Harry Potter - Order Of the Phenix Movie (Review)

EternityOfPain · Post by **EternityOfPain** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:56 am

Well I just got back from watching the premire of Harry Potter and I have to say I am disapointed. It is true that there is quite a bit of battle in this movie and the fight scenes are awesome but so much has been cut from the book. Unlike the rest of the movies where little things where missing this one you notice quite a bit is.

Is it worth seeing?

Yes. However if you have not read the book I highly recommend reading it prior or after so you get a picture of whats going on. The movie should have been 30-60 minutes longer.

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:54 am

I was very surprised at the length of the film, as this is the longest book of the series at nearly 900 pages. At just under 2.5 hours, it is also the shortest of all the films! I've always said, I can watch 3 or 4 hours of a good movie any day.

That being said, I have always separated the films and books as two different worlds. I like each of them for what they are, and I refuse to compare the two. I can name fewer than half a dozen book-film translations that actually did the material justice, my favorite being To Kill A Mockingbird.

wELCOME cONSUMER · Post by **wELCOME cONSUMER** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:22 am

That's a very good philosophy Brian. You're not supposed to compare the book to the movie because they are two separate works of art. Besides, if length is an issue, I'm sure the DVD will have plenty of deleted scenes and additional footage.

I'll have to wait and see this movie Friday. It looks good and the critical reviews have been promising.

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:14 pm

We just came back from watching the movie (and it was really empty! We got nice seats

)

It was nice and my hubby was pretty happy about it (since my hubby read but I have not read the book

I cannot tell how they differ

)

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:43 pm

I'm with blueheaven. I don't compare books and movies because they are two separate pieces of work. There's no way the entire 5th book of Harry Potter could fit in the time and budget restraints of a film. It wasn't written for that.

And I have to say, the movie was AWESOME! I recommend it. It seemed quick for a 2 1/2 hour movie. My friend and I went to dinner afterwards and talked about the movie. We agreed that what was cut out of the movie from the book was fine. It's not something you'd notice unless you specifically compare the two.

Megala00 · Post by **Megala00** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:58 pm

I just got back from seeing the movie

I actually enjoyed the movie more than i enjoyed reading (and rereading again and again) the book. They certainly are stand alone works but I think the movie has intricacies in it that you understand if you've read the book. I thougth the changes to the ending were intriguing...Oh but on to the homework I should have been doing for the last 3 hours

aernath · Post by **aernath** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:01 pm

The movie was really nice to watch. Visually it was great!
But for me, it was like a highlights reel of the book. They just didn't have the TIME to devote to really delving deep into much of what was going on.
I would heartily recommend reading the book first, just to know all the background to what they show you, and to know what they don't.

The 3D was pretty cool too. *giggle*

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:16 pm

The movie also brought some things into focus and made me think about the book storyline a bit more. It's no secret that Rowling consults with the screenwriters and adds things to the movie that are not all too clear in the book. One thing I thought of was the dynamic of Lestrange, Snape, Malfoy, and Sirius. What if, they are all working together as double agents in Voldemort's army?

Goldknight · Post by **Goldknight** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:56 pm

I finally got to see it. YAY!!! I agree that there was quite a bit left out, but I also agree that that's to be expected. You have to separate books from movies when watching. Nothing drives me more nuts than hearing someone walk out of theater saying "The book was better".

Just a pet peeve of mine. I actually enjoyed this movie better than the first three. I loved the effects and I thought the movie flowed much better than the last one which seemed choppy. I would definitely recommend it. It truly is one of those that should be scene on the big screen.

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:57 pm

You are not the only one. I'm not sure if I like the effects. I like chatting with people online. I like the bugs in the movie Starship Troopers, because they represent an alternative form of intelligence, like me.

Goldknight · Post by **Goldknight** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:57 pm

You are really creeping me out Cloud.

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:57 pm

Do you mind if I tell other people you say I am creeping me out you.

Goldknight · Post by **Goldknight** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:58 pm

Not at all buddy.

Maiko · Post by **Maiko** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 12:31 am

People have been saying "you've got to seperate books from movies" and that can be very true, but think about all the cases in which you yourself have been a huge fan of something, and have been very sore over film and movie treatments of some of your favorite characters and stories/comics/manga, etc. One of the easiest comparisons that pops into mind immediately is the "Rurouni Kenshin" manga and the "Seisouhen" OVA series. While it indeed does come down to being two very seperate visions of how a character leads his life, who wouldn't be upset that their beloved character goes on to have an empty marriage void of warmth and love, be the type of man who abandons his family from time to time, and then meet a medical demise? Who wouldn't say, "Well crap, the manga is better. In the manga, he and Kaoru get married and have a happy little boy and Kenshin finally finds the happiness and peace that he deserves."

I can understand seperating one telling from another and appreciating both on their own seperate levels, but I'm not going to tell people that they can't prefer one over the other.

I've never even read any of the "Harry Potter" books, but even I can tell that especially with this most recent movie, they've been in "fast forward" mode. There is an awful lot of pages and passages that are going to get cut for the sake of pacing and keeping the attention of the audience. I agree that any well done movie, film, or stage show can hold my attention for a number of hours, when it's well done. Unfortunately, it seems the average audience cannot, and thusly, studios tend to be tailoring their films to remain under the 3 hour mark these days, no matter how important of a story there is for them to tell. Whatever happened to the days of theater intermissions? In fact, I think the last movie I ever saw in theaters that had an intermission was "Gettysburg".

Anyway, I am getting way off track. I love dark story-telling, but even as someone who has never read the books ( my boyfriend and my best friend both have, and usually alert me to major discrepencies between the novels and the film adapations ) I have personally found each film to grow less likable- as in with each one, I find myself liking it less than the one preceeding it. ( Remember, matter of opinion. I'm sure there are those who find them actually getting better with each one ). For me personally, I think a lot of it has to do with a change in directors. As a non-fan, I was moreorless dragged to see the first film, and I found myself surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I liked it so much in fact, that I talked my parents into going to see it, and they have been avid fans since, and have been there on the opening nights of all subsequent "Potter" films. For me, my favorite remain the first two of the films, simply because they had an atmosphere that I can't quite put into words. A certain "air" about them. They were awe-inspiring, charming, witty, and magical all at the same time. To me, they were more than just films, they were an experience. Sadly, I am personally feeling that less and less with each new one. And it's not beacuse they seem too complex, or too complicated, or too dark, or even that too much is being left out- it's simply the 'atmosphere' about them has changed. Sometimes it's amazing what changes a different director can bring to already established characters and an already established story line. You would think that since they are all going from the same writing and the same characters written by the same person, that it would all translate to screen the same no matter who the director was, but it's interesting that that's usually not the case. Good example of that would be the 'Batman' films. They are all about the same guy in a rubber bat suit fighting evil, but they are all so extremely different from one another. They range from extremely good to 'just okay' to 'I want my money back'.

"Harry Potter" is one of those rare pop culture icons- it has gathered a world-wide fanbase and has been "le raison d'etre" for the most hardcore of it's fans. So for people who eat, sleep, and breathe HP, I'm not going to squirm when they talk about how much better the book is in comparison. They simply didn't like how their beloved characters translated to screen. I don't see any reason to make them feel ignorant and stupid for not 'seperating the books from the films'.

Hell, I grew up on the "The Dark is Rising" novels as a child. Born Welsh, these books were endearing fairytales of a homeland most people haven't even heard of, nor are they able to distinguish it from England ( don't get me started on how the British executed our prince, and then named his own son the Prince of Wales as the final insult ^_~x Nyah

to you Brit-Betas!

) and I loved those books and I read and re-read them over and over again and I tried to talk friends and schoolteachers alike into reading them, or introducing them into courses, but those books remained a type of obscurity. Then at this most recent HP film, what do I see but a trailer for a movie adaption for "The Dark is Rising". I am both excited and scared, as these books are a pleasant memory of childhood and the joys of reading. So if I walk out of that movie in October and am disappointed, you people better let me have my misgivings, dammit!

Cymru am byth!!

Anyway, before I get one of these:

As far as the "Order of the PHOENIX" goes, it still was an enjoyable film, and I always appreciate seeing the characters again. I'm just finding that I like each new release less and less. Plus, when this book was first released,

Sirius Black's death was the "death heard around the world". I don't think I had ever seen so many online memorial and "in loving memory" webpages dedicated to a fictional character before in my life. I had been preparing to be moved by it, but sadly, I was not- and neither was the majority of the audience- at least, the ones who hadn't read the books, anyway. Fans of the books were absolutely crushed by this development in the story, but I feel that in the film adaptions that most people didn't have a chance to get to know Sirius Black well enough to really care. Well, they still cared, but I mean, it didn't have quite the same devestating effect as it did on those who knew him from his role in the books.

So I believe it is fair to call that a pretty good example of something getting lost in the translation from book pages to screen.

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:31 am

Maiko wrote:
I can understand seperating one telling from another and appreciating both on their own seperate levels, but I'm not going to tell people that they can't prefer one over the other.

No one said that. All I said was that comparing the two is an unfair and futile practice. There is no way they could EVER make a movie about OOTP that wasn't five hours long. Personally, I prefer the book to the film. But I also think the film is fantastic in its own regard, because it furthers the FILM storyline nicely.

Personally, I don't think Sirius or Dumbledore are dead. Remember, the avada kedavra only works if the person wielding the spell means it. I think Bellatrix and Snape are spies.

And always remember, it is very rare that the author has much of a say in the film process. Most of the time, they are consulatants to the screenwriters. Rowling has had very little to do with the scripts to date. Hence the reason that novels don't often translate to films well.