Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007)

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-11-2007, 02:13 PM:

AKA Harry Potter V
AKA Harry Potter 5
AKA Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix

I like how the Harry Potter stories continue to get darker as the characters get older, and consequently Voldemort gets stronger. I still have to say that I prefer the first Dumbledore though. This one seems too... I don't know... rough, or hard or something. He's supposed to appear more old and frail, than he does in the movies. But that aside, I still liked this movie. Some will say that it's "more of the same", which I suppose is true to an extent, but that's the ride we're on with this story line, isn't it?

Since the book was enormous, a lot of stuff was understandably left out of the movie in the interest of time. I wish they would film some of those extra scenes, and make a much longer home video version though. Some of those sub-plots would have really expanded the story along the way for those that haven't read the books. And I would have liked to see Harry trash Dumbledore's office at the end like he did in the book. To paraphrase Dumbledore, "Please feel free to continue destroying all of my posessions, Harry. I dare say I have too many."

I'm curious how the story will play out with folks who haven't read the books. I work with a guy who hasn't read any of them, and I sometimes have to explain some of the back story in order for him to "get it" with certain scenes. So I'm eager to read some of the other reviews here.

All in all, I enjoyed it very much. I'm not sure if this is my favorite movie so far or not. The book wasn't my favorite. And I am not sure if I want to waste time seeing the fake 3D version either. NOTE TO WARNER BROTHERS: If you had decided to actually film this entire movie in actual 3D with two cameras, I would gladly pay the higher IMAX ticket costs and I would bring several people with me to see it too. Please keep that in mind as you shoot and produce the last two movies.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-11-2007, 11:25 PM:

I'm not a Harry Potter fan so my review is based on people's reactions to the first show.

One of my employees is a total Potter-head and he said the book has "a lot of extra crap" in it, and he was surprised this movie was so short. He said the director left out "all the right stuff" from the book and tightened up the story considerably, so he gives the movie a thumbs-up.

General crowd reaction has been good and I think people are glad that we finally have a summer blockbuster that isn't 165 minutes long.

I can always tell when the boring parts of a movie are by watching the traffic to the restrooms and concessions. Tonight we were about 3/4 full but not too much traffic at any time, so it must be a crowd pleaser.

Based on these observations: 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-12-2007, 03:46 AM:

..heard that the RAT movie was a pottie/snakbar movie with kids being bored to death...

Posted by Phil Blake (Member # 2012) on 07-12-2007, 05:28 AM:

Well I am not sure how to rate this, Harry has been loosing interest with my for some time now , I enjoyed the first two but the story just seems to be dragging along now and I don't really find it all that interesting anymore.

The Harry fans seemed to like it cept the numbers are down on what i expected.

The print was fine except for bad scratches on the last 10 minutes of the last reel , bad considering it is a new print.

Sound was OK DTS not working due to waiting to find an upgrade disc.

2.5 out of 5 from me.

Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-12-2007, 11:44 AM:

Phil, our print has bad scratching in the last 10 mins of the last reel also.

I have not read the books, but I like the movies. This on was pretty good. I give it 4/5. My friends who love it were a bit annoyed at what was left out, and I some of the stuff I didn't understand. I felt some things could have been better explained.

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 07-12-2007, 02:25 PM:

Saw this last night with the lovely Luci (a huge HP fan) and a packed house of kids at the 7 PM show at the San Juan Cinema in Montrose, CO. Decent presentation but could use more light on the screen (or is this just the darkest Potter in more ways than one?)

The story is a bit convoluted and jumps around a bit with some weak continuity (straightened pens aren't straight in a later shot, a few jumps require you to fill in between them), but it held my, and the kids' attention for its 2:18 running time. Getting kids to sit quiet for that long gets it four stars alone.

The actors are getting older (Hermione's got tits!) and more angst is put into the story, but it works. Looking back at the first four, this series is pretty extraordinary in the quality of filmmaking, writing and acting. Your great, great grandkids will be watching and enjoying this series in 100 years.

Solid 4 out of 5.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 07-12-2007, 04:27 PM:

Cinema: Vue Leeds Light
Auditorium: 8
Presentation: 35mm scope print, screen with top masking
Presentation problems: Slightly out of focus in the middle, but not enough to spoil the movie. Only really noticeable on text.

Considering the day and time I saw the movie (12:30pm on a Thursday, not during school holiday), the showing was almost sold out! I think it's great to have an audience there to enjoy the film with you, rather than a 'private' screening.

As for the movie, I'd have to give it 4 out of 5 stars as well. Being familiar with the book, it was interesting to see how they had condensed it down to just over 2 hours. Obviously a lot of subplots and side-stories had to be removed, but the film does remain true to the book most of the time.

Special effects were impressive (especially the Patronuses), and there was already a good storyline holding it all together. There are a few things in the book that I would have liked to see in the film though, for example Harry being Disillusioned by Moody before they fly away from Privet Drive, and the portrait of Sirius's mother shouting all the time.

I'll finish off here with a list of some of the major changes they made from book to film. In case anyone hasn't seen it yet, SPOILER WARNING:

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Harry's expulsion letter is a Howler, rather than an ordinary letter.
The Extendable Ears idea is foiled by Crookshanks, who plays with the hanging ear and breaks it (rather than an Imperturbable charm on the door)
Harry already knows he's going to be tried by the Wizengamot before he goes to the Ministry - though they kept in the sudden change of time and venue.
Umbridge breaks into the Room of Requirement and stumbles upon the meeting, rather than catching the students running away.
Harry hears the prophecy when he first picks up the globe, rather than from Dumbledore's Pensieve.
Sirius is killed by a Death Eater before he falls through the archway.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 07-13-2007, 02:00 PM:

I like the gradual shift towards darker themes and environments that the movies, and books, in this series are making. However, I think that the movie on its own as a movie was lousy. It absolutely requires the crutch of the books to make any sense, and is in some ways hindered by it. Characters are introduced that have no real point of being in the movie (though they might have been integral to the books plot) simply because fans would cry foul if they didn't see them. I found the movie to be really anti-climactic and schizophrenic. The special effects were fun though.

Rating as a coherent movie: 2/5
Rating as "visual reenactment of selected scenes from the book" 4.5/5

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-13-2007, 04:44 PM:

CINEMA: Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons, Sandy, UT
AUDITORIUM: Cricket IMAX
PRESENTATION: IMAX with artificially sweetened 3D with lime (guess what it tastes like)
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: A couple of static dirt spots projected onto the screen (I thought they were holes in the screen until one of them disappeared briefly), lousy print (looked like it simply wasn't meant to be this big)
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

If the IMAX prints all look like this, don't pay the extra money. Isn't worth the bother.

Odd...I went in expecting a movie about wizards and magic and ended up seeing an hour and a half of the art of red tape in politics and a really cool action sequence.

The 3-D was okay. Very gimmicky. Side note to Jim...the IMAX print is also pretty dark.

What I like about the Potter movies as they progress is that along with the darker storylines, we also get darker humor. They put just enough comical touches in to help it along. It did work overall, and I liked it better than "Goblet of Fire".

I don't do books, so maybe this comes up later...but is it just me, or does Ginny Weasley bear a striking resemblance to Harry's mother?

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-15-2007, 06:54 PM:

Today at Regal 15 in Shelbyville, House #9, 35mm film. The image had excessive lateral jitter to the point of being distracting. There was a narrow vertical band of horizontal white scratches in one of the later reels, probably 7, looked like a print defect. Sounded very good.

Background: I've never read any of the books and I wasn't crazy about the 1st movie. I think I saw the 2nd movie, not sure (translation: It left no impression). I may have skipped #3 and #4 entirely. In fact I'm so out of Harry Potter I thought this was the 4th movie, not the 5th.

So in spite of all that, I liked this movie a *lot*. It really worked for me in a way that the previous ones (a couple of which I may or may not have seen) didn't at all. The pacing seems perfect, there's enough storyline provided to make things coherent and interesting, the effects are great, and it's well-acted. I'm sure a great deal had to be cut out of the book to get this one in at a reasonable running time, but whatever is missing doesn't hurt it at all for this non-Potter fan.

A solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 07-15-2007, 11:13 PM:

CINEMA: Star Holland (AMC Theater) Holland, MI
AUDITORIUM: Auditorium #1
PRESENTATION: 35mm Maskings all around
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Some minor but annoying black scratches at different parts through out (I am guessing someone tried to build the print as fast as possible). Picture was also slightly unaligned but could really only tell when there was text at the bottom of the screen. Picture also bled into the top, right and left side maskings.
RATING: Two stars (out of four)

One other annoyance from my experience at this theater. They obviously had someone in the night previous to clean the seats in the auditorium as every seat was still wet (I was at the first show of the day). Enough so that the back of my shirt wet when I left after the show. A few other patrons got up on their own to complain and received plastic trash bags to sit on. Passes where handed out by staff members after the show but there was no management in sight even though when I bought my ticket, I had noticed that there where two managaers on duty. Oh and one last thing. This is the first time I had been there since AMC aquired that theater. I am not exaggerating when I say that there was 8 commercials and 9 previews before the feature. Many audible groans from the crowd as they went on and on. It didnt help that with the exception of the "Get Smart" preview, all the other movies looked like they will compleatly suck. But I guess that is just one man's opinion. Now on to the review...

I have to say that I was pretty disappointed. After seeing "Goblet of Fire" I went and finally read all of the books but I think that if I had not, I would not have really been able to understand everything that was happening on screen. Though I am ok with what they cut out of the book, I think that they should have spent more time setting up some of what they did use (I will give an example with a spoiler below). All the child actor's (if you can still call them that) performances where pretty good including newcomer Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), however the adult performances with the exception of Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) left a lot to be desired. Heck even Harry Potter's Uncle reactions at the beginning left a lot to be desired when compared to eariler films.

SPOILER ALERT:
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What I was referring to eariler about setting up scenes better. Near the end of the movie when Ron, Harry and Hermione where caught by Umbridge breaking into her office to use her fire, for no reason adequately explain in the movie (other than they where helping Harry) why the Draco and the others had captured Neville, Luna and Ginny. They where just all of a sudden there other then of course that in the book those characters where part of the group with Harry who broke into the Ministry of Magic. In that is just one example. I wouldnt hold my breath for a Director's Cut as none of the previous versions had them. I just wished they had been able to keep Alfonso Cuaron as the director from "Prisoner of Azkaban" as that films remains as the best of the bunch.

Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 07-18-2007, 06:12 PM:

I saw this movie this morning (the 9:30am show) at the Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 in IMAX. I really enjoyed this film, in fact, every second of it. The film presentation was awesome, especially the soundsystem which really rocked the house. I especially liked the 3-D as well. It was definately worth the high admission price. The movie was played in auditorium #1.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 07-20-2007, 11:33 AM:

Oddly...both my wife and I disliked Potter 3 the most yet I liked Potter 3's book the most. I think the 1st two films were the most faithful to the books eventhough the 2nd book remains my least favorite. I should be seening Potter 5 this weekend.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 07-21-2007, 05:30 AM:

quote: Michael Gonzalez
This is the first time I had been there since AMC aquired that theater. I am not exaggerating when I say that there was 8 commercials and 9 previews before the feature. Many audible groans from the crowd as they went on and on.

But weren't the commercials before scheduled showtime?

Though 9 previews is quite a few; but some of them were likely short. It'd be odd for them to program, say, 9 of them that were 2.5 mins each.

Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 07-21-2007, 11:12 AM:

I know Warner Bros. mandated the 10,000 B.C./Get Smart combo was played in addition to Fred Claus (attached). At least the combo trailers were short. It was probably AMC running their own trailer list and then they had to run the additional W.B. trailers as well.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-27-2007, 12:15 PM:

[sleep]

Oh, oh, sorry.

What a snoozefest. I thought that this was BY FAR the worst of the Harry Potter films. It was boring, confusing, disjointed, horribly paced and pointless.

If you didn't read the book or see the previous movies you would have absolutely no idea what was going on or who half the characters were.

I found myself observing the difference in height of the two emergency exit doors flanking the screen.

[sleep]

1 and 1/2 stars out of 5

Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 08-12-2007, 03:05 PM:

Saw this at our local IMAX in 3D. The 3D did not look very good and seemed almost phoney. It distracted rather than added to the experience and at times made it difficult to follow the action.

Phoenix had the pacing of a cold war political thriller - which meant I kept looking at my watch every twenty minutes - and wondering when something was going to happen. I thought the movie was ok but a big step backwards from the energy level of Goblet of Fire.

Posted by Jim Leko (Member # 1287) on 08-13-2007, 12:25 AM:

THE BRIDGE: Cinema de Lux
6081 Center Drive
The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center
Los Angeles, CA 90045
IMAX 3D

I thought the movie was good overall, however I felt there was a lot I was missing. I haven't read the book, but knowing that it is the longest of the Harry Potter novels (and the shortest movie), you just get this feeling that there is so much you are not being told.

In my humble opinion, the movie was great for the series, but does not stand up on its own.

I saw this movie in IMAX 3D. I have mixed feelings on the 3D. Some parts looked very natural, and it was great. However, the scene they chose to highlight changed shots every second (or so it seemed.) When when watching in 3D, it takes your eyes a second to refocus after every shot. This makes it good in long shots, but terrible in scenes where the shot changes so rapidly.