Part of me wishes we had seen Tonks, Lupin, and Fred die. I wonder if they filmed Fred's death? However I did like it that Lupin was left in the scene with the resurrection stone and talked to Harry. The most shocking death was Lavender. In the book, you didn't know if she lived or died, but the movie made it clear with Greyback eating her. Yikes that was very disturbing.
I really liked the way that they handled their deaths, myself. It felt as if they were suitably understated, given the gravity of the situation and the amount of bodies that were strewn around Hogwarts. Lingering too long on any one death wouldn't have fitted the pacing of the battle scenes, which felt a lot like you were just getting quick glimpses into parts of the castle, never lingering for too long on anyone except Harry. It also avoided becoming melodramatic as Rutabaga said, which could have been easy, especially for Fred.Originally Posted by Jedi Master Carr
It's an interesting contrast to the way that Dobby's death was handled in the previous movie.
About halfway through the movie I was wishing for an intermission so I could use the restroom. As it was, there wasn't, so I ended almost exploding out of the theatre as the credits rolled.
The only part of the movie I wasn't really into was the 19 Years Later scene. I wasn't enthralled with it in the book, either, but I didn't overly dislike it either. "I know! Let's give Draco a beard! That'll make him look older!"
Bellatrix's death was perfect.
I was kinda of hoping for the ending fight between Voldemort and Harry to be more in tune with the books, but it wasn't bad. The few seconds they fought I was thinking that Harry would've died after throwing maybe one spell.
I enjoyed King's Cross Station, which was among my favourite chapters of the entire series. I did miss Dumbledore's backstory and how well it bolstered the plot, though I can understand why so much of it was cut, and I do enjoy loose ends in fiction as there are so many in life.
I didn't enjoy the '19 years later...' scene in the book itself and was fully expecting not to enjoy it in the movie. Luckily they kept it fairly short and didn't feel the need to explain the names of every child or what every Hogwarts student had done with their life. Most of the screen I was in were laughing for the duration of the scene. Still, I would have been happy with it ending on the shot of the three of them standing on the bridge.
I actually cringed when the words "19 years later" came on the screen, because I was so afraid of what the makeup might look like. I was pleasantly surprised because I thought overall it looked okay. And they got the most important thing in there, which was the name Albus Severus. So I think they did the best with it that they could.
I loved it. And I was able to take all 3 of my kids to see it and despite the action and the death toll, they were all able to handle it. My oldest daughter (the only one of my brood who was ever really scared by the series, actually found other books/movies to be more frightening. The cemetery showdown in Goblet of Fire scared her more than anything in Hallows 2.
I thought it was a fitting end to the series. While the showdown between Harry and Voldemort was different from the novel, I actually thought they changed it in ways that suited the medium. I was worried how the jump off the bridge we kept seeing in the trailers was going to work, but I was pleasantly surprised. King's Cross was awesome and the Prince's Tale should earn Rickman a nomination.
If I have one regret is that we've never gotten extended editions of these movies. To me, the theatrical releases of the LOTR films don't exist. I rewatch the extended editions every summer and that's the only version of the films I can really remember. I wish the Potter flicks had been given the same treatment.
I can't wait for the eventual mega set of these. I've never seen any deleted or extended scenes and I hope that final set ends up having some for each film.
"Dad, you killed the zombie Flanders!" "He was a zombie?"
I wouldn't be shocked if WB has extended versions of the Potter films. They have released extended versions of the first two, and I know there are deleted scenes from the other films, and a lot of it never released.
They have? Never knew that.
It's true as well there's a lot of filmed stuff that was left out - the 5th film IIRC had over an hour of extra footage that had to be cut to shorten the run-time. It would be awesome if that could all be put back in and re-released.
__________
"A Jedi must remain focused. Mastery of the Force requires that all unnecessary activities be purged from daily life."
Yep, about a year ago they released them on DVD and Blue-ray. They are called the Ultimate Editions. They have released the other films in the same series but nothing added to them. Knowing greedy WB, they decided to release expanded versions of those films at a later date.They have? Never knew that.
It's true as well there's a lot of filmed stuff that was left out - the 5th film IIRC had over an hour of extra footage that had to be cut to shorten the run-time. It would be awesome if that could all be put back in and re-released.
I'd heard of the Ultimate Editions, but never knew they included extended editions. I hope the inevitable mega set has both theatrical and extended editions. Or at the very least, they release 2 different sets. Even though I'd always watch the extended editions, the originals should always be out there somewhere on bluray or DVD. Now if only Lucas would do the same...
The How It Should Have Ended people have finally released their version for Harry Potter:
Bonus props for having Gandalf as the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher at the end too.
lol that was funny, they are sure creative.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks