What's your favorite Harry Potter movie(s)? Mine is The Sorcerer's Stone and the two Deathly Hallows movies.

O thought Prisoner of Azkahaban was the best and most complete movie

5
3
7.1
7.2
2
1
6
4

I think that 3 and 5 caught the spirit of the books the most, and the possession scene in 5 was actually better in the movie vs the book which almost didn't happen at any other point.

The changes in 6 are almost unforgivable and Voldemort acting weird as hell in 4 with his nasal voice made it feel like cheesy acting/directing in the graveyard instead of being a really cool scene.

I like 4. Reading the books for the first time now though so we'll see how my perception changes. Pre-books it's something like 4, 8, 3, 2. 1, 7, 5, 6. I never remember anything about 6 of much interest or consequence until the very end. Seems light on plot. Kind of the same for 5 IIRC. Voldy is back at the end of 4 but it still takes several semesters for things to ramp up.

That will probably all change in a few months though when I've finished the books.

MookieBlaylock said:

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O thought Prisoner of Azkahaban was the best and most complete movie

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This. kids are old enough to not just get by on being kids and actually act, stakes are a bit bigger, the danger isn't so childish or cartoonish in that one.

Gary Oldman and David Thewlis bring a bit more gravitas.

Order of Phoenix and Goblet of Fire are my next two.

We're about to fire them up and get going on them as we'll be seeing Cursed Child in two weeks in NYC.

rhutton125 said:

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I like 4. Reading the books for the first time now though so we'll see how my perception changes. Pre-books it's something like 4, 8, 3, 2. 1, 7, 5, 6. I never remember anything about 6 of much interest or consequence until the very end. Seems light on plot. Kind of the same for 5 IIRC. Voldy is back at the end of 4 but it still takes several semesters for things to ramp up.

That will probably all change in a few months though when I've finished the books.

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Glad you are reading the books, because they are so much better than the movies. I still remember the excitement and anticipation of each new book being released. I know people that are obsessed with the movies but have never even thought about reading the books, which I've never understood.

Not sure which movie is my favorite, probably Prisoner of Azkaban or Order of the Phoenix if I had to choose. Like said above the half blood Prince movie absolutely butchered the story in the book.

I've always liked 3 the best, although 4 is pretty strong too. I liked the way they set up the tasks and the foreign students. Cuaron's change in direction form the formula of the first 2 movies was a very welcome site, and the addition of Gambon, Oldman, and the guys who play Pettigrew and Lupin are probably the best supporting cast of any of the films.

They really veered off the book story in #5 and it suffered IMO. My wife saw it with me having not read the books and had no idea what they were doing going to the Department of Mysteries. The Dumbledore-Voldemort fight was really well done.

#6 has become my favorite book over the years, and the changes there are very frustrating, particularly leaving out the flashback where Voldemort comes to itnerview for the DODA job.

I hated the Hollywood version of the final Harry/Voldy fight.

Yeah I think they ruined the end of 7 as well. It didn't land like it did in the book.

It's also the most different than the book, right?

No. Comparing all the others, 1-3 were all much closer to the books. Did they give you all the exposition you get in the book about the Marauders? No. But the story was pretty much on point.

For me, I would rank them:

3, 5, 1, 2, 4, 7, 6

The Half Blood Prince was absolute trash. The screenwriters' and director's decision to not make Harry and Dumbledore's "classes" the main focus was unforgiveable in my book. It's sad, because I thought the Felix Felicis scene was great, and the cave scene at the end was absolutely perfect. But removing the attack on Hogwarts to add an attack on the Burrow? That is the kind of ridiculous adaptation crap that fans complain about all the time. I understand needing to change things to adapt them, but changes like that make absolutely no sense. Truly is disappointing for me, because it is my favorite book of the series.

I thought the atmosphere Alfonso Cuarn created in The Prisoner of Azkaban should have been kept the same throughout the series. To me, that atmosphere was most similar to the books.

I also did not like Gambon as Dumbledore, at all. He was okay in 3, but he just did not match up to the Dumbledore from the books.

I could probably go through each movie and point out the good and the bad, but Prisoner of Azkaban definitely had the most good and least bad of the series.

I liked 3 the least initially, and now it is my favorite. 4 was too compressed. 5-6-7.1-7.2 just started getting progressively worse 1/2 were the closest to the books, and captures the spirit well, but suffer on repeated viewing.

I love 3, and 7.1 (has an Empire strikes back feel for me)

So much wanted to love 5, but the finale between Voldemort and Dumbledore just didn't live up to "The Only One He Ever Feared" chapter.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I also did not like Gambon as Dumbledore, at all. He was okay in 3, but he just did not match up to the Dumbledore from the books.

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My rankings are 3, 5, 7.1, 1, 7.2, 2, 4, 6.

3 is a clear #1 for me. I struggled hardest with the Sorcerer's Stone and the two Deathly Hallows movies. The Hallows movies are better IMO, but 1 was just so great from a "wow, they actually did this" kind of way. I guess I'll put 7.2 below that with some of the changes made there (the final battle between Harry and Voldy was great cinematically, but completely goes against the spirit of the books). Goblet of Fire and Half Blood Prince are the clear bottom two, but GoF was just disappointing. HBP was a travesty.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I also did not like Gambon as Dumbledore, at all. He was okay in 3, but he just did not match up to the Dumbledore from the books.

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CubbieAggie said:

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DallasTeleAg said:

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I also did not like Gambon as Dumbledore, at all. He was okay in 3, but he just did not match up to the Dumbledore from the books.

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Ha....same page.

the first three are my favorite with PoA being my favorite of those 3.

I've been re-reading the books with my 9 year old and watching each movie as we finish the corresponding book. We're nearly done with Deathly Hallows.

I like Sorcerer's Stone the most. It's not the best one, but those first visuals of Hogwarts and magic for my kid reminded me how…magical it was when the film came out.

After that:

2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Half Blood Prince
5. Deathly Hallows 2
6. Deathly Hallows 1
7. Prisoner of Azkaban
8. Chamber of Secrets

Got to second base with a German girl during the 3rd one. So, that one.

Has there ever been so much entertainment board consensus on something as much as having the 3rd Harry Potter movie be everyone's favorite?

I haven't seen all the movies in some time but I do remember liking that one. I have never read the books but will probably read them with my kids when they are of age!

They all sort of blend together after 4 for me, but the standout ones for me are 3 for the time travel stuff (I'm a sucker for time travel), and 4 because that's when it started feeling a bit more dark and grown-up, and with real stakes once the kid gets killed. And I remember going to see that with my high school friends at the theater. We were still a bit older than the kids in the movie but it felt like it was more mature rather than just a kids movie.

I will say I have a bit of nostalgia for the first one since that was really my introduction to the world (I had only read maybe the first four chapters of the book), plus it kind of feels like a Christmas movie. The John Williams score helps.

Chipotlemonger said:

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Has there ever been so much entertainment board consensus on something as much as having the 3rd Harry Potter movie be everyone's favorite?

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Empire Strikes Back being the best Star Wars movie.

The Goblet of Fire was originally supposed to be two parts.

It has some language, but it's censored.

Who do you hate more: Dolores Jane Umbridge (she says her full name in the movie) or Lord Voldemort?

1. Prisoner of Azkhaban
2. Goblet of fire
3. Sorcerers stone
3.5 chamber of secrets
4. Order of the Phoenix
5. Half-Blood Prince
Deathly hallows equally 6

I feel like I have rewatched the first group of movies so many times and have only watched the deathly hallows once. I just have such a fondness for the earlier films and books. I have my favorietes but none gets old for me.

On a side note I have been collecting the hardback illustrated versions to read with my daughter once she grows up. Only 1-5 have been completed so far.

Umbridge

4 was my favorite book and movie

I will say Professor McGonagall activating the castle defenses in the last one, with a stirring soundtrack and her naming him Voldemort, is one of my favorite scenes from any movie ever.

Those illustrated ones are gorgeous. Only drawback is the last two were too heavy for me to hold and read lying down in bed for long periods! So I read aloud from the kindle and my kiddo sometimes follows along in the illustrated book. Will definitely buy all of them as they're completed because they look great on the shelf.

Not the best, but favorite? The Half-blood Prince. It's so moody and angsty...and anything centering around Snape/Alan Rickman? Cash. I love that movie.

Doing exactly this right now, and I've never read all the books.

We are at the end of PoA right now. Snape just took off the invisibility cloak in the Shericking Shack.

Awww how fun. I would have given anything to read them for the first time with my kid. Though it is pretty cool to know what's coming so I can anticipate her reactions.

Madmarttigan said:

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On a side note I have been collecting the hardback illustrated versions to read with my daughter once she grows up. Only 1-5 have been completed so far.

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I told my wife I will do that when we have kids