Just came back from watching Order of the Phoenix...

[thealmighty]

Midnight show. Full theater but no lines to get seats or anything like that.

Very enjoyable. Not the best one for sure in my book but I was entertained (and awake). Some terrific special effects.

I'll leave discussion of content until more have seen it.






(didn't see a thread already started, even with a search.)

[Neon_Chaos]

woohoo. I finally started a trend.

[terpkristin]

I too saw it last night (got home at around 3, fell asleep at around 3:30, had to be up at 6 to go to a doctor's appointment, ugh).

Good movie. They changed the story a little bit (not nearly as much as they did for GoF), and the timeline isn't right, and they left out things (that were not terrible to leave out, IMO), but all in all, I enjoyed it.

Infinitely better than GoF, not as good as my favorite movie so far of the series, PoA.

/tk

[Barkeep49]

I also went and was in a full sold out theatre. One of at least 6 sold out theaters at my movie theater, including an imax.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, they had a midnight showing in Laramie too. I didn't go tho.

[Lathum]

going saturday morning and looking forward to it.

[MacroGuru]

Going to see it tomorrow at 3:45 Bargain Matinee!

[path12]

It's 97 in Seattle today, and few homes in this area have air conditioning, so I'm going to see it tonight in a nice cool theatre. Woo!

[oliegirl]

I'm taking my son and his best friend to see it tonight at 8:30...can't wait!!!

[saldana]

friday at 8pm for me

[ISiddiqui]

Great show :b:

Personally I considered it to be about on par with Goblet of Fire, and a step below Prisoner of Azkaban (but above the first two). A bit disjointed at times, but they did a fairly good job fitting a 900 page book into 2.5 hours.

A few favorite parts were cut, but they didn't quite move the plot all that much (St. Mungo's, Percy's turning from the Weasley's Neville's charging at the Death Eaters with the busted nose). I thought the battle at the Ministry of Magic was VERY well done. The Death Eaters vs. the Order of the Phoenix was just some great action... especially seeing how the experienced wizards were effortlessly casting without saying the names of the spells and how they swept down from nowhere.

Sirius' death was also, IMO, well done... this time leaving no doubt he's gone. And a good semi-silent scene afterwards showing Harry's pain.

All in all, good fun. Probably hard to follow for folks who didn't read the books (though I went with one of those and he didn't find it all that hard), but I view the movies as a compliment to the books.

And the actress playing Luna, NAILED the part... the look, the voice, the mannerisms... perfect. Also, notice how much more advanced Ginny seemed to be in learning the spells Harry was teaching her. She's going to be very valuable in the fight against Voldemort in Book 7.

Some meaningful glances between Hermione and Ron exchanged as well.

And the cinematography and special effects were absolutely brilliant.

AND I'm seeing it on IMAX on Saturday morning!

[Izulde]

I concur that Luna's casting was absolutely spot on and I would say they did a nice job with Umbridge too, though I missed the signature "hem hem" catchphrase.

I'll also say that I love the way they handled the romantic angle in this movie. In fact, I thought it was a lot better than the book, which fell to that absolutely trite bullshit that I saw coming way back in Book 2.

In my opinion, canonically speaking, this movie distanced itself more from the book than the others and in that case, it turned out to be a good thing. It hit the high spots and told a compelling story in a surprisingly short amount of time. Kudos to the scriptwriters in that regard.

My favorite part was the mistletoe scene, but I also liked the Snape scene, which in my opinion, was beautifully executed.

[Coffee Warlord]

One of my favorites thus far. Too busy right now to get into detail.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I concur that Luna's casting was absolutely spot on and I would say they did a nice job with Umbridge too, though I missed the signature "hem hem" catchphrase.

In my opinion, canonically speaking, this movie distanced itself more from the book than the others and in that case, it turned out to be a good thing. It hit the high spots and told a compelling story in a surprisingly short amount of time. Kudos to the scriptwriters in that regard.

My favorite part was the mistletoe scene, but I also liked the Snape scene, which in my opinion, was beautifully executed.

I agree with these statements pretty much 100%. Luna was perfect, almost exactly what I'd imagined while reading the books. Umbridge was quite decent, and even if it wasn't the "signature" "hem hem," she still made some noises that were quite fitting.

I agree that this movie distanced itself from the books more than the others did, and that it worked well. What really drew my ire with GoF is that it distanced itself/changed the story, but DIDN'T do it well. With OotP, the main points were still there, and even without reading the book, you got the jist of what happened and what was key. GoF, that wasn't the case, you'd miss out on "key" things if you went solely by the movie.

I also agree with whoever said it felt a little disjointed. There were some points where things didn't make sense, didn't seem to go together, but I think that's only really noticeable if you paid too much attention to the minute details (for example, Harry gets the letter that he's expelled--without a hearing--and then everybody starts talking about his hearing, without anybody saying WHY there's been a change of "heart" as it were and he's actually going to get a hearing).

On a slightly different note, I'm intrigued that we saw no locket in this movie, not even in passing with Kreacher stuffing a locket away... Come to think of it, there was also no "REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA" letter, either. A lot of fans of the book think this might be significant for the backstory and may come back to be explained in book 7, I guess its omission (and JKR allowing it to be omitted) suggests it's not as important as some people have thought. Of course, JKR did mention to Yates that if he removed Kreacher (as he was thinking of doing), that it might require some "serious explanation" in the 7th movie, so take that as you will...

My favorite scene was undoubtedly the Snape occlumency scene ("I am NOT weak." "Then PROVE IT."). I really love Alan Rickman, wish he'd shown up more in this movie.

My favorite movie in the series so far is still PoA, but this is a close second behind it.

/tk

[Tyrith]

I'm debating seeing it at an IMAX, but it costs like six more dollars to go there instead of a normal theater, would it be worth it?

[finketr]

The Rave at Peoria had NINE screens showing HP at midnight.

[oliegirl]

I loved it...I thought it stuck to the important story lines of the book - wish they would have done a little more with Kreacher and included more of the detail from the beginning of the book with the letters and the "Remember my Last" Howler. The fight scene at the end was extraordinary, as well as the Snape occlumency lessons - though the Grawp/Umbridge scene is definitely up there on my list of favorites as well. All in all it was great, I'd love to see it on IMAX...maybe in a week or two we'll take that in.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Tyrith

I'm debating seeing it at an IMAX, but it costs like six more dollars to go there instead of a normal theater, would it be worth it?

I don't know where I heard it, and I'm at work right now so I really can't surf to confirm it (probably found it at Mugglnet or The Leaky Cauldron), but I seem to remember hearing/reading that the last battle scene, the scene at the ministry, was filmed so they could play it 3-D, and that IMAX theaters were supposed to be showing that scene in 3-D. It may have been a rumor, but if that's true, that'd be fun to watch...

/tk

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by finketr

The Rave at Peoria had NINE screens showing HP at midnight.

I saw somewhere today that the midnight screenings alone did 12 million.

[Lathum]

dola- I haven't seen it yet, going on saturday, but I am shocked that Kreacher was left out.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I don't know where I heard it, and I'm at work right now so I really can't surf to confirm it (probably found it at Mugglnet or The Leaky Cauldron), but I seem to remember hearing/reading that the last battle scene, the scene at the ministry, was filmed so they could play it 3-D, and that IMAX theaters were supposed to be showing that scene in 3-D. It may have been a rumor, but if that's true, that'd be fun to watch...

/tk

That is correct... and I'll be catching IMAX 3D on Saturday . The last 15-30 minutes or so is in 3D.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Lathum

dola- I haven't seen it yet, going on saturday, but I am shocked that Kreacher was left out.

Not left out entirely, but a very minor role. I liked the movie quite a bit.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Lathum

dola- I haven't seen it yet, going on saturday, but I am shocked that Kreacher was left out.

He was there a bit. They were going to cut him out entirely (probably mostly because it's costly with the CGI etc to do him, and they already had high costs in that arena from Grawp and the centuars), but JKR "strongly suggested" that they leave him in, otherwise they might have some 'splaining to do in the 7th volume...

/tk

[Karlifornia]

I don't know anything about Harry Potter, but I was watching Letterman last night, and Emma Watson was on. Sheebus. What a fox she's going to be.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

I don't know anything about Harry Potter, but I was watching Letterman last night, and Emma Watson was on. Sheebus. What a fox she's going to be.

No doubt. The girl who played Luna will be pretty damn cute also.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

I don't know anything about Harry Potter, but I was watching Letterman last night, and Emma Watson was on. Sheebus. What a fox she's going to be.

When the first movie came out 6 years ago, Ebert described her as being in the "throes of babedom". I knew he would be right.

[MacroGuru]

Alright, this is my favorite book and has turned into my favorite movie. I think I might be biased here because of my love for this book, I liked Flich stepping up to the plate in the movie for Umbridge, I was shocked to see less of McGonnagall, Snape and Hagrid in the Movie.

Anyways, I loved this one, it took over top spot of PoA for me in the movie side.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by path12

Not left out entirely, but a very minor role. I liked the movie quite a bit.

Hmm... I'll have to see the movie to find out but this interests me. I believe Rowling has stated that Kreacher plays a role in book seven (one more week, btw. Cant wait). I would think with that information they would have used him more.

Now that I think about it, I remember also reading that they planned on excluding him entirely but J.K. stepped in and said that was not a good idea.

EDIT: Whoops... tk took the wind out of my sails.

[ntndeacon]

It was better than the last movie but there were some big problems to me as well.

First off, Harry giving the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy seemed so wrong. This seemed to be what was easy instead of what was good.

Secondly, I hated Cho giving up the DA and Umbridge blasting the Room of Requirement. (I wonder how they will fix that for the HBP movie.)

Lastly, I questioned Harry drawing his wand in the sight of those other boys at the beginning, (Dudley, I understand. But the others?)

I agreee that Luna was fantastic, as was Umbridge. (And I did hear 1 hem hem , but there did need to be more. ) And the detention scene with her and Harry was wonderful.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

First off, Harry giving the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy seemed so wrong. This seemed to be what was easy instead of what was good.

I had completely forgotten about this in my initial review. This definitely bugged me, too, as it was WAY WRONG in my opinion, no way should he have given it up.

/tk

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I had completely forgotten about this in my initial review. This definitely bugged me, too, as it was WAY WRONG in my opinion, no way should he have given it up.

/tk

I'm going to see it tomorrow but now I am really confused. The profecy didn't get smashed?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

I don't know anything about Harry Potter, but I was watching Letterman last night, and Emma Watson was on. Sheebus. What a fox she's going to be.

I missed Letterman, but saw her on Conan last night. She's unreal. And I feel like she can be discussed as "currently" hot instead of "going to be" now that she's 17.

16 is just creepy.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I'm going to see it tomorrow but now I am really confused. The profecy didn't get smashed?

Spoiler

Yes, it did get smashed. But after Harry handed it to Lucius Malfoy.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

Secondly, I hated Cho giving up the DA and Umbridge blasting the Room of Requirement. (I wonder how they will fix that for the HBP movie.)

Remember, Snape stated that he used the last bit of truth serum on Cho when Umbridge asked for it near the end. That kind of let her off the hook (which you see by Harry and Ron's faces after the Snape comment).

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by Arles

Remember, Snape stated that he used the last bit of truth serum on Cho when Umbridge asked for it near the end. That kind of let her off the hook (which you see by Harry and Ron's faces after the Snape comment).

I'm going to see this tomorrow, but...

...boooo. Should have had the betrayal + acne reward.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

First off, Harry giving the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy seemed so wrong. This seemed to be what was easy instead of what was good.

Well, that's the interesting question. When all of his friends are threatened with death... is it necessarily good to, say, smash the prophecy? It will directly result in the deaths of all of his friends (they may have been killed anyway, of course). But I don't think it was as clear cut as good vs. easy.

[Tyrith]

The actress that they got to play Luna was perfect for the job. The movie, overall, I thought was pretty solid, not really terrific or anything. It's just so hard to smash a book down and not miss major parts of the coolness factor. Saw it at the IMAX, and it wasn't worth the extra money; the 3d wasn't really that interesting and made the picture more fuzzy.

[spleen1015]

Do they show Snape's memory?

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Do they show Snape's memory?

One of them...the one of him at school, not of his home life.

/tk

[ntndeacon]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well, that's the interesting question. When all of his friends are threatened with death... is it necessarily good to, say, smash the prophecy? It will directly result in the deaths of all of his friends (they may have been killed anyway, of course). But I don't think it was as clear cut as good vs. easy.

I think in this setting it is just that easy. if he gives up the prophecy many will die out of his site (and Istill think that those would have died if Harry hands it over)

if not then they die but Voldermort doesnt know the prophecy and good has a chance.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

I think in this setting it is just that easy. if he gives up the prophecy many will die out of his site (and Istill think that those would have died if Harry hands it over)

if not then they die but Voldermort doesnt know the prophecy and good has a chance.

But the prophecy just says (basically) that only Voldemort can kill Harry. Will many really die if Voldemort knows this? Now, granted, it's going to probably become important, but at the time, how much does that matter? The DE and Voldy don't know that the prophecy is really that simple, but does it matter all that much?

[Chief Rum]

Saw it tonight, and I really enjoyed it. Unlike most of the rest of the literate world, I have actually not read the book. I lagged way behind and then just stopped trying to read them out of counter-conformity obstinance.

(BTW, I finally stopped that, listened to the first three on audio book, and have GoF and OotP already bought and in my reading queue in the near future; nonetheless, I have yet to read any Potter book before first seeing the movie).

I just thought it was a blast. I like it when things get darker, and this is the darkest yet. PoA was my previous favorite movie; this now tops it. Sad to see Sirius go. Gary Oldman is my image of him, and I always enjoy Oldman on screen.

I liked a lot of the effects and the battle was amazing, and since I didn't know ahead of time what was going to happen, I was able to be "surprised" by things. I don't know about how perfectly Luna fit the character in the book, but I loved her character. I like the way Ginny is coming along, too. Was that little red-headed kid supposed to the youngest Weasley, BTW? Isn't there one younger than Ginny?

Finally, one little bit just caught me from left field, and I absolutely loved it. I'm going to spoiler it, though, as it hasn't been mentioned yet.

Spoiler

In the final battle, when Harry disarms Lucious Malfoy just before Sirius buys it, Sirius yells something like, "Great shot, James!" I thought that was just terrific. Very well played "slip" that really showed something about the relationship between Harry and Sirius. It might have been the last thing Sirius said actually.

[Crapshoot]

Luna and Umbridge = perfect. Other than that, the book bothered me. The longest book became the shortest movie? They cut out all of the fun, from the fluff (the prefect scene is actually one of my favorites in the book), to the quidditch, to the thing that make it more than just good v. evil, you know? It was a decent movie, but I find myself annoyed - I far preferred GoF, though PoA is still the best one.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Was that little red-headed kid supposed to the youngest Weasley, BTW? Isn't there one younger than Ginny?

Ginny is the youngest Weasley. According to IMDB, he's a second year named Nigel. I really don't remember him being in the book(s)...it appears that he's taken Colin Creevey's place in the movies.

Saw the movie and really enjoyed it. I thought it moved a bit fast in spots, but that's what's going to happen when they have to cram so much info into 2.5 hours. Over all I thought they hit most of the important spots, though I was also disappointed they didn't show the prefect scene, and was upset that they had Cho as the one who ratted them out.

My wife, who hasn't read the books, was a little lost in a few spots, but it was better than GoF in that regard.

[Lathum]

I thought it was the most well done of the movies so far. Put me in the camp that thought Luna was perfect. I heard two Meh Meh's from Umbridge.

I think the kids are becoming far better actors and that is making a monster difference.

[Neon_Chaos]

Finally got to watch it. It's by far the best movie in the series. A good one thumb up.

[ISiddiqui]

Saw it again on IMAX 3d... the final battles in 3D were brilliant!

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Saw it again on IMAX 3d... the final battles in 3D were brilliant!

I was a little dissapointed the gold statue didn't come to life.

[ISiddiqui]

I don't think the 3D would have made them do that .

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Finally, one little bit just caught me from left field, and I absolutely loved it. I'm going to spoiler it, though, as it hasn't been mentioned yet.

That was an ongoing thing throughout the book. People in the book were starting to say he was having a hard time differentiating the two. Nice to see they slipped something relating to that in the movie.