Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

McLoki

What happened? Did everyone take acting (and directing) lessons on the break between movies or what?

I like the Harry Potter stories and would not rate the half-blood prince as one of my favorites from the series. I was not expecting that much from the movie but it delivered in a big way. Definantly the best of the series so far.

Pacing was good, all the scenes contributed to the story and everyone played their role well. Obviously there were some sub-plots that had to be cut from the book, but to be honest, I did not miss any of them in the movie. Bass and surround usage was very good. The quiddich game was the best filmed and actually seemed like a sport that people would want to see....

I give it a solid 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it. Certainly not a waste to see in the theater (although the theater was packed and the crowd was annoyingly noticable during the movie). I will be purchasing on Blu when it becomes available.

Michael

comfortablycurt

Good to hear that it turned out good. Some of the HP movies have been kind of disappointing...I haven't seen The Half Blood Prince yet.

I've read all the books...I'm actually in the middle of re-reading them again right now. I'm on The Order of the Phoenix at the moment.

It seems like all of the movies have really left too much out. Obviously you're going to have that with any book turned into a movie, but it seemed a lot worse in some of the HP movies. They left out crucial plot points, that were essential to the whole story line. It's as if you have to have already read the books to really understand quite a few parts of the movie.

I'm probably gonna go see this one sometime this week.

kawizx9r

McLoki wrote: »

What happened? Did everyone take acting (and directing) lessons on the break between movies or what?

I like the Harry Potter stories and would not rate the half-blood prince as one of my favorites from the series. I was not expecting that much from the movie but it delivered in a big way. Definantly the best of the series so far.

Pacing was good, all the scenes contributed to the story and everyone played their role well. Obviously there were some sub-plots that had to be cut from the book, but to be honest, I did not miss any of them in the movie. Bass and surround usage was very good. The quiddich game was the best filmed and actually seemed like a sport that people would want to see....

I give it a solid 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it. Certainly not a waste to see in the theater (although the theater was packed and the crowd was annoyingly noticable during the movie). I will be purchasing on Blu when it becomes available.

Michael

+1
I'll agree here as the series continues to keep its reputation. I just got caught up on the HP series always having been a LOTR fan, my wife and I had bought and watched all 5 movies within a week before the new one came out, and will say that I am definitely hooked. On top of that I paid half price on my tickets, on opening night! (military veteran discount) although my wife didn't like the fact that this last one didn't have any real ending as opposed to the last 5, oh well. Another 2 are scheduled to come out as an end all am I right?

Erik Tracy

comfortablycurt wrote: »

Good to hear that it turned out good. Some of the HP movies have been kind of disappointing...I haven't seen The Half Blood Prince yet.

I've read all the books...I'm actually in the middle of re-reading them again right now. I'm on The Order of the Phoenix at the moment.

It seems like all of the movies have really left too much out. Obviously you're going to have that with any book turned into a movie, but it seemed a lot worse in some of the HP movies. They left out crucial plot points, that were essential to the whole story line. It's as if you have to have already read the books to really understand quite a few parts of the movie.

I'm probably gonna go see this one sometime this week.

This is on our family list of movies to see - once we can 'cat herd' everyone together for a weekend outing

I will admit to not having read the books, but have immensely enjoyed the movies - which have a nice a 'heart' if I may use that phrase.

As a Tolkien freak/geek/fan (I think I qualify as I have my own website LOTR FAQ that I wrote), I can totally understand the misgivings of Potter book readers who find shortcomings with the films.

Still - overall - I would say this is a very enjoyable series of films - got them all on BD.

I'm looking forward to the finale!

cnh

Sounds good. I'll be taking my 11 year old daughter to see it this week? We've read most of the series together...bedtime reading. Except for the last book, which she pretty much read on her own so I'm out of the loop on the series ending?

The fans, my daughter is one, she has a collection of 'dragons' in her room, usually fill in the gaps as they watch the film and often complain about what was left out.

Hey, it's summer...and it's what you DO!

cnh

AudioGenics

my daughter and a bunch of her friends made it to the opening showing at the theater
her friend's 'boyfriend' held a place in line (2nd) to the box office for 5 hours just for tickets !

kids....its what THEY DO ....

McLoki

kawizx9r wrote: »

Another 2 are scheduled to come out as an end all am I right?

Yes, the final book has been split in two. The next movie will be interesting to see how it goes as it covers (I assume) the first half of the final book - the biggest "what was the point of going through that" of the entire series IMO....

I did think of to rather key points that they did not include in the movie, but in the book, they happen at the very end - so they could still be incorporated into the beginning of the next movie if they need to be there.

The ending of this movie does have kind of a "I told you that story so I could tell you this one" feel to it, but it is a great precursor to the series ending and I am really looking forward to the final two movies.

comfortablycurt

You guys that haven't read the books really should. The movies are pretty good, but they don't even begin to tell you the story. It's more or less a rough summary of the actual story. They leave out A LOT! Obviously they have to do that with any book turned into a movie, but the HP series seems to have been worse in those regards than a lot of others.

The next movie will be interesting to see how it goes as it covers (I assume) the first half of the final book - the biggest "what was the point of going through that" of the entire series IMO....

I know what you mean. The final book does kind of drag along at the beginning. It's all about getting to know the characters, and making more sense of plot points that occur later in the story. It drags along a little bit, but it's necessary.




Since they're splitting the final book into two movies, I'm wondering how they're going to do it. Are they going to film them both at the same time, and release the first half, then the second half a short time later...or is there going to be a big waiting period between the first half and the second half?

McLoki

comfortablycurt wrote: »

Since they're splitting the final book into two movies, I'm wondering how they're going to do it. Are they going to film them both at the same time, and release the first half, then the second half a short time later...or is there going to be a big waiting period between the first half and the second half?

I believe they are being filmed at the same time and being released 7 months apart from each other.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - 19 November 2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - 15 July 2011

comfortablycurt

Damn...so there is going to be a bit of a waiting period. That's not as bad as I figured it'd be though. At least we won't have to wait a year and a half between the two parts.

fatchowmein

McLoki wrote: »

What happened? Did everyone take acting (and directing) lessons on the break between movies or what?

I like the Harry Potter stories and would not rate the half-blood prince as one of my favorites from the series. I was not expecting that much from the movie but it delivered in a big way. Definantly the best of the series so far.

Pacing was good, all the scenes contributed to the story and everyone played their role well. Obviously there were some sub-plots that had to be cut from the book, but to be honest, I did not miss any of them in the movie. Bass and surround usage was very good. The quiddich game was the best filmed and actually seemed like a sport that people would want to see....

I give it a solid 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it. Certainly not a waste to see in the theater (although the theater was packed and the crowd was annoyingly noticable during the movie). I will be purchasing on Blu when it becomes available.

Michael

I agree but would like to add that it dragged perhaps a tad as this movie was setting things up for the next. Tremendously enjoyed the developing relationships.

kawizx9r

fatchowmein wrote: »

I agree but would like to add that it dragged perhaps a tad as this movie was setting things up for the next. Tremendously enjoyed the developing relationships.

I did too, but my wife actually disliked it due to the fact that they emphasized so much on it. Can't wait til the last two though

JohnLocke88

I have to respectfully disagree with the OP. I thought five was much better. HBP was a good one, but not the best. Some scenes just seemed unnecessary and I think the ending was very unclimatic. I hate doing 'compared to the book' statements, but the ending in the book was much better. The scene where Belatrix and Fenrir burn the Burrow wasted time. They should have added more to the ending.

mmadden28

JohnLocke88 wrote: »

...HBP was a good one, but not the best. Some scenes just seemed unnecessary and I think the ending was very unclimatic...... They should have added more to the ending.

+1
I saw it last w/e and was left wanting. When the screen when black I thought NOOOOO. Oh no they didunt! Yep they did.
I guess the whole Half-Blood Prince thing, among others could have been explained better, but I guess you have to read the book.

I still enjoyed it though. Now I guess I have to get onto reading the books (or at least listening to them unabridged).

danz1906

I havent seen it yet,but it looks pretty good.

Erik Tracy

Saw it last week with my boys.

I haven't read the books, but have enjoyed the series - HBP was dark - the whole series gets progressively 'darker' in tone and import - but that is intentional, knowing where the plot line is leading up to.

I likened this one to Empire Strikes Back - there is no closed self-contained stand alone plot - it is dark ending to the on going story.

If you aren't familiar with the series then I wouldn't recommend this one as a first HP experience - but I think at the end of it all, this will still be an important needed 'piece' of the overall saga.

Sherardp

Just watched this on Blu and it was very good. I was actually surprised how good this one turned out. The BD had very good PQ and the SQ was right on. Well worth buying. This one had me on edge a tad, I may even watch again over the weekend.

reeltrouble1

Thanks Sher I will pick it up.

RT1

grif32

I really enjoyed this movie. You can pick it up at Target on Blu-Ray for $10.99 today. Great deal. Price match Walmart which has it in store for $15.99 and use the $5.00 off Blu Ray coupon target has.

KASR

The last two HP movies have had the royal treatment as far as HD transfer goes - so if you can, pick them up on BR (or HD-DVD up to the Order of Phoenix for us nostalgic folks!)

Sherardp

KASR wrote: »

The last two HP movies have had the royal treatment as far as HD transfer goes - so if you can, pick them up on BR (or HD-DVD up to the Order of Phoenix for us nostalgic folks!)

I agree with you on this. I have the rest on HD DVD imports. Again, very good movie.

kuntasensei

Just finished watching the BD. Excellent sounding disc. The movie itself has a lot of dark scenes, but this disc conveys them quite well, without any noticeable artifacts or crushing that I could see.

I've been tempted to pick up 1-5 on BD, but held off when I saw the Ultimate Editions coming out. Now, I'm thinking I may just snag the box set for 1-5 anyway, since every review I've seen thus far says the transfers and audio aren't vastly different (and since I don't care so much about the extras).

concealer404

^Go away.

Reported.