Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I

Chaplin

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i've seen the other movies.

Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? I simply stated it as a general opinion, that any new people to the series won't get this movie. I just don't think many people will actually see this movie until they've seen the previous ones. I even talked to a couple people today about it. This is a movie for Potterfiles, not newbies.

I find it interesting that you think it's bad that it was "filler", but that was exactly what it's supposed to be. And in fact, other than a few minor issues, the movie stayed very close to the source material, maybe more so than any previous film save perhaps Sorceror's Stone.
 
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Mulli

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Of course it left a lot to be desired....it is only the first half of the story. Duh. I would be shocked if anyone intended it as a stand alone movie.
 

Mulli

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Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? I simply stated it as a general opinion, that any new people to the series won't get this movie. I just don't think many people will actually see this movie until they've seen the previous ones. I even talked to a couple people today about it. This is a movie for Potterfiles, not newbies.

I find it interesting that you think it's bad that it was "filler", but that was exactly what it's supposed to be. And in fact, other than a few minor issues, the movie stayed very close to the source material, maybe more so than any previous film save perhaps Sorceror's Stone.
Yep.
 

Cheesebeef

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Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? I simply stated it as a general opinion, that any new people to the series won't get this movie. I just don't think many people will actually see this movie until they've seen the previous ones. I even talked to a couple people today about it. This is a movie for Potterfiles, not newbies.

I don't know. It just didn't feel like a movie to me.

I find it interesting that you think it's bad that it was "filler", but that was exactly what it's supposed to be.

I think it was bad because filler isn't a movie to me and the filler wasn't all that interesting.
 

Cheesebeef

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Of course it left a lot to be desired....it is only the first half of the story. Duh. I would be shocked if anyone intended it as a stand alone movie.

therein lies the problem for me. I saw no dynamic shift in this story. I saw this as a huge cash grab by the studio who could have made one EPIC finale ala Return Of The King, but instead decided to divide the movie in half with a lot of stuff that could have easily landed on the editing room floor.
 

Mulli

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therein lies the problem for me. I saw no dynamic shift in this story. I saw this as a huge cash grab by the studio who could have made one EPIC finale ala Return Of The King, but instead decided to divide the movie in half with a lot of stuff that could have easily landed on the editing room floor.
Or they could have another movie like HP #6, which crammed everything together and made almost no sense.

I can understand you not liking it. To me, I thought it was good, and even significantly better than the book.
 

D-Dogg

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If you have read the books, you will love this movie. If you haven't, you will have issues with it like Cheese does. I totally see not getting some of that stuff without the understanding.

For example, they put a tracking spell on Voldemorts name, knowing that only the order of the phoenix dared utter it, and that's how they track the trio. In the book, this is explained out but in the movie they kind of just start saying "he who must not be named" which on its face is completely out of character for Harry & co. And that's the simple stuff. Why they didn't want to call Voldy for having Potter has a lot of backstory around it but yeah, if you aren't in the know it comes off as silly. The mirror shard also has a lot of significance in the book too, and Dobby popping in isn't so deux machina in the book as it would seem in the movie if you didn't have the book background. The house elves in general have been sliced out of the movies other than Dobby a lot in the second and a bit of Kreacher.

Trying to cram all of book 7 into one movie would have been a colossal mistake. HUGE. There is simply too much. This seemed to me to be the one that would be hardest to film overall (both movies) and get the story across because Book 7 gets really deep, introduces new stuff rapidly and it's not simple to keep up with even in the book.

When you get into the final movie, the ownership of the Wand of Destiny aka Deathstick, will be a big deal. They set this up nicely in the previous movie when Snape killed DD after Draco confronted him, and again in this movie during the house fight in the end when Harry and Draco fought briefly. Those little details are must add, because it's a Whaa?! explanation in the first place in the book, and quite important.
 

Shane

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Of course it left a lot to be desired....it is only the first half of the story. Duh. I would be shocked if anyone intended it as a stand alone movie.

Hell I watch everything. Everything but these. I watched the first 3 movies and that was ll I could bare. They all suck! :D
 

Mulli

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Hell I watch everything. Everything but these. I watched the first 3 movies and that was ll I could bare. They all suck! :D
I bet you never read the books. I did, and I can barely stand most of the movies. I can't see the movies being any good if you never read the books.
 

Cheesebeef

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that's not to say I'm not looking forward to the 2nd part of the finale. Like I said, I thought the first 30 minutes transcended the series. I was just let down that the next two hours just seemed like a cool-down in prep for the explosion waiting to happen.
 

jf-08

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If I didn't read the books I would be terribly lost.

Great movie and it was pretty true to the book.
 

Cardinals.Ken

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If I didn't read the books I would be terribly lost.

I haven't read the books, but I have seen all the other films leading up to this one. I think I kept up alright.

The first third, and the last third were solid. However, I took a nap (literally) while they were hiding out in the woods. It just seemed like a lot of fill to justify splitting the film into two parts.
 

Stout

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I haven't read the books, but I have seen all the other films leading up to this one. I think I kept up alright.

The first third, and the last third were solid. However, I took a nap (literally) while they were hiding out in the woods. It just seemed like a lot of fill to justify splitting the film into two parts.

It wasn't fill to justify splitting the film--it was accurate and necessary.
 

Cheesebeef

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Then I probably would have fallen asleep reading the book too.

It just didn't represent well on screen. From a non-Harry Potter reader's perspective it could have been done better.

agreed. it was the reason I stopped reading the books after two, they were putting me to sleep.
 

Chaplin

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agreed. it was the reason I stopped reading the books after two, they were putting me to sleep.

Quotes like this are funny to me, considering the first 2 books are the most juvenile of the series. Harry at 11 is probably going to be less interesting to you than Harry at 17, for example. And the books themselves go through a very noticeable transition from children's book to older level.
 

AzStevenCal

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Quotes like this are funny to me, considering the first 2 books are the most juvenile of the series. Harry at 11 is probably going to be less interesting to you than Harry at 17, for example. And the books themselves go through a very noticeable transition from children's book to older level.

I haven't read any of the later books so perhaps they'd work better for me but I don't think it's the age of the protagonist that did me in. I have no problem re-reading Ender's Game or a YA series such as A Wrinkle In Time but the Potter books just never quite won me over.

Steve
 

Cheesebeef

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I haven't read any of the later books so perhaps they'd work better for me but I don't think it's the age of the protagonist that did me in. I have no problem re-reading Ender's Game or a YA series such as A Wrinkle In Time but the Potter books just never quite won me over.

Steve

agreed. they just seemed like poorly written, uninvolving meh-ness to me. different strokes for different folks.
 

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To her credit, J.K. grew tremendously as a writer over the series. As it got into the final three books, they were really, really good. The first ones can't even compare to the final two...not even close.

The overall story was fun and interesting, which kept me reading. After the third book, I was hooked on the magic and fun. After the 5th book, I was hooked on the intrigue, the politics and the friendships for good.
 

Cheesebeef

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bump... didn't see a Part 2 thread, but saw the movie yesterday and I've got to say, as someone who isn't that big a fan of the series (really liked a couple of the movies, but never needed to rush out and see them), I was pretty blown away by the finale. really well written, acted, paced, great action sequences/special effects, solid twists and just a lot of heart.

my only question is... was a little confused by this and i'm pretty sure this is NOT the case, but it seemed like there was an implication that Snape was actually Harry's father. That's not the case, is it? he just loved his mother and thus cared for Harry, right? can anyone who read the book clear that up for me?
 

Chris_Sanders

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bump... didn't see a Part 2 thread, but saw the movie yesterday and I've got to say, as someone who isn't that big a fan of the series (really liked a couple of the movies, but never needed to rush out and see them), I was pretty blown away by the finale. really well written, acted, paced, great action sequences/special effects, solid twists and just a lot of heart.

my only question is... was a little confused by this and i'm pretty sure this is NOT the case, but it seemed like there was an implication that Snape was actually Harry's father. That's not the case, is it? he just loved his mother and thus cared for Harry, right? can anyone who read the book clear that up for me?

Spoiler

Snape is really a tragic good guy in the story. He was in love with Harry's mother but she chose James Potter instead, who basically made Snape's life miserable all through high school. This is why you see Snape is at times mean to Harry. It is because Harry is a lot like his dad.

Eventually Snape joins the dark side but when Lily Potter is killed by Voldemort, he switches side. This is why Dumbledore trusted Snape because Voldemort killed his true love, no matter how unrequited.

Snape then does his best to protect Potter and guide him through the task ahead. However, Harry always assumes the worst of Snape, just like his dad. In many ways, Snape loves Harry as the son he never had with Lily and hates him since he is so much like the man who took the woman he loved.
 

Cheesebeef

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Spoiler

Snape is really a tragic good guy in the story. He was in love with Harry's mother but she chose James Potter instead, who basically made Snape's life miserable all through high school. This is why you see Snape is at times mean to Harry. It is because Harry is a lot like his dad.

Eventually Snape joins the dark side but when Lily Potter is killed by Voldemort, he switches side. This is why Dumbledore trusted Snape because Voldemort killed his true love, no matter how unrequited.

Snape then does his best to protect Potter and guide him through the task ahead. However, Harry always assumes the worst of Snape, just like his dad. In many ways, Snape loves Harry as the son he never had with Lily and hates him since he is so much like the man who took the woman he loved.

okay, that's what I thought, but there was one moment in the angeled out train station that Dumbledore made a comment that seemed like Snape ALSO could have been his father, but wasn't sure.
 
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