Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

[Strawbs]

*spoilers*

Saw it today. While not the best film it's still pretty good and worth seeing. And it's pretty damn dark for a kids film.

A lot has been cut out, possibly too much as it whips from one stage of the plot to another. It actually could've done with an extra 10 or so minutes in my opinion, just build up certain scenes better. There wasn't a really big sense of danger, with the exception of the opening seen that will surely give smaller kids a few quivers at bedtime. One more scene or at the very least longer one between Harry and Sirius was needed really and Luna Lovegood wasn't given enough of an introduction. I was also struck at how little there is of Ron and Hermione. You almost forget they're there.

Despite it's shortcomings there are some very good moments in it. The fight with the Death Eaters at the Department Of Mysteries is very good, if a little short, and the way they played out Sirius's death was played out emotively. The kiss, thankfully, was actually quite sweet rather than cringy. It also managed to retain an air of innocence, which is rare for a screen kiss. The special effects in this were fantastic. I particularly liked when all the prophecy balls came crashing down. It looked amazing on the big screen. Not many of the scenes are like that one, though.

Anyway, good film...just not mind blowing.

Strawbs

 

[LovelyLaura]

Just got back from seeing this!

I think the OOTP was always going to be difficult to make into a film because it's the weakest book IMO- there's too much waffle. Although there are some great moments in amongst all the waffle- Umbridge, Luna, Dumbledore's Army, the fight at the Ministry of Magic etc.

I think they have done a fantastic job turning it into a film though and have managed to get rid of the waffle! I wish they had kept some parts in though- Dumbledore's howler to Petunia, Harry telling his story to the Quibbler, the trip to St Mungos, Hagrid being sacked and McGonagall stunned etc. And I would have liked to have seen more of Ron and Hermione, and Draco, and also adult characters like Lupin, Moody, Tonks, McGonagall and even Hagrid etc.

These are minor quibbles though and don't take away from the fact that the OOTP is a visually stunning and really good film Imelda Staunton is fantastic as Umbridge, and Helena Bonham Carter makes a fantastically barmy Bellatrix! The fight at the Ministry at the end was brilliant and really came alive on screen.

I liked how they made use of the front pages of the Daily Prophet, and also how they did the Snape's Worst Memory scene. The way they made use of Harry's dreams about Voldemort and the Ministry and the Department of Mysteries was also good.

I also thought it was a nice touch when Ginny looked really hurt and disappointed when Harry was going on about Cho- obviously setting up the Ginny/Harry pairing of the next film.

As a film, the OOTP comes across as a lot darker than previous films- but this is to be expected, of course, as each book seems to have got darker than the previous too. So I don't think the film is as humorous as others have been in the past, but there are still some amusing moments- Fred and George are always good for a laugh and I loved the scene where Hermione stunned Ron! Hilarious!

Overall, I think it's a fantastic adaptation of a difficult book, although I think you will struggle with it if you haven't read the book before. It seems to be very much geared towards people who have read the book.

 

[blackburnrover75]

AS a big harry potter fan i went to see ootp over the weekend and was a little bit disapointed how a lot of the book was missing ootp is a fav book to date i know cuts had to be made otherwise the films would be like 7hours long.

overall a good film great effects loved the set at the ministry of magic over all good film.

cant wait for the half blood prince due out nov 2008 i heard.

 

[Vigo]

Billy Bunter meets black magic.

yeh, really great :evil: