movies and I had no problem understanding them. POA is the one HP I saw in the theatre and i certainly thought it was better than HP1 at the time.

As far as I'm concerned, you dont need the books. I'm sure the books are more enriching but since I'm not a fan, I dont care