Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Please continue pre-release discussion here.

Movie:
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" (Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Bill Nighy, Julie Walters, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter)

Release Date:
11/19/2010

Rating:
PG-13 (for sequences of intense action violence, wand fondling, spell regurgitating, Death Eater grinding, Potterhead pimple popping and pre-viewing cries that

Spoiler:

Snape kills Dumbledore

throughout.

Running Time:
146min. (2h. 26m.)

IMDb Synopsis:

IMDb Info and Rating:
8.3 (18,787 votes as of 11/22/10)

Rotten Tomatoes:
Fresh:162 Rotten:43 (79% as of 11/22/10)

Metacritic:
68 metascore ('Generally favorable reviews' as of 11/22/10)

Trailer:
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Poster Art:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...vie_poster.jpg

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Caught a sneak preview last night and I absolutely loved it. I liked how they started the movie with the 3 main characters, which was I guess the filmmakers' way of saying, "it's gonna be about this 3".

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Just curious: What did you think of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the film)? That was my favorite book in the series and my least favorite of the films with the number of things they cut out entirely that were CRUCIAL to the storyline and with the added fluff somehow finding it's way in.

I'm hoping this is a huge improvement. At the very least, it should have much better music (with an extraordinary composer stepping up to the plate).

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Half-Blood Prince was an AWFUL movie.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Yeah, basically it was... I just liked it for the performances from the three leads, the cinematography, etc.

If die-hard Harry Potter book fans can look forward to more of the same with this film I'm going to be hugely let down. I just don't know if I could handle that. I'm hoping this will be truer to the book than any of the other films have even been. That doesn't seem too unreasonable with it being split in two parts.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw this last night in a packed theater.

This is, by far, the best film of the series.

Before I continue, I must, must provide this caveat: don't read the book prior to seeing any of these movies. Too much is cut out and changed. I did it once, and am not doing it again. I like the book and the film to live in their own space.

So... yes, best film of the series. I'm shocked that it's still in the hands of the same director and screenwriter. Where the last movie (from what I remember) seemed like a combination wizard police procedural and magical teen comedy, this film finally not only gets the tone of the book right, but actually surpasses it.

(Again, note it is an improvement in tone, not plot, story, or characters.)

And I have to think that a large part of it is thanks to Alexandre Desplat, who in one fell swoop turns the music of the series into something conjured up by Hans Zimmer at his most mysterious. This, in turn, opens up the sound mixing and editing and let's the fights be explosive and effective. Magic wand tiffs have now gone from childish "pew pew pew" to crackling, thunderous matches. Add to this the fact that (finally) the movie can concentrate on mostly one plot and mostly just the three main characters, and it puts everything best about Harry Potter into high gear.

The audience cried and broke into applause at several points, signs that this may be the most successful Potter movie yet. At its best, it approaches Jackson's trilogy in near-flawless execution.

I bought the first few Potter movies but rarely had the desire to revisit them. This one I want to see tomorrow night again.

Just don't compare it to the book.



One postscript: there was more than one scene that definitely had 3D in mind. And in the bad jumping-at-the-camera sense. Thankfully, it's only a small handful, and they're scattered about enough that it never takes you out of the film.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is decent enough, but does the same things wrong as the other movies, where this doesn't feel like a film, it feels like a bunch of scenes and characters shoved into two and a half hours with a wisp of a plot holding it together. I was surprised by just how dark and serious this one is; may as well be called Harry Potter and the Deathly Serious Expressions. It starts out quite interesting, with Harry being rescued by pretty much everyone who's still alive at this point, only to be ambushed by evil beings riding plumes of black smoke. This is the template for the film: establish something interesting enough, say the "deatheaters" are on their way, then have the baddies bust up the party (at one point, literally), have everyone scatter and throw in at least one "No! We have to protect Harry!". Dashiell Hammett's school of screenwriting - when you've written yourself into a corner, have two deatheaters bust in the door. (On contrails of black smoke, which lose their effect quickly)

The bits with the new eeevil ministry of magic cracking down on anyone who isn't a pure wizard does all that you might expect - nazi overtones of racial superiority and concentration camp treatments, soviet propaganda references, even a nice "The Crucible"-type witch trial where it's clever that the accused is on trial because she's "not" a witch - but it's over all too quickly before we're into a long stretch in the middle where Harry, Potter and Ron hang out in the woods. For what must be an hour of the film. Well, at one point Ron leaves and it's just Harry and Hermione hanging out on the rocky outcrop from Pet Semetary for a long time. This bit includes a very awkward dance scene between Harry and Hermione who might be getting too close. It runs the gamut from off-putting to chuckle-inducing. As if the bit needed to be topped, Ron is shown an evil deceptive vision with Harry and Hermione covered in silver paint and kissing naked. It's bizarre.

Yates shoots the flick like all he's done since making the last one was watch Bourne movies and LOTR. The whole "holding the locket that holds evil" bit seems a bit too close to Frodo's burden and slow corruption and I'm STOPPING THIS SENTENCE RIGHT NOW

It wraps up as all movies that are pure second act must reluctantly do, and I'm sure the ending of this will have a lot of people comparing it to The Empire Strikes Back, but it's only ostensibly because the baddies seem to be winning. There's no punch to it or much feeling of dread. Whatever nastiness is coming in the next film, you know all someone has to do is point a wand at it and make it go away. Still, Helena Bonham Carter is brilliant - can I watch a film with just her character as this villain?

Also I think this is the first time I've seen a film that introduces a character as a deus ex machina, only to give said character a heartstring-tugging death scene a few minutes later. It's weird.

A last note - there's a bit where Hermione recounts the story of how the "deathly hallows" came to be, and it's animated in a style of bunraku-meets-cg that is simply gorgeous to watch.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw it last night. Loved it. The only thing that would prevent it from being the best film in the series is that it's half a story. But Yates finally does away with his crushed, sepia-toned look that he used to use, and just about everything in the movie works. I cannot wait for the final part.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

How is the level of violence? Is it equal to what the book had?

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

They shot themselves in the foot a little bit with this character because he has more presence in the books [his plot functions were transferred over to Neville in films 4 and 5] so his re-appearance in book 7 isn't as "out of the blue" as it must seem in film 7.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Well, there are a few deaths and some wand fights. Not too much blood but it would probably scare younger children.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Me (****1/2): http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/46793...allows-part-1/
Orndorf (****1/2): http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/46792...s-part-1-imax/
Jamie S. Rich (****): http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/46781...allows-part-1/

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Agreed on every point but one. I think this film will please those who thought the first 6 cut too much and/or deviated too much from the books. In almost every scene that deviated, I thought they made good choices except maybe the This was easily the most satisfying adaptation and possibly the best movie of the 7.

Edit to add: On second thought, the other deviation that was annoying was the implication of a Romantic relationship between Harry and Hermione.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I haven't seen the movie so I don't know how this is handled but I would consider it a welcome and logical addition to their characters' arcs.

They are 17. On the run for their lives and relying on each other. Feeling alone in the world. Both feeling betrayed by the same person. (He's heroic. She's hot.)

I recently listened to the audio-book and felt that JK Rowling missed an opportunity to do some realistic character work with Harry and Hermione during the long boring stretches of horcrux searching.
It had to occur to Rowling that putting H & H together (briefly) was a possibility. I wonder if she shied away from it because she still saw it as a children's book? In light of the Twilight series, it seems unusually timid.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I'm pretty sure JK Rowling didn't hook up Harry and Hermione for other reasons. Such as: Harry was never really into her like that. He saw her as more of a sister than anything else. Then there's the whole deal with Ron and Hermione having this thing going on between them since the beginning of the series.

I don't think it had anything to do with making the books 'tamer'.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw it today at a work event and enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought Half-Blood Prince was pretty mediocre or poor, so this was a great return to the series for me. Some awesome action, good heart wrenching moments, and this time the humor felt timed better versus all the silly romance stuff that killed the previous movie for me.

Also I agree with orangecrush.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

This isn't the thread to begin some sort of debate about this subject, and I don't want to do that anyways, but in terms of realistic characterization:

Harry might have always seen Hermione as a sister, but she is not his sister, and Harry certainly got over the familial feelings he had for Ginny.
In fact, Hermione as the muggle-born, empathetic, cleverest-of-her-age witch is a parallel to Lily Potter. So, Harry (who longs for his mother) would be attracted to that.

Hermione has been set up to be with Ron it would be normal for a hurt and stressed teenage girl to turn to another guy.

I just think that given their situation [repeating] 17, alone together, on the run. It would be realistic for them to find comfort in each others arms.

Plus I think Ron is a git.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I am at a disadvantage, in that I heard Watson's explanation of the scene before I saw it, but the idea is that Harry is just trying to get his longtime friend to crack a smile, not that there is any romantic connection between the two of them. I thought it was a great moment.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

For me, the movies always made it seem like a Harry/Hermione relationship made more sense where as Ron/Hermione seemed more forced, but maybe that's just me. Ginny in the movies always felt non-existant.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I saw the midnight showing. Agree that it's the best adaptation of the series. It did seem like they held back on some sexual/violent scenes from the book.

and also

And

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

This is the way I interpreted the dance scene as well. It was merely a way to relieve some of the intense stress they were under. I saw no romantic or seductive undertones at all.

I give the movie 4 out of 5 stars :thumbsup:

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I think you are maybe reading too much sex into the books.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

That's what I like about that scene. At first it clearly is Harry just trying to get Hermione's spirits up. But at the end, it almost becomes something else, before Hermione pulls away. And then later she makes the comment about how maybe they should just stay hidden and grow old together. Neither of these moments change the course of the story, but they do add depth to the characters and suggest a wider range of emotion than Rowling had given us. And that's what I like about the movie: It often relies on smaller moments to sell the story (while still providing the big action set pieces). It's a side effect of cutting the movie in twain that now each half can breath more. Makes me wish they had done the same for Goblet of Fire (and also gotten a director who didn't tell everyone to scream every line).

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw it. Very well done, for being half a movie. I have to say this one pretty much eschews anything to make this a movie for kids. There's stuff in this that made me jump and wince, and I'm hard to get to do that! The three leads all gave solid performances, and I have to say the



Overall, this movie does its job and makes you anxious for the second half. A definite :thumbsup:

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Dr. DVD, in regards to your question:

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Ive not read the books in a long time but i believe that we never actually saw Hermione getting tortured we just heard her screaming from the cellar.

Just came back from it, and i thought it was probably the best adaptation of the books! It made me wish that they split up book 4 and 5.

But there were a few things that (still) annoyed me. And just a heads up the crazy obsessive fan is coming out.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I'm literally blown away by this film. I was terribly disappointed by the last film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I really felt missed most marks in adapting the book in a way that was just to the source material and the gravity it carried for the series. While that wrong could not be entirely 'righted', this was a complete reversal. It was easily the best film in the series since Prisoner of Azkaban and may wind up being the best in series overall (along with Deathly Hallows: Part 2) should they manage to bring this series to the conclusion it so rightfully deserves.

I'm unbelievably happy with how this film turned out... Honestly, I truly loved it! :)

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Not a lot of love for Half-Blood Prince in this thread. I only read books 1-5 (and barely remember 5, which I thought was a slog -- Harry, Ron, and Hermione arguing in a house forever and ever), so I have no opinion of the film as an adaptation, but I watched it for the first time the day before my screening of Deathly Hallows P1, and I thought it was really great.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I would have thought it was a great film too had I never read the book it's based on. It's not a bad movie, but as a movie adaptation of the novel... it stinks.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is my favorite book in the entire series. It gives an enormous amount of character development to Voldemort and how he became the dark soul he is. There is a lot of stuff here that made the series soar even higher than I ever imagined it could. I don't want to spoil it, because reading the book would be a new experience for you. You have no idea of some of the things that got cut out of the last film. The film covered his past for maybe five minutes. It's basically half the book.

Steve Kloves even had the audacity to add a ton of 'fluffy' romantic material IMHO, and entire scenes that were not in the books, while some of the most important aspects were entirely overlooked. Such as, for instance, the scene where a waitress flirted with Harry... or when Dumbledore asked Harry about whether or not he had a romantic thing going on with Hermione. Stuff like that was just downright distasteful. I could go on.

In the book, we were also treated to a story that focused on the similarities between Harry and the 'Half-Blood Prince'. Harry looked up the Half Blood Prince and saw a bit of himself through reading the journal. This has an enormous amount of emphasis. In other words, a focal point of the book was about his similarities to Snape. This is downplayed to such a great extent that it makes me angry.

To continue with my negativity towards the last film: the book managed great moments of dread and happiness throughout it's many pages. The film never could manage this. Even when it was trying to be "cute", it never had any moments that were as joyful as what could be found within JK Rowling's wonderful writing. I find this especially troubling considering how dark things become in the final book and with what will be presented within both concluding films. Sometimes it is good to have a few moments of genuine happiness and peace presented before a storm.

Regarding the conclusion; there's also a lot of debate over how it was filmed. It was presented very differently in the book. For the record, while I loved the entire series as written by Rowling, Order of the Phoenix was my least favorite of the books. I still loved it though (take that into consideration if you must). I highly encourage finishing these books at some point. I actually loved the Order of the Phoenix film as an adaptation because I felt it covered what was most essential from that novel, which is all one can ask for in a film adaptation of anything. There's always going to be some cuts that have to be made.

With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince they essentially failed to capture the heart of the book, IMHO.

Even with some minor annoyances I have as a die-hard fan of the books, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was a truly remarkable adaptation and very true to the source material and it's essential elements. That plays a huge role in why I was able to love it. It brought the magic back. As an aside, a truly great score was to be found this time too. I couldn't stand the music (or lack thereof) in Half-Blood Prince.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Loved it. Best of the series BY FAR.

Question though. It's been a while since I read the book...

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

My 2-word review: Deathly Dull.

There are interminably long stretches of just nothingness to this film, and it just felt un-cinematic, and had a rather more pedestrian feel in the filmmaking. Bringing back Yates was a mistake. Even though it felt like there was about 45 minutes of plot in this film, it was staggering that it ran for about 2.5 hours.

I give it 2 stars or a grade of C. (being generous)

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I'm going to have to disagree. Half Blood Prince felt like a holding pattern between Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows. I mean, every book after Goblet of Fire is overwritten and could have been trimmed, but I felt like Half Blood Prince was a total pit stop. Quite frankly, I don't care about how Voldemort became Voldemort. It removes the mystique, like learning that Darth Vader was once a poorly-acted child. Half Blood Prince could have been a lean 150 page book if Rowling hadn't felt the need to pad it out needlessly.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Your entitled to your own opinion, as am I. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was by and large the most satisfying experience for me as a reader of these books.

You call it padding. I call it essential.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

Pretty much. The Malfoys as a whole were kind of done with all of it around the time the Dark Lord commandeered their house.

Wouldn't you be if he ruined your dandy cane-wand?

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

We learned everything we needed to know about young Voldemort from Chamber of Secrets. Knowing what we learn about him from Half Blood Prince changes nothing of the way events unfold or the way he acts (or anyone acts toward him) in the final book. Nor does it change the way the audience sees him as a villain.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I will, but it's been so long I should probably start from the beginning. They were my sister's books, since sold...is there a nice collector's set of some sort yet?

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

No, he's right. Ginny comes into Harry's bedroom and is all, "I want to give you a special birthday present," then Ron walks in and gets pissed, and the implication that is pretty strong, though Rowling leaves it vague for younger readers. And then there's the whole thing with Dumbledore's brother and the goats.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I will say that while well acted, I overall didn't care for Harry and Hermione sharing the dance. It was not in the book to my recollection, and seemed to almost be trying to force the audience to want Harry and Hermione to be the main couple. It was also obvious Radcliffe and Watson were playing it as though the two were considering jumping into bed.

Aside from that one spot, everything else was good.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

I suppose you could be correct, but I got the sense from HBP that kissing was sort of the most kids did. I think the wizarding world is very old fashioned in that way (though I could be wrong).

One thing I am very curious to see explained in the movie is

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) — The Reviews Thread
 

There's a fairly nice Paperback collector's set on Amazon for less than $50. I don't believe they ever did one for the Hardback books, so that's kind of dissapointing for anyone hoping to pick them up that way. I could always be wrong though.

As for the individual hardbound copies, they released a Anniversary Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I'm not sure what they added to it. They also released deluxe editions of the final three books. I believe these editions have sturdier binding, illustrated box's to hold them, and expanded artwork. These look like nice collector's items but I never purchased the deluxe editions.

If you have a used bookstore near you (and Hastings would be a perfect place to go to as you can trade in used items of all kinds for credit) I would try and find some nice looking Hardbound copies that aren't too expensive used and that are in good shape. I would also look on eBay as an option.