Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (film)

Trey_P-I_47 · #1 07-11-2007, 02:52 PM

I didnt care for it nearly as much as the previous 4, it seemed to jump around way to much and leave out things entirely. The wrong people were doing things as the book depicted and it just seemed like David Yates didnt really know what was going on. There were no smooth transitions and though the dialog did have times where it was word for word from the book it just seemed to lack the luster the other films had. I did enjoy the very end of the movie with the big fight scene inside the Ministry of Magic, but other than that I found myself wondering whether or not I had wasted my time to even go and see this movie.

It just seemed like Yates didnt know what to do with Order of the Phoenix, he took an 800+ page book and turned it into the shortest movie yet, I mean it is acceptable for a 'good' movie to last close to 3 hours, so what was wrong with this movie lasting a little longer than 138 minutes? It just seems like with the extra time more effort could have at least gone into smoother transitions from scenes and actual ideas from the book. I sincerely hope that they search for a new Director for Half Blood Prince, there was too much vital information in Order of the Phoenix that just shouldnt have been left out, and if Yates is left in charge of the next movie, then it is likely it wont be as captivating as it should be either.

Another thing that slightly bothered me was no Quidditch, I mean we are talking about one of Harry's comforts, and that wasnt even offered in this movie. It just seems like a shame to me that this movie didnt turn out better.

Oh and Helena Bonham Carter was magnificent in her role as Bellatrix LaStrange

nikki1920 · #2 07-11-2007, 04:19 PM

That is my biggest peeve with it: there was no Quidditch, hence no subplot with Ron. What happened to the Percy thing?! I was looking forward to that angle. I felt like a lot of the little things were left out.

But ITA that the fight scene at the end made up for it.

Trey_P-I_47 · #3 07-11-2007, 04:24 PM

yeah the fight scene at the end was the only thing in my opinion that saved that movie, because as much as I was furious at the rest of the movie as soon as Harry reached the Ministry I immediatley started to like the movie alot more.

tinydancer · #4 07-11-2007, 04:40 PM

Just got back, and I liked it a lot. I need to re-read the book, because I had forgotten a lot of the subplots that had to be cut for time (I presume.)

OneTimeSBX · #5 07-11-2007, 05:38 PM

i havent read one word of the HP books, but have seen all the movies and i like them a lot. apparently its a bit of a benefit if you havent read the books, because you dont get so sidetracked. i will probably read them all after ive seen all the movies...

AOII_LB93 · #6 07-11-2007, 05:53 PM

I'm not quite sure what to think. The part of me that enjoys movies thought it was good, but like Trey said there was a lot missing and plot changes that just weren't necessary. I had hoped they would have been somewhat more faithful to the book.

*sighs* I was just expecting....more.

Pike/PhiDeltmom · #7 07-11-2007, 07:06 PM

Went with my two sons to the 12:01 showing at Universal City Walk here in Orlando. Pike/Son bought our tickets Monday so we would make sure we saw it on the biggest screen. We liked it a lot, but spent the whole ride home disecting scenes we felt they shouldn't have left out, could have done better or altered for no explainable reason. I persoanlly thought they did a better job with Order of the Pheonix than Goblet of Fire.

Pike/PhiDeltmom · #8 07-11-2007, 07:07 PM

Went with my two sons to the 12:01 showing at Universal City Walk here in Orlando. Pike/Son bought our tickets Monday so we would make sure we saw it on the biggest screen. We liked it a lot, but spent the whole ride home disecting scenes we felt they shouldn't have left out, could have done better or altered for no explainable reason. I still thought they did a better job with Order of the Pheonix than Goblet of Fire.

MysticCat · #9 07-11-2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trey_P-I_47

yeah the fight scene at the end was the only thing in my opinion that saved that movie, because as much as I was furious at the rest of the movie as soon as Harry reached the Ministry I immediatley started to like the movie alot more.

Actually, that was the part of the movie that disappointed me the most -- that and the lack of a real conversation with Dumbledore at the end. My reasons: The thing that makes the scene in the Department of Msyteries so compelling in the book is that the 6 members of Dumbledore's Army don't just manage to run from the Death Eaters, they actually give them a run for their money. They have been fairly well-trained by Harry and that, coupled with their determination, makes them an actual challenge to the DEs, both offensively and defensively. Some of them actually get hurt, but so do some of the DEs. In the movie, basically all they did was yell Stupify. (Okay, Neville seemed to get in one Petrificus totalis.) I thought all of this really mangled what is one of the major thrusts of the book. (I also missed seeing the prophecies rise up and recite when the globes were broken -- that would have been a cool effect -- as well as V's anger at Bellatrix.) The fight between Dumbledore and V was better, but again the major plot point was mangled -- it wasn't that Harry fought off V's possession; V could not stand to possess Harry for more than a minute because of Harry's ability to love. That's been a fundamental theme since Book 1. It seemed to me that the change there really went to the heart of the story.

Overall, I liked it. Umbridge was fantastic. (Would have liked to have seen more of her and McGonagall, though.) Like all of the previous movies, major plot points were omitted (face it -- almost all of JKR's plot points turn out to be major), but for the most part I could live with that, even if I was sorry not to see them. I liked the mood of the movie a great deal -- better than PoA or GoF to me.

And I think Yates is on for HBP.

Trey_P-I_47 · #10 07-11-2007, 09:36 PM

Yeah IMDB has him listed as the director for HBP, but I wonder if he gets enough moderate to bad reviews if they wont try and replace him. Warner Brothers wants the movies to be as large as they can and if Yates is leaving major things out, even though he could have easily had up to another 25-30 minutes, it just seems as if it wasnt very well thought out to me. I guess we will see when all the money is finished rolling in, if it has dropped drastically from GoF, then we may be in for a new director, if it remains the same....well we will see I guess. But I have a feeling that they are already rolling on HBP and its too little to late to get a new Director, maybe he will get the hint from peoples ideas and criticism on this one

MysticCat · #11 07-11-2007, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trey_P-I_47

Yeah IMDB has him listed as the director for HBP, but I wonder if he gets enough moderate to bad reviews if they wont try and replace him.

I doubt that will be a problem -- they'll be more concerned about box office than reviews, and I haven't seen any bad reviews -- but even if it is, they won't replace him.

Quote:

Warner Brothers wants the movies to be as large as they can and if Yates is leaving major things out, even though he could have easily had up to another 25-30 minutes, it just seems as if it wasnt very well thought out to me.

All of the movies, except maybe the first one, have left major things out. That may be partly the director, but it's also the producer(s) and the screenwriters.

Even though there have been a number of directors so far, all of the movies have had the same principal producer: David Heyman. He's the guy who negotiated the film rights for Warner Bros and who has been perhaps the main contact with JKR about making sure the movies do the books justice in her eyes.

FWIW, I just saw Daniel Radcliffe on Larry King (which I usually avoid like the plague) and he said Yates has been his favorite director and that he's thrilled he's back for HBP. Granted, that may have been some puffery, but since he usually seems to be very careful about being evenhanded, I'm taking him as sincere.

ZTABullwinkle · #12 07-11-2007, 10:41 PM

Whew. I was getting worried that I must have been one of the few people who felt like I did about the movie. Don't get me wrong, the movie is good. However, I feel like they deviated too much from the book. A little in the past movies wasn't much, but it was TOO noticeable tonight.