Tags
Ok, so I like Harry Potter. I’ve read the series many times and while I don’t get all caught up in the hype of the movies, I generally expect them to have some semblence to the original story.
I saw Half Blood Prince today and while you obviously can’t include every single detail from the books, surely it’s not too much to expect vital plot points to be included and explained properly? I don’t want to say too much so as not to spoil things for those of you who may still be wanting to check out the film, but I will say that, not content with merely leaving out major plot details, they’ve also started to invent things as well! In addition to leaving out a whole heap of important information, they included quite a long scene at the Weasley’s house which never occurred in the books and which didn’t add anything to the lame watered-down version of the story that they were telling.
I know that movie adaptions of books are never going to be as good as the written version, and can never include all the background information that you absorb so readily from the page, but I wonder sometimes why they even bother. The movie versions of Dan Brown’s books are a classic example – I enjoyed reading The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, but found the films pretty bloody ordinary, rushed and missing important connecting links that left gaping holes in the story. The only film that I can think of that does its written version justice is Kenneth Branagh’s adaption of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing – can you think of any?
It All Started With Carbon Monoxide 
Hi Agnes,
I haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet (I’m a big fan too), but the majority of the reviews I’ve read mirror yours. Nonetheless, I’ll go see it (more than once, probably) because I’ve never read the books would have no idea something wasn’t accurate! By the way, I tend to favor Hagrid when I don’t shave, could have a monster crush on Luna if I was younger, and have officially declared my worship to your because of the song you’ve shared as it made my day!
Hope you’ve been well, happy you made it home safely and always enjoy your writings here.
We saw it on Sat and fully enjoyed it. I can’t remember the book well enough to make comparisons – probably for the best.
Chris – I have a friend who hasn’t seen it yet who I’ll probably go with to see it again but I can’t say I’m all that enthusiastic. I’ll have to bite my tongue so as not to spoil it for them! I love Luna, she’s delightfully quirky. Snape is by far my favourite though. You made me laugh with your Hagrid comparison too! Thanks a lot for your good wishes too, I appreciate it.
AFM – I think you’re right! Glad you enjoyed it though.
I’m with A Free Man. It’s too long since I read the book for me to remember everything they missed although I did get the niggly feeling that it had been condensed a bit toooooo much. I too didn’t see the point of the Weasley scene as there were other nasty scenes which they could have included which would have showed the general unpleasantness of the Death Eaters just as well. I think. Must reread. Still, wouldn’t mind seeing it again….
So how was your trip???????
Exactly Ariza – there was no point to the Weasley scene! Very silly I thought. I reread just before I saw it you see, which I guess is why I found so many flaws!
My trip was fabulous, thank you for asking! Saw so many wonderful things and met some fantastic people along the way also. Just gotta save enough money to head over there again!
Oh and wrt films which do justice…Baz Luhrman’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’…but we are cheating a bit as both of these are plays which are much easier to turn into films than books are.
How about ‘Atonement’?
Oh yeah ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was pretty good – funny that we’ve both chosen Shakespeare adaptions! I really liked ‘Atonement’ but have yet to finish the book – bought it and started it before I went overseas but abandoned it I’m afraid. Will have to give it another shot! Your thoughts?
oh agnes, you HAVE to finish atonement. the very end is kind of the whole point of the book, in my humble opinion! also imho, i thought the book was ten times better than the movie.
i saw the harry potter film and just like afm and ariza, i can’t remember enough detail of the books to be able to criticize the movie for what it left out. my husband complained that he didn’t really know what was going on, but he’s only ever watched the films and never read the books. i do think you need the book background to fully grasp what’s happening, especially in these later installments.
i liked it, though. i loved the teen romance and such and the only point to the weasley scene that i can think of is that it set up the ginny/harry romance a bit more.
Hi Agnes- This past weekend I happened to watch the Kenneth Branagh Much Ado About Nothing and it was so funny! But I can’t stop wondering how Keanu got in there…
Marcy – I have this pile of books on a table in my bedroom. At the moment I think it’s only stacked six or seven high. Tonight I’ll put Atonement back on the pile! Re Harry, I hadn’t thought of the Ginny/Harry thing in the Burrow scene, I think you could be right there. And yeah, I think you miss quite a bit watching the movies without reading the books, but it’s tricky watching the films if you know the books too well. At least it is if you’re a nitpicker like me!
Greer – So glad you checked out ‘Much Ado’! I first saw it when I was home sick from school one day when I was about 16. My mum asked me to tape it for her and since there was nothing else on I ended up watching it. At that point I had no idea how funny Shakespeare could be, and I loved that I could follow all the dialogue even though it was all straight from the play. To me, it’s always seemed to be very modern, despite the fact that it was written so long ago. And I think you’re right – Keanu is the only weak part of the film. Sometimes I even have to fast forward him when I’m feeling particularly impatient!
The adaptation of ‘High Fidelity’ took all sorts of liberties with the book, but somehow it worked.
The rotten adapatations are nothing new. I remember reading Catch-22 when I was bout 16 or 17 and thinking it was the greatest thing ever. About two or three years later it was shown on BBC TV (pre-video and all that, so it was a one-off chance to view it). And despite some great bits of character acting, it just didnt do it for me.
PS
I might be alone in the world in never ever wanting to read any Harry Potter stuff far less watch the movies.
Same with Lord of The Rings.
Oh you’re right JC, High Fidelity was pretty good. I tried reading Catch-22 once, around the same age I think and couldn’t finish it – perhaps it’s time for another go.
I’ve never been able to get into Lord Of The Rings, the books or the movies, but I really liked The Hobbit. And I don’t think you are the only one who think that about Harry either. Although I am lucky enough (ha!) to be seeing the blessed picture again tomorrow – I promised a friend, foolhardy girl that I am, that I’d see it with him and he used to be anti-Harry until he followed my sage advice and read the books. So there is hope for you yet JC…