Harry Potter movies -- do they get better than the first?

[ShogunRua]

It sounds like DH1 was all set up stuff, and DH2 is all battle and climactic action. Might be a reason for the high PSI.

That's how they sucker people into the theater, including those that thought DH1 was shit, apparently.

hehe, I haven't personally seen any of them, nor do I have much interest.

I know. I was referring to nauru, who ranked 5 out of 6 films as T4 or lower, a single picture as even T5, and the last HP flicks as both T1s...and yet, still wants to see the final installment.

I mean, hope springs eternal, but if you get mugged almost every single time you went to a certain street, you would eventually stop going there, right?

I can't imagine that the prospect of spending 10+ dollars, 2+ hours, AND most likely suffering through a horrible film would be an incentive to see it.

For the record, the best wizard battle ever in film is in the Disney King Arthur flick "Sword in the Stone"...

Curious; I have a pretty decent memory of the film and even wrote a review of it on here, but I don't remember the wizard battle at all.

[TheDenizen]

It's been quite a while, but I recall it being a shapeshifting "battle" between a pink witch and a blue wizard...where one would change into an aggressive shape, and the other would react by changing to a shape that countered the first one, and vice versa...it was more about strategy and countering than shooting sparkly explosions at each other.

If you've read the Sandman graphic novels, it was kinda similar to the game that Dream plays with Choronzon the demon in Hell (who had possession of Dream's helmet)....coincidentally one of my favorite moments from the Sandman books.

[Spunkie]

If you've read the Sandman graphic novels, it was kinda similar to the game that Dream plays with Choronzon the demon in Hell (who had possession of Dream's helmet)....coincidentally one of my favorite moments from the Sandman books.

Btw. Potter's cgi for the recent films are well-crafted for the most part, but are very generic in design and adopts commercial aesthetics. In a decade it will look far cheesier imo.

[TheDenizen]

yep, that's the scene. Great comic.

[CMonster]

I know I'm late on this, but do your self a favor. Read A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin and then watch the HBO series. Its much better

[nauru]

I know I'm late on this, but do your self a favor. Read A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin and then watch the HBO series. Its much better

Haven't read the book but I do watch Game of Thrones. Pretty good series IMO.

[nauru]

I certainly won't be seeing the final HP film in theatres. Will wait until it's available on dvd and then most likely borrow it from the local library. From what I've read there is enough action that I most likely enjoy at least some of it. And if any of it is at the visual quality level of the one-on-one wizard battle in Order of the Phoenix then I think it's probably worth my time. I get something out of just looking at set design, costume design, effects and sheer spectacle for their own sake, even if that's all that's on offer.

[Melvin Smif]

If you've read the Sandman graphic novels, it was kinda similar to the game that Dream plays with Choronzon the demon in Hell (who had possession of Dream's helmet)....coincidentally one of my favorite moments from the Sandman books.

Btw. Potter's cgi for the recent films are well-crafted for the most part, but are very generic in design and adopts commercial aesthetics. In a decade it will look far cheesier imo.

Bravo sir, best graphic novels ever.

[nauru]

Just to follow up:

I did end up watching the final Harry Potter film. The final wizard battle was very weak IMO, not nearly as good as in order of the phoenix. In Order of the Phoenix the two wizards are each summoning enormous spirits/monsters from different elements and countering each other with even cooler summons. Visually it is really impressive and the sound is excellent as well. However in the final Harry Potter there is none of this detail, just some cheesy lightning stalemate which ends predictably. The rest of the film seems to be basically CGI filler.

So in the end, was it worth it to watch the whole series? Absolutely not. If you want to understand pop culture references, read a summary of the whole thing. The films are not worth the time it takes to watch them, and the characters, setting and story lines are so shallow that it really isn't hard to explain everything in a few paragraphs. A minority of the films have perhaps 10 to 15 minutes each of half-decent special effects content which is worth watching on its own, most notably Order of the Phoenix which contains the only half-decent (but too short) wizard battle in the whole series- in a saga that really should have been full of them. What's the point of having a film franchise for teenagers about wizards if the wizards aren't going to battle each other in spectacular fashion? What's the point of a huge, multi-year, multi-film leadup to an ultimate showdown between the two most powerful wizards in the world if the final duel is going to be mediocre low-budget corner-cutting weak sauce? With the resources available for the production of these films, it really makes you wonder where the money went.

Tropa de Elite had basically no CGI and a budget of $4 million yet it has way better story, way better action, way better acting -- all on a tiny fraction of the resources available to make even a single Harry Potter film, let alone 8 of them.

[ShogunRua]

So in the end, was it worth it to watch the whole series? Absolutely not. If you want to understand pop culture references, read a summary of the whole thing. The films are not worth the time it takes to watch them, and the characters, setting and story lines are so shallow that it really isn't hard to explain everything in a few paragraphs. A minority of the films have perhaps 10 to 15 minutes each of half-decent special effects content which is worth watching on its own, most notably Order of the Phoenix which contains the only half-decent (but too short) wizard battle in the whole series- in a saga that really should have been full of them. What's the point of having a film franchise for teenagers about wizards if the wizards aren't going to battle each other in spectacular fashion? What's the point of a huge, multi-year, multi-film leadup to an ultimate showdown between the two most powerful wizards in the world if the final duel is going to be mediocre low-budget corner-cutting weak sauce? With the resources available for the production of these films, it really makes you wonder where the money went.

An honest and accurate review, but I can't help but looking at the economics.

At the end of the day, you ended up paying money to see all 8 Harry Potter films...according to the producers of HP, you're a fan who enjoyed all 8 pictures.

And the economic signal you've given them is very clear; produce more films like Harry Potter! (And by proxy, fewer films in other genres)