I must admit, I don't remember seeing these films either. I watched intermittently over the weekend - there was other stuff on other channels that I wanted to watch more. I'm afraid the last book in the series 'killed' it for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as the other books. The three smart teenagers became somewhat stupid for most of the book. A lot of chracters who had been built up marvellously during the series didn't really get a proper winding up of their storylines. What she did to Snape seemed to be a huge waste of his story - a cop out. I just lost interest as soon as I put the book down.
Plus the whole Godric's Hollow part was unbelievable and contrived. I think she just couldn't wind everything up in the end. Probably was contractually obliged to get the book out and it seems to me she lost interest in the rush.
The weird thing about seeing the movies was, at least for GoF, I just wasn't sure if I had seen it or not. I had seen a lot of stills from random LJs at the time, so I knew what the actors in their roles looked like. I had also read the book several times (I really liked that one at the time) so my mind was playing tricks as to whether or not I was remembering certain scenes from the book, or from the movie.
I agree about the final book. I'll have to have a look for them, and do a bit of re-reading. Hell, I don't even remember the Godric's Hollow thing you mentioned in the next comment. :/
Sue, you described my opinion of the last book perfectly. My passionate love for the series died a painful death after that book. I just couldn't get over how drastically it deviated from the quality of the rest of the series. It tarnished my whole Harry Potter world view, and if I could expunge it from my memory and just go with things ending on an unfinished note after "Half Blood Prince", I would.
I saw the 2nd last film in Manchester... The opening scene, where they're flying through London? Was pretty cool, for me, cos I'd seen it all for the first time a week earlier!! I bought the last book in Manchester, too, and finished it on the tarmac when our flight home was delayed!
As for the last film, I saw that with one of the boys I dated last year after HB and I split. The movie was fine, I suppose, but not overly memorable; much like the boy I saw it with!
haha cookieman commented on those flying scenes... asked whether or not the house they were going to was actually right in the centre of London, or was it just neccesary for them to fly past all the big sights so people would know it was London. :D
I liked GoF quite a lot. OotP was only slightly less enjoyable, for me. But again, I suppose a lot of the thrill is seeing the fleshing out of the characters I've already read about. I'm not sure how great a movie it would be on its own.
I don't remember what I thought of the movies right after I saw them, but, years later, OotP remains the only movie of the series (after the "OMG I'm Just So Infatuated" glow of the first movie, where I was so lovestruck by Snape that I couldn't look past him to quibble about anything else in the film) that thoroughly satisfies me. Which is odd, come to think of it, because OotP was also my favorite book, and you'd think they would have screwed it up somehow, but even the truncations and deviations worked pretty well.
I really liked OotP. I suspect it must have been popular with fanfic folks as well. They certainly had a lot of scenes with just Snape and Harry where the use of the word 'penetrate' featured heavily. :D
I love watching the first few movies. You're right about the quidditch, though. I can always do with a bit less quidditch.
I now feel like a dunce because I honestly don't remember much about the final book. I know there was a lot of roving the countryside. I wouldn't be surprised if I read it quickly (read: skipped crap I thought was crap) with the intention of re-reading it like I always did. I must not have read it again, which doesn't say much about it. I'm currently reading OotP, though, and I reckon I'll have a gander at DH while I'm at it.
You haven't seen some of the movies, I still haven't read the books. I get reminded of that every once in a while. Interesting what Sue and Laurel have to say about the last book. I'll have to keep their comments in mind when I finally get around to reading them. And the common and loud refrain during and after we see the movies is "it wasn't like that in the book!". And then they proceed to fill me in on what really happened in the book. I was reading an article in yesterday's newspaper about the Universal Harry Potter theme park and how the designers, etc. would travel to Scotland to get J.K.'s approval on everything, how meticulous she is about everything, how the main HP movie set designer was involved, etc. And you would think, or at least I would think, that this being the case, the movies would better reflect the books, and the final book wouldn't appear to be sort of slap-dash. Just IMO. I saw a tv interview with her, and her response seemed to be the old standby of "you can't please everybody all the time".
Parts of the last book were very good. You'd have to read it yourself to have any real feeling about it. Some people loved it. It would be interesting how the book reads now, so long after it was published and all the excitment has faded. I might even re-read it myself.
as I've mentioned above, I really don't remember much about Deathly Hallows. I'll read it again, once I'm done with OotP. I do recall that I didn't like the general plot of the roving the countryside etc. I suspect I skimmed a lot of it with the intention of coming back to read it properly (a bad habit, but something I did often with the previous books) and never bothered to read it again...
as I just mentioned to Laurel, I have mostly forgotten the final book, outside of the general plot line. This suggests that I didn't re-read it, which is itself strange because I re-read all of the other books several times. I'm reading OotP at the moment, and I'll re-visit DH after that, I think.
I've no doubt their comments are spot-on. They usually are! :D
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I'm afraid the last book in the series 'killed' it for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as the other books. The three smart teenagers became somewhat stupid for most of the book. A lot of chracters who had been built up marvellously during the series didn't really get a proper winding up of their storylines. What she did to Snape seemed to be a huge waste of his story - a cop out.
I just lost interest as soon as I put the book down.
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I think she just couldn't wind everything up in the end. Probably was contractually obliged to get the book out and it seems to me she lost interest in the rush.
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I agree about the final book. I'll have to have a look for them, and do a bit of re-reading. Hell, I don't even remember the Godric's Hollow thing you mentioned in the next comment. :/
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As for the last film, I saw that with one of the boys I dated last year after HB and I split. The movie was fine, I suppose, but not overly memorable; much like the boy I saw it with!
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I liked GoF quite a lot. OotP was only slightly less enjoyable, for me. But again, I suppose a lot of the thrill is seeing the fleshing out of the characters I've already read about. I'm not sure how great a movie it would be on its own.
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I love watching the first few movies. You're right about the quidditch, though. I can always do with a bit less quidditch.
I now feel like a dunce because I honestly don't remember much about the final book. I know there was a lot of roving the countryside. I wouldn't be surprised if I read it quickly (read: skipped crap I thought was crap) with the intention of re-reading it like I always did. I must not have read it again, which doesn't say much about it. I'm currently reading OotP, though, and I reckon I'll have a gander at DH while I'm at it.
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It would be interesting how the book reads now, so long after it was published and all the excitment has faded. I might even re-read it myself.
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I've no doubt their comments are spot-on. They usually are! :D
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