SPOILERS welcome!! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie - Part 2

[3smithboys]

The breaking of the Elder Wand didn't bother me...I was fine with that (instead of putting the wand back), but I saw no reason why they couldn't have had Harry fix his wand first. Even if it didn't make sense to the people who didn't read the books....it would have made sense to those who did!!! (and him not fixing the wand doesn't make sense to those who read the books IMHO...)

 

[LuvN~Travel]

My Man Goofy, my DD is right there with you. She started reading these books when she was 8, and she's the same age as the actors. We saw the movie today, and the sniffling in the theater WAS distracting. It started right next to me as soon as the trio got to Hogwarts and didn't stop.

We loved it. Will probably see it again.

I would apologize for my sniffling, but I see you are from the Southwest and not the Southeast. rofl!

I will say that my DH has now started reading the books. Almost everyone in my family has read them now, and I have had to explain every movie to him from the start. No more 'splaining to do. lol

 

[TwingleMum]

Firstly~ to the silent group at the movie theatre I saw HPDH 2 with on Weds night. I hope you didn't mind when I yelled "You go girl!! " When Molly kicked Bellatix's butt. As a Mom of 4 boys I totally identified with Molly wanting to take out Bellatrix for hurting her family. Momma Bear. My boys were cute. When I read them the scene in the book with Bellatrix my youngest son (one of my 7 yrs old twins) said "Mommy!!" I told him honey I'm just reading whats in the book. He actually came over and took the book and checked for himself. Then we had a talk about Mommy love and protecting our children. So they were all talking before going to the movie and they all said "I hope Mommy's favorite scene is in the movie." And lastly I hope you didn't mind when I yelled "Thanks Jo. Thanks Harry. " at the end. Harry Potter has been a big part of my boys childhood. My oldest (11 yrs old) and I started the tradition of reading the books before seeing the movie. We would read the book and then get special movie snacks and settle down for a special movie night. The younger boys didn't watch until they read the books. The boys always said the movies are really good but the books are better. It worked out that we all read the Deathly Hollows so the 2 younger guys could see the very last Harry Potter movie on the big screen. They were so excited my one son said he had roller coaster stomache before the movie started.

I really liked the movie but as others have stated there were several things that could have been improved.

1. Dumbledore~ I don't think the Deathly Hollows 1 or 2 paid proper respect to Dumbledore's death. I never had the cathartic emotional funeral scene that fans and Harry deserved.

2. Umbridge~ it really bothers me that Dolores Umbridge never had her comeuppence for torturing Harry, being a Ministry goon and nailing Mad Eye's Magical Eye on her door.

3. Kreature~ in DH1 Kreature and Dobby join forces and Harry treats Kreature better and gives him Regulus' locket. I'm disappointed they cut out the house elves joining in the battle and Kreature leading them to fight against Voldy. Once again showing the power of love and treating everyone with respect.

4. Ron & Hermoine's kiss ~ in a follow up to #3 it was a funny poignant moment when Ron finally shows he gets that everyone deserves respect by worry about the house elve's safety and Hermoine's reaction by kissing him. And of course Harrys exasperated "Is this really the moment" What a beautiful scene. A big missed opportunity.

5. Snape ~ I vote for my man Alan for an Oscar. Great scene. I loved when he opened his heart and showed he wasn't foe but friend all along. And the undying love he carried for Lily. Heart wrenching. I really loved when Snape was yelling at Dumbledore indignantly that he betrayed Harry and raised him like a pig to slaughter. I was saying to my neice "Oh he does care". And when we was cradling Lilly and sobbing uncontrolably I almost felt like I was spying on a private painful moment. Very well done.

6. Fred is Dead ~ I also didn't like that Fred's death was an afterthought. Fred is a central character and well loved. Fans deserved to mourn him with the Weasleys. I know I feel like a member of the family after all this time.

7. Percy ~ I also thought they could have spent a few moments having Percey reconcil with the Weasleys and joining them to fight. I loved in the book when Percy tells the Prime Minister "oh by the way Prime Minister I quit.


8. Kings Cross ~ I thought this was done pretty well but I thought they could have had Dumbledore explain about the Harry's blood that resides in Voldy and how it worked to help Harry survive.

9. Harry's Sacrifice ~ I also was a little disappointed in the battle between Harry & Voldy. I really liked that everyone was in a circle watching and Harry taunted Voldy that his spells had no effect. The love sacrifice protection. I also liked that Harry was the better man and tried to get Voldy to repent and gave him a chance.


I'm going through my own little mourning period. I love Harry Potter and all my friends. I'm hoping for a prequel.

 

[bumbershoot]

Someone up thread said something about how if they had stayed completely true to the books that would have taken 20 or so movies. My response is: the problem with that would be??

As geeky as it may sound - I think I am in mourning. I mean - this is it and I am more than a little bummed.

The actors might not have enjoyed it, but I'm sure I would have.

I was in mourning from the moment the 7th book was released. I think it was '09 when we finally finished reading it, if not later. I would have waited to see 7 part 1, but I wanted to see it in the theater...same will happen with part 2. But I don't WANT to see it yet...


And just reading this thread is making me tear up...

For those who are looking for a little more Harry Potter, my sis pointed me toward FanFiction.net which has a fan-written story called Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness. I haven't gotten that far into it, but it's well written and I'm enjoying it so far. It tells the story of the final year at Hogwarts and the activities of Neville, Ginny and the other students. It's one last taste of my all-time favorite book series. Check it out....

Ooh, thanks for that. I've found myself wondering what it was like for those students back at Hogwarts during that year, how absolutely awful it must have been for them.

 

[bumbershoot]

1. When she says, "Not my daughter", it really undermines her sons. Of course, the precident has been set: Ginny has many times stood out as the favorite child. Bellatrix has been running around trying to kill the Weasley boys left and right, and that's just part of the overall fight -- but she jumps in when it's Ginny who's threatened? If Molly'd said, "Not another of my children", I'd have felt differently.

2. There's never a reason for vulgar language. It serves no purpose. She can be just as angry and can kill Bellatrix just as well without the bad language.

With #1, I could not disagree more. I think that Molly is an amazing mother-of-many, and I think she loves ALL of her children equally and for all their different good and bad parts. She says "daughter" for the reasons others have said...Ginny is her daughter. She's had enough.

With #2, I agree for the book. (I myself swear, whoopsie, so I don't think it's bad all the time) I read the HP books to my husband (and the early ones to my son), and each time I've read that scene it's stilted and difficult and unnatural. The word does not flow. Now maybe the actress is able to do it differently than I can (haven't seen it yet), but I've tried it in many different ways and it just doesn't work.

That said, if she'd used a way way way way worse word? I'd have been OK with that. But then it would have been beyond R rated, and we can't have that for HP.

But the reality is, "not my daughter" stands on its own, and the swear word doesn't have to be in there at all. IMO Rowling was reaching, and fell flat on that one.

ETA to this part...I think that if she'd used "too" instead of the word Rowling puts there, it would have been JUST as strong, just as powerful, and would have flowed better and not made people think, erroneously, that she doesn't like her sons as much.

This is interesting. I think the Elder Wand is different though because it was made by death so it probably does not contain a hair like other wands and I don't think it gets to choose it's wizard. I think death made it so the current owner has to be disarmed for the wand to have a new owner. And yeah, it goes that if anyone disarms Harry they would become the master of the wand even if he is not using the wand. I feel like it should have been mentioned in the book that if Harry dies a natural death while still being the master of the wand the wand loses it's power.

Fun and interesting page I found after part 1.

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Elder_Wand

"J. K. Rowling said that the Elder Wand's core is the tail hair of a thestral..."


The whole page is just really interesting.

 

[I Am What I Am]

2. Umbridge~ it really bothers me that Dolores Umbridge never had her comeuppence for torturing Harry, being a Ministry goon and nailing Mad Eye's Magical Eye on her door.

.

Umbridge does get her comeuppance. J.K.R has said that after the battle, Umbridge was tried for crimes against muggleborns and was imprisoned.

 

[Jennasis]

The ONLY reason I didn't care for the swear word in the book (or movie) was because it was the only one. Nobody else ever swore in the wizarding world of JK Rowling. Mrs. Weasely never swore. It was not only out of character, it was out of left field. It was like she yelled something in Chinese...it just didn't fit in the world JK had created. She would have been better off screaming "Not my daughter you TROLL", or something like that.

I have no problem with harsh language in literature. I've written two books and the MC (a woman) swears like a sailor both in dialogue and in narrative (it's first person) but it is part of her personality and makes sense for her to do so since it happens from page one.

 

[lovesmurfs]

The ONLY reason I didn't care for the swear word in the book (or movie) was because it was the only one. Nobody else ever swore in the wizarding world of JK Rowling. Mrs. Weasely never swore. It was not only out of character, it was out of left field. It was like she yelled something in Chinese...it just didn't fit in the world JK had created. She would have been better off screaming "Not my daughter you TROLL", or something like that.

I have no problem with harsh language in literature. I've written two books and the MC (a woman) swears like a sailor both in dialogue and in narrative (it's first person) but it is part of her personality and makes sense for her to do so since it happens from page one.

Agree. There was reference to swear words throughout he books -- particularly Ron, Fred and George. Harry even "used some of Uncle Vernon's choicest swear words" in DH when Harry hit his head when he looked at his cupboard at 4 Privet Drive.

 

[Kurby]

I'm late to the party but injust got back from seeing it for the first time and saw it in 3d

Overall well done

Even though i knew it was coming I still cried during snapes memories and when Lily et al appeared

I wasn't upset with the whole snapping of the wand. Though I don't think it would have taken much longer to do it as per the book

Would have loved to have seen the fight with moly go a little longer

LOVED when voldy pushed bel away when she was truly to help him up. Really showed how little he thinks of his followers. No one gets a thanks just killed if the question him

I think i would have burst into tears if Harry would have put to ms and lupins hands together

 

[sunnyday123]

I'm late to this party, and I saw the movie weeks ago, and loved it. But I have one question that is driving me crazy.

Why couldn't Harry see the thestrals ( I think that's what they were called, the horse/skeletons that pulled the carriages ) from the first time they were used? He saw his Mother killed, so why wait until he saw Cedric killed? Does it not count when you're a baby?


And this is probably a very stupid question, so I apologize in advance.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Why couldn't Harry see the thestrals ( I think that's what they were called, the horse/skeletons that pulled the carriages ) from the first time they were used? He saw his Mother killed, so why wait until he saw Cedric killed? Does it not count when you're a baby?

From Jo Rowling, note she talks about the BOOKS. In the movie Harry DOES see Quirrell die:

I’ve been asked this a lot. Harry didn’t see his parents die. He was in his cot at the time (he was just over a year old) and, as I say in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, all he saw was a flash of green light. He didn’t see Quirrell’s death, either. Harry had passed out before Quirrell died and was only told about it by Dumbledore in the last chapter.

He did, however, witness the murder of Cedric, and it is this that makes him able to see the Thestrals at last. Why couldn’t he see the Thestrals on his trip back to the train station? Well, I didn’t want to start a new mystery, which would not be resolved for a long time, at the very end of the fourth book. I decided, therefore, that until Harry is over the first shock, and really feels what death means (ie, when he fully appreciates that Cedric is gone forever and that he can never come back, which takes time, whatever age you are) he would not be able to see the Thestrals. After two months away from school during which he has dwelled endlessly on his memories of the murder and had nightmares about it, the Thestrals have taken shape and form and he can see them quite clearly

 

[WildabouttheMouse]

In regard to the discussion about the wand. I agree that I would have liked to see him repair his wand with the elder wand. Then he could have broken it in the movie. But then again I am still disappointed that they did not show Dumbledore's funeral in the Half Blood Prince.

 

[plutotek]

We saw it last week for our anniversary. Had no problems with it at all, but will agree that the Molly-Bellatrix scene played well in the book, but was forced in the movie. It's like it was an afterthought. I really was hoping for Ron's line at the train station (when all the kids on the train were gawking at Harry).

 

[Kurby]

Ok. Here's amquestion that has bugged me for years

Why is it that Harry was almost expelled in #5 for doing magic in front of a muggle (dudley) under the law against exposing magic yet 3 muggles (Dudley, aunt and uncle) were present when the ministry sent several magical letters were sent and opened

So how can he be punished for doing magic in front of his cousin when the ministry exposed it first?

 

[JenM]

Ok. Here's amquestion that has bugged me for years

Why is it that Harry was almost expelled in #5 for doing magic in front of a muggle (dudley) under the law against exposing magic yet 3 muggles (Dudley, aunt and uncle) were present when the ministry sent several magical letters were sent and opened

So how can he be punished for doing magic in front of his cousin when the ministry exposed it first?

It wasn't that he was doing magic in front of a Muggle. It was because he was underage and doing magic in front of a Muggle. The age thing was the problem.

Also, in the case of Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry was trying to get Harry kicked out of Hogwarts so he wouldn't tell them about Voldemort being back. It was actually Delores Umbridge who sent the Dementors to Little Whinging in the first place.

 

[Missy1961]

It wasn't that he was doing magic in front of a Muggle. It was because he was underage and doing magic in front of a Muggle. The age thing was the problem.

Also, in the case of Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry was trying to get Harry kicked out of Hogwarts so he wouldn't tell them about Voldemort being back. It was actually Delores Umbridge who sent the Dementors to Little Whinging in the first place.

I think your second point was the bigger reason--they were trying to discredit him & Dumbledore. Remember, in Prisoner of Azkabahn, he blows up Aunt Marge, and Fudge tells him not to worry about it. But by OOP Fudge was trying to deny what was happening.

 

[JenM]

I think your second point was the bigger reason--they were trying to discredit him & Dumbledore. Remember, in Prisoner of Azkabahn, he blows up Aunt Marge, and Fudge tells him not to worry about it. But by OOP Fudge was trying to deny what was happening.

Exactly. The Ministry wanted him out of Hogwarts so he wouldn't go talking about Voldemort. It was Umbridge who sent the Dementors so he would get in trouble in the first place.

 

[Kurby]

Can someone answer a book question for me

I'm just listening to the audio books again and am now on book 5 at the Part where Harry et al go to the ministry

They were just in the room with arch and I forgot that I never found out what the arch actually was.

I get that you could only hear who was in there if you hat seen death which is why Harry and Luna could hear but the others couldn't but why couldn't sirius come back out or come back as a ghost?