OOTP - The Movie

[Be Elle]

Alright, whose seen it? What did you think?

I saw it on Friday, and personally if it were not for HP7 coming out this Saturday I'd have killed myself.
Ok, well not killing myself, but done something!
It was... horrible.

[writingchik]

It was OK. I noticed a whole bunch of important details that they left out (and so did the girl I was sitting next to). The battle at the Ministry was very anti-climatic, it was better in the book. It seams that the Harry Potter movies were good until the third, and now are taking a nose-dive.

[Be Elle]

Hmm... I can't agree there. The movies were not good to begin with. They were okay, but they missed so many important details. But this one was definately the worst when it came to detail missing.

[Wicked Mimi]

Really?
I, personally, didn't think it was that horrible. They are totally not the books and never will be. The books are ten times better. But I actually liked this film a lot up until the part they went into the Department of Mysteries. I didn't like how they just entered just the one room. I didn't like how short the fighting was and I didn't like how much they cut out of Dumbledore and Harry's time together at the end.

I kinda liked the newspapers though; it showed how important the media was in this novel. I loved Luna too, she was just perfect and so was Tonks. But I was pretty happy with what they chose to keep. They kept the D.A important and Grawp and such. They kept the core of the novel, but ignored the small details. I think the movie's aren't Oscar-worthy and do not do justice to the books, but they aren't complete trash.
I don't mean to offend anyone by this review; I'm just saying what I thought.

[Artemis Black]

I thought it was kind of OK. They stayed relatively true to the book, even if they cut a lot out.

Umbridge was horribly, perfectly, cast. Alan Rickman, as always, was slimily fantastic. I wasn't a big fan of how they did Tonks, and I think they messed up on Luna. Sirius is my favorite character ever, and I don't really think Gary Oldman does him justice.

The Department of mysteries... horrible. The prophecy room was kind of cool, but what was with the weird 'fly off in a puff of smoke' thing the Deatheaters kept doing? I HATED how they did the Chamber of Death/Veil Room. It's a veil, not an arch filled with shimmering air! And I absolutely abhore how they killed Sirius. He got hit with a Stunner, collapsed backwards, and accidentally falls through the veil. He isn't hit with Avada Kedavra and sucked in!

That being said, I liked the DA, the centaurs, and especially Fred's and George's escape. The fireworks were brilliant.

[moogle]

Well, I liked it. I think it is better than PoA and GoF, and let's think practically; this book is huge. It is not possible to have everything, or even keep the things we all love the same. I'm sure you can understand my abosolute horror when my favourite Harry/Hermione scene was made into a Ron/Hermione scene (the grawp one) but I still like the movie and think they did well with what they had to work with.

In GoF, a lot of things had already been cut that led into the fifth book, same with PoA. And although the department of mysteries was not as climatic as it is in the book, I think they did delve deeper into harry's feelings.

We really just need to remember that Harry is the main character and so these movies are going to focus solely on Harry.

[zeromancer]

At first I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. But since it sunk in (and I saw it for a second time in IMAX), I do really like it, especially considering the length.
I think the beginning sucked, but the rest was really enjoyable. I LOVED Luna, Fred & George's flight (even more than in the book *gasp*), Bellatrix, the lines they had kept from the book, Cho betraying the DA (I never liked her), Neville, "I'm sorry professor, I must not tell lies", Umbridge, all the sets, the music, Ginny and I can't think of anything else right now.

[moogle]

Well, not to be a picky person, but Cho didn't actually betray them. Snape says to Umbridge, "You used all my veritaserum when you interrogated Miss Chang" (not exact wording, but close enough). So she didn't betray them willingly.

[Scream]

there is a ****load of stuff they left out, and, oh my i am going to be the one to point this out, but what about the QUIDDITCH?! that was meant to be a HUGE thing. by the time of christmas, harry was supposed to be not wanting to go to Hogwarts, the only thing that kept him there was the DA, since Quidditch was gone, he couldnt talk to sirius while there, all the decrees, umbridge and everything else, but no, they didnt even mention it.

ginny didnt get onto the team, there was no 'weasley is our king', ginny didnt date anyone, <u> seamus</u> put his arm around ginny at the end, there wasnt the interview with the quibbler, there was no jinx because of the signing of the parchment from hermione....

mate i could go on forever, but then there was all the things they did</b> do right.

Umbridge, while she didnt LOOK like a toad squashed into a hideous pink cardigan that Parvati didnt want to borrow (a part i wanted to see but it wasnt there), she still pulled off the part well. The cough, the voice, her treatment of the students, she truly did sound like she was talking to five year olds, she spoke in such a sweet, breathy manner, while all the same being cruel and heartless.


and i must agree with Zeromancer, "i must not tell lies" that was brilliant. Fred and George looking after that little kid out front of Umbridge's office just before they announce that they believe they have "completed their schooling" and such was a great touch, in the books they at times seem not serious enough, but that scene in the movie makes them so much better characters.

there seems to be alot of arguement from the people i talk to about Luna, when i first saw the poster of her, i was there with some other friends and we were all looking at her, trying to figure out who it was, when it clicked, and we all tried to figure out just what it was that made her not look right. then finally someone pointed out, 'she is hot'. which is true, first looking at her, she looks really nice and you would want to talk to her, she looks normal. but that was just the poster/cut out thing.

in the movie however, with her movements, the posture, glazed eyes, that <b>accent</b>! oh it was perfect. i dont think they could have done better. it is like basically all the characters. they dont look like the character described in the books, but they become them during the film.

hehe tonks was well done too... but there wasnt mrs black, the tapestry wasnt right, <b>Regulus Black</b> wasnt mentioned.


okay enough of my ramblings...

xoxo

[Dominus Tenebrarum Sum]

I haven't seen it, but one of my friends at work has. She said that this one was better than the fourth one. I've finally seen the fourth one.... and the only part I liked was.... erm, none of it, really. I really rather liked the second one the most. I just hope that they don't make the sixth one as horrible as the third, fourth and as the fifth one sounds..... I think I'd murder that idiot director.

[Knianna]

I liked it...at least better than the third and fourth ones. They did leave a huge amount of important details out, but it's impossible to keep all that in without making the movies insanely long (which I personally would not mind...but I know other people would). It was the first time since John Williams that I actually liked the music. I liked Tonks and Luna and definately Umbridge. Perfectly cast, all three of them. Overall, I don't think it was that bad.

[Taku Aiden]

It was the best for special effects and the worst for the poor plot. Did anyone else notice that Neville seems to take the place of house elvs and the like in the movies?

[Ivy Snowe]

I happened to like it. Quite a bit actually. The characters went a bit more....emotional. Not just angsty!Harry, which I did enjoy by the way, but I agree with Scream. That scene with Fred and George comforting the little Gryffie was a departure from how we usually see them. I think Dan Radcliffe did a very good job when he was possessed in the MoM. It was kind of frightening to see someone that is normally, well, for lack of a better word, a dork be put through such a thing. And yes, I happen to think that if he were not the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter would be a dork.

Umbridge was horrifyingly real. In her office for Harry's detention when she was telling him that deep down he must have realized that he was a bad person who deserved to be punished, I couldn't believe it! That was some serious child abuse...you know, because that Blood Quill was nothing....*insert sarcasm aimed at myself* I saw it with my mom another time and at that scene I could hear her breathe "What a b*^%$"

I am sorry that we didn't get to see Ron become our King, Memory Lily defend Memory Snape, or Mrs. Black be all racist. But I can understand why it wasn't there. I'm disappointed, but I'll get over it, just like I have with the other movies. *cough*harryhasgreeneyes*cough*

The Veil Chamber. That whole scene made me want to choke someone. Death Eaters don't go all 'whispy smoke people of doom' when fighting! And Order members don't 'whispy smoke' either! Sure, it's interesting to look at, but come on, give me a break. I will admit though, I liked Sirius punching out Lucius. That was just good clean fun. However. The last words Sirius ever says to Harry in this life are "Good one, James." JAMES?! Yeah, they had to get the point across that Sirius kind of confused Harry with James sometimes, but couldn't they have done that back at Grimmauld Place. They sort of touched on it there, but left it until the end. Harry is scarred enough, did they have to add that one too? I was really upset by that. And Sirius getting sucked into the Veil because he was slammed with and AK from Bellatrix, when clearly in the book it was a red spell that did it. I ranted on this for awhile until someone told me this:

"Well, I don't read the books, but the Avada spell is pretty final for everyone except Harry, right? Maybe they were trying to get the point across that Sirius really is dead and won't be coming back, for us non-readers." it made sense, but that selfish part of me doesn't care. Keep the spell red, not an Avada Kedavra, and if some people don't get it they can just ask someone who's actually read the books. And yeah, that was kind of mean, but I don't care. That made me mad.

Right, well, I liked the movie. Definitely better then Goblet at least, the editing wasn't choppy in OotP.

[Charlie Tea Tree]

I agree with Elle...If it weren't for the DH's release I would have killed myself and I am fairly sure many of my friends would have gladly joined me in a protest suicide or something like that.
I have many complaints about the movie (and lets consider I re-read the book twice before seeing the movie) One and foresmost what happened to the Quidditch?? There was absoultey no mention of it?? No mention of Harry, Fred and George being banned from Quidditch NOTHING!!!
What happened to Ron and Hermione being Prefects? Or was this not important enough to include??
I personally thought that the Thestrals could have been portrayed so much better...
One of my other main problems was that there wasn't as much light shed on the rebellion of the kids after Dumbledore has left. There is hadly anything about all the pranking that goes on and you have to admit the fireworks scene could have been done so much better.
And yes the movie sucked

[Marquis Black]

Completely disappointed.

I mean, character development took a nosedive in this movie. Of course, from the point of view of those who've never even touched the books, I imagine the movie was awesome, but speaking from a literate perspective, I have to say that OotP was probably the single worst HP movie they've made, and that's to say that I have some beef with the other movies as well.

One of the worst omissions I believe they made is completely erasing Ginny's character development. I'm not saying it just because she's my favorite character, either, but because in the 6th, she's now going to come across exactly as her nay-sayers say she does in the books--A Mary Sue.

Furthermore, the Ministry Battle was...well...there aren't words to describe what I felt, but horrible comes pretty damn close. Just what was the whole smoke/flying thing about? Was that Apparation? Can Wizards even fight in the middle of an Apparation? Hell, with the exception of Voldemort (DH Spoiler), no other Wizard can fly on their own without third-party tools.

What happened to the brains? The time bell? Hell, for that matter, what was that whole spiel Harry did towards the end of his possession? From what I gathered in OotP, that possession was pretty damn painful, to the point where he didn't even have the ability of speech!

Now Luna--Luna, on the other hand, she was awesome. Evanna Lynch portrayed her very well in my opinion. Why? Well, she made me feel like "What in the name of the seven corner of Hell is wrong with this girl?" and, while initially annoying, it came to me that this was exactly how the HP characters felt when dealing with Luna "Loony" Lovegood.

Umbridge was horribly awesome, as was Snape. However, the DA's betrayal was poorly done. I mean, Cho? Did they run out of budget to hire some random girl to make a cameo or something? It's not like Marietta even spoke in the book! It simply took away much of Harry's own character development. I mean, that relationship fell apart because they were incompatible, not because Cho unwillingly backstabbed them! Why is Yates trying to throw a bone to that ship? I mean, in the books, it's pretty clearly defunct and dead! Why give it this sort of uncertainty?

Overall, I'm just sticking to my original opinion. Harry Potter should have never been made into a movie series. Rather, if it had to be put on a screen, it should have been made into a TV Live-Action Mini-Series, or even a cartoon (where the actors aren't limited by the laws of physics). In fact, the BBC has a good reputation of putting on solid TV Live-Action Mini-Series. Why not do that, instead, rather than ruin us literates' opinon of Harry Potter?