Out of boredom and a need to kill some time, I saw the newest Harry Potter movie.

What the hell was that?

It got some good reviews and was supposed to be the best one of the three. The other two were worse?

Boy, glad I didn't read the books. If they are like the film, yawn city.

Maybe because I'm not 13, but I was lost. Boring!

Steve

ive seen the first 2 because i was babysitting 5 yr olds. iam 15 and personaly didnt go nuts about them, sure it has a fun story, but only for kids under 9

so unless im forced to, i wont watch the 3rd one

cant understand why people go so nuts about it...

Frank

I dunno. I saw all three and rather liked them.

Heck...some people didn't like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang either.

Perhaps issues with fantasy material?

Jim

I have not yet seen the 3rd one, but the first 2 were pretty cool. I have always liked that genre of movie.

No way, I love all the movies mentioned. Was a Star Wars freak as a kid, cried when ET went home (embarassing), loved Indy when a bit older, and now think Lord of the Rings may be some of the best films ever.

I just don't see anything magical about Harry Potter. Nothing really happened and the characters were no fun at all.

No, I wanted to like the movie. Just nothing there that made me care at all.

Steve

Ya know, having read all the HP books, I have to say the movies are lacking the substance that the written versions carry. No problem, I know how the story goes. The fact that the books are MUCH better is par for the course as the movie versions NEVER hold up to the books. The jist is, it's the classic tale of weak and good standing and fighting against strong and evil against trying odds.
Let's also remember it is written for children to enforce reading.
Now, if you had read the books, you would know that the story gets darker and more sinister as it goes on. Good guys die and bad guys re-emerge to do yet more evil, and the good guys keep pressing on even though it seems to get more bleak for them. I, personally applaud J.K. Rowling for coming up with a story that pulls kids away from th T.V. for a while and making them use thier minds instead of burning out brain cells in front of an idiot box!
And for all you 18-40 year olds who "don't see the point" of Harry Potter, stop looking because you probably don't want to see the point anyway. Just skip the movie or read the books TO your kids. It really is a good story.
:-)8 :-)8

Cuhail

I can't take a book or movie serieus that has words like

maybe its the dutch translaton

zwergball.

I mean COMMON.
watch lotr much better. also we have harry potter as our own country prime minister

wich is shocking, and might be the reason I have to throw up

:-)

Juul, A classic!!

Hmmm, don't know whether is considered 'uncool' to like Harry Potter, curious how seems to be a generational thing People of my age seem to be the biggest defenders of it for some reason whilst the teenagers are sneaking into the movie theaters to see it

I am an enormous defender of it, for several distinct reasons. Firstly, this series of books has for the first time in 30+ years, actually got kids reading again, more, it's got kids interested in books again (this also applies to LOTR)

Secondly, I don't find the author particularly 'preachy' but the values in HP are considerably more positive than other movies I could name. I find it frankly frightening the garbage that kids are subjected to, in movies, TV etc...

As an educator, when I constantly have to deal with kids (and their moronic parents) who are incapable of expressing themselves (in their native language, never mind in English ) anything that helps is more than welcome. HP and LOTR are drfinitely in that category.

On a final note -I love the books and the movies ...Jim

I aggree about the reading bit, but I dont think you can confront your very young kids with monsters etc.

its the same that people say pokemon is harmless.

the other day we was walking trough the shopping center to kids I give them about 7 were kicking the [auto-censored] out of eachother, when someone asked what they was doing : playing pokemon.

ok maybe that doesnt link to lotr and HP but, I think as a parent you should teach your kids values n such and dont let em watch to all the crap on tv or in movies!

I would let them watch to finding nemo.

wich is also a great movie!

some good points here,

whilst ive never read the books, and only watched the films out of curiousity. i am not a big fan, but that said im definately not someone who cant get to grips with fantasy stories.

ive been a fan of and been reading LOTR since i was a small child, as my mother used to read it to me, and then once i could read myself i carried on reading it!

the films are a dream come true, and i love all the other stuff mentioned. harry potter is a little childish for my tastes, but i echo jims sentiments, anything that gets kids reading is good.

i am part of a generation that worships garbage like big brother, and pop music/celebrity culture, so for me harry potter is great, even if i personally dont like it.

cheers

joe

Well, I'd have to think through the 'at least they are reading thing'.

First, people may own a book but that is not guarantee it has been read. That is true for adults, kids, etc.

Second, I'd rather see kids reading a biography of Lincoln or Harriett Tubman, or reading about the Apollo program, or picking up a newspaper than reading about singing frogs.

Sure, it's good to pick up a book, but the Potter fad is quickly winding down. Let's see if the 'reading' fad continues.

I'm only talking about the film I saw. To me, there was little magic in it. Nothing to do with my age or being 'ashamed' to lke it. The characters were flat and the only one I'd like to spend 10 minutes with was big guy who liked all the monsters. And, his part was minor in the film.

Steve

I'm a big fan of the books. I think they're very well written and have good characters and interesting storylines. But I'm no fan of the movies either. I've watched the first 2 and they both put me to sleep.
As someone else said, the movies never hold up well to the books.
Well, almost never. Try reading Lonesome Dove and then watch the movie. The differences were minimal for a change. That's one where Hollywood got it right.
Just my 2 cents .
Craig

I've read all the books, seen all the movies, including the 3rd one, and enjoyed them all, (and I'm no youngster anymore (at least not in age anyway - hehe)


Signed
Dumbledore jr

Let's hope my luverly girlfriend doesn't see this topic. She adores the books and the movies. I'm not really a fan but I enjoy watching them.

oops! Too late...I saw it.

Now, as to the original poster, you state you've not read the books nor seen the first two films.

Well, no wonder you didn't like it. You don't know what's happened before they got to that point!

Seriously, though, I am 35 years old and thoroughly enjoyed the books thus far.

And though they changed up the films a bit here and there and cut some things short I'd have liked to see more of, the movies so far have been decent.

I will be seeing the third one soon.

I am an 'unexpected' fan of Rowling's. I didn't expect to like the books as I thought they would be too 'child' oriented. What I've come to like so much about her work is that they *can* be enjoyed by children, yet adults can get into them, too.

But each to their own. I've learned to appreciate many literary forms since learning to read at age 4. I was reading Shakespeare, Thoreau, Kipling, Tolkein and King by the age of 9.

Yet I still find a soft place in my heart for a good piece of fantansy by a 'newer' author.

I know enough of the first books to understand the mythology. I have been victim enough of the media hype for the last few years!

As a movie, it sucked. Sorry. It was long, bloated, and sleep inducing.

Maybe it was the poor acting, maybe the seeming lack of true danger for the protagonsits, or maybe just that missing 'spark'.

Steve

PS - I hope kids start reading more non-fiction. So that way, the people in my classes will realize that the Vietnam War didn't happen in 1930 and that the pyramids were not built by aliens. Don't really care if they know what a muggle is or not!

piramides not built by aliens?


hmm noone knows that for sure.

with the materials they had @ that time it was almost impossible to build the piramides the way they did!


so we'll see

hehe

Ok,ok can't resist need to reply...

My wife is a huge fan of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings (HP is a computer brand and lotr doesn't exist...), but see was a bit dissapointed about the movies. She read the books and saw the movies and her reaction was that the movies killed her own fantasy. She read the books created her own image of things and the movies altered them. Her most positive reaction was that the movies were fairly accurate reproductions of the books, unlike other movies that f***-** the original story of a book.

Oh, by the way, Juul and some others, remember the the days when you were a kid... Didn't you play soldiers, cowboys and indians,... with the fighting... now it is replaced by pokemon, robot wars or whatever.
For your own kids, don't grow up, keep your fanatsy alive (you obviously do or you wouldn't be modelling #:-) #:-) ).

Kris

I saw the first two on DVD and only once each. Found them enjoyable but nothing to go ga-ga about. Enjoyed Lord of the rings, but had the sense to get the first two on DVD and watch those right before I saw the last one. Found them having a lot of boring drival in them, but the last one was really good. The only fantasy flic I truely am excited about is Spiderman 2. LOved the comics and early cartoons as a kid in the 60's saw the animated series in the 90's and the first movie.

Aha my friend Blaster. You watched ... but you did not see!
This has to be the only thing that will ever rival star wars (IMO).

wow, looks like you guys didn't start reading Harry Potter at the right age, there is a time when you really like what's going on in the book, and I totally loved it!!!

I guess there is only a window of opportunity for you to read it and like it, and if you miss it then too bad

I loved it because it was the base for all my interest in mythology. it went from Harry Potter........ I then got interested in Mythology...... the that kind of got me into the study of witchcraft.....which then went to satanism.....and then I read The Lord of The Rings.....and then I also enjoyed Ralph Waldo Emerson....

Harry Potter was the one book that got me started into reading and I hope it does the same for kids today. I don't really care if they think the Vietnam war started in 1930, as long as they read they will soon find out the truth!!!

I have seen all the Harry Potter movies and i really enjoy watching them. I am 34 years old. I started following Harry Potter several years ago when i had a substitute teaching job, and part of my classroom assignment for the kids was reading to them from the very first Harry Potter book. I got hooked and couldnt put it down. But just like with any other movie, whether you like it or not is always a matter of personal taste. I personally look forward to the next movie. One thing that did bother me just a bit about this last movie, is the fact that Harry and the other characters seem to be aging too fast for the time frame. But hey, the movies still rocks. Gotta love a movie with warewolves and floating candles, moving staircases..wat more could you want.
Mary