Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (Parts I and II) discussion (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Mayer]

Sweet poster.

 

[Cory S.]

How sweet is it that that teaser poster mirrors the Sorcerer's Stone teaser poster back in '01...

 

[Rhett_Y]

After watching the teaser before another unmentionable movie, I am really excited to see this........ I just wish we didn't have to wait almost eight months to complete the journey!

 

[Chris Farmer]

The biggest thing I'm hoping for is more length to the ending. While the climax played out pretty much perfectly in the book, I was very disappointed that there were only about five pages afterwards then a very brief epilogue. I'm not someone who wants a recap of every second of every minute of what happens afterwards, but after nearly 4,000 pages of conflict we deserved to be given more denouement than what we got (being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers).


The other thing that I hope gets changed some is more involvement from the secondary characters. It was very clear reading book 7 (and ESPECIALLY the epilogue) that it was plotted out well before books 5 and 6 were written. The cast of characters exploded in those two and there were quite a few that we were very attached to (Luna being the most obvious, but also the further expansion of Ginny and Neville into full characters, and plenty of other examples). Although they all showed up for the final climax, having so much of the book go without them was very jarring and rather disappointing, returning to the more focused take on Harry, Ron, and Hermione of the first three in particular.


I do think it's smart to try and market this as one film in two parts. Trying to market it as two separate films would make the money-grab more obvious. While it's still the case, I think it will help things go over better than other similar setups.

 

[JonZ]

I hope theres more explaination that has been missing from the movies especially from books 5 & 6.


Without going into spoilers.... stuff like Voldermonts parents and the Harry/Neville/Prophecy thing.


I hope these things are mentioned in the last films.The Harry/Nevile thing is important and shouldnt be glossed over.

 

[Cory S.]

Entertainment Weekly's Fall Preview issue has a big spread on Deathly Hallows, with new pictures and such. The biggest revelation is where the split happens.

 

 

The split will take place at the end of Chapter 24 in the novel; Voldemort's possession of the Elder Wand.

Personally, I think this is kind of brilliant. That means part 2 is literally non-stop action.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

My only issue with that place for the split is that it means a lot has to be crammed into the first movie. I was hoping that double the running time would mean that these movies would have a bit more breathing room than the last few movies.

 

[Cory S.]

Word is that both films will be two and half hours each. How much time is really needed? Looking at it as a whole, we're talking 5 hours.

 

[Jim_C]

I agree with Adam. With that for the split point the first movie has way more stuffed into it....or they're going to cut some stuff out to make that split work. I think it's a logical place for part one to end but I hope they don't screw up the first movie to make that happen.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The problem is that the first half of the book is way more plot heavy than the second half. All the learning takes place in the chapters cordoned off for Part I, and most of the doing happens in the chapters marked for Part II. The placement of the split off was likely necessitated by the fact that:

 

the first movie had to at least get through the ambush at the Lovegoods' house, because you can't have a movie called the Deathly Hallows without explaining what the Deathly Hallows are. My main issue is the decision to put the Malfoy Manor set piece in Part I rather than Part II. Had the ending been left as a cliffhanger with the trio getting captured, it would have given the first film a narrative backbone: discovering what the Deathly Hallows are. Once that's been achieved, the purpose of the movie is over. It would have unclogged the first movie a bit by removing one set piece from this movie, and granting the second half a third. Most of all, the Trio getting captured is a much more enticing cliffhanger than Voldemort finding the Elder Wand.


And it's not just a matter of how much time the first movie needs, it's about how much time the second movie doesn't need. If the split occurs at the place described by EW, what's left is two set pieces. Unless the film is going to venture into new territory by portraying some of what happens between the immediate aftermath of the battle and the epilogue, there's just not that much story in Chapters 24 on to carry two and a half hours of cinema.

 

[robson12]

I am officially stoked to read the books again for the umpteeth time

 

 

 



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[Adam_S]

There is so much done and explained and plotted in Deathly Hallows I wouldn't be surprised if things are scrambled around significantly in comparison to the other movies, because once they had the freedom to use two movies they had the freedom to radically restructure (with JKRs blessing of course). Additionally, with the decision to not explain anything other than the locket in Half Blood Prince they have a ton of horcrux lifting to do in the two movies as well. I"ve maintained for a while that the best way to do this is to give Harry Dumbledore's Riddle memory collection somehow at the beginning of the film as well. This is the team that made the bizarre choice that the death eaters would invade hogwarts in half blood prince and do nothing but walk across the great hall table in an angry manner in favor of a brief shot of a house on fire earlier in the film, I'm sure they'll make equally and more bizarre choices with Deathly Hallows.

 

[JonZ]

I recently read all the books in a row in a 2 week period to refresh my memory, and thats exactly where I guessed the films would split.

 

Adam, Regarding your spoiler, Order of the Phoenix revolved around the prophecy - while not going into specifics about WHY its so important. As I said above, I hope they give some of the missing info from books 5 & 6 in the final film.

 

Without going into spoilers or specifics for those who havent read the books - for example Voldemorts flashback visit w/ Dumbledore after well into practicing the dark arts and his lady friend who likes to collect antiques. To me its significant stuff in understanding Voldemort,the Horcruxes and their importance. Problem is, with Dumbledore gone, I dont see how it can be explained properly, and its information Harry needs.

 

This stuff was gone over at length in the novel and is sorely missing from the film versions.

 

[Cory S.]

double post

 

[Cory S.]

JonZ,

Actually, in the Half-Blood Prince film, they did explain a WAY for Harry to deduce what the remain Horcruxes are. It has to do with the mind connection between him and Voldemort which becomes seriously important in Deathly Hallows. Personally, I found that a clever way for Harry's struggle with finding them while further pushing the idea that the connection between them will become most important in his final journey.

See, if you remember, by the end of the novel, Dumbledore pretty much guessed right what exactly what the Horcruxes are and basically told Harry before they went off to the cave. In the film, he's gonna have to work for it a bit to get this done. Which means a lot of the travel aspects of the first half of Deathly Hallows will be cut...which isn't really a bad thing. There was A LOT of travel passages in that book.

Adam,

As for where the split takes place, I have a different take.

See, having the last image of Voldemort holding the elder wand juxtaposed with Ollivander discussing the rumor of the Deathly Hallows puts our hero and the audience in the worse possible position. That to me feels even more like a cliffhanger than just ending it right as they get captured at Malfoy Manner.

In essence, it feels as if Harry really has no hope. Voldemort's got the elder wand. Harry's got no chance. But if you remember that chapter in the book, Harry does make a very, very crucial decision. He has to decide between the Horcruxes and the Hallows. He basically comes full circle back to the mission Dumbledore sets him on and choices the Horcruxes. They're using Malfoy Manor as the action set piece of the first film and then going for the emotional climax to end the film...like they did with Half-Blood Prince. That will contrast the absolute epic action/emotional climax we'll get with part 2. And remember, with part 2, we still have a lot of very plot specific aspects left to deal with(Snape's being the absolute biggest and a long with the scene at King's Cross between Harry and Dumbledore...which was filmed in its entirety, I've read)

I don't see part I as being too heavy compared to part 2.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Mainly, I just don't want it to be like Return of the King, where three quarters of the movie is this huge battle that seems to go on interminably. You can only have sustained action for so long before it starts to get really boring.

 

[JonZ]

Newest trailer with lots of new stuff in it....

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-harry-potter-deathly-hallows-full-trailer.html

 

edit: That page contains details those unfamiliar with the books might consider too spoilerish.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Direct links:

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WINDOWS STANDARD
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FLASH
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QUICKTIME HD
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IPOD
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[Tim Glover]

Whoa. Way cool. Easily my most anticipated movie since Revenge Of The Sith. I simply cannot wait. The Potter films (Azkaban to now) have surpassed Lord Of The Rings for me as my 2nd most cherished films. Nothing can top Star Wars & Empire Strikes Back for me....BUT I will say that the Potter series of late has come close. Really, really close.
 

One thing is certain about Harry Potter: I can't think of a more well crafted, acted, and put together & consistently excellent film series. Ever.
 

Thx for those links Adam!

 

[Cory S.]

Epic trailer. Just epic. And, I'm with Tim with this comparison to Rings. Granted, I've never been a big Rings fan. I felt the filmmaking got a bit fatigued in the middle of the Two Towers but I will give credit to Jackson for pulling off that trilogy.

Having said that, the Potter series surpassed Rings, in my mind, after Order of the Phoenix. Half-Blood Prince just cemented. After these two films are released, the Potter series might even surpass my beloved Star Wars. I'm dead serious about that...which would've been unheard of 10 years ago....