HP - OOTP!!!
Published 1 year, 6 months ago in Entertainment.Went to an opening night screening of this movie last night. All in all I’d give it a 7 out of 10. The kids have certainly come into their own when it comes to their acting ability, and David Yates did a good job pulling such a big book together. Michael Gambon did a better job in this movie too - still not as good as Richard Harris, and personally I reckon Ian McKellan would have been a better choice - but Michael Gambon pulls it off in this movie (not like that scene in GoF where he yells at Harry after pulling names out of the cup…)
For those that know the books well, you’ll probably be a bit disappointed that a lot of the detail of the book is left out, and in some cases, other characters and situations have been used to convey information to avoid having to introduce too many new characters. I’m hoping that when this movie goes to DVD, they might release an extended version, because I’m sure they filmed a lot more of the movie than made it to the final cut (around 2 and a half hours)
The effects are fantastic, and like the original Star Wars movies, keep improving with every new release.
My biggest complaints about the movie are that it felt like it was used to frantically “fill the holes” left in the previous four - there was a distinct impression that they got to making the fifth movie and realised they’d left out some important information from the previous movies, and to make it all fall into place, they had to fill in the gaps before movies six and seven. There was another bit of the book that was missing from the movie that really disappointed me, but I honestly can’t remember what it was!!!! I’ve been mentally going through the story (from the book) all day, and haven’t been able to pinpoint it yet, so I’ll post later when I remember.
If you haven’t seen the previous four movies, definitely get them out on DVD before you go and see OOTP. If you’ve not read the books, but seen the movies, I’d recommend a refresher of the earlier movies before seeing this one too, otherwise it might not all make absolute sense. All in all though, a great movie for entertainment - a lot darker than the previous ones (I guess we need to expect that with the direction the books are taking).
Will be going to see it a second time in coming days with a friend who couldn’t make it last night.
2 Responses to “HP - OOTP!!!”
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So what does it matter that something was missing from the book… what does it matter. Movies have traditionally been poor representation of the books they are based on. I prefer to enjoy both types of media for what they are entertainment. Life is too short to worry over what was missing from a movie, streth!
I agree see it twice just to enjoy all of it.
The 5th book was the cruddiest and what was left out was mostly crap that really didn’t need to be in the book in the first place. I rocked up to the IMAX cinema to see it on a massive screen with the climax in 3D, but was shattered to learn that all the sessions for that day were sold out (to little children who crushed my excitement). So I saw it at the nearest regular cinema.
I really enjoyed it, and though I thought it cut out most of the non-essential parts of the book it was still short enough to allow a few loose end tying at the end, like a final appearance from the Order, or a final scene with Cho and Harry making up (and making out?).
Ron was barely in it, which was disappointing since I like him the most out of all the kids.
Probably the third best in the series of films, after Goblet of Fire and the fantastic Prisoner of Azkaban.
4 outta 5.