Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I saw it last night and LOVED it!

I had only seen parts of the 1st movie, and started watching the 2nd one today.

I think it's a MUST SEE, especially if you love
'Back to the Future'

I really like it!

I saw if friday night and was a bit disappointed in it.

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was good. But I think it could hve been better.

DON'T READ MY POST IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a huge fan of book 3 I have to say that the movie was great but it could have been better. So many things were left out. Like explaining at the end who Mooney, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail were. How do you not explain that? And they moved way too many things around in the movie-like the Firebolt. I didn't get the feeling that Harry was really scared of Black or of dying like you get in the book. I think they were trying to make it lighter for children to see.

I also did not like the new Dumbledore. I don't think he needed to sound like the old one but I liked how the old one talked so slowly. For some reason I felt that it made him sound wiser.

I wasn't disappointed in the movie but I felt that it could have been better. I'm nervous for the 4th movie though. If they couldn't show all of book 3 properly, how in the world are they going to do book 4? Plus I feel that as the books go on Harry's character gets darker and darker. I'm not sure that they are able to accomplish that in the movies.

*This post will not spoil anything for people who have read the book.

If you haven't read the book, go read it. It's a relatively quick read, and for goodness' sake what are you WAITING FOR?!*

Jenn524, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm not put off by spoilers.

BTW the REASON I haven't seen the movie yet is that silly FH hasn't read all the books and I'm making him at least finish through PoA before we go to the movie.

Anyway, my friend Abbie, the WORLD's Biggest Potter Fangirl (and Alan Rickman's FW ) had this to say in response to the Padfoot, Mooney, Prongs and Wormtail issue:

'My understanding from friends who had passes for the premiere is that Cuaron
a. decided to assume his audience had some intelligence and could connect the dots
and
b. cut anything that didn't have to do with the main theme, namely harry's maturation as influenced by his discovery of the truth of his parents' murders. The fuller backstory of MWPP apparently was part of what he decided to slice, just as characters like Oliver Wood were not essential to telling Harry's story and were therefore cut.

i was goign to link you to a friend's review, but it's flocked, so i'll just give you the relevant portion:
'Let's put it this way - nobody could ever accuse Chris Columbus of subtlely. He made his points broadly - even changing from subtletly in the books, like with Quirrel, or that added-in bit from Hermione in PS/SS about Quidditch being in Harry's blood, which still makes me cringe, to Really Obvious Explanations Of Stuff.

Cuaron has a much more subtle touch - Sirius and Remus call Peter 'Wormtail', Remus calls Sirius 'Padfoot' and when Remus is changing, Sirius calls him 'Moony'. No, nobody explains that Prongs = James but it's a conjecture that you can make, even if you haven't read the books, given the references in the movie. But it's a sea change from the level of attention-paying one had to do in the previous films, and it's a hard adjustment to make, I think.'

While Cuaron has certainly made deviations from canon, from everything I've heard he's created a sensitive, intelligent movie that insults neither the kids watching *or* their parents -- unlike Columbus' movies, which I felt were catering to the lowest common denominator. Perhaps he has made canon changes, but as long as he understands the *spirit* (something Columbus never has, despite his slavish devotion to JKR's words) I really think this will be an amazing movie.'

She also then SAW the movie (opening night, 12am of course) and Loved it. I have yet to read her review, because I want to see the movie first before reading THAT one.

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Posted by Jenn524

DON'T READ MY POST IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a huge fan of book 3 I have to say that the movie was great but it could have been better. So many things were left out. Like explaining at the end who Mooney, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail were. How do you not explain that? And they moved way too many things around in the movie-like the Firebolt. I didn't get the feeling that Harry was really scared of Black or of dying like you get in the book. I think they were trying to make it lighter for children to see.

I also did not like the new Dumbledore. I don't think he needed to sound like the old one but I liked how the old one talked so slowly. For some reason I felt that it made him sound wiser.

I wasn't disappointed in the movie but I felt that it could have been better. I'm nervous for the 4th movie though. If they couldn't show all of book 3 properly, how in the world are they going to do book 4? Plus I feel that as the books go on Harry's character gets darker and darker. I'm not sure that they are able to accomplish that in the movies.

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Except for yoru comments on Dumbledoor- I totally agree! I just finished rereading the book last week so it was fresh in my mind. They didn't even explani why Sirius Black was imprisoned in the first place!! They also left out everything about Hermine's Cat working for Sirius and why did he get teh broomstick at the end?? And what about his permission to go to hogsmeade?? They also never explained why he ripped up the fat lady... so much details left out- but it was still a great movie!

Details of the movie in this post:








I liked Dumbledoor - yes his voice wasn't 'old' and 'cracky' but I always thought in the book that he was more wise than old and so to me Michael Gambon did a good job.

I loved Sybil Trelawny!! Emma Thomson was hysterical.

I love Alan Rickman too so Snape is always one of my favorites.

And wasn't Neville Longbottom kinda fat in the other two movies? Is it not the same kid anymore? Draco is getting TALL. I wonder what they'll do for the 4th movie - will they keep everyone? I would be heartbroken if Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint did not come back but lets face it, in Book 4 they're only 14 or so but they are 14/15 now in real life, and the 4th movie hasn't even been filmed yet.

As for Sirius Black - they did explain why he was in Azcaban - everyone thought he betrayed his friends, harry's parents, because they though he was a follower of Voldemort. How they thought that - I can't remember from the book but DH said he didn't need to know the why's of everything to understand the movie, so I guess the director figured that way too. To have eveything drawn out and explained, it would be a 4 hour movie.

I did however think that Sirius should have explained how he escaped, because it ties in with how the Demetors keep prisioners in Azcaban and how they feed off emotions, etc.
Because it seemed that unless you read the book you woudln't really get that concept fully.

And I thought Harry's patronus took the form of the stag way before the end of the movie..no?

For those of you that read Book 4 - who's the captain of the Quidditch team? The one Cho was dating? And they never showed Cho in this movie. I thought she was in the book.

Cho Chang shows up for the first time in book 4. Cedric Diggory DOES appear in this book, he's captain/seeker for Hufflepuff.

Look, the movie, people are saying, is ALREADY too long. There's only so much they can do without it becoming too narrative.

This happens then this happens then this happens then this happens.

These books are VERY difficult to make into movies. Artistic license MUST be taken and Cuts MUST be made.

Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, I believe are done after this movie. I think it's because the movies take too long to make and they are aging.

Edited: Sorry, Cho Chang IS in this book. My Bad. Been a while since reading them, and as I said, I'm currently rereading PoA because FH hasn't seen it.

Also, someone said not to read the book before seeing the movie. The very idea is blasphemous to me. Especially after I saw an internet petition where someone commented 'I loved the first Lord of the Rings movie, and was very glad to hear they were making a second.' Then, DURING Return of the King, the morons behind me kept commenting on things like when Denethor was berating Faramir they said, 'Man, what a hardass.' And then 'Oh man, Gollum is going to kill Frodo and Sam!' FOR GOODNESS' SAKE JUST GO READ THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i definitely did not like this one as much as the other two. i'm all for cutting. but you can't cut important stuff, such as fully explaining the map and the four friends relationship at hogwarts (this stuff become important later) while adding stupid stuff like the scene with the choir. i feel they rushed way too much through the shrieking shack scene which is pivotal in favor of adding effects scenes (the hippogriff ride, long drawn out werewolf scene, whomping willow season changes etc).

as far as i know the trio will be back for the fourth film, they've already started filming it. cuaron is not directing it b/c pre-production schedule conflicted with post-production of poa. as of now, there are no plans to make movies 5,6,7. it's expected that warner bros will purchase the rights, but i don't think it's been done yet.

as far as the trio getting too old. i HATE when people say this. if the kids on 90210 could play 16 year olds at 25 then why can't these kids? it's ridiculous to say they're getting too tall etc. how tall exactly is a 13/14/15 year old? each person is different. a little make-up and hair styling can do wonders for making people look younger. we'll see......

I was disappointed with the movie because I had just read the book right before I saw the movie. So the whole story was fresh in my memory and the movie didn't follow the book as literally and it left out a lot of character development and other storylines.

I recommend not reading the book before seeing the movie.

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Posted by shelly3950

In the book, Sirius Black is arrested for killing 12 people (muggles) - not for anything dealing with Harry's Parents. They didn't go into that at all. They also didn't deal with the Quiddich Match in the movie. It was still great though.

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OOOOOOh right and they explain it more in Book 4 who really killed them. Its been 2 years since I read it so I'm foggy on some of the stuff. Thanks

Its been 2 years since I read it so I'm foggy on some of the stuff. Thanks

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Me too! I can't wait to see the movie but after reading this post I am wondering if I should go and re-read the book, I have forgotten so much!!!

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Posted by reallybehind!

i definitely did not like this one as much as the other two. i'm all for cutting. but you can't cut important stuff, such as fully explaining the map and the four friends relationship at hogwarts (this stuff become important later) while adding stupid stuff like the scene with the choir. i feel they rushed way too much through the shrieking shack scene which is pivotal in favor of adding effects scenes (the hippogriff ride, long drawn out werewolf scene, whomping willow season changes etc).

as far as i know the trio will be back for the fourth film, they've already started filming it. cuaron is not directing it b/c pre-production schedule conflicted with post-production of poa. as of now, there are no plans to make movies 5,6,7. it's expected that warner bros will purchase the rights, but i don't think it's been done yet.

as far as the trio getting too old. i HATE when people say this. if the kids on 90210 could play 16 year olds at 25 then why can't these kids? it's ridiculous to say they're getting too tall etc. how tall exactly is a 13/14/15 year old? each person is different. a little make-up and hair styling can do wonders for making people look younger. we'll see......

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If you're referring to my post, what I said was I wonder if they will keep the same actors for the 4th movie. On Greg's previews website it says 'Cast: (tentative)' and shows the cast. It didnt say they were filming yet so to me 'tentative' means that not all the actors are definitely signed on. There had been media speculation as to if the director/producers would keep the main student characters because they are older than the characters in the book now. Yes they could keep playing them but I was wondering if they would.

And I mentioned that the guy playing Draco is tall. Well from what I saw - he is! I didn't say anything about him not being right for the part anymore.

Geesh.

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Posted by Maribelle7777

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Posted by shelly3950

In the book, Sirius Black is arrested for killing 12 people (muggles) - not for anything dealing with Harry's Parents. They didn't go into that at all. They also didn't deal with the Quiddich Match in the movie. It was still great though.

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OOOOOOh right and they explain it more in Book 4 who really killed them. Its been 2 years since I read it so I'm foggy on some of the stuff. Thanks

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Rereading it right now, actually. While yes, Sirius was arrested for the murder of 12 muggles, he is also accused IN BOOK THREE of murdering Harry's parents, as he was supposed to be their secret keeper. Pettigrew is exposed at the end of book 3 as the true murderer of Harry's parents.

I loved the movie and i'm a huge fan of the books. I agree they could have explained the origins of the maurauders map and the significance of the nicknames, but I read in EW that they thought the explanations would work better in one of the later films. I know more liberties were taken with the script then in the previous 2 movies but I just loved the style of the 3rd movie, I felt it was better paced and I thought it served the maturation of harry and the gang better then the style Columbus brought to the films. The Dementors were cool too!