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Observations of the Harry Potter films.

jonny7003jonny7003 Posts: 3,771 ✭✭
edited June 2011 in General
I've been watching all the Potter films recently and, is it just me, or do David Yates' films seem more like British drama films than blockbuster fantasy films? It's a noticeable change between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix and it's a welcome change. Phoenix, Prince and Hallows seem less like the popcorn pictures of Years 1-4 and more serious, subtle and solid drama films. Does anyone else get this impression? I mean, I've always known his Potter films to be more "real" and grounded than the others, but the period drama-esque filmic way his movies are shot is even more apparent when you watch all seven films back to back. Yet, he always manages to expand as a filmmaker and make each film feel different (which is a task Chris Columbus failed at in my opinion.)

Anyway, I still think Goblet of Fire is the most "British" film of the lot (something about the style makes it seem very top-class British) and even though Prisoner of Azkaban is a great film, it's overrated in my opinion. Oh and Philosopher's Stone will always be the classic Harry Potter film. Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be the other classic. Half-Blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix remain the most underrated Potter films and Deathly Hallows Part 1 suffers from a few niggles, but is expertly crafted from the cinematography (Yates described it as a verite documentary) to the much improved performances (the way Dobby's death scene is shot and performed is immune from criticism). Just a few observations I picked up while watching them all and it's made be even more pumped for Part 2. :)
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Comments

  • HuffleBenHuffleBen Posts: 579
    I agree with you totally.. hear me out here and tell me if you agree...
    In 5 or ten years, do you think part1 will be the one people will say... Nahh let's skip that one.. I've wondered it for a while
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  • Lord StaffordLord Stafford Posts: 27,353 ✭✭✭✭✭
    True, true. GOF is very much a perfect popcorn flick, and yet it is more than that as well... having the best scene so far taking place in it, with some of the funniest comedy lines and moments also being in there. The first three films will always be remembered as the ones that feel most like the Potter universe is supposed to be like and they contain the nostalgia

    That is something that i feel lacks in Yates' films, they are great make no mistake about that... but he concentrates more on the character side of it, rather than giving equal effort to that and the story. When you do this, nostalgia is likely to be least evident, and of course because they were all so young back in the PS era.

    Lord Stafford.
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  • Lord StaffordLord Stafford Posts: 27,353 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I agree with you totally.. hear me out here and tell me if you agree...
    In 5 or ten years, do you think part1 will be the one people will say... Nahh let's skip that one.. I've wondered it for a while
    If any of them were to be skipped, then i'd have to say that it would be the likely choice.

    Lord Stafford.

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  • jonny7003jonny7003 Posts: 3,771 ✭✭
    I agree with you totally.. hear me out here and tell me if you agree...
    In 5 or ten years, do you think part1 will be the one people will say... Nahh let's skip that one.. I've wondered it for a while
    I doubt it because there would probably be the opportunity to watch both Part 1 and Part 2 together. Even though both parts are different films with different tones and styles, watching them back to back will be like a 4 hour long epic and I think that's an experience people won't want to miss out on.
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  • MattCatMattCat Posts: 372 ✭✭✭
    Yates’ films are significantly less ‘Hollywood’ than his predecessor’s films. Simply, Yates has come from a different background where he has always put characters, emotions and storytelling above scale and bombast. To be honest, he’s the only director in the series whose films I can really find depth and emotion in. Where Yates triumphs in his subtlety and understanding of the characters and the text is what elevates him above the other three for me. Anyway, I think really his films develop the darkness and sombre tone far greater than any of the others: Columbus was relatively bland, albeit it solid. Cuaron championed style oversubstance and Newell, well, he got carried away in the ridiculousness.
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  • RichardRichard Posts: 48,703 mod
    Yes jonny i agree. Although i absolutely love the feeling of 3 & 4 i know it was bound to change.
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  • GinaCGinaC Posts: 828 ✭✭
    edited June 2011
    To me, the first two movies and DH1 felt the most like the book (not bland), and they are my favorites because of it. Those to me are by far the best adaptations. I agree with MattCat that movie 3 was all about style over substance, and I think Hermione's character in particular as well as the atmosphere were Cuaron's own creation and really not very "Potterlike," but that's me. The different atmosphere and different Dumbledore was just hard to get used to. Still, PoA had some great moments...I absolutely loved when they broke Sirius out of the tower and when Sirius rode away on Buckbeak...and the Harry/Lupin scenes were super. I know many aren't concerned with how the movie relates to the book and judge it on how it on how it works as a film on its own in a different medium, and that's fine...but as someone who has read the books, I just can't help cheering when I hear my favorite book lines and watch my favorite book scenes.... Ah well. I think Yates truly did get the characters the best. He did a super job of that, but I think some critical parts of the story were left out (e.g. proper Priori Incantatem explanation, full discussion about the Prophecy and why Harry has to stay with the Dursleys each summer) that have made some of the later movies hard to follow...but I know the story gets really complicated and some stuff has to give (though I'll never understand cutting Dumbledore telling off the Dursleys so that they could add their own stupid scene of Harry flirting with a waitress). I know everyone raves over HBP's cinematography, but it was just too dark for my liking; it felt like I was watching a black-and-white movie. Dumbledore's look at the end of HBP suited him much better, though! I still missed Richard Harris' wonderful costumes, though. From what we know, it sounds as if Movie 8 will be incredibly emotional, but my excitement for it was really limited by what they've done with the final confrontation between Harry and LV. I know many on here love Harry taking Voldemort over the edge of the tower, but that just feels so incredibly out of character to me. Harry just wouldn't do something dramatic like that, IMO, but feel free to disagree. It just seems to me that the film has TONS of action already and that the dialogue in that scene (practically in full) was called for here. I understand that's only how I feel about it (and I have company), but of course others disagree, and that's fine. I might see it and realize that yes, it actually works great--we'll see. All in all, though, the films have been super. I am still so amazed that they have kept the same incredible cast all these years!
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  • Lord StaffordLord Stafford Posts: 27,353 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You could say the same for HBP being the near definition of what style over substance is, and what it mean's.

    Lord Stafford.
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