First Thoughts....*SPOILERS*

[misshoneychurch88]

so I went to a midnight showing, and while I'm beyond tired, here are my thoughts

The Good:
~THe movie as a whole, was actually a rather good film. Interesting directorial choices, and I liked them.
~ The Final Battle was AWSOME. Simplified quite a bit(no brains) but very tense. My heart was going a mile a minute
~Luna Lovegood...Oh My God I don't know how they got her, but she's perfect.
~Weasley Twins. As always they were cool, but the moment when they were conforting the younger kid who had be tortured by Umbridge...I'm in love
~Dumbledore/Michael Gambon. He really seemed to improve in this film. It may just be that OotP Dumbledore is a bit darker, a bt more human and...average I guess, so his performance matched that pretty well
~Umbridge. One scary ass bitch. Thats all I really can say
~Great little scene between Min and the Toad. It involes steps and height differences
~Bellatrix. Another scary ass bitch.
~Effects were good. Thetrals and Grawp were nice.
~DA scenes. They finally got Patronus's right
~Occlumency lessons. Alan Rickman is pretty awsome

The Bad:
~No Where NEAR enough Min. Uch. No "He will not be single handed" and no Stunners. Grrrrrrrr
~No Peeves. I know he wasn't in any of the other films, but still...
~It moved at a really fast clip. Editing was crazy fast, which generally I liked, but there were some instances where I thought it confused things
~While I thought the acting was generally good, there was a lot more shouting and tempers in the book. This was mostly below the surface seething stuff. ok but...
~Tonks wasn't around as much. I liked her few litle bits, but she was barely there
~Staging looked forced in a few scenes
~Dementors were better in the third one, I think. They were changed a bit
~No "Remeber My last"
~Almost no end explanation...at all

Side Notes:
~There were some cool allusions to Hitler with Umbridge and Fudge. Big Brother as well. Nicely done
~Ministry set is cool, and Bode is in the elevator with the fire breathing chicken. I thought it was funny.
~I think Min may have been in the first OotP meeting when Harry Gets there, not sure.
~It really looks like the room that Ron and Hermione were in had one big double bed wit hthe sheets all mussed up...dirty mind, can't help myself
~There was a ton of stuff for HG/RW and HP/GW in this. Tons, but not an ounce of ADMM that I could see

Well thats all for now. I may write more when I'm a little more awake

[McGonagallsGirl]

Freaking beyond words.

Angry.

I was muttering profanities from the moment the final shot of Hogwarts faded until... well, no, I'm still going.




STUNNERS!!!! HOW DO YOU LEAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT OUT???!!!! HOW DO YOU DIMINISH IT'S IMPORTANCE TO SUCH AN EXTENT?!!!


I hope the entire last book is McGonagall and is dependant on every single one of her scenes in the books ever. *ever*. Which would make the movie makers screwed.

[esoterica1693]

I concur w/ misshoneychurch88's assessment. OoTP qua movie: very good. With regard to ADMM : awful.

Umbridge comes across as much nastier than in the books. Bet you didn't think that was possible! But it is.....

Cho does replace Marietta as the betrayer of the DA. Dolores interrogates lots of students and uses veritaserum on them, and that's what she did to Cho, which caused her to spill the beans.

Phineas Nigellus' line to Fudge about Dumbledore having style in his exit gets shifted to Kingsley, and actually works better. Kingsley has considerable style himself so it's a high compliment. :-) Doesn't make up for the *other* changes to that scene, though!

Kreacher must be the character that got written out and then put back in, b/c he has very minimal screen time and nothing important. Nothing about his lying to Harry about Sirius' whereabouts or anything. It would have been very easy to write him out entirely. Since they didn't, he must be crucial for 7. And/or the scene in 6 which confirms H's ownership of 12 Grm. Pl. must in turn be crucial to 7.

Neville comes across really well. And Luna.

The debrief scene at the end is way too minimal, w/o enough emotion on either HP or AD's part. And nothing about the prophecy only having import b/c Voldy thought it did--which is a key point IMO, but evidently not to the moviemakers.

But AD's concern for HP during the possession scene is very clear. The possession scene is much longer and more involved than in the book. And it is clear that AD isn't at all sure which way it will end up--he's crouched next to Harry watching worriedly as Harry writhes on the floor in physical and mental and existential agony.

The ending scene w/ Harry's last words to his mates is okay but could be much stronger, IMO.

Now to bed!

[beMMADfabulous]

GRRRR, I COULDN'T BELIEVE THERE WAS NO STUNNER SCENE!! How could they just leave that out?! It was bad enough that the "single-handed" scene could never happen because Minerva wasn't even in that scene, but you can't just leave stuff like that out!!

My Complaints:
1. Minerva's scenes were so tiny. That's horrible for a character as great as Minerva and an actress as great as Maggie Smith.
2. Not much of Tonks, which was unfortunate because the actress playing her seemed to have great potential with the role (despite not having spiky pink hair as I wished).
3. You really couldn't tell just how much the other teachers hated Umbridge.
4. THE VEIL SIRUS FELL THROUGH! It really looked like fog..
5. The whole movie seemed to be random clips chopped up and put together at a fast pace. Some of the things were even out of chronological order.
6. The way Harry shouted "Look at me!" to Dumbledore in front of everyone (!) when Minerva brings him and the Weasleys in Albus's office after Harry's vision of Arthur and the snake upset me. I thought Minerva was going to shout at Harry or something. haha

My Compliments:
1. Bellatrix was GREAT!
2. Umbridge was GREAT!
3. I loved the scene where Minerva and Umbridge are on the steps, especially after Umbridge calls Minerva disloyal and it seems to hurt Minerva so much she sinks back to the step below. Quite dramatic.
4. LUNA LOVEGOOD WAS GREAT! She was so perfect for that part! I loved her.
5. Fred and George's leaving from Hogwarts was stupid to happen during the OWLs like it did (IMO), but the fireworks display was excellent.
6. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but MICHAEL GAMBON'S ACTING ACTUALLY IMPROVED! There was obvious times when he was too angry or whatever, but I saw hope.. If he keeps up with the improvement, maybe Maggie will be able to tell him he's supposed to be acting as if he and she are a couple because she knows Albus and Minerva are in love, after all!


There was just a lot of stuff- LITTLE stuff, even, that they had no reason to change or leave out- that they could've done better with in the movie. That said, it was a wonderful movie. I'm just quite disappointed with obvious parts.

On a side note, did anyone notice that Minerva seemed to want to grip Albus's arm after he told her to get Trelawney's bags because Umbridge wasn't going to fire her? It looked to me as though there was a lot of moving around of Minerva's hand towards him. lol

[alter.ego.alana]

My favorite scene:
"Cho just couldn't keep her eyes off of you, could she?"
*camera spans to Harry, then to Ginny, where she wears an expression of shock/disbelief/anger*
It was my favorite H/G shippy moment!

But I spent the ENTIRE movie looking for Minerva [During Umbridge's introduction speech I was looking at Minerva the entire time.] The scenes she had, she was of course amazing. Unfortunately, such a great actress as Maggie Smith deserves more scenes than what she got, and I agree that Minerva should have a MAJOR part in book 7 so the filmmakers will be screwed.

Oh, and I love the "I must not tell lies" bit in the forest, even if it wasn't in the book.

Sirius's death just didn't do it for me. I didn't cry or anything, and I cry at almost every movie with the slightest sad part. I think they couldn't done a little better with it, though don't really know what they could've done...if I was crying from anything, it was the lack of Minerva.

I had a lot more thoughts on the movie last night right after I saw it, but I can't remember now...but I may think of more after I see it again today with my mom. =)

[Catwoman99]

I too went to a midnight showing and I agree with all the points brought up. One thing to add though - they couldn't have Tonks say, "Wotcher, Harry!" just once? (Of course, they couldn't get Moody to say "Constant Vigilence" in the fourth film either) Little things like that we've come to expect from certain characters always seem to get written out and they would take like 2 seconds to say. Anyhoo, Maggie did wonderful in all her scenes, even though they were few. Imelda was wonderful as Umbridge - she got her sickly sweet voice down pat. And her office was quite creepy. Pinks and kitties!

On a side note, there was a group of people all dressed up including a Snape, carrying a large poster of the dark mark on a stick. They kept shouting "All hail the dark mark." I just wore my new Slytherin t-shirt...I'll save dressing up for the book release.

- April :-)

[esoterica1693]

One of my favorite moments was AD's very first line, when he comes into the courtroom for Harry's hearing. The way he says his name, "Witness for the Defence, Albus Percival Wulfric......^Brian^ Dumbledore" is just too funny and most excellent. The first time that Gambon gets right the way AD's gravitas is often partnered w/ a bit of lightness and humour, IMO.

He's simultaneously making light of his rather lengthy and pretentious name while also signalling, "Yes, here I am Cornelius & Co., you get to deal w/ *me*, *all 5 names worth of me*, even though you thought you were done w/ me by kicking me off the Wizengamot. But here I am, and I'm even confident enough in front of you to poke a bit of fun at myself."

[beatabeatrix]

OK, is the "single handed" scene in or no???

[pinnacle]

alteregoalana said:

[During Umbridge's introduction speech I was looking at Minerva the entire time.]

Hee, I did that too. God, Umbridge was, as misshoneychurch said - one scary ass bitch. Like Bellatrix.

esoterica1693 said:

One of my favorite moments was AD's very first line, when he comes into the courtroom for Harry's hearing. The way he says his name, "Witness for the Defence, Albus Percival Wulfric......^Brian^ Dumbledore" is just too funny and most excellent. The first time that Gambon gets right the way AD's gravitas is often partnered w/ a bit of lightness and humour, IMO.

He's simultaneously making light of his rather lengthy and pretentious name while also signalling, "Yes, here I am Cornelius & Co., you get to deal w/ *me*, *all 5 names worth of me*, even though you thought you were done w/ me by kicking me off the Wizengamot. But here I am, and I'm even confident enough in front of you to poke a bit of fun at myself."

LOL that's so true!

Another thing: during Trelawney's sacking, I noticed with disappointment that he addressed Minerva as Professor McGonagall but called Trelawney by her first name, Sybil. Meh.

Funny that this would by my favorite HP movie so far yet it has no AD/MM whatsoever... ack. It kills me.

[mmadlyinlove]

I have loads of crap to add, but I think you guys said almost all of it nicely....

BUT WHAT ABOUT ANGSTY HARRY? HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE "WTF?" AND THROW A HISSY FIT IN THE MIDDLE OF DUMBLEDORE'S OFFICE....... Instead, he's just like "Oh, okay, my godfather is dead *although it was supposed to be the Crucio curse and not the Avada Kedavera curse*, and so are my parents, but you know what? I'm okay with it.....Because Ron and Hermione *who are supposed to be prefects but isn't mentioned* are my friends and will stick with me through thick and thin, even when I am supposed to be angsty but am not."

Anyone else see that as stupid?

~mmadlyinlove~

[Kit]

I liked the movie over-all but as a lot of you have said: NOT ENOUGH MINERVA!
They did film some of the stunner scene, so maybe it'll be in the 'deleted scenes' part of the DVD. *hopes*

[tabbylvr77]

Ugh... I'm never going to believe another HP site EVER AGAIN!! During the whole movie, I was sitting there waiting for the stunner scene to happen. I was utterly HORRIFIED at this movie, probably because I'm so loyal to the books. With every HP movie, I seem to keep attacking it because it's not like the books, but this time, I will think of it from two angles:

One: From the POV of a reader of the books, and Two: From a movie perspective, judging it as a movie, and not as a movie made from a book.

One: I hate how when books are made into movies, they change almost EVERYTHING!! Chronologically they switched things around. They switched how events took place and who/what was involved. They left so much important things out and I am sick of it. I even said, as I was leaving the movie theatre, that I will NEVER see another HP film AGAIN. But.. I know I will, unfortunately... lol

Two: It had wonderful FX and I enjoyed the Thestrals and the characters. Luna Lovegood is probably my favorite now. I didn't like her when I read the books *I know I'm not supposed to mention the books in this angle, but who cares* I always thought she was psycho or somethihng, but now that I've seen her in person *not really but you know what I mean* I quite like her and I feel like she's very wise. Her voice was amazing. However, things were so rushed and it happened so fast... I suppose it's because the book was huge and the movie had to shove it all in like 3 hours, but still... Good movie though.

I am just so angry about how they make movies from books and they like.. change things.. Tiny things, even!! I always thought Tonks being a really pretty, petite, large personality in a small package kind of person. I imagined her hair as spiky and pink, but the actor did a WONDERFUL job I think. Could have been worse.. UGH I just came from the movie and there's still so much to say.. NOT ENOUGH MINERVA!! I mean, this book had a lot of Min in it, yet they only give her like 2 scenes where she's talking.. GRRRR... have I mentioned that I am very frustrated?? I'll get over it.. but still... GRRR

[McGonagallsGirl]

I'm moving through the stages of mourning. I'm past disbelief and anger, and I've arrived at sadness.

I really wanted to see career advice. Or Umbridge observing Minerva.

And, The step scene was great. They could've had more like it. They really could've.



We should write to the director and tell him Maggie and McGonagall deserve more.

Litterally. No ADMM. And it's not like the movies are gunna go on forever. They only have so many shots to get it right. They're running out.

[Tabby67]

I was completely and totally furious with the lack of stunner scene and lack of Minerva scenes! Not even the Career Advice was in it! OOO! I went with my friend to the midnight showing and we were both huddled over talking about what they left out, what should have been in there, how very confused we got. It was crazy. She's an ADMMer too, btw ;D.

I give it a thumbs up and a thumbs down at the same time. It was very disappointing.

But hopefully. HOPEFULLY!! The stunner scene will be on the DVD. If it's not, I am soo protesting.

[alter.ego.alana]

Ok, I just saw it the second time, and I'm almost POSITIVE that when Minerva is walking Sybil from the courtyard and she passes Dumbledore, she touches his arm for a split second. I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it...and it could be Maggie Smith, trying to give us poor shippers something, ANYTHING. For which we should love her even more ;D

[misshoneychurch88]

ooh I forgot two things. One, there's a goat in the Hogs Head. I burst out laughing and my friends thought I was a bit crazy and Two, they actually took a suprisingly large amout of hte dialouge directly from the books. I just finished rereading hte 5th yesterday morning, so it was fresh. I liked that

[esoterica1693]

I was the only one in my theatre laughing at the goat too! That was great! Absolutely LOL moment!

Another great scene was the inspection of Filius. A tape measure! How dare she!?! :-) Umbridge got off quite lightly w/ him just punching his fist into the air during F & G's departure--she's lucky he didn't charm that tape measure to strangle her or decapitate her on the spot during the inspection!

[MrCoolio]

alter.ego.alana

I noticed the same thing. I was waiting for something to happen during that scene. And then it did! lol

[pol]

Obviously the lack of Minerva was...well...(insert swear words) but I really did like the movie. And yes, to whoever brought it up, I'm positive she *was* at the Order meeting at the beginning. Her voice is pretty distinctive after all.
Highlights for me. Well, I also agree that Michael Gambon seems to finally have found his inner Dumbledore. Much better.
And Snape. Phenomenal. Especially in the Occulumency bits. Too good. I wonder if Alan Rickman ever wakes up in the morning thinking "God, I'm good!" because I sure wouldn't blame him.
I had a fabulous time at the movie. I thought it was visually even more spectacular than ever and I love love LOVED Luna, which surprised me.
Sigh. I want to see it again, now! But I do hope they have a director's cut or something with Min's stunner scene left in. I'm sure it was actually shot.

[beMMADfabulous]

alteregoalana said:

Ok, I just saw it the second time, and I'm almost POSITIVE that when Minerva is walking Sybil from the courtyard and she passes Dumbledore, she touches his arm for a split second. I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it...and it could be Maggie Smith, trying to give us poor shippers something, ANYTHING. For which we should love her even more ;D

So I wasn't imagining it?! YAY! ;D And yes, that did look like a Maggie-induced (lol) scene. I'm truly thankful, because we didn't have much else otherwise! And it's not like there was no shippy scenes to put in the movie, either; this was one of the shippiest books yet, IMO! Sheesh.. Get it right, HP movie people.

And lots of kudos to Maggie Smith for at least seeming to try to make the scenes as shippy as possible, though she has so few scenes.

misshoneychurch88, I didn't notice the goat in the Hog's Head (was I the only one thinking about how small the place looked?!), but I did notice and was very pleased with how many direct quotes they had from the book. That's why I suppose I was so hopeful for (and then so angry over the absence of) "single-handed". *pouts*

Another thing, I find that if you ever go to see a HP movie with someone who's a fan of the movies but doesn't read the books, you have to constantly explain things for them, because the movies really don't make it clear at all.. I'd really hate to not read the books.

[misshoneychurch88]

ahhh I keep remebering little things, but I loved Mr. Weasley on the tube. That was so perfect.

beMMADfabulous you know, I thought that about this movie, but my friends boyfriend came with us. HE's never read any of hte books, I don't think, but his reaction was "That was awsome!!!" So I guess it works. I think that us reading types(not that I feel at all superior or anything...)incorporate stuff from the books. We make the assumptions about things that get explained there, but aren't a thing in the movie. Like in the fourth, if you didn't read the books, why would you care the exact way in whihc Barty Crouch Jr got out of Azkaban?

[crystalpheonixeyes]

Okay the thing I was most annoyed about that ther was NO Caps Lock Harry. To me, it seemed as if that took away from it in some ways. I was also very upset with how little Maggie Smith was in the movie. And without the Stunner sequence, she had almost no part. A fe of my favorite lines were left out, like how in the end, Minerva walks in and gives Gryffindor 200 and 50 points and Ravenclaw some too. I always thought thats how the movie would end beacuse Harry does seem to get back at Snape in some way, by making sure that his house dose not win. I was looking forward tothe part with Umbridge inspecting McGonagalls class, yet that was the only one not showed.

Luna was FABULOUS! she is the best rep of a book character ever(next to Min of 'course)Side note: weren't her shoes awesome at the end dangling from the cealing? They were pink Plaid'ish I think. I fell in Love with them. I am so glad that that part was not written off because it easily could have been.

Overall it was one of those movies that you Love and Hate becuae you can't decided which you lean towards more........ (hope that makes sence)

[McGonagallsGirl]

I spent the whole movie trying not to laugh at Snape's funny moments. I just kept thinking 'He kills Dumbledore, He kills Dumbledore.... OMG, he just smacked Ron on the head, BAHAHAHAHAHA--'


And I noticed the arm thing, too, but I didn't realize what was happening til' it was over.

And, ok, I'm crazy, but in the not-so-much-single-handed-sorta scene, I swear I heard Maggie's voice, just once. And it's possible that they shot her in the scene and then cut out her lines and shots to save time. It's happened to me before.

And I laughed at the goat too. It's nice that we're all in this together











And I'm ready to forgive Michael Gambon for not being Richard Harris.

[gingerrose]

Sorry, I don't have time to read all the replies, so I might be repeating some stuff...

Things that mildly annoyed me:

--Having Cho tattle on the DA while under veritaserum (as opposed to Marietta, of her own free will).
--Lupin not being there when the order went to get Harry from the Dursleys. Why not? It made no sense not to include it.
--Tonk's hair. Good actress, but the spiky hair made her seem more spunky.
--Who the hell is Nigel? Did they just create him to avoid having to explain that Colin Creevy has a brother? How long would that take? Like two seconds.

Things I hated:

--Cutting out Firenze teaching divination. I thought that was a really cool bit of the book.
--Peeves. I know, he hasn't been in any of them, and I wish he was.
--Cutting McGonagall's scenes. Especially the bit where she promised to help Harry become an auror.
--The entire movie felt rushed.

Things I loved:

--Bellatrix. She was amazing. She seriously creeped me out.
--Luna Lovegood. Again, absolutely amazing. Better than how I pictured her. I've never seen that little actress before, but she was unbelievable.
--Finally, they give Snape more time. Snape is a good character (from a literary standpoint, I mean) and Rickman is such an amazing actor. I'm glad we finally get to see that a little bit more.
--The overall creepiness of the movie. Even the lighter scenes were somehow dark. This is thanks to good directing, and a good score.

Edit: Oh, and I loved the part where McGonagall is taking the boys to the head's office after Harry's dream, and her hair is in that beautiful braid. Small thing, I know, but I liked it.

[angeldust]

I really liked the film despite some complaints I have !! I thought they did a really good job and it's definately my favourite to date.

Things I loved:
-- BELLATRIX! - She is one of my all time favourite characters and I was soo worried about what they were going to do with her and I was very dubious when I saw it was Helen Boham Carter playing her (great actress... but as my Bella!!!). But she pulled it off flawlessly every scene was perfect espacially the nevile taunting and the running through the department screaming and laughing "I killed sirius black!"

-- Luna was fabulously cast
-- Weasley twins! Absolutely classic
-- The fab flash backs from previous films
-- Little Snape!!
-- More Sirius time
-- The death scene - beautifully filmed
-- The few Min scenes espacially the one on the stairs with Umbridge
-- The CGI
-- The dark happenings around the school it was so Nazi Germany it was incredibly spooky
-- Miss Frigg!! She was hysterical
-- Umbridge not at all what I pictured but she was so wonderfully psychotic and creepy!

The bad!

-- Not enough Min time
-- Dumbledore I just can't adjust near the end of the film I was warming slightly I just... can't see my dumbledore in him he's so violent and harsh
-- No stunner scene and the 'it unscrews the other way' scenes although i think the stunner scene may be as a deleted scene as there were lots of pictures of Minerva in a wheelchair. (one can hope)
-- Tonks. I just didn't approve of the casting at all.
-- Hardly any AD/MM

[crystalpheonixeyes]

OKay, anybody else realize that the picture with her in a wheelchair was not there! OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! I am offically mad.

* Edit: Opps did not relize that angeldust mentioned it before me. Anyway, I am still mad.

[beMMADfabulous]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Ms. Figg! Lol, she was so adorable. haha

I can't wait to see the movie again (though I probably won't until it's released on DVD). I want to again check out the scene where it looked like Minerva was reaching for Albus's arm. ;D

I still think it's amazing how many GREAT actors that are on the HP films. The only person I can really complain about is Gambon.

[primadie]

I have no words to describe how disappointed I am with this film.

Not only with the lack of ADMM - the whole film. Not exactly what I had expected. At all.

It's too bad though. It's my favorite book and I had so been looking forward to it, ever since OotP came out. And with the other movies I at least felt OK with them. This one just didn't get me.

JKR better do a damn good job with Deathly Hallows, or my summer is so over

[StormAngel]

o.0. Interesting. I RUSHED from school yesterday to book the 7.45pm tickets. I was too late. I got the lousy seat. Surprisingly, I was more pissed off with the movies than the horrible seat I got.

1. There was not enough scenes with Maggie Smith. I know you have time constraints, but can't you just add the stunner bit or the "he would not be single-handed" bit?

2. Tonks hair is weird. The acting is very very good. Her hair just pisses me off.

3. The scene switches too fast and there's some sense of disorientation if you don't concentrate.

4. When Harry was flying to Grimmauld Place, they flew like 4 feet above the River. (I think. he's in london rite? Can someone tell me which river was that?)

5. Dumbledore came across as a little mean sometimes.

Some good points though. The special effects are really great in the movie. The battle scene just ROCKS! Umbridge is wonderfully evil (not that I expect her to be otherwise). Snape is funny, and just so wonderful. The room of requirement is better than what I imagined it to be from the books.

Overall, this movie just don't grab my attention. Quoting my brother, "It just sucks. A total waste of my money" coupled with a rude hand gesture.

By the way, can anyone tell me the difference between the sneaks and the actual movie?

[furandfeathers]

I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said. my likes and dislikes are pretty much the same.

although: wtf was up with the Harry and Dumbledore scene at the end? Harry's supposed to go crazy and destroy his office because it sets up their relationship for the beginning of the sixth book. The whole "fireside chat and we're all good now" just doesn't work.

And Minerva definitely reached for Albus when she was taking Sybil back inside!!

Oh, and I laughed at the goat too