My wife re-read the book the day before seeing the movie and tore the movie apart. So there may be something to that.
Of course I wish they spent more time in the pensieve and Dumbledore discussions about it all.
The addition liked the most was Harry touching Gaunt’s ring and getting flashbacks/memories. He cricks his neck like Voldemort and Dumbledore stares at him.
Foreshadowing that Harry is himself a horcrux?
That makes sense. Though if they were truly trying to show that Harry was learning to think before acting, I think they would have been a little less subtle.
The screenplay did include Harry’s exchange with Lupin during which Lupin emphasized the necessity of trusting Dumbledore (and by extension, Snape). I still don’t believe Harry would ever trust Snape in a situation where his blood was already up. The movie did a REALLY good job of reminding us at the very beginning that Harry was shell-shocked by Sirius’s recent death. Book and movie Harry blamed Snape for that. There was no trust between Harry and Snape.
Sampiro–yes, that scene with Harry and Draco on the train is quite close to the book (although did everyone notice that the interior of the train has changed?). Draco does indeed stomp on Harry’s nose, break it and say “that’s for my father” and leave Harry in his peculiar predicament.
CyclopticX–but AD’s asking Harry that re Hermione spoils the tension for the viewer. And then the ambiguity is again set up re Ron/Hermione/Harry at the very end. IMO, one cannot say that films must show and not tell and then say it’s ok that we were told this very salient fact, but then go back to showing again. If anything, having Harry inform AD re his feelings has spoiled a major surprise in a later film.
Ron was not upset enough about Ginny and Dean or Ginny and [fill in the blank]. Nor was Harry shown to be trepidatous about Ron’s reaction. And Ron would not have played the poisoning off as a laugh–the twins might, but not Ron.
Still, I plan to see it again (matinee) this weekend. It is a very enjoyable film.
And if they can change things willy-nilly, I do hope they kill off Percy in the end, instead of the Weasley that they do kill off.
And could we please, PLEASE, lose Hagrid and Grawp as a subplot? It’s a dead end.
Guilty as charged.
My little girl was extremely upset at Dumbledore’s death. When we arrived home, she had to draw pictures of him in rememberance and refused to go to bed until she was done (not that we insisted really strongly - she obviously had to get it out of her). She’s a really sweet child.
She’s also worried that Hedwig died in the fire at the Beasley’s. 
I enjoyed the movie greatly and think it may be the best movie in the series (I have to re-watch PoA to make sure). I was a bit disappointed at the lack of a big battle at the end or the funeral scene, but I also realize that the movie was 2.5 hours and adding all that makes it roughly 3 hours and that’s not going to happen.
I enjoyed the humor. Finally a HP movie that was as funny as the books. A very good setup for the finale.
That’s actually quite touching, JohnT. How old is your daughter? And shall I assume that she hadn’t read the books beforehand?
Uh oh.
I was tempted to yell, " Freebird!!!"
I thought it felt flat. When it gained legs ( the Weasley’s at Christmas) it leveled off again, itstead of gaining momentum to a cresendo that is
The cave scene (excellent) and Dumbledore’s death (changes were annoying.). Which should have left us begging for more. The ending was …well…where is the next scene? Like a nice funeral or something?
There was some continuity issue in the scene just before Dumbledore gives Harry the message to go get snape and talk to no one else. The scene before didn’t flow into it at all. They must have cut a scene.
**Jim Broadbent’s ** eyebrows should be nominated for an academy award. He was very satisfactory in this role.
Rickman as usual, is the master of the pause.
The Young and Younger Tom Riddles were equally very, very good. Though I was hoping for the explosive rage that Tom Riddle When We Meet Him At The Orphanage would be shown. I thought it quite piviotal in the book.
When we meet Narcissa Malfoy, I swear I thought she was bald on the top of her head because of the gray/white hair on the side of her head and the dark hair atop. It was such an odd camera shot.
I would have thought that the bit where Harry drinks the Lucky Potion would have had an interal brain-shot where it is his brain-Lucky potion, tell him where to go, just like in the book.
I want to go to Weasley’s Wizardarding Wheezes. Lovely shop, nicely done. Fred and George are quite the hotties.
Condensing a book down of this size and meandering is a momumental task.
I cannot imagine where #7 part 1 will begin and end and #7 part two will begin at all. The ending is easy. Rosebud kills Vader.
And now that I’ve seen the movie, I’ll back up and concur with your complaint. In the book, the edited memory includes mention of the word Horcrux, to which the falsified response of Slughorn is along the lines of, “I don’t know anything about Horcruxes, and wouldn’t tell you if I did!” So it’s quite clear that Dumbledore has been aware for quite some time that Riddle was gathering information about them. In the movie, though, that word is transformed into a mumble in the edited memory, and it is strongly implied that Dumbledore had no clue about this until Harry supplied the memory. Which makes a some other things not make much sense at all …
Agreed. Stone fox.
(This… this was a joke… right…?)
“Uh-oh”??? Did Hedwig die???
Sophie is 7. (hears her voice in my head)… Sorry, she is seven and a half! And she hasn’t read the books - probably about a year away from tackling them, based on her current reading progress.
In the seventh book yes. It’s kind of a throwaway moment though (it’s supposed to be) so it’s unclear if it will be in the movie. My guess is that it won’t be.
To give a response to the “knowing the book clouds your judgement of the movie”; taking the book out of the equation, I thought the movie itself was boring.
The beginning was kinda cool, the bridge being destroyed was cool and the field scene was…eh. But aside from those…there wasn’t anything that was really cool and fantastical.
Well that’s a better criticism than “They didn’t do X like in the book”. Although you are the first person I’ve heard just flat out say that it just wasn’t good in the general sense, as if there was nothing they could have done with the material to make it interesting to you. You’re entitled to that view, but most of the complaints are that it would have been so much better if they would have been more faithful to the book in certain areas.
Funny story that I wanted to mention…
One of the people I saw the movie with leaned over and said “So he (Dumbledore) just trying to be Gandalf?” We had a bit of a chuckle then left it as is. The very next scene was the cave/horcrux/invation of the Smigels.
I laughed.
Definitely. I can’t remember the lines exactly, but I almost thought he was going to tell him right there and blow a crucial plot cog of tDH.
I am not a purist in the sense that everything in the book must be in the movie or that they cannot take short cuts or adapt the book plot to filmable sequences, BUT I dislike it when adequate care is not taken. In PoA, it would have taken one sentence to refer to the patronus as James’ and to say who the Marauder’s were etc.
In this film, too much was explained and not enough was acted, IMO. I am going to see it again tomorrow (I got canceled at work), and will have more to add then. I am perfectly happy that the substory re Lupin and Tonks was abolished and fast-forwarded as it was. But AD is seriously lacking in depth and the end just faded away.
Also, having just finished book 7, how on earth are they going to go into the complex wand switching that occurs, now that they so drastically altered the Death scene in this film? A great deal hinges on whose wand was used when etc.
I also didn’t understand Narcissa’s hair–it was hideous. I have always thought that Narcissa was as beautiful (and flawed) as her name–this woman looked like Cruella DeVille. I don’t believe for a minute that she was less than white blonde fair–cruel and wrong, but beautiful.
i really enjoy luna. i do wish she had more of a part.
she is really the best secondary character.
i also was baffled by ms malfoy’s hair. her hair should be the same colour as draco and lucius. not the opposite of a skunk.