Prisoner of Askaban - new film

[Guest]

[samwise16]

Welcome Spudchee Yea lol i've always wondered about the bridge, and i agree with the no warmth regarding the castle and not just the castle but even hogsmeade, Hogsmeade was meant to be amazing, yet we saw nothing of it worth recalling  

[siriusandjames]

Also - the inside of the Knight Bus looked as if it had been smoked in since the Goblin Rebellions and you could scrape the tar off with a knife and not the nicely panelled, cosy bus described in the book.

[ferdinand_the_yak]

At least Dumbledore is more accurately portrayed - no offence to Richard Harris, i know he was a superb actor, but his Dumbledore was too frail for my liking. From the books, I saw D as an ecccentric, many layered character... Michael gambon has done that admirably... but I would like to see some improvement on his costume design... I reckon they need to bring in the people who worked on the LOTR movies... the wizard clothes especially could be done so much better IMO

[MakTheYak]

Well I think for Dumbledore a mixture of the two would be perfect. The first I agree was too frail but the second I think is too strict - there is no twinkle in his eye like described in the book.

I just wish they paid more hommage to the previous two films, scenery-wise. If things are going to change between the films, you don't get a very good feeling of continuity  

[siriusandjames]

- there is no twinkle in his eye like described in the book.

Yes, a combination would be good.  A bit more of the silver hair and a more sympathetic manner - he has to an approachable headmaster which is not usual whilst being as believably powerful as Voldemort.  
At the same time he has to have the authority and enormous kindness to take on the oddest assortment of staff - Snape, Lupin, Moody, Hagrid etc. and still juggle the Ministry of Magic.
In other words, he has to be the complete opposite of Voldemort.  Michael Gambon needs to soften up his portrayal or Dumbledore a good bit when it comes to dealing with those who rely on his protection.

[savage727]

Great points by Mark & sueb34!  I couldn't agree more.

[blackcat20]

I saw the movie when it opened in Oz last week, and I thought it was fantastic.  The book is my favourite of the series, and while it is disappointing that some great scenes have been cut, it needs to be remembered that a movie is structured differently to a book.  There is no way they can put everything in and keep it flowing nicely.  And like a recent review said, the existence of the movie doesn't erase the book-you can always go back and re-read those bits we love so much  

[savage727]

Well one thing is certain, the movie has ignited a desire to re-read all the books again!!    Blackcat is right -  it is almost impossible to translate a book verbatim into a movie due to the style, structure, and timing not to mention the length.  

Now we all would like to see the HP books done right but look at for example the LOTR's - 3 great movies and still so much left out.  Where do you strike the balance?

[Roz]

Don't get me wrong - I love the HP movies, but I think the LOTR movies capture the spirit of the LOTR books better than the HP films for the HP books... what do you guys reckon?

[savage727]

Hey Roz - I think a new Poll is in order for this one!!