Yay 4 stars! I wish we had the "like" button here haha.:-)
rappaport
· 5 months ago
whoa! gotta go and watch it now!
Albert Co
· 5 months ago
is it that good? cuz the last 1 was like evry scene= to evry chapter of the book.. kinda like a fast forward thing just to show that they put evrything that was on the book.
TK_RACHEL
· 5 months ago
it's just amazing! reminds me of the pacing of Azkaban.
Patrick (syaoran.net)
· 5 months ago
It is my favorite HP film now so far!
Yeah, there are still flaws but honestly, I can't even think of a way that it could have been done better. HBP is really a tough book to adapt for film so I'm satisfied with this one.
levityQC
· 5 months ago
hello phil.! i wasnt aware until now that deathly hallows will be split into two! =) yeah...
Hanzel Monforte
· 5 months ago
Gonna watch this movie today: 1:30 PM @ Glorietta 4, Cinema 1. I hope I would enjoy it! :D
manoy
· 5 months ago
For 2.5 hours, I forgot that I was watching an allegedly popcorn film. Blockbuster film fans may find HP6 a bit boring but I liked it just the same. Filmmaking-wise and compared to the other HP films, there's maturity all over it.
Albert Co
· 5 months ago
just saw it. it was 50/50 for me.. watch it and ul know y..:)
ibleedbluee3392
· 5 months ago
The death scene was a little bit disappointing, but over-all it was a good watch. I just hated that the heights of Harry and Ginny were inconsistent. :| 3/5. :D
freezymenthol
· 5 months ago
It was boring unlike transformers.
Even if transformers was just 2D in Imax, it was way better and I knew that I got my money's worth (400) for that film. But this one, it's all talk, very minimal action scenes.
Guys, just wait for it on DVD, this is not worth seeing in the big screen. Like everybody in the cinema (i think) was disappointed by the bland ending.
Where was the climax? Where were the action scenes?
There, I found the right words... After the end of the film you'll ask yourself. "That was it?"
Its weird how geeks loved this movie. Its seemed boring to most people...
sp00ky
· 5 months ago
Agreed.
I've watched its predecessors. And this one doesn't come on par with the first two.
Majority of the viewers feels the same way as what this guy just said. Maybe its better than Transformers 2, but just a little bit. I'm a fan of the book and I didn't like how the movie was transitioned.
Only geeks and fan of the movie would enjoy this.
kepiko
· 5 months ago
No, I swear they could have done better. Try reading my review at http://kepiko.wordpress.com/ My problem with this movie was that it wasted a lot of time on the TEENAGE LOVE stuff when it should have spent more on developing the HORCRUXES story! That's the whole point of the sixth book! Sack David Yates and Steve Kloves!
Allan Carreon
· 5 months ago
This movie was a disappointment. It missed the entire point of the novel - true, film adaptations need to cut things out of the original material and adapt. This film was unable to do it correctly. It removed the essential parts of the novel, which really was to deal in-depth about the story of Riddle as well as Snape.
Instead, it focused largely on a mishmash of teen romance, which was an important sub-plot of the novel but not the main point. I did very much like how the romances were treated, but again, that was never the point of the book.
Worse, this movie practically had no climax.
Anyone watching the film but didn't read the book will come out wondering why it was titled "Half-Blood Prince" when the backstory of the HBP was hardly explored - and it formed a major chunk of the book.
Negative reviews have focused on the lack of action, especially at the end (taking away a major event in the book). I agree with that. But more frustrating is that the stories of Riddle, of Snape, even of Slughorn and Dumbledore were cut out so much it was no longer an adaptation but rather its own entity.
Excellent cinematography as well as acting by the adults plus Rupert Grint, though.
A film adaptation will never be 100% faithful to its source material, but it has to understand and convey the point of the material. This film utterly fails to do so.
MBloodT
· 5 months ago
SPOILERS ALERT
i am iron man iron man is iron man. dumbledoor died.
lovelifeyoubitch
· 5 months ago
I didn't like it that much because it made me cry. haha.
I'm really doubting the reviews...
The good films don't get justice. While films like this, which are not that good, get overlooked.
iclee
· 5 months ago
Watched it with my kids 12, 16 and a nephew 9 last night. My daughter who read the book kept saying, "I told you we should have watched Ice Age 3D instead of this boring waste of money film".
As the film credits rolled, we stood up asking ourselves..."That was it?" It sure looked like a protracted death scene of Harry's prof.
Mandy
· 5 months ago
HBP is the lull before the storm. I'd like to look at the bigger picture here (the entire movie franchise), not just this one movie. It's in this movie that Harry is allowed to experience some kind of normalcy for the last time, before things get really really serious in the next two movies. I don't think there was an excess of romance in the movie, as it balances out all the darkness that constantly threatens to engulf Harry. In the end of course, evil prevails, and Harry loses perhaps his last connection to his childhood. The death of Dumbledore signals the end of this childhood, as Harry would now have no one to guide or protect him. I think over and above the Horcruxes or the mystery of the Half-Blood Prince, this is the main purpose of this movie.
Retaining all the action from the book in the movie could make the last two movies excessive. It's going to be split into two, and I have no doubt all the rich details the source material has will be translated into the last two films. I have even read that David Heyman thinks the final battle scene would be 30 minutes long! The two Deathly Hallows films will surely compensate the subdued action of Half-Blood Prince. They're going to be overloaded, and so I understand why Steve Kloves allowed Harry to take a last step backward.
Allan Carreon
· 5 months ago
I that, with franchises, looking at the big picture (i.e. a series) is important. However, each individual film must be able to stand on its own. This is because one cannot assume a casual viewer watched all previous movies; this could be a viewer's first one.
This is why in any movie series, or TV show, or even comic books, though they form part of a bigger picture, the individual film (or episode, or issue) should still be judged on its merits as a separate entity.
The fact that the movie (or the book) is entitled "Half-Blood Prince" should signal ultimately what the book needs to accomplish and focus on.
And besides, if we really want to see the bigger picture of the franchise, then any HP reader would know that cutting out the essential histories of the Half-Blood Prince and Tom Riddle will skew the key plot points of Deathly Hallows. This could render the motivations of several key players in DH incomprehensible to one who has followed only the movies but not the books, or even a casual viewer.
Allan Carreon
· 5 months ago
... first sentence should read, "I understand that..." :) Darn, no edit function. :)
Mandy
· 5 months ago
And that is why to fully appreciate this film, you have to look at the series in its entirety. Because only then will you understand the need to tone down things a bit in this movie. On its own, "Half-Blood Prince" is a loose adaptation of the source material, yes. It did away with major scenes in the book that would've made the movie more exciting, true. A bit disappointing, I agree, but did that ruin the movie? No. Instead of relying heavily on the source material, the movie adaptation gave the characters more personality and more life. Sure, the mystery of the Half Blood Prince wasn't fully explained, but I have no doubt this will be unraveled in the last two movies. But just because movie has "The Half-Blood Prince" in its title doesn't mean the HBP story has to share the limelight with Harry. The Half Blood Prince is merely an accessory even if he's included in the title. Same thing with "Sorcerer's Stone" or "Chamber of Secrets" or "Prisoner of Azkaban" or "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix". They are mere accessories. In all these movies, it's Harry's battle with Voldemort (or his influences) that's the centerpiece. Being that Harry doesn't have direct confrontation with Voldemort in book 6, the main objective of this movie is to show Voldemort's increasing power and Snape's apparent betrayal. Everything else in between, back stories, etc., as I said, are mere accessories.
Thus movie 6 for me is effective. It did not spoil me (even if I've read the book). It left me hanging and extremely eager to watch the last two films even more. It did not try to steal away the revelations and excitement that no doubt will define the last chapter of Harry's saga because it takes a step backward so that the events in the last two movies can unfold grandly.
Allan Carreon
· 5 months ago
To expect people to appreciate one film based on an entire series is not realistic, simply because we cannot expect or require all viewers to be like us who are apparently followers of the series. Especially for film, to cater to a very specific subset of the box office risks alienating a larger base.
Like I said, any work of individual art must be able to stand on its own even if it is part of the bigger picture. The LOTR series and the Star Wars series (well, the original trilogy) are fine examples of movies that stood well individually but were still able to form part of the larger puzzle.
To sacrifice HBP for the sake of Deathly Hallows' grand finale is a disservice to HBP and the series as well, for it implies that only DH is important whereas HBP was a passing fancy.
Also, in no way did I imply that the HBP should steal the limelight away from Harry. But how the HBP's story relates to Harry's grander story arc is crucial, so it doesn't take it away but rather needs to supplement it.
You are right: the HBP was merely an accessory - but a crucial accessory. Because these provide character motivations across the board that are important and actually relevant to the bigger picture.
And if we want to talk about stealing the limelight away from Harry, then perhaps what should have been done away with was Ron's comic relief moments with whatsername or Hermione's incessant whining and pining over Ron. Because in the end, these would even be more irrelevant accessories to the story of Harry. Character development? Yes.
As you said, the movies are about Harry's battle with Voldemort. The more relevant sub-plots to this central story are the development of the HBP, the development of Harry's motivations, and the understanding of Voldemort's motivations - not whether Hermione and Ron would finally get to snog.
So IMHO, contrary to yours, removing the essential core stories of HBP did ruin the movie. And in fact, when you think about it, the series' flow.
We can always agree to disagree on this one, but hey, that's why these are called opinions. :)
Mandy
· 5 months ago
I guess it all boils down to what people find the most important in this movie. To most people, it's the explicit retelling of the Half-Blood Prince story. To some however, it's the depiction of that penultimate point in Harry's life that led to his decision to end Voldemort's threat once and for all. People who've come to expect to see the true extent of the Half-Blood Prince's participation in this tale will surely be disappointed and might have to wait for the next movie before they get answers. On the other hand, people who are interested to see character development will be pleasantly satisfied that the film manages to show real people behind all the magical flashes and sparks.
It is only normal to expect people to judge this film as an independent piece of art. But that doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to this perspective, especially for movies belonging in a series. Appreciating one film as part of a whole will open your eyes to the underlying mechanisms that really drive the story forward. It's true that clever contrivances and other plot details make the story more interesting. They may even seem like the most important things in the story. But in the end, how complex and intricate the journey may have been, it's just all about Harry Potter and his final battle with Voldemort.
akstman
· 5 months ago
the visuals are great! i love the scene on the wheatfield... for me, the cinematographer captured the emotions of the character then - the uncertainty of things, the rush, the sudden realization that you are going nowhere and are alone, and the fear that out of the four corners may be an enemy lurking and waiting to strike... it was a great shot, with the clear evening sky on the background.
i haven't read the book, and i'm sure it's always difficult to adapt a book into film. but this movie seemed to capture the emotion and the would-be imagination of readers of the book. well done. thumbs up to the director and the cinematographer!
marely dilao
· 5 months ago
i have watched all the hp movies, and the only 1 that i did enjoy was the first one. even my husband loved it (eventhoug he's not a fan). it just breaks my heart how the other movies came out. with all the other movies(hp 2 to 6), i had to explain to my husband why this and that happened, because he got lost with the story. i hope to all the movie-makers out there, it doesn't matter how long and how expensive it'll be, people will watch it again and again if its worth it.
Allan Carreon
· 5 months ago
I agree because, though I liked many of the other movies, as I mentioned somewhere above, each movie must still stand on its own. Every director or writer should always treat a work as though it were someone else's first exposure to that work.
disappointedpotter
· 4 months ago
yup i agree with you allan 100%. a movie should be able to stand on its own and not play as a mere accessory to the sequel. people who did not read the book will be confused as to why the movie was named "the half-blood prince". although near the end of the movie we learn that snape is the one being referred to, it doesn't do anything for you at all. so you're the half-blood prince huh? sooo what?!
All Comments
Yeah, there are still flaws but honestly, I can't even think of a way that it could have been done better. HBP is really a tough book to adapt for film so I'm satisfied with this one.
Cinema 1. I hope I would enjoy it! :D
Even if transformers was just 2D in Imax, it was way better and I knew that I got my money's worth (400) for that film. But this one, it's all talk, very minimal action scenes.
Guys, just wait for it on DVD, this is not worth seeing in the big screen. Like everybody in the cinema (i think) was disappointed by the bland ending.
Where was the climax?
Where were the action scenes?
There, I found the right words... After the end of the film you'll ask yourself. "That was it?"
Its weird how geeks loved this movie. Its seemed boring to most people...
I've watched its predecessors. And this one doesn't come on par with the first two.
Majority of the viewers feels the same way as what this guy just said. Maybe its better than Transformers 2, but just a little bit. I'm a fan of the book and I didn't like how the movie was transitioned.
Only geeks and fan of the movie would enjoy this.
Instead, it focused largely on a mishmash of teen romance, which was an important sub-plot of the novel but not the main point. I did very much like how the romances were treated, but again, that was never the point of the book.
Worse, this movie practically had no climax.
Anyone watching the film but didn't read the book will come out wondering why it was titled "Half-Blood Prince" when the backstory of the HBP was hardly explored - and it formed a major chunk of the book.
Negative reviews have focused on the lack of action, especially at the end (taking away a major event in the book). I agree with that. But more frustrating is that the stories of Riddle, of Snape, even of Slughorn and Dumbledore were cut out so much it was no longer an adaptation but rather its own entity.
Excellent cinematography as well as acting by the adults plus Rupert Grint, though.
A film adaptation will never be 100% faithful to its source material, but it has to understand and convey the point of the material. This film utterly fails to do so.
i am iron man iron man is
iron man. dumbledoor died.
I'm really doubting the reviews...
The good films don't get justice. While films like this, which are not that good, get overlooked.
As the film credits rolled, we stood up asking ourselves..."That was it?" It sure looked like a protracted death scene of Harry's prof.
Retaining all the action from the book in the movie could make the last two movies excessive. It's going to be split into two, and I have no doubt all the rich details the source material has will be translated into the last two films. I have even read that David Heyman thinks the final battle scene would be 30 minutes long! The two Deathly Hallows films will surely compensate the subdued action of Half-Blood Prince. They're going to be overloaded, and so I understand why Steve Kloves allowed Harry to take a last step backward.
This is why in any movie series, or TV show, or even comic books, though they form part of a bigger picture, the individual film (or episode, or issue) should still be judged on its merits as a separate entity.
The fact that the movie (or the book) is entitled "Half-Blood Prince" should signal ultimately what the book needs to accomplish and focus on.
And besides, if we really want to see the bigger picture of the franchise, then any HP reader would know that cutting out the essential histories of the Half-Blood Prince and Tom Riddle will skew the key plot points of Deathly Hallows. This could render the motivations of several key players in DH incomprehensible to one who has followed only the movies but not the books, or even a casual viewer.
Thus movie 6 for me is effective. It did not spoil me (even if I've read the book). It left me hanging and extremely eager to watch the last two films even more. It did not try to steal away the revelations and excitement that no doubt will define the last chapter of Harry's saga because it takes a step backward so that the events in the last two movies can unfold grandly.
Like I said, any work of individual art must be able to stand on its own even if it is part of the bigger picture. The LOTR series and the Star Wars series (well, the original trilogy) are fine examples of movies that stood well individually but were still able to form part of the larger puzzle.
To sacrifice HBP for the sake of Deathly Hallows' grand finale is a disservice to HBP and the series as well, for it implies that only DH is important whereas HBP was a passing fancy.
Also, in no way did I imply that the HBP should steal the limelight away from Harry. But how the HBP's story relates to Harry's grander story arc is crucial, so it doesn't take it away but rather needs to supplement it.
You are right: the HBP was merely an accessory - but a crucial accessory. Because these provide character motivations across the board that are important and actually relevant to the bigger picture.
And if we want to talk about stealing the limelight away from Harry, then perhaps what should have been done away with was Ron's comic relief moments with whatsername or Hermione's incessant whining and pining over Ron. Because in the end, these would even be more irrelevant accessories to the story of Harry. Character development? Yes.
As you said, the movies are about Harry's battle with Voldemort. The more relevant sub-plots to this central story are the development of the HBP, the development of Harry's motivations, and the understanding of Voldemort's motivations - not whether Hermione and Ron would finally get to snog.
So IMHO, contrary to yours, removing the essential core stories of HBP did ruin the movie. And in fact, when you think about it, the series' flow.
We can always agree to disagree on this one, but hey, that's why these are called opinions. :)
It is only normal to expect people to judge this film as an independent piece of art. But that doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to this perspective, especially for movies belonging in a series. Appreciating one film as part of a whole will open your eyes to the underlying mechanisms that really drive the story forward. It's true that clever contrivances and other plot details make the story more interesting. They may even seem like the most important things in the story. But in the end, how complex and intricate the journey may have been, it's just all about Harry Potter and his final battle with Voldemort.
i haven't read the book, and i'm sure it's always difficult to adapt a book into film. but this movie seemed to capture the emotion and the would-be imagination of readers of the book. well done. thumbs up to the director and the cinematographer!
and uhm...what character development???