Hey folks, Harry here... Not long till I see this baby (Sunday and 2pm) and I'm really anxious to see what all the fuss is... To see if it can even begin to have the audience appeal of a TITANIC.... Will teenagers be interested in these kids? Did teenagers read the book, or was it just kids and adults? I seem to be surrounded by people that have read the book, but I know at least 4 people that are filmgoers that could care less... We'll see.
hey Harry, Lamos here.
never posted before, hope this is worth it. just got back from seeing Harry Potter tonight, a projectionist friend of mine put it on for an audience of two, as he "just wanted to check the print quality"yeah, right! my verdict? well as Ron Weasley puts it,bloody brilliant.
Pretty much everything from the book is in the film(exept peeves, the poltergiest,who has been totally edited out) I wont go into plot details as everyone (apart from you,aparently) knows whats going to happen before they buy their popcorn, so I will just say what I liked and what I didnt.
The good stuff:
Quiditch, the match between slitheren and griffendor was fantastic, not quite pod race fantastic,but comes fairly close-this scene is quite violent for a kids film, just check out some of the moves the slitheren players pull on Harry and his team mates.
Robbie Coltraine as Hagrid, spot on.
The early bits with the Dersley family are also very good,Dudley is a total shit, exactly how I imagined him when I read the book (which is the best complement I can give this film,its exactly how it should be.)think Violet from charlie and the chocolate factory, and then some.
THE SCENERY! lovley,not quite as many pictures moving around as I had hoped, but still enough to make you look at a painting twice, and the castle itself (inside and out)looked very good,they seem to have just found a naturally beautifull building and put the quirks of Hogwarts on top.(none of that six foot of set then cgi the rest bullshit here)
The fact that I was pissing Steve off every five minuites by saying "Isnt that thingie from... " this is a real who's who of english actors,but the main three stand head and sholders above the rest,it had a real british feel to it. which i liked.
It's scary, for a kids film,especialy the ending, which for a "PG" probably hasnt been seen since the indie jones films.
Now the bad.
Well the things that got left out really,Peeves,the total butchering of the whole Norbert the dragon sub plot....condensed into ten minuites of screen time,and also Proffesor Snapes final riddle to get to the philosophers stone completey left out.
Overall I would give this a seven out out of ten,and am willing to bet that this will be the biggest box office film ever......well, for a couple of weeks anyway
Thankyou for your time,
lamos,
the commer king,,,,,,,
and then there is this one...
Advance disclaimer - I haven't read the book. and I'm not the world's biggest swords'n'sorcery fan...
Saw it at a press preview packed with kids in London - and the audience applauded the film before it had even begun...
First impressions - it's like eating six steak dinners in one go. The film is very very epic-y in scope - lots of big scenes underscored with typical John Williams music, and there's precious little room for the little moments to shine through. It's also very very long - almost 160 minutes, and it seems to cover the entire book verbatim, as far as I can tell.
The settings are magnificent, and the portrayal of quidditch is superb - you will believe that a broomstick can fly! Best watched in a cinema with a great sound system...
The acting from the triumvirate of kids is superb - and the rest of the British cast perform with aplomb, with just the right level of hamminess. Alan Rickman who is as superbly sinister as always, and Robbie Coltrane is fantastic as the chatty giant. The only letdown is John Cleese, who's really hammy - fortunately, his role is kept to a bare minimum.
Will you enjoy it if you've loved the book? Enormously. Will you enjoy it if you're a mere muggle? That will depend on whether you could like a film that could be pitched as Space Camp meets Raiders of the Lost Ark.
"infamous"
