A Movie Confession....

[scatteredlogic]

I have a confession to make. I'm an HP fan, but I'm not necessarily an HP movie fan. In fact, some of you may consider it a sacrilege, but I haven't seen any of the HP movies since Goblet of Fire. Oh, I've seen clips here and there, but a full movie? No. When Order of the Phoenix was released, I'd intended to go, but I just never got around to

Comments

[moreteadk]

I liked the first two films. The first one in particular. Probably because it was new and YAY FILM! I was pleasantly surprised by the way they had cast it too. I thought the first two was decently close to the source material, but then those are the two thinnest books. I thought the third one was okay, although I was puzzled by some of the changes

[scatteredlogic]

I enjoyed the first two movies, but like you, I think it was because it was new. But I frowned my way through Prisoner of Azkaban and by Goblet of Fire, all I could remember was "dragons!" ~shrug~

The Burrow was BLOWN UP! O.o Huge parts of the Horcrux plotline was left out. No Hufflepuff cup. No other Voldemort memories other than the one where he asked about Horcruxes. His entire backstory, gone. The whole Halfblood Prince issue with Snape? Not. A. Word. other than Snape saying he's the Halfblood Prince. I don't know, when I read the HBP book, I thought that was some pretty important stuff! But if you're right and they're giving Snape's memories to someone else without any explanation, it's just a film with an obscure, strange title.

That's what I'd read, and I thought, "What was the point in that?" None of that made sense to me, and cutting the Halfblood Prince issue with Snape was even more puzzling. I hope I'm wrong about how much they change Snape's plotline, but right now, I wouldn't put money on it. :(

I kind of like

[dmacabre]

I think it's just as well. The movies seemed to really start falling apart with GoF. I watched HBP a few weeks ago for the first time and it seemed significantly different than what I recall of the book-- and not to any advantage, IMO. I liked seeing more Snape (although I agree, as incredible as Rickman is, he's not a perfect fit for the part) but that's about it. Now I wonder what the movie version of the Deathly Hallows will be like, because good GOD that book was long.

You know, I wondered if the same thing would happen when the Labyrinth manga came out, but so far, it doesn't seem to have made much of a blip in fandom. I suppose it helps that all the classics were written long before and are so well-established that it doesn't matter what comes now, they'll always be classics. And it helps even more that a lot of people either haven't bothered to read the manga, or have but aren't terribly attached to them. *snort*

[scatteredlogic]

Now I wonder what the movie version of the Deathly Hallows will be like, because good GOD that book was long.

Well, they're splitting that book into two movies, but I hope they're not going to subject people to every excruciating moment of that camping trip. ;)

You know, I wondered if the same thing would happen when the Labyrinth manga came out, but so far, it doesn't seem to have made much of a blip in fandom. I suppose it helps that all the classics were written long before and are so well-established that it doesn't matter what comes now, they'll always be classics. And it helps even more that a lot of people either haven't bothered to read the manga, or have but aren't terribly attached to them. *snort*I think the manga sparked a little more Jareth/Toby slash, but honestly, I thought that was the entire point of the manga - to tap into the potential slash market, something that barely existed in the Labyrinth fandom, so it was a stupid marketing move. (And nope, I didn't bother to read the manga, either. ~shrug~ So very much

[hayet]

manga sparked a little more Jareth/Toby slash

what
i don't even

aaaahhhh!

(unless he's older in the manga...?)

[scatteredlogic]

He's 15-16 in the manga, as I recall, but the slash fanfic I've seen usually ages Toby up to at least 18. ;)

[pandora_nervosa]

I still haven't seen HBP. I'll probably get it for Christmas from the Coconut, but I agree with most everyone when they say the films have steadily been going downhill. Hell, you remember how traumatized I was after seeing the third flick. I still have a difficult time watching that.

I've never thought about the fandom being split with book/non-book readers but you do have a point. I, too, wonder if it will touch our little corner of the fandom.

[scatteredlogic]

Hell, you remember how traumatized I was after seeing the third flick. I still have a difficult time watching that.

Oh, you and me both. We sat there aferwards, staring at each other, going "What the fuck was that?" ~grin~

I, too, wonder if it will touch our little corner of the fandom.

It will be interesting to see if it does. I suspect a lot will depend on how the manage Snape's death scene.

[dickgloucester]

If Snape's death scene follows form, it will last thirty seconds and AR will not be allowed to act.

[scatteredlogic]

~snicker~ Oh, I hope that's not true, but I suspect you're exactly right.

[hayet]

heh...I thought I was the only one who was bored by the movies after POA. I've seen GOF a few times, and OOTP once, and *forgot* they'd released HBP until you mentioned it. LOL.

Yeah, I was initially excited by Rickman as Snape, but....c'mon, Snape isn't supposed to be attractive, or sexily-voiced, or even have a shred of that calm dignity that Rickman brings to the role. But that's only a little quibble.

Mostly I'm just bored by the adaptations themselves. I don't mind at all when they stray far from canon in movies, and liked the POA spin. In fact, I found "Watchmen" to be one of the most boring movies ever because it was far too faithful- I just found myself wondering "will they use this line? nope. Will they use that line? yup!" But the last two HP movies seemed so superficial and were really odd in what they chose to emphasize and what they cut out.

[scatteredlogic]

heh...I thought I was the only one who was bored by the movies after POA. I've seen GOF a few times, and OOTP once, and *forgot* they'd released HBP until you mentioned it. Hee!

Nope, clearly we're not the only ones. We all just thought we were. LOL

In fact, I found "Watchmen" to be one of the most boring movies ever because it was far too faithful- I just found myself wondering "will they use this line? nope. Will they use that line? yup!" But the last two HP movies seemed so superficial and were really odd in what they chose to emphasize and what they cut out.

I hadn't considered that aspect of having a movie be too faithful to the source material, but I can see where it would create its own set of problems. However, like you, I just couldn't understand the changes they chose to make in the HP movies. It almost seemed to be in direct relation to how much they could gut out of the plot of the books, really.

[dickgloucester]

I adore Rickman in the role, absolutely adore him - but he's not the Snape I see when I read the books. Like you, I had my idea of Snape established before the movies started.

HBP was a curious film, because I felt they did a lot of things very well, but they didn't do the story at all well. So I enjoyed it for what it was.

I think you are right about movie fandom vs. book fandom - I think the same has been seen with LotR.

Your speculation about what the final movies will bring might well be spot-on. Snape is a pivotal figure in the books, but he's relegated to a measly few minutes in the films - even HBP. I wonder what the ultimate editions will bring?

[scatteredlogic]

I adore Rickman in the role, absolutely adore him - but he's not the Snape I see when I read the books. Like you, I had my idea of Snape established before the movies started.

I think it was just such a shock to me when I saw what a difference there was between the Snape in my mind and the Snape on the screen that I never really recovered from it. ;)

Your speculation about what the final movies will bring might well be spot-on. Snape is a pivotal figure in the books, but he's relegated to a measly few minutes in the films - even HBP. I wonder what the ultimate editions will bring?

I hope that I'm wrong, but from what I've read, Snape really doesn't have a lot to do with the movie plots. As a book fan, I find that completely puzzling, but there you are.

I hope that someday someone remakes the films into something that more firmly balances the plots involving Snape's generation with that of the children, but I think it will be a long time before we'll see it.