Harry Potter

[Ayen]

The first Harry Potter movie is playing behind me so I thought I'd make a topic where we can talk about Harry Potter.

I wasn't made aware of Harry Potter's existence until previews for the 2001 movie started airing on TV. At first I was like, "Eeh." And then I was like, "ZOMG BEST MOVIE EVER!" Before I got into it mom asked me if I would like that Dumbledore figure they were selling at the time. I said no. Worst decision of my life.

After falling in love with the first movie I borrowed the books from my cousins and loved the franchise even more. Bought the first four books and then book 5 and 6 were day 1 purchases for me. Order of the Phoenix is my favorite, once I picked that book up I couldn't put it down.

I like the first three movies the best. The first two being the best adaptions (granted they had less content to adapt) and the third one being easy to follow whether you read the books or saw the first two movies or not. Still wish they didn't change directors so much, that really made the movies suffer. Didn't care about the fourth movie, appropriate seeing that it was my least favorite book too, and the two movies after that were terrible. But they have Evanna Lynch in them and she's brilliant so I watch them anyway. Last two films were okay, then again I didn't read the Deathly Hallows. I stopped after Half Blood Prince, people kept spoiling the ending and it ruined the experience for me and I had to force myself through the rest of it.

Discuss.

....you're going to tell me I should read Deathly Hallows now, aren't you?

[The Man]

Yes. You should read Deathly Hallows now. :monster:

Anyway, great series. I'm sure other people who have reread/rewatched the series more recently than I have can come up with more coherent discussion. I'm wearing a Harry Potter/Doctor Who crossover shirt at the moment :monster:

[Shorty]

I'm still only halfway through the fifth book n_n' I made another attempt this year to finish the series with eBooks, but I just cannot focus. I need a physical book to properly immerse myself in. Goal for 2014!

The books I've read I greatly enjoy, and I think Prisoner of Azkaban is fantastic and my favorite so far. Film-wise, PoA, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows I & II are all wonderful and I can't choose between them. Maybe Deathly Hallows II if forced because it was so beautifully done and filled to the brim with emotion, which is something I deeply care about when it comes to enjoying movies.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite book, and also my favorite movie, I think.

It was quite a memorable journey from beginning to end. The first book came out when I was in third grade. My mom bought the book and we read it together, which was a great way to start the series. This was a few years before the popularity really exploded (so yes I have Harry Potter hipster cred).

By the time the last book came around though, I was a senior in high school. Obviously by this point in time my tastes in literature had matured somewhat and I was reading things that were denser and less "Young-Adulty" than Harry Potter. So to this day I can't figure out if the last book is objectively bad (as in, magnitudes worse than the others), or if I had kind of just outgrown Harry Potter.* Please don't take this post as me bashing Harry Potter or anyone who reads and enjoys it. It was my constant companion for over 10 years and will always be a part of my life, and the generation in which I grew up.





*I'm leaning towards the former. From what I can remember in my head, the entire last book is a mess, the ending barely makes sense, and I'm not even going to touch the epilogue with a twenty foot pole.

[Lonely Paper Star]

I started reading the books just this year starting a few months ago and finished Deathly Hallow around a month ago. Now I'm in love with this world. ;.;

[Jinx]

The last book is just bad.

[Psychotic]

I have to agree with LPS - the world itself is fantastic and all the little details are what make it brilliant. The last book isn't all awful - there are some really touching moments in it - but yeah the plot itself was a bit all over the place.

[Ayen]

That's what I keep hearing. On the plus side I also hear she did a good job of tying up all the loose ends you'd thought more than one person wrote it.

Is it true she was originally going to kill off Harry but repeated letters of fans threatening suicide made her decide not to?

[Shorty]

Jesus christ, honestly? Well, at that point, you know you've made a tremendous impact on your readers.

I find Evanna Lynch's story with her eating disorder and her role as Luna Lovegood incredibly touching.

[Sephex]

I liked the last book.

Come at me.

[Shauna]

I didn't hate the last book, but I've read it a whole once. From what I remember I loved it.

But yeah. Harry Potter is great. Half of the joy was waiting for each instalment to come out. I don't know if I will ever experience that anticipation ever again. :(

[Minami]

I'm a Harry potter geek! I've read the books a ridiculous number of times. Not so much a fan of the movies but I still cry every time I watch the last one.

Once when I went to London my train pulled into the Kings Cross next to the Hogwarts express. They were filming the final scenes of the last book. I was pretty hysterical, not gonna lie.

I'm more a marauders fan than Harry's era though. Love me some Sirius haha

Does anyone else play potter more?

Edited to add that my favourite book is Prisoner of Azkaban naturally

[The Captain]

3rd movie and 3rd book are both my favorites. 3rd movie was the first one to really make the magical world feel alive and both inviting and dangerous. I also very much enjoyed the 7th Movie Part One as I liked how it was essentially a roadtrip movie for half of the running time.

Take care all.

[AssassinDX]

They've been showing the movies on tv in the UK for the past few weeks, Deathly Hallows Part 2 is being aired on New Year's Day as it happens. They all range from enjoyable to great, and the books are just as good.

Saying that I haven't read Deathly Hallows, I read the lot in quick succession (as I hadn't been particularly interested up to that point) and simply felt burned out on series by the final book, and never did pick it up again. This was just before the final movie was released so having seen that made me even more inclined not to bother. :p

[Depression Moon]

I hate the movies as a whole. I didn't watch the ones based off the last two books and glad I didn't pay money to see Goblet of Fire. I caught that on TV I think. The first movie I say was spot on, so I'm not mad at that one.

My favorite is Order of the Phoenix as well. U,bridge is a witch I love to hate. I disagree about the Deathly Hollows being bad. It was pretty decent and I do recall people threatening to do stuff if Harry was killed off, but I don't recall anybody saying they'll commit suicide over that. They'd really have some problems if that was true.

Yeah, I think I had Half-Blood Prince spoiled for me too. People were straight up being huge trolls when it that book came out. It was ridiculous.

[Jinx]

And here I was rooting for Harry to die. :shobon:

[Del Murder]

The first four books were pretty magical. The movies were good too. The last three books/movies took a much darker turn and I didn't like them as much. Book 5 in particular was a huge drag due to Harry & co. being utter buttholes most of the time. :irked: My favorite is Chamber of Secrets because they're all still young and I really liked the diary story.

[Carl the Llama]

I currently have Half-Blood Prince right by my laptop, its my favourite of the series (book wise). If I had to choose a favourite film, it world be Hallows part 2.

[escobert]

It's a great series. Helped get a lot of kids; myself included, into reading.

[Psychotic]

The first four books were pretty magical. The movies were good too. The last three books/movies took a much darker turn and I didn't like them as much. Book 5 in particular was a huge drag due to Harry & co. being utter buttholes most of the time. :irked: My favorite is Chamber of Secrets because they're all still young and I really liked the diary story.I think I agree - the first four were great, and I liked that there was always a little mystery at the end of the book that would be revealed, and you'd be like "Ahhhhhhhh yeah" because Rowling dropped little subtle hints throughout. I did feel Half-Blood Prince called back to that format too.

[Shorty]

The first four books were pretty magical. The movies were good too. The last three books/movies took a much darker turn and I didn't like them as much. Book 5 in particular was a huge drag due to Harry & co. being utter buttholes most of the time.

I quite like the darker tales because they bring humanity into such a wonderful world, but I could not agree more about book 5 and being a drag with the buttholes. This book is the reason I have put off finishing the series because each time I start it, it robs me of all will to power through it.

[escobert]

I agree that 5 is slow but, I think the first 2 are the slowest of them all. Once people start dying it gets going :)

[Ayen]

Dissing on my favorite book, I'll remember this when the zombies attack :stare:

Snape was awesome in Half Blood Prince, that's why the movie adaption pissed me off. They removed the best scene. Who in their right mind thought Half Blood Prince should be rated PG?

[Psychotic]

Dissing on my favorite book, I'll remember this when the zombies attack :stare:

Snape was awesome in Half Blood Prince, that's why the movie adaption pissed me off. They removed the best scene. Who in their right mind thought Half Blood Prince should be rated PG?The accountant.

[Ayen]

I never did like accountants. Sitting there with their glasses on the tip of their nose, judging you. You got something to say just say it!

[Jiro]

Harry should've died imo it would've been far more impressive. He was a fucking horcrux after all. Overall I was a big fan of the series but there are just elements that annoyed me.

That fucking epilogue though. No. It doesn't exist. You can't just give them all a happily ever after. Also giving your kid the initials ASP is just baiting for a sequel.

[Electroshock Therapy]

I love the books and the films. Speaking of the films, I think I'm in the minority that I like the Columbus directed films the least and the Yates directed films the most. It was when David Yates entered the picture the film series started truly treating itself seriously.

[Minami]

Harry should've died imo it would've been far more impressive. He was a smurfing horcrux after all. Overall I was a big fan of the series but there are just elements that annoyed me.


I agree. as much as i love Harry he should have died. Would have made much more sense

[Shorty]

I don't know if I'd have the courage to kill off the main character of a series I'd been working on for someone's lifetime.

[Heath]

I love the Harry Potter books. I think I started reading them in about 1999 or so when I bought the Philosopher's Stone at a school book fair (remember those?). Instantly fell in love with it and grew up with the series.

I understand a lot of what people say about the darker tone of the latter three books, but I don't think they're entirely without their whimsical bits either. I also think it suited the characterisation, and what made the characters likeable and realistic. Teenage boys are angsty, angry and annoying sods. At the time I didn't like the characterisation because I felt Harry et al were just being jerks, but I've reconsidered it and felt that - actually - it was probably the right thing to do. Favourite book was probably Prisoner of Azkaban, in no small part because I really liked Lupin.

Not sure I agree at all with people who preferred the early films, though. The first two were a bit dull and run of the mill. I felt that the later films were better. I particularly enjoyed Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, because I think she played the part really well. Wasn't a bit fan of the splitting of Deathly Hallows, though the film adaptations were good. I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to splitting books into multiple parts.

[Minami]

Apparently a Harry Potter stage show is in the works. I heard that it'll be set before the time Harry discovers he's a wizard. Not sure how much truth is in it

[Jinx]

I've read that somewhere as well. As much as I love HP, that premise honestly doesn't interest me.

[Minami]

Nor me. Doesn't seem a good idea at all

[Miriel]

I recently re-read the entire series. I had re-read the first 4 books several times over the years, but not the last 3. The last 2 books in the series I felt were particularly a let down and I only ever read them once, the night they were released.

Re-reading everything in one go, my opinion is a little better about how the series ended. But still, the last 2 books were way too bloated and frankly BORING in parts, and I just didn't like what Rowling ended up doing with the characters of Harry and Dumbledore. I noticed that she tried to explain away Dumbledore's incredible stupidity toward the end by having Dumbledore apologize or worry about his shortsightedness, a few times actually, but I don't think that was enough to make up for the weakness of the plot and the characterizations.

Harry became such an insufferable asshole in the 5th book. I thought it might be better upon giving it another read, but nope. It was even worse. You can't just wave it away by saying he was a teenager. He was an asshole teenager. He recovered, but damn, that was not a fun book.

Also, Ron has to be the worst "friend" eveeeerrr. He is a terrible character with no redeeming qualities. He's mean, he's a bully, he has no special talent aside from being moderately good at chess, he can be cruel and demeaning, and he has such paper thin loyalties. And he's dumb as a brick. What an awful sidekick to have for all those years.

All that being said, the first 4 books are among my very favorites. I love them. I think they're magical and I love inhabiting that world. Love it love it love it.

The movies are interesting in that when I'm watching them, I think, "Oh hey, this is pretty good!" and then within a few days, I literally cannot remember what happened in them. More then once I've watched one of the movies and seriously wondered, "wait... have I seen this before? Did I watch the one before this? I must have..." It's so weird how unmemorable they are to me. I can remember scenes and visuals and the music. But the bulk of the movies just slip away from my memory. I don't know what that's about. They just don't stick in my head.

[Jinx]

Haha, I love Ron, but I see your point. Have you ever listened to Harry and the Potters?

They have a song that starts out:

Hermione is smart
Ron has red hair
And they're my two best friends here at Hogwarts

[Del Murder]

I think it's fairly common to have the male friend be a bumbling idiot and the female friend be some kind of genius. Just look at Buffy. :flounder:

[Shorty]

And The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.