[Bigfish]

My wife and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II yesterday.  I have read the book and was very interested to see how they would adapt the story to the big screen.  The movie did not disappoint and I highly recommend it to anyone who has seen any of the previous Potter Films.  There are never any dull moments in the film and the 2 hours just seems to fly by.  The movie does a great job of answering the questions that have developed over the previous films.  It is a great ending to the Harry Potter series.  My rating is 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Ken

[richidoo]

Hi ken, we went yesterday too. I liked the movie. After 8 movies I was expecting a bigger ending. They played the 1st movie on TV last night, they all looked so young!

[Noseyears]

I've been impressed by the good reviews on the internet, most people seem to like it. Never been a fan of harry potter but im getting curious. Why not 4 of 5 stars bigfish?

[Rob Babcock]

Same here, never seen so much as a minute of any of them.  But maybe I'll have to partake in a Potter-thon.

[Bigfish]

I've been impressed by the good reviews on the internet, most people seem to like it. Never been a fan of harry potter but im getting curious. Why not 4 of 5 stars bigfish?

I think I wanted to see more of the wizard against wizard fighting special effects.  There was some of that but I felt there would have been more of it. 

As I indicated in my initial post I read the book and both Movies, Part I and Part II, followed the storyline in the book.  If you have not previously watched any of the Potter Movies I recommend you pass on it.  Otherwise it is a very fine ending to the series.  I think a rating of 4 stars is basically a must see and this movie, while very good, does not rate a must see rating.

Ken

[pardales]

I've read all the books. I've seen all the movies. As to this last one: I thought they did an admirable job up until the final 30 minutes. They just did not do the ending sequence justice and the liberties/interpretations that were made were just too freestyle for me -- not in keeping with my read of the book.

I couldn't give it more than 3.5 out of 5. If you've never read the books and your not going to then you will likely be entertained. But as a fan of the books, well you know, the movie always pales in comparison. Read the book!

[sts9fan]

ADD story for a ADD world.  I just cannot understand how adults watch/read this stuff. 

[richidoo]

Hey kris, Who are you calling an adult!?     

One thing this movie did have was excellent subwoofer effects. Especially in the wand fights.

[sts9fan]

I hear ya.  I use the speakers built into my tv. 
I just never got bit by the potter bug. I think it is because in HS I read lots of fantasy and HP imvvvho does not live up to Jordan, Martain, Fiest, Hobb or Goodkind.
Kris

[Elizabeth]

I have read the series through three times.
The last time I read the entire series in a week.
So the movies seem a bit off. More noticable in the later movies
I DO love the first movies, as the whole world of Harry Potter is so wonderous, the kids so cute.
The final movies i feel were made too dark, The visuals in the later movies are all in a sepia tone. It looks crummy.
I have never seen the movies in a theater.

[Bigfish]

I have read the series through three times.
The last time I read the entire series in a week.
So the movies seem a bit off. More noticable in the later movies
I DO love the first movies, as the whole world of Harry Potter is so wonderous, the kids so cute.
The final movies i feel were made too dark, The visuals in the later movies are all in a sepia tone. It looks crummy.
I have never seen the movies in a theater.

Elizabeth:

Your comments about the later movies being made too dark echo those of my wife as we left the theater on Saturday.  She asked me "why did they have to make the film so dark?"  I just thought it was the good versus evil thing where the good was dominant in the early films and evil was dominant especially in the last 3 movies. 

Ken

[mhconley]

I have read all the books and seen all the movies - some in theaters - and we own all the blu-rays.  I decided to reread the books and am currently on page 566 of 684 in the Goblet of Fire (book 4).

I doubt I'll get through the remaining books while the Deathly Hallows part II is still in theaters.  I may need to go see it just to go see it.

I plan <another> Harry Potter movie marathon after I finish the books.

The length of books 4-7 made them cut large parts of the background stories out which made the movies diverge significantly from the books starting with the Goblet of Fire.  Still I think the movies are a very good interpretation of the stories.  I cannot wait to see the last...

Martin

[finsup]

I saw it at IMAX in 3D over the weekend.  It was worth the price of admission.  Not having read the books, I can't really speak to whether the final movies were overly dark.  I am not that sure I get that viewpoint anyway -- there always seemed to be a bit of foreboding, even in the earlier films.

What I can speak to is that many movies, especially serial movies, end badly.  I thought the HP franchise held up very well over time -- better than most.  The ending was satisfying.

[ctviggen]

ADD story for a ADD world.  I just cannot understand how adults watch/read this stuff.

What does ADD have to do with this?  I've read the series three times and gladly would read it more.  I think it's an absolutely fantastic series.  I've also read many, many classics, a lot of science fiction, some fantasy.  I'm not so hot on books other than these, though.  (You won't find me reading much on the best seller list, though I am reading The Game of Thrones.) 

Personally, I can't see how anyone wouldn't be interested in these books.

[pardales]

What does ADD have to do with this?  I've read the series three times and gladly would read it more.  I think it's an absolutely fantastic series.  I've also read many, many classics, a lot of science fiction, some fantasy.  I'm not so hot on books other than these, though.  (You won't find me reading much on the best seller list, though I am reading The Game of Thrones.) 

Personally, I can't see how anyone wouldn't be interested in these books.

I feel similarly. The books were great, I thought. Been through them all twice.

[sts9fan]

What does ADD have to do with this?  I've read the series three times and gladly would read it more.  I think it's an absolutely fantastic series.  I've also read many, many classics, a lot of science fiction, some fantasy.  I'm not so hot on books other than these, though.  (You won't find me reading much on the best seller list, though I am reading The Game of Thrones.) 

Personally, I can't see how anyone wouldn't be interested in these books.

Good question and hopefully I can express my feeling on the matter.  The ADD reference is due to the fact whenever I have tried to watch one of the movies I felt they never focus. The action is constantly shifting and they are just one action sequence after another with no real connection. I never felt the movie or stories had much cohesion between sequences.  I did start one of the books once and they did read as children books. 
Off topic I prefer fiction to challenge me. I actually have also never reread a book because I always want to read something new. Just like I cannot vacation in the same place every year.  That said I am now in a position where I am considering rereading some of my recent reads so I can open some other aspects after reading some analysis.  Mostly this applies to "Infinite Jest".
End Ramble

[wushuliu]

I think I wanted to see more of the wizard against wizard fighting special effects.  There was some of that but I felt there would have been more of it. 

As I indicated in my initial post I read the book and both Movies, Part I and Part II, followed the storyline in the book.  If you have not previously watched any of the Potter Movies I recommend you pass on it.  Otherwise it is a very fine ending to the series.  I think a rating of 4 stars is basically a must see and this movie, while very good, does not rate a must see rating.

Ken

Agree, on the whole it is a very good film and frankly if you've made it this far it's not like you're NOT going to see it. But yes, my gf and I thought the battle scenes a bit anticlimactic and almost funny when it ended (I think I've seen the school more traumatized after a quidditch match). Franky, I think all the David Yates directed HP films share awkward pacing and emotional moments, he never quite gets the same level of performance as the earlier directors. Luckily since most people have read the books to some degree, those gaps get filled in.

[wushuliu]

Good question and hopefully I can express my feeling on the matter.  The ADD reference is due to the fact whenever I have tried to watch one of the movies I felt they never focus. The action is constantly shifting and they are just one action sequence after another with no real connection. I never felt the movie or stories had much cohesion between sequences.  I did start one of the books once and they did read as children books. 
Off topic I prefer fiction to challenge me. I actually have also never reread a book because I always want to read something new. Just like I cannot vacation in the same place every year.  That said I am now in a position where I am considering rereading some of my recent reads so I can open some other aspects after reading some analysis.  Mostly this applies to "Infinite Jest".
End Ramble

I think this is true of the later movies, not the pre-David Yates directors Columbus, Newell, Cuaron.

Oh boy, dropping 'Infinite Jest' in a HP thread? Come on now!!!   

I don't consider HP to be real 'fantasy', it's more like a fairy tale ready-made for airplane reading. What makes them work is you can tell Rowling is writing for herself and from the heart. That said I prefer the films to the books. I don't think she's that good of a writer and I became bored with the books fairly quickly. I have a lot of respect for her ability to bring the 'heart' of the books to the screen so successfully, and for so many sequels, unprecedented. She's earned every penny.

[nathanm]

What bothers me most about the movies is that we are never given a really good reason WHY Voldemort is so fucking evil.  Not that this is anything new, there's plenty of Just Evil villains in stories, but like at least with Sauron he's a non-human, supernatural type of entity or even the evil potential in everyone's mind.  But Tom Riddle was a regular kid who became evil for no certain reason that I can recall.  What the hell happened to him?  Raped? Tortured?  You don't get that way for no reason. 

Harry on the other hand has way more reasons to become a villainous Dark Wizard; his entire childhood was spent under abusive assholes.  We get a little backstory on Snape (although Harry's dad being a dick to him seems to have been left out this time) but nothing concrete on Voldemort.

Granted you can find fault with plenty of the logic in the magic world, but the lack of backstory for the central bad guy seems a big omission.

[sts9fan]

I agree that IJ is a stupid drop in a HP thread. I had a few beers in me.  The point was, it was the first book I NEED or want to reread shortly after the first reading.