View Full Version : I Did A Bad Thing *Harry Potter Spoiler Warning*
@trophy
July 25th, 2007, 05:41 PM
[rambling personal rant which you may or may not be interested in]
So, the other night I took my wife to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the IMAX screen down in Branson. EXCELLENT movie, by the way. So, for the last 5 years, I have been seeing all of the movies on opening night, but refusing to read the books until the 7th movie was done so that I could watch the movies without knowing what would happen. Well, the other night my sister starts blabbing about the new book at dinner, and dropped a piece of information which got me curious enough that I finally gave in and searched Wikipedia... and I learned everything. I had 4 major theories about what would happen in the series which turned out to be right, 3 of which I wanted to happen and one of which I had hoped I was really wrong about. And so now I'm fairly pissed at myself because I had wanted to be able to watch the movies without knowing what would happen, and mildly pissed at my sister because she finally toppled 5 years of avoiding spoilers by not giving me a chance to opt out before she said anything.
[/rambling personal rant which you may or may not be interested in]
Anyways, other than that rant, this thread is to ask you all what you thought of the film version of Order of the Phoenix. Especially those of you who haven't read the books.
I thought it was by far the best movie to date, with some of the best character development I've seen in any movie in a long time. The one part I really cringed at was the complete trite-ness of Harry suddenly casting Voldemort out of his mind using the power of love. No other explaination was given in the movie... hopefully the book was a little bit less deus ex machina on the subject. But other than that one moment, this was the first movie that really made me want to break my vow to myself to not read the books until the movies were done. Also, my wife appears to have developped a crush on Daniel Radcliffe... to quote Snape: "I may vomit."
What did everyone else think?
hobieone
July 25th, 2007, 06:00 PM
the new movie was very good i thought but i also read all the books and the first 4 movies followed the books to a tea dispite in the third movie they ahad and event that took place in the opposite order than in the book. as for the new movie which again i say was good i do have to say i like the book better there was so much of th ebook missing from it unlike the previous movies. the movironly had the main story. but there was alot of interesting subplot and stories that was not included in the movie. after the order of the pheonix is the longest of all the harry potter books. atm i'm reading the final book and still will be going to the other movies and think one should readd all the books besides see all the movies to enjoy the series fully
Depressed Man
July 25th, 2007, 06:08 PM
Haha.. I never cared much for avoiding spoilers. In fact the day they're leaked I just go on the internet and read them. Knowledge is Power eh? Plus I like playing mind games with my friends who go to such lengths to avoid the internet to avoid hearing spoilers. Having only read the first book (and relying on movies to see the rest) since Harry Potter books aren't the kind of books that interest me when reading (I'll read them if I got nothing better to read though).
Though I heard from friends that the movie is good, so I have to find some time to go see it before it skips out of theathers like so many other movies I wanted to see this summer.
dynamicv
July 25th, 2007, 06:13 PM
The one part I really cringed at was the complete trite-ness of Harry suddenly casting Voldemort out of his mind using the power of love. No other explaination was given in the movie... hopefully the book was a little bit less deus ex machina on the subject.
I wouldn't worry. That gets elaborated on further down the line :)
NilsE
July 25th, 2007, 06:13 PM
I also agree that the latest movie was excellent. Actually all the movies.
Having read (actually listened to) all the books I was a little disappointed in the fact that the Order of The Phoenix had a lot of differences from the book. I understand that creating a screen play from a book is difficult and some differences can be expected for good reasons like developing the character much quicker than the book has to. I think however, it is totally unacceptable to change who the "bad guy" was in one scene. Specifically who was the one that exposed the DA meetings.
My personal opinion is that it is in fact better to read the books before seeing the movie even just for the purpose of a better level set on the characters.
@trophy
July 25th, 2007, 06:49 PM
My personal opinion is that it is in fact better to read the books before seeing the movie even just for the purpose of a better level set on the characters.
I would agree... I read every Michael Crichton book before it became a movie, and was sorely disappointed by all of them (although the movie version of Sphere was especially awful). In the case of Harry Potter, the first movie came out and I hadn't (still haven't) read any of the books, so I decided to try something... recognizing (because I myself am a film-maker) that movies and books are different media, I knew that the movies would necessarily be different, so I decided to capitalize on my lack of knowledge of the books to make myself enjoy the movies more, since I wouldn't know what would happen. This worked up until now, but my little trip through Wikipedia has destroyed any hope of keeping that alive for the remaining two films.
@trophy
July 25th, 2007, 06:55 PM
Also, in case anyone was wondering, my four theories, based on the movies so far, had been as follows:
1: Snape would do something heroic which would result in his own death. From the beginning I knew he was meant to be a "Darth Vader". I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this actually happens.
2: Harry and Ginny get married. When she showed up in Chamber of Secrets, I knew this would have to be, since of course...
3: Ron and Hermione get married. No two people could bicker this much and not get married. See also: Han and Leia.
4: Dumbledore is killed. This is the one I had hoped I was wrong about. Usually someone like this gets killed to show the danger level has escalated, and this is no exception, though I had really hoped that it was because I liked the character a lot. I shall mourn his death when the next movie comes out.
The stuff that really surprised me about the 5th movie is the character development of Neville. Effing brilliant is all I have to say to that! Based on the previous movies I thought he would continue to be just comic relief, but am VERY glad to see how much of an important character he'll become.
Tyche
July 25th, 2007, 07:23 PM
I have read all the books and seen all the existent movies. Now, I am re-reading the books. The last book ties up a lot of loose ends that J. K. Rowling scattered throughout the series. The movies I find good insofar as they follow the main plot, despite small changes in sub-plot and action for the purpose of compression (as a comparison, "2001 a Space Odyssey" was created from a short-story, and STILL had to have some compression). They are excellent in visual effects and visualization. Both the books and the movies have their good points, but I'm glad that I read the books first, before seeing the movie, as I could pick up on some of the sub-plots that appear to be glossed over in the movies
I think that when you read the seventh book you will be totally amazed at where J. K. Rowling was coming from with her series. BTW, I am NOT a youngster. I got involved in the books to find out why all the Christian religions (particularly the fundamentalist ones) were so dead set against the stories. When I read the first book ("Sourcerer's Stone"), I realized that those religions had missed the basic purpose of the books - the interaction of young people with their own age group and with authority. I think she did a phenomenal job of creating a coherent universe within which to explore these things, and managed to do it from the viewpoint of the young people of the age of which she was writing.
Craig
Tyche
happy-and-lost
July 25th, 2007, 07:34 PM
My favourite line from that book/film:
"So, how was it Harry?"
"Wet."
Sunflower1970
July 25th, 2007, 07:38 PM
POSSIBLE SPOLIER BELOW !
I loved the 5th movie. Second best in the series for me. (The top of my list is Prisoner of Azkaban). My only complaint--well the hubby's complaint, really, but I see where he's coming from--he's not reading the books (well he tried, read the first one and wasn't impressed hehe), is he had no idea what was going on with Sirius at the end with the archway..only after Beatrix runs away and screams she killed Sirius did he realize what was going on.
Love the books. Got suckered into them when I wanted to know what all the hype was about this Harry Potter dude. Then, I couldn't stop. Read all the books more than once (well except the last one--I'm still reading it--although I'm aware of what happens at the end of it--accidentally read some spoliers last week--oh, well)
scrooge_74
July 25th, 2007, 07:44 PM
Reading the book as a better experience than going to see the movies. I mean the movies are good, but a lot of the magic gets toss aside once the special effects take over. I read all the books prior to seeing the movies.
Did the same with the Lord of the Ring, by the time I saw the movies I had read all the books first.
Still i like the fight at the end of Order of the Phoenix that appears in the book. You get a sense that they are not going to make it out in one piece.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.2 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.