[Liria]

Yep, it's good. I found only the lack of one small (and completely unimportant thing, other than coolness factor) to be mildly annoying. Otherwise, I think they covered the important items of the storyline. Granted, I need to reread the storyline now. =)

The 3-D glasses (at least for the IMAX version - I don't know if the regular film or digital versions are doing this) for some scenes are mildly annoying, but the scenes in which you wear them are well done at least. I do hope they don't bother with that for the DVDs though. Or at least give you an option of not watching the 3D version.

There's one thing they changed that I think might bother a few people, but in my opinion, it's along the lines of having Neville tell Harry about gillyweed as opposed to having Dobby the Houseelf do it - a necessary plot device born of time constraint for the movie. And it wasn't that bad. It does make way for things to happen in the HP6 movie.

And that's as vague as I can be without giving things away about how the movie compares to the book. Sure, most have read the book and know what happens, but you don't know how it comes through in the movie, so I'll leave you to see that yourselves.

P.S. I want John Williams to start doing the score music again!!

[BarbJacobs]

Thanks for the review, Liria. The kids and I are going this weekend.
Gotta be honest, it's been two-three years at least since I read this, so I don't really remember what happens anymore. I wish I had time to read it again, but I don't.

Is the movie easy to follow?

Sad to hear that they couldnt get John Williams back. I was disappointed in the last soundtrack, and will be again it sounds like.

Thanks for the review! ~B

[Liria]

It's been since it was released that I read the book as well.
Yes, the movie is easy to follow. =)

[Ceridwen]

Hmmm....I have been a big sceptic towards the movies actually, and I didn`t even see The Goblet of Fire until I was litterarily forced to. But that`s not because I think the movies are horrible, in fact, I think they have put good effort in telling the story. There is no doubt that there is a lot that happens in all the books, and as opposed to books, films have limited time. Noone wants to watch a 6-hour film after all. Chances are I won`t look at this one either unless I should be forced to some day. I think I prefer my own mental images of what is going on.

Also, there is two things about all the movies that has irked me all along and that I can`t let go of:

- Harry hasn`t got green eyes in the movies
- They haven`t added in Peeves!!!!
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[Liria]

If memory serves, you saw Peeves briefly in the first movie just flying around, but that's it. There are certain things that just have to be skipped, no matter how fun or interesting they are, such as the entirety of Hermione's House Elf project (SPEW), or a lot of the later quidditch matches. We'll be lucky if we see any quidditch matches in the next movie, when it takes more of a role again.

C'est la vie.

[Ceridwen]

In my defence, I only mentioned the two things that irked me the most, not everything, since I am perfectly aware of the fact that they would have had to cut several things out. I`m not saying I hold this against them or dislike them greatly for it. I just miss it.
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[Cerulean]

Just watched it last night. I wouldn't have known who the girl Harry kissed would've been if I hadn't remembered her name from the book. I must've missed them saying it in the movie.

Movies are rarely ever better than books. One of my brothers doesn't like to read, so most of the time, he just watches the movie and doesn't realize that it was a book in the first place.

[BarbJacobs]

***spoiler stuff included****


Saw it. It was good. Sadly we sat in the second row, so it wasnt the prime viewing experience, so we'll need to see it again.

I loved the thestrals. That was one of my favorite bits.

There is SO much in these books to try to pack into a film, it seems a bit exhausting, I'm glad that they eliminated some things to focus on the evil beaurocratic Umbridge vs. Harry. Although, I thought that the centaurs dragged her off never to be seen again in the book and that was changed here. That kind of bummed me out. '

I do still miss Richard Harris though. And I agree with Liria, John Williams scoring is notably absent.

SNAPE ! AH, I love him.
But Lucius Malfoy is still my all time favorite character in the movies.

What DOES this say about me?

~B

[Stevenpjones]

Katie and I caught the film last night, and we can't wait to see it again! It's my second favorite of the series so far, right after SORCERER'S STONE. Yes, I did miss a few things from the books, most notably the more-than-suggestion that Neville could be the boy in the prophecy, not Harry, but I can see ways to that this can be covered in the next film, so no big there. It would have been nice if there was some kind of apology scene to Cho by the rest of the D.A., but it's a gloss over I can live with.

There's more nit-picky, but the heck with that. I loved the direction--I'm a fan of old-fashioned directing which uses the whole screen and doesn't rely on frequent cuts or shaky cameras to try to communicate action or emotion. Spielberg is very good at this, but right now I think the best at it is Martin Campbell, but this director (I'm blanking on his name) is right up there. I also liked the music quite a lot, and that battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort at the end was everything I could have hoped for and more. The opening scene between Harry and Dudley was brilliant, and things just kept getting better from there.

I have to concur with Barb. It would have been nice if Umbridge had been stomped to death by the centurs, but if memory serves it is made clear in the book that Umbridge survived her experience. FWIW, I find Umbridge the most vile and detestable character in the series. Worse than Voldemort. She emobides everything awful about bureacracy and social engineering through regulation and the indiscriminate hypocrisy of banal evil. Props to the actress who played the role. She NAILED the part, as far as I'm concerned.

All in all, I'd give it an 8 out of 10. :-)

[canterrain]

I can't remember exactly what happened in the book version to Umbridge in this one.

But FWIW, she plays a large part in the last book (not saying anymore) so... she must have survived the experience in the book version.
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[Ceridwen]

Well, noone knows what happened to Umbridge in book five. The last we saw of her was when the centaurs carried her away. The next thing we know of her is when they sit at the sick-bay at the end of the book reading the Daily Prophet about Voldemort`s return. Then she`s lying there very apathetic and just looking blankly up at the roof with sticks still in her hair. And Ron made clopping noises with his tongue to portray hoofs and that made her jump frantically. But Rowling even had them say in the book that noone knows what the centaurs had done to her, only that Dumbledore had walked inside the woods and retrieved her single-handedly.

I still wished that she could have recieved an ill fate with the centaurs though. At least part of me does, but another part of me simply can`t help but be glad to have a character in the book that is so utterly vile and poisonous that you mildly put hate her. I mean, it is quite a feat to write a character so well that we really do feel anger boil up inside whenever she`s around - albeit fictionally.
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[Andromeda]

I think I annoyed my friends (and probably other viewers) a tad during this film. For one, I kept bursting out with 'TONKS!' or 'LUNA! I LOVE YOU!' whenever either appeared, and then I kept booing whenever Cho and Harry had a scene.
Boo hiss.

But over all, as the HP films go, it was not at all bad. Maybe that's because I don't remember the book enough to be nit-picky, but the book was ridiculously long (too long, really), so expecting them to get everything in would have been a bit presumptuous.
I LOVED Umbridge in this film, I have to say. Imelda Staunton did a brilliant job with the part and absolutely nailed Umbride's character. I honestly couldn't stop giggling throughout most of the scenes she was in, she really did up that film up at notch.

As always, less than impressed with Harry himself, who still remains a fairly wooden actor and, in my opinion, not the best choice for this role. Then again, he's not nearly as bad as the Weasley twins, who have the shared actining ability of a drunken goat have ruined two of the best characters in the series. They actually live in my area and I've seen them around and about a fair bit; I have to stop myself throwing objects at them.

But, apart from that, the actors are all brilliant. Luna and Umbridge in particular were just amazing. And, as always, I love Neville. It was easily the best film in the series so far, and I admit that I'm quite looking forward to seeing the next film.
All in all, I give it an 8/10.
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[arasam22]

i REALLY hate like all the movies. okay, the third was OKAY, and in the fourth, emma watson didn't suck entirely..... but this one, i thought it was great! for a HP movie, anyways. i loved the beginning, i loved the middle, and... well, i loved the end too!

i think really all you can say has been said here, so, yes! i really liked it, which REALLY surprised me

[Hagar]

Glad to hear it's good- though I'll catch it on TV. I just can't find the time & money to go to the cinemas...
Have I ever mentioned I do a HP book club for kids at the book store I work? No? Yes?
We read the last book together...in English. They are all CRAZY about Harry. They can't wait for the movie. I'm glad it's good (didn't like the others. the third was OK, but not all that), I'll tell them. They are so funny, always arguing about every detail. & it's not easy for them- the youngest one is 9 and the oldest is 16... but they all help each other so it's cool... we are in the 5 episode. I, of course, read the whole book so I know whats about to happen. I hope they'll be OK...
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[Jerle]

o.O
Harry potter is utter blasphemy!
EVIL I SAY! EVIL!
Actually, that's a joke, but I actually didn't like the books very much and I haven't seen the movies yet.
*ducks*
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