I know we've got a lot of Potter fans here, especially as we've had a good few discussions about the books as they've come out over the years.

So I thought I'd make this thread (perhaps slightly belated) for information on the final three movies.

With that in mind, here's the latest, and newest Half Blood Prince trailer:

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/dor/objects/40311/harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince/videos/potter_halfblood_trlr4_041609.html

- Note the attack on The Burrow. If anyone remembers, they spoke for a while about completely leaving the 'Wedding' scene out (from the book). Looks like they've kept the idea of an attack in, while removing the wedding theme. Not a bad move, IMO, 'cause it looks so bloody cool.

Well, thanks for that trailer......now I am committed to spending a day in the theatre when it is released, knowing one viewing will not be enough to soak it in all the detail.

I am so looking forward to this more than any other movie coming out.

CURSE YOU!!! I now have goosebumps!

Looks like another winner.

God i can't wait...i have wood.

It just is gonna be too damn short. You can't take such a vast and great book and make a movie out of it without leaving so much behind.

I hope they don't try to fit the last book into one movie. They'd better not cut out any of the last epic battle scene.!

It just is gonna be too damn short. You can't take such a vast and great book and make a movie out of it without leaving so much behind.

Can't judge a books size and dictate movie length. 1 page on how meanacing the Whomping Williow looks can be shown in 3 seconds of camera work. There is think the author gives lots of descriptions and back info that isnt needed in the main plot of the movie

Can't judge a books size and dictate movie length. 1 page on how meanacing the Whomping Williow looks can be shown in 3 seconds of camera work. There is think the author gives lots of descriptions and back info that isnt needed in the main plot of the movie

You actually kinda can. There's a formula for length of a film based on the size of a script. Take a look at a script here: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Harry-Potter-and-the-Prisoner-of-Azkaban.html

See how much space they give in between sentences? It breaks down to roughly 1 page of dialogue = 1 minute on screen. That's about two paragraphs of dialogue to 1 minute. I'm pretty sure Half Blood Prince has more than 240 paragraphs in the whole book, hence the wholesale cutting and slaughter.

Its nearly an impossible task to turn a novel into a feature film and keep it close to the same. There are a few successes (Jaws, The Godfather, The Princess Bridge) but for every few successes there are tons of failures (The Lost World, The Shining, Dune, Golden Compass, The Da Vinci Code, Memoirs of a Geisha). Taking a ~20 page comic book or ~20 page short story and turning it into a 2 hour movie seems to work wonders on the other end of the spectrum. Look at anything Phillip Dick wrote, its probably got a blockbuster based on it.

I'll watch the movie, I'll love the movie, but I'll always love the book more.

AHHHH yes the Princess Bridge ... a Tragic story about about a princess who is used to build a bridge ala Holy Grail!

Oops!

I hope they don't try to fit the last book into one movie. They'd better not cut out any of the last epic battle scene.!

The last book is done in two parts , because JK and the movie folks all agreed that pretty much everything in the book was important to the conclusion, and could not be cut and edited to fit a shorter movie time frame.

Pretty sure if you got rid of harry's selfish teenage angst and whining you could cut it by about a 1/3, if not more.

That trailer looks pretty great. The last book was pretty bad but it could be turned into an amazing movie if done right.

'I hope they don't try to fit the last book into one movie. They'd better not cut out any of the last epic battle scene.'

- Nah, I think they realised the magnitude (and the $$$) was too much for one movie. Which is brilliant, each Potter movie is epic in itself, IMO.

But I still have doubts. They've made it into two movies, so what, 6hrs to cover the final book? And yet they're talking about leaving out the first attack on Hogwarts, the massive scene with the death eaters, etc, in Half Blood Prince, as being too repetitive because there's an attack on Hogwarts in the final movie. Well, why split Deathly Hallows into two movies if you're going to leave something like that out in Half Blood Prince? The first attack is obviously extremely important (no need for a spoiler, I think it's obvious why), and they could easily cover it in one of the final three movies without coming off as repetitive, so that worries me.

There's not enough done yet for them to start talking about definate structure to the final one, but what's leaking out is a bit worrying, for sure. I just hope they handle it well, as Deathly Hallows really is fundamental to the entire series.

Still, Half Blood prince looks bloody brilliant. Some of the best movies are when they focus on classes/characters/Hogwarts, and not just the overarching plot of Voldemort.
That's why I loved Azkhaban/Goblet so much. And yay for the return of Quidditch!

the last book was pretty bad but it could be turned into an amazing movie if done right.


blasphemer! Shun the unbeliever!!!

The last book was pretty bad but it could be turned into an amazing movie if done right.

I did not read any of the books, preferring to wait on the movies, up until the final volume.

Well, I bought the final volume, read it, immediately went out and bought the set of 1-6 and read them, followed by a rereading of the final, which was even more rewarding with the small incidental pieces falling into place.

I thought it was very well written and tied up loose ends quite nicely. As far as the "angst", what do you expect from a group of kids that age?

To do the conclusion justice it had to be done in two parts, or it would have been terrible.

The first reviews are in, and they are raving...

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince/

- Booked my ticket! Bring on the 15th!!

The first reviews are in, and they are raving...

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince/

- Booked my ticket! Bring on the 15th!!


The 15th just so happens to be my day off that week, so if I can find a theatre not swarming with screaming shorties I intend to make an afternoon of it.

The 15th just so happens to be my day off that week, so if I can find a theatre not swarming with screaming shorties I intend to make an afternoon of it.

Good luck with that. Pretty sure you're going to have to throw elbows and kicks to move around a theater that day.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the movie, if only because the book its based on was the one that got me interested in the series again. I wasn't a huge fan of Order of the Phoenix, nor Goblet of Fire. Even the last one failed to evoke a sense of excitement like I had with the first through third ones. I'm hopeful that what did get cut (since inevitably it happens) isn't anything that will detract from the story brought about in the book.

As mentioned, Harry's angst etc never did anything to the book for me, so if that goes away...all the better.

Wha? Order of the Phoenix rocked my world!

Too much attempted drama that fell short because there wasn't a proper lead in for me. As I said, I wasn't a huge fan. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first three.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8133379.stm

- A damn shame we won't be seeing anymore 'Dursely' fun at the beginning, but it sounds like cracking fun, anyway. Can't wait.