kylopod

23 May 2012

Well, the fans asked for it, and they got it

Ever since the release of the first Harry Potter movie in 2001, I'vewondered how a TV miniseries of the books would have fared. The moviesso far have had difficulties showing enough of the books' events withina reasonable time slot to keep the story flowing. They've all had toomit significant plot points, which has not only disappointed the moreliteral-minded fans but risked the integrity of the story. This wasmost painfully evident in the fifth movie, "Order of the Phoenix,"which awkwardly attempted to fit the longest Potter book into just 2hours and 15 minutes of film. The result was a movie that felt choppyand barely coherent, almost dreamlike. The two best films up tonow--the third and the sixth--worked in part because they took the mostrisks, often departing substantially from the narrative of the books,to the consternation of many fans. I was not one of the fanscomplaining, because I figured that as long as it wasn't a miniseries,the best approach was to interpret the story rather than present theevents exactly as they appeared in the books.Dividing the seventh book into two movies has given a taste of what aminiseries might have been like. "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" is a morefaithful adaptation than any of the previous films. This surprised me alittle, because the portion of Book Seven it covers is actually longerthan the entirety of some of the earlier books. (As I was rereading ita few months ago, I correctly guessed where they'd end Part 1--it's atan important turning point in the story that occurs close to thetwo-thirds mark.) Most of the film's sequences are exactly as I hadenvisioned them, and sometimes better than I had envisioned them. Iespecially liked its approach to the Riddle-Hermione scene, to thematter of protective enchantments around their camp (which is handledwith a nice dose of spookiness), and to a spell that distorts acharacter's face. Apart from the oversimplification of a few plotdetails here and there, any flaws in the story come straight from thebook. The two-and-half-hour movie drags at some points, but then so didthe book, particularly in the forest scenes. The plot concernsVoldemort's takeover of the wizarding world and pursuit of Harry, whogoes into hiding with Ron and Hermione but repeatedly endangers themand himself in his daunting efforts to find and destroy a set ofobjects that keep Voldemort immortal, aided only by a few enigmaticclues Dumbledore has left him.It is not a very accessible film for non-fans. People who haven't reador seen any of the previous installments will probably be lost. Itnever once pauses to explain the Harry Potter universe or anythingabout the background to these tumultuous events, not even a prologuelike the one that began the third of Peter Jackson's "Lord of theRings" films. The good news is that it doesn't condescend to theaudience. The bad news is that if you don't know or can't rememberthings like what a horcrux is or what happens when you point a wand atsomeone and say "Obliviate," you might have trouble following thestory.As a fan, however, I loved it. It's just well-filmed, and I had notablyfewer complaints about acting and special effects than I had for theprevious movies. The CGI is relatively unobtrusive, and there aren'ttoo many fake-looking moments. (The house-elves look especially goodthis time.) Ralph Fiennes finally appears to have settled into the roleof Voldemort, after having delivered somewhat phoned-in performancespreviously. The kids, who get to dominate more scenes than in any ofthe other films, when their presence was counterbalanced by a plethoraof seasoned British performers who are mostly absent here, have reallygrown into their roles. They were well-cast from the start and alwayshad a certain raw talent, but early in the series they possessed someof the amateur qualities common to young actors. They have becomeincreasingly proficient as the series has progressed (which I suspectwas what the studio intended when it eschewed the tradition of castingolder actors in child roles). Here they display the kind of camaraderiethat can only be developed gradually, after having acted together inseveral films, and it makes the scenes that deal with theirrelationship feel natural and unforced.I actually look forward to seeing the movie again at some point, justso I can sit back and take in more of the details. I think I didn'tappreciate it enough the first time, distracted as I was by myknowledge of what happens in the book and the lack of any significantdivergence in the film's depiction. There is not a lot in this filmthat will surprise fans; the enjoyment comes from seeing how vividly itis all brought to life.

dark_falcon_night

23 May 2012

this is not a porn movie

OMG the movie is so............weak..People the Story makes the movienot the porn or effects on the screen.PLS don't make the last movielike this.The story is missing.All that was in front was the teen'sproblems...PLS Children a watching this movie and u are making it likea cheap porn with underage teens......it is just sad....Very sad.Idon't believe that J.K.R. agree with this movie...also they just grewup so quickly that is like in the last movie they were 10 and now theyact like 33....and whats with Jenny asking Harry to zip her up...thegirl is nacked....aren't u ashamed of urself putting this on screen?PLsdo me a fafor and next time fallow the book and not the cheap Hollywoodideas .

Kirill Shagoyko

23 May 2012

Harry Potter comes back or the scariest times have come...

I very love the books and movies about Potter and the magic world,which were created by the legendary author J. K. Rowling. Numerousjourneys, unbelievable and amazing situations, different problems andits' decisions - this everything I liked when I've read the first bookand have watched the first movie "Harry Potter". I may name myself areal fan of Potteriana, because I adore all the parts (as movies, asbooks) of it and I think everybody will agree with me, that Potter'sworld and the main theme of the saga are very wonderful, interesting,sometimes it's funny and sometimes it's enough sad, but, in totalhere's a great story for all the family...Unfortunately, the end of "Half-blood prince" shows to us, that there'sthe Evil and it's very strong, besides we know that Potter and hisfriends have to fight with the Dark lord and his army. As result, someof these two sides will definitely lose, paying for it with the life.So, all the events of "Deathly Hallows. Part 1st" let us to know -life's changed, the evil surrounds the good guys and it may attack anytime of the night or the day. Our favorite heroes Harry, Ron andHermione certainly grew up, but they enough young to decide such hardproblems, which they've got. Watching this movie, You understand, thatthe light and happy times have gone and it, perhaps, will never comeagain.Well, I liked this movie, first of all, because it's enough emotional,real, it shows to viewer, that changes may be negative and "happyyesterday" may become "sad tomorrow". It's really very sad story:there're a lot of well-known heroes were murdered, the dark times havecome and the boy who has survived must prepare and to be ready for thefinal fight, which will come soon, very soon. For those people, whohave read (and for those, who gonna read) the last book, it will beinteresting to know, how the creators of the movie will film the finalbattle and scenes of trials, when old war will be over finally and onlyone - Harry Potter or VoldeMort will win.Finishing My speech, I wish for everybody, who hasn't watched yet the7th movie from Potteriana series to watch it, and for those guys, whowant to watch the last movie - to wait till the summer and to hope thatPotter will come back again only to win...

firefox2k

22 May 2012

A decent beginning for a spectacular ending

I just came from this movie and thought to myself, "I wonder why theydidn't take this approach in Goblet of Fire?" personally we ALL knowthis is for a money-making aspect and has nothing to do with, "notbeing able to tell the story in one movie." If they actually caredabout telling the story correctly they would have made G.O.F into 2movies.The movie was rushed, and it seemed that they literally took the bestparts from each of the beginning chapters and threw them together. Manylines from the movie were taken from the book word for word, kind of astretch for the other movies, when they tried to stress the point thatit is a movie and not a book.I personally thought the casting or at least the makeup part of themany of the characters were done poorly as well. The Minister of Magiclooked nothing liked the description in the book. Supposedly he was abuilt rugged looking man with a lion manned hair,but they made him atall scrawny guy who needed a meal or two. Mundungus Fletcher, FenrirGreyback is a werewolf,not a reject from the sex-pistols. Bill Weasleyis stated as tall ruggedly handsome and athletic, not thin skinny emorocker.I love the ideal of filming in the "real world" however the sets leftsomething to be desired. they seemed very small, crowded and notrealistic to be taken as a "real world" Gordics Hollow looked like asound stage, as well did the Lovegoods and Malfoy manor. They couldhave at least rented a nice mansion in Louisiana for Malfoy Manor.I have to give the movie a 6 out of 10. I have to be more critical ofthis due to the fact that they should have all of the aspects down bynow after all these movies. I will say as far as all the movies in theseries goes, this one would be in the top 3...so far...not as good asOrder of the Phoenix or Sorcerers Stone but better than Goblet of Fire,depending on how it ends.

22 May 2012

AMAZING!!

Harry Potter is awesome! This movie is spell bounding! I have seen it 3 times and notice something new each time. This film is much darker than the previous movies. It absolutely answers questions one may have regarding the story. A must see for any Harry Potter fan!

loco_73

22 May 2012

The Deathly Hallows Part 1...so far...

Not the strongest beginning to the end of the Potter franchise, I mustadmit! Yates is not who I imagined, would handle this one...but alasthere it is, it's done! There were a few issues I had with the movieitself...The cast is great as always, and never thought they took awayanything from the movie however...Yeah...the editing is not this movie's strong suit...among otherthings. It was good, but I am still of the belief that for the endmovie they should have sought the services of another director. DavidYates is a competent director, but he just that, I don't see anyimagination on his part, no originality, he is able to deliver acompetent visual version of the story, but that is where everythingstops.Personally, I would have wanted to see Alfonso Cuaron return at thehelm of the franchise. "Harry Potter And The Prizoner Of Azkaban"remains my favourite of the entire franchise, followed closely by MikeNewel's "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire".Don't get me wrong, it is still a good movie, but I don't know how toput it in words, its as if the magic is lacking from the movie...its asif the film is in an odd way flat and subdued...even Chris Columbus gotthat part right... I also expected more from Alexander Desplat (he dida wonderful job with "Syrianna") in the soundtrack department, it isthough, after the fourth movie they just stopped caring about themusic, which is so important to the movie franchise.A 7 out of 10 for now, but I must stress this, I full cannot grade themovie until I have seen the second part, only then, when I have seenthe movie in its entirety will I give a final rating...Oh well I'llwait until next July!!!! When all is said and done, I will give a moredetailed review of "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows"...PS For full disclosure...part of this review also appears as a postingon one of the IMDb general discussion threads...

maria_toronto

20 May 2012

snooze fest...

I've read all the books and have seen all the previous installments.All of them once or twice. Three times max. I walked into an ULTRA AVGtheater to experience the finale of Harry Potter: part 1.. only to bevery disappointed.To start with the GOOD stuff:- It had brilliant visuals. I particularly enjoyed the Tales of BeedleThe Bard animation. - I was very thankful for Ron's character to be acomic relief. Other humour scenes like the 7 Potters diluted theverrrrrrrrrry dark tone of this movie. - A lot of the plot twists thatwere in the book were present in this movie. Some innovative scenesalso added the movie some charm: Hermione's perfume revealing they areprotected from the outside world to a certain extent.The BAD (I have only one complaint):- Most of the scenes appeared to be too long and sometimes pointless.The movie tried to create suspense soooo many times, I stopped beingintrigued. The camping part of the movie should have been cut by a 1/4.Practically all the emotional/thrilling scenes had the intense dialogueAND the long "meaningful" glances/staring. It seems this made thismovie for many fellow viewers "BORING". (In my theater a few walked outafter the first 30 minutes) To wrap it up: should have had the sameamount of scenes but each one needed to be shorter.The impartial: - I took my dad along with me, so I waswhispering/explaining what was going on to him through a lot of theparts as he hadn't read the books nor seen many of the previous films.It just made me wonder if anyone new to the saga would enjoy thismovie. He looked like he had even less fun than i did.P.S. I loved the books! All of them.. The last book didn't seem to dragthis bad compared to the movie.

20 May 2012

Worth waiting for

When I heard that Warner Brother's was postponing this movie's release I was upset for at least a week. However, now that I have seen it I realize that it was well worth the wait. This is the most amazing book-to-movie ever made. It's even better since it comes from a true masterpiece by JK Rowling and the fact that the director and producers stayed so true to the books originality made me sing with joy. This is a classic and you will not regret watching it at all. It has drama, action, romance and a lot of comic relief. Seriously, this is the most fantastic movie and I applaud every person who helped to create it.

20 May 2012

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (Three-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I is one of the best movies of the series, i was surprised of how faithful the film was to the book, the forest scenes, although it could have been way better like Harry's birthday dinner, Wormtail's death and Harry taking Moody's magical eye. The film was great other than that. I thought that it would've been better if Hagrid would've gave Harry the pouch that comes out in the book, I loved the movie and i can't wait for Part II. I can't wait to hear Harry say "I am about to die". ! Buy this and Part II and the rest of the movies!

richardjshaw

19 May 2012

Dumbledore is turning in his grave

Dull and slow. Someone obviously realised that the money train wasgoing to finish soon and so to cash in they split the final book intotwo films. They then discover that there isn't actually enough materialto fill the first so have lots of sitting around on mountains - verydark, moody and ultimately annoying. Other 'fillers' include somedancing in a tent, some more sitting around on a mountain and somesitting around in a forest (to break things up). And lets not forgetsomething to do with a mad old woman who turns into a snake - don'tknow what that was about or what it added to the story. Lots of peoplesay that it's "building up for the finale" or "setting the scene forpart 2". If that's the case then my advice would be to just save yourmoney and wait for part 2, as nothing really happens in this film.Unless, of course, you like to watch people sitting around onmountains.

seshasaisrivatsav

16 May 2012

Definitely this one is the motion picture of the year!!!

Steve cloves+David Yates = Another perfect harry potter movieThis movie is definitely the best movie for David Yates. Though theprevious Harry Potter movie was not that great, Yates carves this oneto a masterpiece. The audience via this movie come to know , thatnowhere is safe and the ease with which the death eaters spot the lead.I bet you really love the intensity in the gripping screenplay. Andthere are more than 3 occasions where many can't stop them from holdingtheir seats. This flick will be even more exiting if you watch in 3d.The key-porting scenes, the snake-fight scene will increase youradrenaline . And you'll be like , "whats gonna happen next!!!!!"Love= Visual effects ,Action , Performance, Screen play , DirectionHate= almost nothing ,except for a stretchy screen play in betweenDefinitely this one is the motion picture of the year !!!!

zereshk

16 May 2012

Slow pacing allows for more depth

This film is a nice break from the hectic pacing of the last ones. Eversince the third film, when 2 1/2 hours became much too short for anadequate adaptation of the books, the movies have been rather lovelessattempts to squeeze just enough information into the limited time toallow for a superficial understanding of the main story lines. Thisone, on the other hand, takes its times, which is its greateststrength, and stays rather close to the book. On multiple occasions Iwas really surprised when another detail that wasn't strictly necessaryto the main plot was graciously allowed its space.This is a very good adaptation that makes me wish they had startedmaking two-part movies out of the books earlier. And since it alreadycovers about 3/4 of the book, I am looking forward to a similarly (oreven more?) detailed second part.

Rachel Hyland

14 May 2012

So good there MUST be magic at work.

The biggest problem with dividing the movie version of HARRY POTTER ANDTHE DEATHLY HALLOWS into two parts was always going to be that themiddle third of that book isn't exactly brimming over with triumphantand joyful rainbows and lollipops. Ordinarily in an episodic serial thelike of this one, we tend to get small payoffs along the way to themore climactic victory, each installment coming to a satisfyingconclusion even if an over-arching and meta-style cliffhanger stilllooms. So how, I had long wondered, would the folks at Potter Centraldeal with that issue? At what point in the all-pervasive bleakness of…well, the majority of THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, would they find us ourmoment of the happy on which to bring down the curtain, and usher inPart 2? As it turns out, they just… don't. The movie simply ends, veryabruptly and on what can only be described on the biggest downer sincethose plucky fisherman all died at the end of THE PERFECT STORM.Boo.You know, it's a real shame that this sudden and most non-triumphant ToBe Continued left me with such a bad taste in my mouth, becauseeverything that came before it was simply, wondrously, gob-smackinglymarvelous from start to (almost) finish. Well written, beautifullyexecuted with superlative performances and a pitch-perfect score, thisis a movie full of tension and humor and romance and drama and actionand suspense and oh, so much more.Ah, y'know what? Forget about that bad taste. 'Cause thinking back nowto all the deliciousness that preceded it, all is forgiven.From the opening scene, this movie took hold of my central nervoussystem and bent it to its will like a kid kneading Play-Doh. Where Iwas supposed to laugh, I laughed. Where I was supposed to cry, I cried.Where I was supposed to be shocked, or scared, or concerned, oroutraged, I was all of those things, and more besides. THE DEATHLYHALLOWS takes you on a tumultuous emotional journey, from beginning tolamentable end, as though your heart were lodged inside that runawayflying car in which Harry and Ron arrived at Hogwarts in THE CHAMBER OFSECRETS -– after which it then gets thoroughly beaten up by theWhumping Willow.The two hours and change of this movie fly by, and yet so much happensthat, in retrospect, it seems like it must have been a longer film. Andyet nothing feels omitted or rushed or glossed over… although the finaldeus ex Dobby was, perhaps, a little too heavily signposted.Speaking of which, there is a lot of death in the movie, both seen andmerely referenced. If you're planning to take the kids to see this one,and you have kids who frighten easily, then take my advice and don't.The later HARRY POTTER books are questionable children's fare; thismovie is emphatically anything but a kid flick.It is also, without a doubt, the best HARRY POTTER movie yet -- whichis pretty impressive, considering I wouldn't have accounted the bookupon which it's based even in the series' Top 5. I'll go even furtherand say that this may be the best movie adaptation of a book in recentmemory.Okay, so I wasn't thrilled with the ending. But upon reflection, it mayjust be that I wasn't thrilled that it ended it all; certainly, July2011 cannot get here soon enough. And in the meantime, at least we havethe book... and considering they were able to produce THIS great of amovie out of only the first half of it, then perhaps it's time I gaveit another go.This review is an excerpt. Full review at Geek Speak Magazine:geekspeakmagazine (dot) com

Tech-Chef

14 May 2012

Wonderful Movie

The movie starts showing our Trios houses. It shows Hermione Changingthe memory of her parents, It shows Ron at his house with his mother inthe background, and it shows Harry's Uncle, Aunt and Cousin packing upthe car to go into hiding. It cuts to Harry in his room. He takes hisbelongings downstairs and goes into "the cupboard under the stairs" MadEye appears at the door along with the rest of them and they alltransform into Harry Potter via the Pollyjuice Potion (pretty goodpart-had the audience laughing) they all go to escape and Thus thebattle of Little Whimsy Begins..... They All escape the right way and(if you read the book you know what happens to George)-It goes on. TheTrio gets their will items. The wedding was boring-the scene where theyare alerted that the ministry has fallen was wonderfully done. Afterthey escaped the Wedding Battle they go into the café, where theybattle the 2 death-eaters (wonderfully done!) and then escape to 12Grimmauld Place. The Scene where they are tested with the spell thatMad Eye placed on to keep Snape out was spectacularly done! They findout that RAB is indeed Regulas Black, and send Kreacher to get thethief who turned 12 Grimmauld Place upside down. Kreacher brings himback and the trio finds out that Umbridge (the B****) stole the locketfrom him. They Knock out then transform into their counterparts viapolyjuice. and from there go into the ministry. They find Umrbidge andsteal the locket from her, and carry on with their journey going fromplace to place camping. (and so and and so forth) Christmas is spent inGordric Hallow and they show the Grave of the Potters along with theHouse. The Scene where Nagini poses as Bathilda Bagshot was wonderfullydone! The Duo (no Ron right now) Goes onto more Camping.........NowHarry sees the Doe and follows it to the lake where the sword ishidden-after jumping in he is almost killed and RON rescues them. WhenRon tries to destroy it it tries to get into his head and fool him,Which it fails to do, and Ron destroys it! They are caught by thesnatchers and Taken to Malfoy Mansion. There Hermione is tortured (sameway Umbridge tortured Harry) and Dobby comes to rescue everyone. Dobbydied, that was the saddest part of the entire movie- ME someone whoNEVER cries was balling my eyes out. It shows Voldemort getting theElder Wand AND -------------------------------------------

brucev13

13 May 2012

The best Harry Potter ever...are you kidding?

My first attempt in watching this movie I fell asleep. The secondattempt was more successful as I managed to stay awake. But what onearth did I just see. The first three HP movies were mysterious andmagical. And as Harry matured he became stronger and skilled. After thethird movie the Harry we see on the screen is nothing but a plotdevice. He is nowhere near as impressive and no match at all for anybad guy,in a believable way that is. So I haven't read thebooks,something tells me I do need to do that. But I should not readthe books to make sense of it all. I judge solely on what I see on thescreen. Why would the Dark Lord be so afraid of Harry Potter. Not oncean explanation is given for it which I believe the books do (somebodytold me). It really is beyond me that people can call this the bestHarry Potter movie ever. Excuse me? Was there actually a plot? Thescenes that were interesting were over before I could get into it.Please give this a miss. It is a waste of time.

13 May 2012

ha

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (DVD) got the movie in tonight... the night of the DVD release... didnt even have to go to the store and worry.. plus it was cheaper...

10 May 2012

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (DVD) It seems like I waited forever to get this item, even though when I was tracking it, it had been in my home town for 3 days, just didn't show up at my house until a few hours ago. As I watching this DVD, it started skipping, just a little at first and then so badly that I had to skip entire scenes... I'm very upset that after I spent money on this DVD and waited for it to arrive, all I got was a DVD that skipped. I could barely watch it. I would not recommend this DVD to anybody. Go buy it at the store, which is what I now have to do...

10 May 2012

Poor quality DVD

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (DVD) This is the worst-quality DVD I've ever purchased. The color quality is awful, the skin tones are waxy and the animated scenes are pixel-ated. It was a great movie in the theater, but don't waste your money on this DVD.

MovieFanGuyy

09 May 2012

Honey is it over yet? A common phrase among theater goers with this film.

That is what my wife asked me half way through yet another long,boring, and pointless Harry Potter film (Warner Brothers must bedesperate for cash these days, this got stale and old years ago)Anyways, here we are with yet another Harry Potter film. This time theseventh. What is the point this time? I have no idea, the plot forevery film is the same, the villain, Voldemort wants to kill HarryPotter, and yet, this simple plot line has been extended who knows howlong.What was at one time slightly amusing has become rather stale, tiredand just plain boring.This time around the three leads, Harry Potter, and his friends Ron andHermoine are on the run looking for something called horcruxes whichare supposed to kill off the evil Voldemort. (which is something thatshould have been done years ago) In any case, what probably works wellon the page doesn't work so well on film. This episode called DeathlyHollows continues the same tired and stale storyline of the lastseveral films with absolutely no pay off yet again.I know that many will state I am being too hard on Harry Potter but Ihave never found these films to be as enjoyable as it's fan base. Ithink I checked my watch over a 100 times waiting for this film to end.

Big Cloits

09 May 2012

tedious direction and acting

There is a serious problem with sluggish dialogue and transitions inthis film. Not only is it too long, but most of the excessive lengthconsists of dim, lingering shots of not much, and painfully awkwardpauses between lines of wooden dialogue. We are given enough time tothink for quite some time about what characters have said. Time andagain, replies seemed so slow that I wondered if I'd accidentally hitpause. Nor was the wait worthwhile: the replies rarely added much. It is also relentlessly morose — not "dark" or even "bleak," justdepressing — which one might forgive if the shreds of comic reliefweren't so trite and half-hearted.