Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[Snowbird]

My twin & I went to a midnight show Tuesday night/Wed morning. We got there at 9:15pm, they were already seating but we were the 2nd & 3rd people there. We answered trivia questions from a Harry Potter trivia book and had more fun doing that than watching the movie.

I'm not quiet about how I feel the movies cut too much stuff out to the point where I can hardly enjoy them anymore. Movie 1 (HP & SS/PS) was the truest to the book in my opinion. Movies 2 (HP & COS)& 3 (HP & POA)were decent. Movie 4 (HP & GOF) was just annoying in the changes they made and not one of my favorite books to begin with. Book 5 was practically unforgivable, then this movie.

I know they're going to make book 7 into 2 movies, but I don't see how

. Too much was left out.

, though that might begin movie 7. Some stuff was just details that might have made it easier for non-bookreaders to comprehend, but others I feel were crititcal errors of omission and they're either going to spend a lot of time covering ground that should have been covered in movie 6 just to make final movies make sense or even more stuff will be left out completely.

Just to add a positive, I thought they handled

[Bearcata]

I went to see the show last night as I just could not see facing the weekend crowds to see this film. I did ask some of the theater employees what the best time to come is and they said everyone has been coming early to the 10am, 11am noon and 1pm shows thinking that the rest of the day will be packed and surprisingly the afternoon shows at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm have been relatively empty. People were still there but you didn't have to worry getting there 45 minutes ahead of time just to get a decent sit. That being said what did I think of the movie. Well, if you are not a fan of the books I say wait until there is a Harry Potter marathon on TNT, USA or SPIKE and watch it then. You will not have missed much. Seriously, the majority of the action happens at the very beginning of the book. The trailers are misleading, the bridge scene happens in the first five minutes and after that it is 2 hours and 20 minutes of ho hum where is this movie going. The movie is well crafted and there are lots of small story arcs with the kids becoming young adults and developing romances which is nice to see. But I have a very hard time seeing Harry Potter as a hero. Yes, he is the Chosen One, but he is clueless, helpless and brainless. Being the Chosen One is simply being a target and Dumbledore's is actually the power behind the office of the Chosen One. It is so obvious that Dumbledore and Sevirus Snape are the true masterminds and strategists behind the movement to destroy the Dark Lord. In fact it even looks as if Dumbledore knew he would be killed and he set up the entire senario so Sevirus would kill him. Is Dumbledore really dead? Yeah, well I wouldn't be surprised if we see him in the final movies. Sevirus is also playing another strategy by positioning himself to protect Draco and to fulfill Draco's mission to assasinate Dumbledore. It is a beautiful con and well done. Much applause to the supreme planners, Dumbledore and Sevirus.

[sweet_lady]

Saw the movie this morning and was a little bit disappointed. I kept expecting more, but never got it. I think they waited too long to put this out. They should have stuck with the original release date back in Nov 08, maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed.

[Bearcata]

Anyone else thought it weird that at one of the dinners none of the young wizards knew what a dentist was and that it was a a very well thought of profession in the "muggle" world?

[AZChristian]

Anyone else thought it weird that at one of the dinners none of the young wizards knew what a dentist was and that it was a a very well thought of profession in the "muggle" world?

Yes, I agree. It's not as though wizards have no exposure to the muggle world, especially since Slughorn had spent the last year living in vacant muggle homes. The whole "dentist" thing could have been eliminated.

I saw the movie for the second time yesterday, and noticed several scenes that could have been cut to allow more explanatory scenes to be included. When we got home, I gave my hubby my "HBP" book and told him to read the cave scene in the book, because it was much more detailed than what they showed in the movie -- although the movie scene was VERY well done.

It's great to see these kids growing up. I think the humor was handled well, as was the increasing power of the Death Eaters. I always love seeing modern London in the movies, and was REALLY tickled to see the gate and sidewalk in front of Slughorn's house, since I've stood on that very spot!

[Gala62]

Well DH and I finally saw HBP and overall we liked it. A solid "B". The humor was done very well. Rupert Grint is a gifted comedian and Jim Broadbent is marvelous as Slughorn.

Now for some spoilers:

Anyway, I actually loved the cinematography. It was atmospheric and ominous. Tom Felton did a wonderful job. The 2 actors playing Tom Riddle also were spot on.

So overall, with a few disappointments, a very good job. I'm really looking forward to seeing how faithful they will be to Deathly Hallows for the remaining 2 movies.

[shel93]

I thought overall it was good.
Very funny, kept me laughing! I thought Rupert Grint was hilarious.

[CCL]

I saw the movie last night and really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure I would as the reviews here were rather middling but I thought it was quite good. I'm not surprised that they didn't show the funeral at the end as I expect they will start off the seventh film with it.

[snickers]

i gave it 2.5/5 stars lol

i think it could have been a lot better, i too think they cut too much out and i felt it was too confusing for people who do not read the books, i barely remembered things because its been so long since i've read the book

oh and i wanted more wan wan and lav lav

i thought they portrayed Lavendar too over the top, didn't like it at all, slughorn on the other hand was great

[MRD]

You will not have missed much. Seriously, the majority of the action happens at the very beginning of the book. The trailers are misleading, the bridge scene happens in the first five minutes and after that it is 2 hours and 20 minutes of ho hum where is this movie going. The movie is well crafted and there are lots of small story arcs with the kids becoming young adults and developing romances which is nice to see. But I have a very hard time seeing Harry Potter as a hero. Yes, he is the Chosen One, but he is clueless, helpless and brainless. .

I couldn't agree more. I was very disappointed. I was actually squirming in my seat because I was bored by halfway through. I thought it was the worst of the films.
The vanishing cabinet wasn't explained well. I didn't think that there was a good climatic scene like in Goblet of Fire. I thought it totally missed it's mark this time around.