*****SPOILERS AGAIN*****

 

I didn't mind about them glossing over Lupin's death as that was true to the book, although I wish the book would've said more about it.

 

Fred's death was a bit more in-depth in the book I think, and perhaps it should've been slightly more in the film rather than just like "Fred's dead. Oh well, let's move on".

 

Does Harry tell Ron & Hermione that he's going into the forest to die, in the book? I thought he sneaked off, under the cloak, but I'm not too sure. Either way, I'd have perhaps liked to have seem more emotion when he told them, at least on Rons part.

Edited July 19, 201113 yr by Jáhq

Hopefully they have recorded all the bits that are missing in the book (I don't know why they didn't do them for this film tbh. They sound like they could be incredible if they were done!) and will put them on "a special extended edition" DVD. :lol: :( I would've loved to have seen

McGonagall and co fight against Voldemort! As well as Luna, Hermoine and Gilly beat out Bellatrix.

 

 

Grr. Now I'm thinking it could have been even more incredible than it already is! :lol:

 

I also agree with all the buzz regarding Alan Rickman as Snape! His death was brilliantly done (if quite dark!) and acted out phenomenally. GOing to see it again tomorrow though. Exciting! :D

Again there are spoilers here!

 

Will try and give my opinion on this.

 

To say it didn't work as a separate film is rubbish - if anything it is the other way round!

 

It was quite faithful to the book - Harry, Ron and Hermione are separated quite a bit in the book - it goes to show how they have changed over the years as Harry had to finish things off alone and Ron and Herminone are getting closer. Again faithfully to the book, the deaths of Fred and Tonks/Lupin are brushed over so I didn't feel cheated. There was alot going on its no surprise.

 

As for your comment about the film makers not knowing what characters would be prominent later, JK Rowling kept them up to speed throughout and made sure certain characters were retained in the films as they would have a part in later films. I thought Michael Gambon was a much better Dumbledore - he gave the part an edge that Richard Harris just didn't have.

 

Overall, it was the 2nd best film of the series for me (after the excellent Prisoner of Azkaban) and I thought Maggie Smith almost stole the whole film!

*Spoilers once again ahead*

 

The first half was more satisfying to me when it came to character moments, editing/pacing and atmosphere and it had a defined beginning, middle and end; whereas Part 2 was just an end: it doesn't work (for me) as a separate film from Part 1, whereas Part 1 works for me as independent movie (even with the cliffhanger).

 

The trio not spending enough time together I concede was more of a knee jerk reaction, but it's not something I noticed in the book, but of course that also included the Part 1 events - I don't know, I think in hindsight it’s more of the fact that I really wanted the climax to be everyone in the Great Hall and I wanted more emotion from Grint when Harry said he was going to walk to his death.

 

The thing the film can do that the book can't is be omnipresent; it could have show more of the battle and it could have shown more of the key player's deaths - there was an opportunity for the movie to expand on what we were given on the page, it didn't and I felt it was confined to the courtyard. As I said, the buildup was fantastic, but the scenes we got, while grand, felt confined and the only moment we got to see the scope of the fighting going on was when the trio was running briefly through it. And as I said, the final fight should have also been concentrated in the Great Hall with Harry giving his speech to Voldemort about Snape being a hero etc, and there should have been more build-up to the Bellatrix/Molly fight scene, it would have been a better climax to the Battle.

 

Regarding JK Rowling informing the filmmakers, as far as I am aware, she only told them the bare essentials of what to include and only told Rickman the fate of his character so he could play it right. Dobby's death for example had little impact on me compared to the books as his role was radically reduced; Harry's eyes weren't highlighted etc it may seem like minor quibbles, but it does dampen the emotional impact of key scenes when it's build up was either not included or reduced (case in point the two-way looking glass, just randomly showed up in the movies).

 

Also, Richard Harris would have been perfect if younger, but he was so ill towards the end of filming, that in CoS he struggled to capture the witty, sharp spirit of Dumbledore though he nailed his warmth and embodied himself in the character. Gambon did nothing for me; he just turned up and played himself, which he has admitted to doing as well as not reading the books: he was acceptable in PoA and HBP but character destroying in GoF. His best moments were the duel in OtP and the after-life scene. Bar that I was never impressed with him, and Dumbledore was the only adult character I think they did poorly - Smith, Rickman, Coltrane, Shaw was PERFECT casting. It was a shame the most important adult character was so disappointing for me.

 

On the more technical side, the 3D added nothing, seeing it in IMAX gave it all the operatic feel it needed without the dodgy post-conversion.

 

I would still give it a 3/5 - although I feel that the filmmaking and the mini-industry feel of the making of the series over the years, and the camaraderie on the set makes the last film an oddly emotional experience that has nothing to do with what we see on screen.

 

EDIT:

 

Box Office Update

 

Estimated opening weekend of $168.55 million ($92.1m Friday; $42.88m Saturday; $33.6m Sunday) marking a series high and beating the opening weekend record; but is only sixth in terms of attendance and it also has the steepest Friday to Saturday drop on record for a non-holiday weekend, falling 53 percent, and a further 22 percent Saturday-to-Sunday.

 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3211&p=.htm

 

Foreign box office takings has beat even the best predictions with a massive $307 million over the weekend; 18 percent higher than the watermark set by Pirates 4. Worldwide for the weekend it has grossed $475.6 million.

 

The UK was the top foreign territory with $36.6 million (£22.69m) which is the best three-day weekend ever. It also shattered Australia's three day weekend record with $26.7 million.

 

It should cross the $500million WW mark by tomorrow, its sixth day on release (it opened in some countries on Wednesday) which beats the record set recently by Transformers 3 and will almost certainly become the third $1 billion movie of the summer.

 

What is interesting though, is its 3D opening weekend share in foreign cinemas is only 61 percent compared to Pirates 4’s 66 percent and Transformers 3’s 70 percent. As at the moment the 3D fad depends on the international market, it could mean the love affair could be growing cold: maybe.

 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3212&p=.htm

Edited July 18, 201113 yr by Daniel II

I'm seeing the film in 18 hours time! :D

 

The 7pm booking tomorrow is completely full too apparently, that's quite a feat 3 days after release :D

Edited July 18, 201113 yr by Slowpoke

Oh Daniel, I can agree with you on a fair bit (as I shall say in a bit) but Gambon as Dumbledore was brilliant! So much love for him. I always thought Harris was a bit too wet towel as Dumbledore personally.

 

Overall I absolutely LOVED it and I'm pleased that the absolute highlight of it all, as with Daniel - Snape's Pensieve - was kept along with the doe Patronus moment. The only part I came close to crying was that and Snape cradling Lily, and it will be an absolute travesty if Rickman doesn't get an Oscar nomination at least as he played the role perfectly in this. Maggie Smith was also fantastic in this (I had such an inner squee when she took on Snape, and with the 'I've always wanted to use that spell!' line).

 

But, onto the negatives. I do think they slightly fumbled the battle resumption after Neville pulled out the sword of Gryffindor - there wasn't really that much emotional impact from the Bellatrix death and Molly's eternal line, which ought to have been the highlight of the whole movie, and the ending (along with the epilogue) felt a bit off (what was wrong with having an extra line where Harry uses the Elder Wand to restore his own?). Another little mini-scene in the epilogue would've made it perfect, but as it is it was like, you went to the effort of keeping the epilogue just for that line to Albus Potter? I was still feeling hella wistful either way though. I was also quite disappointed they didn't manage to fit in the Dumbledore/Grindelwald backstory - a flashback or two would've been perfect (although half of that was because I was just as intrigued to see if they'd dare fit Rowling's gay Dumbledore interpretation into the movie. Which possibly was enough of an issue to make them think it would be wiser to sidestep it entirely.), and even though it was over two hours it was still the shortest, they could've easily whacked in another five or ten minutes for that. That said, there's enough material in there that if Rowling really wanted she could do an entire spin-off devoted to Dumbledore and Grindelwald covering Dumbledore's youth all the way up to their eventual final battle. Goodness knows any sort of proper prequel book/movie would be a massive moneyspinner in any case, and Rowling could certainly do it justice.

 

Other than that incredibly enjoyable. I'm now going to feel hollow for the next couple of weeks until Pottermore premieres.

Also, mildly off-topic, but FAVE CHARACTERS OVERALL TOP FIVE NOW:

 

01 Snape

02 Lupin

03 Hermione

04 McGonagall

05 Dumbledore

01. Dobby

02. Luna

03. Snape

04. Ron

05. Hermione

 

I am slightly obsessed with Dobby and Luna though! :wub: I'd actually say Harry is my least favourite character... well Daniel is the worst actor out the lot of them at least :lol:

01. Luna

 

That is all.

Also, mildly off-topic, but FAVE CHARACTERS OVERALL TOP FIVE NOW:

 

01 Snape

02 Lupin

03 Hermione

04 McGonagall

05 Dumbledore

 

I'm only up to film 4 on my catchup but I'm so down with snape at #1!

Tirren, to be honest I don't think that either Harris or Gambon nailed the part of Dumbledore - he was supposed to be eccentric, camp, witty, wise, warm - if Harris was younger I think he would have been perfect, but I agree that he was just a bit too restrained, I think though that was more due to his age and ill health during filming; Gambon on the otherhand was just too cold for my liking and I can't really forgive the character annihilation that occurred in GoF "DID YOU PUT YA NAME IN THE GOBLET YOU WEE LITTLE PRICK!" it was awful.

 

Oh yes, I would have loved to have got more of Dumbledore’s backstory, and while I don't really hold it against them, personally I would have adored to have seen the 1,000 odd House Elves storm into battle led by Kreacher. It was a highlight in the book.

 

Interestingly, I didn't even know this until yesterday, but Rowling was supposed to have been planning to write a prequel after Deathly Hallows, and in 2008 she did an 800 word short story for Waterstones about James and Sirius which was a fun little read; but I think a lot of that background information and ideas for a prequel and such will just be absorbed into Pottermore. She’s hinted though that she could return to the world after a 10 odd year break, so you never know. A book centred on the first wizarding war perhaps? A full on Dumbldoor, tragic love story? Pottermore is going to be immense though, I love all the titbits and stuff that Rowling gives us, and this is going to be the jackpot!

 

Rickman getting an Oscar nomination would be great, but I doubt it. I think the film is a lock for being nominated for Special Effects, Make Up/Costume and Art Direction; Score, Sound/Sound Mixing, Editing and maybe Adapted Screenplay is a possibility but Acting/Directing/Movie is a long shot.

 

Also,

 

CHARACTER RANK*

 

1) Snape

2) Hermione

3) Dumbledoor

4) McGonagall

5) Harry

6) Ron

7) Luna

8) Neville

9) Fred/George

10) Lord Voldemort

 

Doing this makes me realise just how many good characters there are.

 

*Subject to change.

Edited July 18, 201113 yr by Daniel II

You're right in that that was Dumbledore's one properly off scene given it doesn't really fit at all with his character - a little more explanation of that one scene would've justified it, but I think Gambon was good enough in the other films to easily outweigh it. I adored Gambon in things like the scene at 'King's Cross', there's where I felt he got it down properly. I suppose I'm a little biased in that his voice was EVERYTHING I imagined Dumbledore to be.

 

I do really, really hope we get a prequel centred on Dumbledore. God knows I've been craving information on Grindelwald's takeover of Europe, and from the single photograph in Deathly Hallows alone you get a hint of the love story behind it all (which is damned impressive considering it's just one shot with not all that much happening in it - and much as I'm a NOTED CRITIQUE of Jamie Campbell-Horseface, he got the expression and demeanour of young Grindelwald bang on in there).

Completley OT but I must say Tirren, your signature is INCREDIBLE. Talk about combining two epic films.

Completley OT but I must say Tirren, your signature is INCREDIBLE. Talk about combining two epic films.

Oh there are LOADS, it's brilliant:

 

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/270701_118029058290376_117989641627651_139632_6746263_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/281617_118028958290386_117989641627651_139624_1447815_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262387_118028908290391_117989641627651_139621_4309853_n.jpg

 

And my PERSONAL FAVE

 

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/261912_118028891623726_117989641627651_139620_1604424_n.jpg

Those are hilarious, there's so many on Tumblr. :lol:

 

CHARACTER RANK:

 

01 Snape

02 Luna

03 Hermione

04 Bellatrix

05 Professor McGonagall

I do really, really hope we get a prequel centred on Dumbledore. God knows I've been craving information on Grindelwald's takeover of Europe, and from the single photograph in Deathly Hallows alone you get a hint of the love story behind it all (which is damned impressive considering it's just one shot with not all that much happening in it - and much as I'm a NOTED CRITIQUE of Jamie Campbell-Horseface, he got the expression and demeanour of young Grindelwald bang on in there).

I agree that would be amazing - plus it could expand on the hints that Rowling has given on the Grindlewald/Hitler parallel.

 

Bandwagon! Here is my character rank (based in the most part on the books):

 

1. Hermione

2. Luna

3. Dolores Umbridge (Amazing character!)

4. Bellatrix

5. Ron

 

6. McGonagall

7. Snape

8. Molly Weasley

 

A top 8 there. Harry would be about 100th, due to the woodenness of his character.

CHARACTER RATE

 

01 Bellatrix (obviously)

02 Snape

03 Luna

04 Ron

05 Voldemort

 

If it was based solely on the last film, Snape would obviously be #1 and Neville and McGonagall would be in there.

CHARACTER RATE

 

01 Bellatrix (obviously)

02 Snape

03 Luna

04 Ron

05 Voldemort

 

If it was based solely on the last film, Snape would obviously be #1 and Neville and McGonagall would be in there.

OMGG I forgot Bellatrix :o *edits*

CHARACTER RATE

 

01 Bellatrix (obviously)

YES.

YES.

 

Her and Alan Rickman are the only actors in the whole franchise that have completley got the character from the book bang on imo. Helena was INSPIRED casting, and plays an incredible Bella.

Oh MY, how could I forget Bellatrix?! She's probably somewhere between 3rd and 6th for me.