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.

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

[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.

[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.