I'm pretty excited. My girlfriend, having never seen a Harry Potter movie, saw the preview when we went to the theater the other day and really wants to see it. So, guess what we did this past weekend? Watch all 5 Potter movies to prepare. And we are prepared.
Midnight numbers for Harry Potter...$22.2 million. Broke The Dark Knight's record by about $4 million. Might break the single day record, too (Dark Knight has that with $67 million).
What I couldnt believe was as we were leaving the midnite showing, there were people in line for a 3am showing!
I couldn't find a midnight showing in my area, but it doesn't really matter. I'm taking my wife to go see it tonight. I've been telling her that I was just going to wait for DVD. We've both read all the books, though the movies have disappointed. Whats funny is I thought how stupid people were for reading these books, but then I got an opportunity to get the first four books in hardback for $11 by joining some book club and I've been hooked ever since(to the point where I was reading book 5, and didn't even notice that the teacher had handed out a quiz in my Calculus class).
Life is not always about boning. It is a significant portion, however, and the movies only took up about 12 hours of a 48 hour weekend. You see what I'm sayin'?
It was worse with the Dark Knight. There were multiple 3 AM showings where I was at. It was crazy. Harry Potter had a lot more midnight showings than Dark Knight.
I've never seen not one scene from Harry Potter nor read a single paragraph from the book. Should I??? Or will I be wasting my time?
i was the same way until last year. then i figured that these books/movies are in some ways the equivolent of what star wars was when i was a kid. so i finally watched all the movies that were out and read the first couple of books. i think the first two movies are quality children entertainment. then they start growing up a bit and it turned into something else for me. i still watch the movies out of curiousity because i'm probably never going to finish the books.
I suggest that after watching part 6 you read HP 7 (Deathly Hallows). You wont be disappointed. Let me just put it to u this way, its no kids book....the massacre in the end of so many of the main characters makes LOTR looks tame
Every guy I know teased me for reading these. Saying they were books for 6 year olds. This was back in like 2001. Now they are as hooked as I am on the series. It really doesnt matter what age you are. We saw people in the theater last night from ages 5 to in their 60's.
I hate reading and have never really read an entire book from start to finish that I chose to read. However, I decided to start reading Harry Potter after the first 2 movies and could not put them down since then
Well I must say, I felt exactly the same after watching this as I did after watching Order of the Phoenix. That is, it's technically sound. Yates does a great job here of creating a real menacing world. Darkness is ever present; the end is near. And you never lose sight of that throughout the film. Our three heroines put in quite possibly their best work yet, and the bond between the characters definitely strengthens over the course of the film. Still, just as in the last film, I left the movie feeling a bit disappointed. I had to watch Order of the Phoenix again to get a good grasp for what Yates was trying to achieve and to develop a true appreciation for it. And I imagine I'll have to do the same here. They do leave quite a bit out, which is what I was expecting. But there were other things that I envisioned to play out a certain way only to head down an entirely different path. Spoiler One of my favorite moments in the book was when Harry first kisses Ginney. It was a sweepingly romantic, euphoric moment; and it played out in front of all of Griffyndor house. That kiss is played out in an entirely different way in the film. Instead of a big romantic, celebratory moment, we find Harry and Ginney's kiss to be more personal and intimate. In a sense, more real. And that is definitely not a bad thing. I imagine as I watch it again I will feel more emotionally vested in that scene. I just wasn't expecting it to happen that way. In fact Harry and Ginney's relationship unfolds a bit differently here. Again, it's not worse, just different than what I expected. Ultimately though, I feel they may have focused a bit more on strengthening the relationship between Ron, Hermione and Harry. I do hope, then, in the 7th book they give Harry and Ginney's relationship (as well as Ron and Hermione's) the weight it deserves. She, imo, is the hope and the light in the darkness that has surrounded Harry for so long. She is his chance at a normal life. We need to see the gravity of that relationship unfold a bit more. I hope in the 7th film, before Harry, Ron and Hermione embark on their journey, we see that moment between Harry and Ginney, where he tries to push her away, tries to distance himself from her, because he doesn't want to lose her like he's lost so many other people he's loved. I also was expecting there to be a bit more serious conflict between Ron and Hermione. In the book, they really seem to be at odds with each other as they grapple with their emotions. Here, it plays a bit differently. I don't think the end really needed the big fight or the funeral (though I hope maybe they begin Deathly Hallows with Dumbledore's funeral or memorial of sorts....I think it's pretty obvious there won't be a wedding, unless it's for Lupin and Tonks). Snapes reveal as the Half-Blood Prince didn't seem to pack the emotional punch it deserves, and I imagine it's because they didn't spend a lot of time on Harry's infatuation with the book and the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. That's not a bad thing, again. I can see they were trying to stay focused on Slughorn's memory. But again, just wasn't quite what I expected. As I've said, OotP was the first film I watched after having read the book. And it took me a second viewing to really appreciate the film on it's own merits and to understand why the filmmakers chose to do the things they did. After watching it a second time, I became so much more vested in the climactic battle at the end; it's easily one of the best moments of the franchise. The same holds true of the ending in HBP...wasn't quite what I expected, but I know I'll start to feel the complexity of the moment a bit more once I watch it a second and third time.
junkyardwg i understand what your saying, but i just think your example of the kiss should just be done like its in the book. just do it like it was written i dont really care if its more realistic. and i think most people would agree with me and prefer it that way. but there is not much you can do about it.
Just you. It would have required them to add so much to the script, though. They would have had to develop why Harry gets sent to detention which requires a whole lot more emphasis on the potions book.
Don't get me wrong...I was expecting it to happen that way and wanted it to happen that way. I'm just trying to understand why they chose to go a different route. Having a chance to digest it, I don't think it's gonna be no worse or better than how it unfolded in the book. Just different. And ultimately, how well we receive that change (and others) will lie in our ability to separate the film from the book. I think if we want to see everything happen exactly as it does in the books, they'd have to make 4hr plus films. That's a pretty big undertaking for three films (LotR), let alone 6 (since Deathly Hallows, deservedly so, is getting the treatment. The funny thing is, my wife is a huge HP fan, and I'm always telling her to look at the film on it's own merit. To expect changes and omissions. She did that this time and loved it; it's her favorite of the series.
