Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[baumer]

My 8th favourite Potter film.

[CaptainJackSparrow]

The first fifteen seconds of the film are perfect.

And then it goes into Hell.

[Noctis]

Jay Hollywood, you need to rewatch this film.

[RobinHood26]

Ive been going through and rewatching them all and to my surprise I give OOTP a higher grade this time. Draco's part was great, flashbacks were great but the one aspect they dropped the ball on was the Half Blood Prince stuff and its the title of the movie.

 

B+ (88)

Edited September 18, 2014 by Jay Hollywood

[RobinHood26]

Jay Hollywood, you need to rewatch this film.

 

!!!!! Watched it last night haha

[ShouldIBeHere]

Watched this again... easily the best Potter. I thought for a while I liked DH1 more.

 

But this has risen in my appreciation while most others have fallen.

 

But this one deserves a A vote.

 

A- (9/10)

 

 

Listening to the extended "Dumbledore's Farewell" theme for hours now... and the deleted scene with "In Noctem".

 

 

 

[Goffe]

Simply put, Half-Blood Prince is a huge step up from Order of the Phoenix. One could have never guessed both movie were directed by the same filmmaker if it weren't for  little things like editing tricks and whatnot. Quite stunning of n improvement, really.

 

I even liked the romantic scenes with Ginny and Harry despite the former actor's inability to act.

 

HBP fixed some general complaints I had with previous entries in the series (POA's focus on plot at the expense of everything else, GOF's sometimes puerile tone, OOTP's general disdain for moviemaking) and concentrated on what those movies did right (POA's amazing craft, GOF'S emotional hefty and the above average OOTP dynamics between characters).

 

I love the juxtaposition between Draco’s troubled journey and Harry's relatively normal teenager life. I love that it's more of a Dumbledore and Harry duet movie. I love the gloomy atmosphere, almost pre-apocalyptic kind of thing, like the end is near and there's nothing anyone can do about it type of feel. I love the unusual third act, its ability to grab your attention and never let it go, even if you are tired and watching it on 5 AM like I was. I love, just love the the score and how it's used in the movie, which quite frankly rivals POA's, even if Williams music is objectively more complex and greater. I love Steve Kloves is back to screenwriting duties, his sense of what matters and what doesn't, his lovely humor, his sharp dialogue. Also, more Snape is always good.

 

 

Oh Yates, how far have you come.

 

100/100

Edited December 27, 2017 by Goffe

[John Marston]

I want to like this movie but I can't stand how they cut out most of the actual Half Blood Prince stuff (which makes the reveal anti climactic and almost meaningless)  and Voldemort backstory and decide to focus primarily on the

teen romance 

Edited September 11, 2016 by John Marston

[Joel M]

I don't know how much David Yates inexperience mattered in OOTP feeling so rushed but judging from how much better he is the second time around, it must have been a factor. I was a little negative on this when it first came out, I think mostly because it adapts the best book in the series and I really focused on the things that the movie didn't handle very well. It's actually much better and a big step up from the previous one. The cinematography is beautiful and the Burrow scene was a great addition but the best thing about it is that finally the young cast is 100% capable to carry the movie. The main trio is finally “there” and Draco who gets a fantastic arc is even better. It captures the “raging hormones” atmophere that was a very big part of the book pretty well, but I still have 2 major issues that hurt the movie considerably:

 

1.Ginny is a dud character. Which isn't entirely HBP's fault. The actress that plays her is charisma free and that's a problem but I think it would help a lot if she was incorporated at least as a Nevil-level character in any of the previous movies. But she pretty much was there to be at the background in group shots and now Ginny has suddenly thing to say and the whole thing feels of. The movie tries to make us care, but they really droped the ball early on this one.

 

2.The Snape/Half-Blood Prince reveal. This is the essense of the 6^th movie/book even moreso than Dumbledore's death and the movie kinda whiffs it. We never see Harry obsessing about Snape being a villain that has fool everybody except him, until he finally gets the most harrowing vindication that he was right all along. That final confrontation should feel personal but it doesn't, it's just “Snape is a bad guy now”.

 

My single favorite scene though and one of my favorite in the whole series is the Felix Felicis day. It's such a joyous sequence, so beautiful and Dan Radcliffe is at his absolute best.

 

Also bonus points for Lavender

 

B+.