RU-vid keeps automatically turning off comments and deleting them all. It's a pain, hopefully they stay on now For anyone interested in the scene breakdown I did: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QiUVYGIq2_4.html
Hey, Thought Tree. I would love your opinion on Jules’ special of the Euphoria series. I think it would be very fun for everyone, including yourself, and it seems quite relevant considering the second season ended just last week!
@J N yeah that's a good point. Although all of the films make Ron a bit stupid, except maybe the 1st one and possibly the last. They always did him a disservice
@@mylittlethoughttree I hate this film because they removed ... the Snape scene ... which was important , they made it a deleted scene and it should have stayed in the film
I actually liked how the movie was thematically consistent, it also marks the change from a "silly youthful story about adventures" to a "mature story of hardship"
I remember really enjoying the book, primarily because of how the titular Half-Blood Prince adds to the world building. It's no wonder Snape is both a professor AND the house representative of Slytherin. He's an extremely talented wizard who was inventing new magic at the same age that harry was goofing off. And it's brutal magic. The spell Harry learns from Snape's old textbook is one of the most brutal spells we learn about, right up there with stuff like Crucio. How many witches and wizards in the world are even capable of crafting new magic? We'd expect it from a legend like Merlin mentioned only in passing, or Nicholas Flamel for creating the sorcerer's stone, but here's teenage Snape inventing devastating magic. It's a shame the killing curse exists because it ends up overshadowing things like that.
I don’t think it’s hatred rather a disappointment because the movie seemed to miss the point of the book which fixated on Voldemort’s history and Hermione’s determination to find out the identity of the half blood prince, the movie only ran through Voldemort’s storyline with just two memories and I don’t even have to mention how they butchered the half blood prince storyline for the sake of adolescent love. I mean don’t get me wrong, even though it’s not my favorite movie I love it nonetheless, but when I remember that we didn’t have the scene with Hebzipah Smith and we had that stupid shoelace scene I get furious
Exactly. they treated the movie as purely the setup to Deathly Hallows rather than seeing the book as essential for the world building and what the horcruxes could be based on Voldemort's personality. Because it is so hamfisted in how Harry knew what the horcrux would be once they were in Lestrange's vault. Rather than the exploration of why Voldemort was obsessed with the special items of the four houses. i still skip this movie cause it just pains me to watch it
I had no idea that people didn't like the Half Blood Prince. I saw the films before I ever read the books, and I always thought it was pretty well done. I actually felt let down by a few things when I later read the books, particularly the absence of Slughorn's fishbowl story. That was a very touching moment in the film for me.
No the books version was way better, harry instead described the details in which his parents died, and in the movies it was just a weird fish story, it was not touching
"I can speak to snakes too, they find me... whisper things" - one of the best child actor performances I have ever seen. also: I adore the music in this one. especially the harp sounds. cinematography is ace as well. love the shot where the 'camera' goes in turn from a crying hermione up the tower to ron and lavender kissing and an oblivious draco at the top, and then round into the sunrise. dark to light to dark to light. brilliant.
I adore the cafe scene I have massive problems with Half Blood Prince but I really really love the cafe scene I think it shows the pain and tragedy of being Harry incredibly well. Would Harry like to just have a date with the waitress and live semi normally? Yeah. He can’t do that. He’s the chosen one and he can’t escape it.
The half-blood prince was always my favorite next to Azkaban (book and movie)! I didn't even know it was so disliked! I love the emotional arcs all the characters have prior to the dumbledore scene. I also liked the scenes with Snape and the glimpses into his personality as a student via the potions book and the spell he created, which Harry then uses on Draco without fully understanding what it did. Harry finds the person behind the book fascinating, and then the reveal that it was actually Snape's, felt really powerful for me.
I know some people dont like it, but I absolutely LOVE Micheal Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore. I think he did the character so well, it was different from the books sure, but I couldnt imagine the 3-8 movies without his portrayal. While I did enjoy Dumbledore in the books, Gambon’s Dumbledore just feels like he has so much more life, and he feels like he fits Dumbledore’s darker backstory much better. The scene where he asks Harry about his relationship with Hermione even, to me came across as extremely fitting. Its that sense of simple curiosity that you would expect from a man that became the greatest wizard of his age and knows hes going to die soon. Especially considering his relationship with Harry. Another scene people meme on is the infamous “Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire” line, and while people really dislike his delivery here, I love it. It feels more real. Its similar to the scene in Azkaban when Lupin yells at Harry, which is one of my personal favorites in the entire series. On one hand, the calm book Dumbledore trusts Harry conpletely, while Gambon’s portrayal doesnt distrust Harry (as seen by the fact he stops yelling when Harry tells him he didnt do it and doesnt for a second doubt him) he understands that Harry is a 14 year old with no magical background that might give him an idea of how dangerous this event is and a history of breaking the rules, and if by chance he did put his name in the Goblet, that wouldve been pretty stupid and Dumbledore would be right to be pretty upset at him. His anger in that scene isnt explicitly towards Harry, he’s angry at whoever put Harry’s name in the Goblet and at that point Harry himself wasnt completely out of the question.
This is one of my favorite books (yes, I know we're talking about movies here, but still...), and part of the reason I like it is for all the teenage rom com stuff. I'm a sucker for awkward steps toward young love.
Also, when you read the books, the teenage romcom stuff plays into the backstory try are telling about Voldemort. How the love potions seem like harmless fun, but can surly be used to achieve dark ends. Merope used a love potion to get Tom Riddle to leave his very beautiful and loved Fiancé for her; a cross eyed, inbred witch. If any of the movies should have been a 2pt story, it was HBP. So much good detail and backstory into the life and actions of young Voldemort were left out. Which to me is WHY the final 2 movies seem like they’re missing things.
As an idea for a future HP video, what about an exploration of what the characters of Neville and Luna bring to the HP series. Of all of the main characters, these two supporting characters are more able to empathize with Harry than even his closest friends
This is my favourite book. What I dislike about the film is that we don't get much of Tom's back story. The way it makes you feel for voldemort and his mum was amasing.
I was 30 when the first Harry Potter movie came out. I'd read all the books written up to that point because a friend told me her son loved the books, and she'd agreed they're quite good for kids books, so I read them and enjoyed them too. I saw the first movie, thought they did a great job at it, but I never really bothered to go beyond that. I did buy all the books as they came out and read up to this one, Half Blood, but there was a wait until it came out and by the time I started reading it, I realized I'd forgotten most of what had happened in the previous books and would need to re-read them, so I only got a chapter or so into this book and put it down. And I've never picked any of them up again. I meant to, but just never got around to it. Love them, though. I'm sure one day I'll re-read the first few and finish the series, but I just had other things to do. It's nice to watch this and learn some of what happened in that book / movie, though. I'm glad these stories brought so much joy to a generation of kids. :)
Thank you! I didnt like this film before but your thoughts were very intresting. You opened my eyes about many parallels i didnt notice. When you talked about the line between innocence, lightheartedness and dark i thought of Voldemorts mother. That she used love potion to make voldemorts dad love him. When i saw the scene Dumbledore asking Harry about his relationship with Hermion i thought it will be why Dumbledore gives Ron the Deluminator, that he maybe saw Harry and Hermione together more and after Harrys answer he figured out the trios dinamic, but im just guessing
This was the movie where I felt like I related most to Harry. And so I kind of latch on to it. Azkaban is my favorite for sure but this film feels very personal to me. Not to say that I’ve ever lost someone like Harry did but for me life is very gloomy with small vibrant patches that pop up now and again but they always are very brief and yield to the gloomy and sometimes very dark parts.
Very much agree with most of this. My only real issue with this film was the greyscale cinematography. I cant even pinpoint why its so bad but all I know is I rarely notice stuff like that (i.e. it doesnt bother me that Civil War isnt vibrant and colourful) but it makes the movie feel so ... flat and lifeless, that it single handedly makes the movie far more boring in my minds eye. I think of the first film, i think of the music and the castle. Second film... mostly same thing. Third film, the darkness and the magical creatures. Fourth film, the tournament and the twins mocking everything around them. Fifth film, Umbridge and the department of mysteries, Sixth film ... i just find it so unmemorable. Theres plenty to like IN it, but when i remember what i saw its just flat. My recollection is like Slughorns: foggy and people sitting around mumbling dialogue that feels like it really should have flowed a lot better. Its also why I feel 3 or 5 are the best ones; the energy that flows between say, Mcgonagall and Umbridge debating on the stairs, or in the duel between Sirius and Lucius, or Hermione / Ron arguing in the fourth film. Then i think of 6 and ... harrys standing around. Ginny is standing around. The two scenes i recall for Energy On Screen is when Ron is love potioned and when Harry is Luck Potioned, but for the most part everyones quite immobile and stiff. I think Daniel Radcliffe admitted he was stoned for half of it? Its a real shame the cut half the horcrux stuff because the Dumbledore / Voldemorts Backstory should have been better focused on, but also that the school side of things has been dulled and blunted until ... dracos ARC is good, but actually seeing it executed on screen, hes just staring at a cabinet... The movies not even that bad, like you said theres a lot of good thematic plot stuff. It plays fine enough as an episodic bridge between 5 and 7, but I just cant love the execution when i stand back and try to recall what ive experienced.
This has always been my favorite book and movie because of the way Draco was handled. We got to know him as a traumatized teenager who has been just as abused as Harry -- just in different ways.
Could not agree more Tree, always loved the cerebral nature and it feels like the most justified as a dark movie while retaining the hope of the HP story and magic Xx
Your analysis is always very insightful. It helps bring into focus things I missed in the original works and gives me a greater appreciation for them. Thanks again!
I don't really have much to add, at the moment. I just wanted to say that this is my favorite Harry Potter book, and my second or third favorite movie. The Prisoner of Azkaban Movie is an absolute masterpiece.
I was just talking about this to a friend the other day. The Half-blood Prince is the only moment where Harry is actively getting to be a teenager, right before everything falls apart.
I didn't realize people disliked this one. I personally would put it solidly in the middle and place Chamber of Secrets and Order of the Phoenix lower. My favorites are Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire.
Unlike you, I think the Chamber of Secrets was VERY well adapted. After introducing the World in The Philosopher's Stone, JKR LAODED CoS with elements that would be Very Important to the eventual resolution. The background information is that while Rowling DIDN'T interfere too much with the movies, she DID insist on including elements that would later be VITAL. Thus: CoS is the ONLY movie to feature Dobby before DH2 (when he dies). Tom Riddle's Diary is the prototype Horcrux. We begin to understand that the WHOLE Malfoy Family are Dark - it's NOT just that Draco is a Born Bully (though he is). Harry gets to PROPERLY know the WHOLE Weasley Family (Fred, George and Percy, though at Hogwarts, are virtually anonymous background in PS, even though Percy is a Prefect). The Weasley's provide BOTH Harry and Hermione with an accepting Wizarding family, VITAL for both these Muggle raised children. AND we get Gilderoy Lockhart - Hilarious though not important in himself BUT a sign that Dumbledore is finding it increasingly difficult to fill the DADA job every year. Though the CoS is one of the shorter books, there was SO much information in it that it NEEDED to include. Personally, I'm upset that they didn't include the Arthur Weasley/Lucius Malfoy knock down/drag out, but you can't have Everything!
Really, who wouldn't fantasise about a different life, if anything in their future was set in stone? Acceptance is hard and it's not often you get to see the journey towards that in film
I rewatched HP for the first time in years. My “favorite” list drastically changed with TGoF going from 1st to last place. THBP went from last place to 2nd place!
The half blood prince is my favorite Harry Potter movies every time I think maybe I’m just trippin but then that liquid luck potion kick in and it’s just amazing
17:18 indeed! the complaint I've heard most often from book readers is that the movie sacrifices the voldermort backstory to focus on the romance. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder because, to me, there is not so much a focus but a balance (as you have alluded to in the video). although there was a lot of it in the film, most of the romance was left out. book ginny, for example, had two full blown, messy relationships before she got with harry, and this was somewhere towards the middle of the story, where as in the movie, they got together in the end, with minimal 'drama'.
I began reading the books on #6 so I could watch the last couple films and know more lore. I really enjoyed the film version of HBP. Never been sure why the hate. Except I feel like book fans simply don’t like when it’s not a direct copy/paste.
I understand lost of things are missing from the book (which i love) but it embodies the idea of the book I think. And really love the actors in this one, they all seem to be having fun. Daniel Radcliff under felix felicis in incredible !
Before even starting the video I wanted to point out I liked Half Blood Prince because it remembered to include a few light hearted moments here and there that the last few predecessors seem to have forgotten about. It may seem silly but my favorite moment in film is when Harry and Ron are watching the younger kids in the hallway and laughing before Professior McGonagall intervenes. So simple yet enjoyable to see Harry just being a teenager for a minute. Apparently even Daniel Radcliffe did not like the scene in with which he took the liquid luck.. but I kind of love it? HBP does a good job layering in a few lighthearted moments in an otherwise darker film and I feel it balances it best of the later films. Why do people dislike it? I think because it's darker in lighting, harder to see and weirdly green? Also the Ginny and Harry scenes. I'm 100% convinced the scenes were written by an asexual person that was like "shoe lace tieing is sexy right? Right??" And nobody had the heart to tell them 😂
What if I told you that the shoelace scene was improvised? I still can't believe it was deemed better than some of the scripted material by Yates and the film's editors.
Oof, yeah, the films ruined Ginny, and her relationship with Harry. Book Ginny is one of my favorite characters, so that’s a big part of why I don’t love this movie. However… I don’t know if I love any of the movies. Some are more fun to watch than others.
I agree with you, however I cannot believe you didn't mention the soundtrack which is easily the best part of this film, it does an excellent job foreboding the darkness ahead and is just amazingly arranged
I do agree with a lot of the points made here and appreciate the idea that this film has a cohesive theme tying scenes and storylines together. I don't hate this film, but I think part of that is because I really loathed the book, and the film did make certain aspects a little better. I do like how they handled Draco in this, they did such a good job humanizing his difficult and isolating situation. But man, the film really dropped the ball on Ginny. I was already cynical on the relationship while reading the books - it was too predictable and so it felt like the book didn't even need to try to convince the readers that they were actually compatible other than "but if Harry marries Ginny and Hermione marries Ron, they'll all be in the Weasley family at last!". The movie could have swayed me toward liking the pair...and instead just made me hate it more. Harry has more chemistry with Luna, and I prefer them as platonic friends!
Half Blood Prince is my favorite of all of the books. I didn't know the movie was so unpopular but I do understand why. To me or felt like they gutted the themes of the book in order to make it a teenage romcom. I do understand having the light hearted moments. The book had those as well, but they cut at least two of the best scenes in the book, the first class with Snape and the last part of the bathroom scene with Draco and Snape. There should have been more of the pensive scenes, but it also should have been two movies. There also should have been more about looking into who the book belonged to; that's where the name of the movie and book come from. Yes, if they made more of the pensive scenes it would have been a movie moreso about Voldemort's background, and that's exactly what it should have been. This does not mean the movie has no redeeming qualities, but it is a terrible adaptation. They took my favorite of the books and changed the themes. I don't appreciate that. That said, the worst two adaptations are Goblet of Fire and then Order of the Phoenix. Those should have also been been two movies each.
I've only ever seen the films and am not of the generation who grew up with the books. I thought of this film as having a place like The Empire Strikes Back has in the Star Wars trilogy.
Personally I loved the six movie idk why people didn't like it. People seem to forget that ths is an adaptation of the books not an reenactment you just cant compress a book into a movie without missing stuff
Yeah, but they added new scenes of dumb Rom-Com and also cut out many of the most interesting and important scenes for, again, the dumb Rom-Com stuff. I agree with you, a film should only be judged by its own merit but I and I believe many other people just don’t like lot of the stuff in it. Still there are a lot of great scenes. I think for example the entire third act is fantastic and in parts even better then the book. I think the movie could have been amazing if it would have been like that the entire runtime: dark, gripping, tragic.
I don't think I got notified for this but I still loved it nonetheless, always thought HBP was underrated and I love the romcom bits of it. It's probably the funniest Harry Potter movie as well.
The movies are hit or miss in general. I can watch them all and enjoy them as is but do prefer the books for the depth they offer. The Half-Blood Prince is my favorite book however. Always has been since I first read it and still felt that way after reading and digesting the Deathly Hallows. Wish the movie did the Tom Riddle scenes outside the two they kept in. So much more to the story.
I think The Half Blood Prince is a pretty bad movie and I love it. MovieFlame roasted the movie for reasons I really can't disagree with him about. The book fans have valid reasons to be underwhelmed. Yet I love it because my teenage years had neither the meaning of Harry's mission nor the lighthearted teenage drama because of how socially withdrawn I have been, so at least I can fill the emptiness of my own experience of that age with some fiction in the setting I love. This movie is just perfect for that, like no other from the Harry Potter series. A nice video-essay that deserves more views btw.
17:00 I think Ginny was the one place where they really should have recast, in the last few films. They needed a better actress than that poor young woman could manage, to sell the relationship. To be fair, it's not too convincing in the books either.
So, I think the real reason that people disliked this one so much is the major deperched from the books in this one. The meetings with Dumbledore being cut in particular is hugely problematic. Without them, a ton of things don't make any sense. They were the most important conversations in that book, and they do a ton to make us understand book 7. Without them, movies 7 and 8 don't work as well. Also, huge chunks were cut from the half-blood prince mystery. I really think that, from movie 4, on these should have been split into two films each. There is just too much ground to cover, and JK made each scene too important to cut.
Entirely disagree. Anymore memories couldn't fit into this already long film, it would've killed the pace...the trick they missed is finding a way to add those memories into the 7th film. Maybe Harry, thinking back in grief about Dumbledore, remembering more of their trips through voldermorts memories. That film was shorter and had space for it, HBP just doesn't
I agree that adding more Voldemort's backstory scene would have paced the 6th movie wrong but it was not a good choice for the 7th movie. It created a lot of problems that the 2 part of the 7th movie couldn't fix. The 6th book sets up the actions of Voldemort in the 7th and also his demise. I remember being the only one who read the book when we went to see the 2nd part of the 7th movie & I had to explain all the end of the movie and why Voldemort died and the Snape background because it wasn't clear to my friends who haven't read the book. When you don't have Tom Riddle's entire backstory his death is not as impactful as it is in the book. I do think that that is why we had that awful end where Voldemort kind of floats to the after life. They didn't set up the 6th movie like in the books, where it was CLEAR that Tom Riddle's waekness is his desire to not be human. His lack of love. So, I think that not including those scenes where a service to the pacing of the 6th movie it was a diservice to the rest of the franchise.
I think the 7th movie was the place to add more of it. Either Harry reflecting back on those classes with Dumbledore, in grief about his death, or explaining what Dumbledore had showed him about Voldemort to Ron and Hermione
@@mylittlethoughttree They could have even added those scenes from Voldemort's perspective, instead of those awkwards scenes where he discovers that the horcruxes have dissapeared
I honestly believe that if they had just given harry and Ginny a better script this movie would rank amongst peoples favorites. I don't think it can entirely be chopped up to bad acting, the writing in those scenes is terrible. There really isn't a way to act those any better imo.
For me this movie didn't focus on the right things. It decided to focus more on the romcom side of things and dropped integral storypoints for deathly hallows
HBP the movie was a major letdown. Up to that point the films had been consistent with how they decided to adapt the material from the novels. Nearly every choice was made to preserve the Harry/Voldemort storyline. But when it is time for Harry to dive deep into learning his enemy, probably the most important part of the story since it is the reason Harry eventually wins, this movie radically shortchanges it and by extension shortchanges everything in the subsequent two films. Your Draco take is particularly off-base. It was a mistake to show us what Draco is doing. The audience should be in suspense about what he's up to and questioning Harry's obsession with finding out. Draco has been a joke up to this point; even if he thinks he's trying to do something dark it makes sense that it could come to nothing. We should feel the pull of Ron and Hermione scoffing at the idea that Draco could be a threat, with only the nagging memory of the unbreakable vow scene earlier to keep us from completely agreeing. All that tension the book made you feel - deflated so early on by seeing exactly what he's doing with the cabinet. And finally, it is trash at the climax. To Harry's eyes Dumbledore looked like he was begging for his life. "Severus, please." Gambon delivers it like someone asking for a favor, which creates a massive continuity problem. After Dumbledore falls, all the Death Eaters who just witnessed it should have their wands out, pointing at Snape asking him WHY Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him and nobody moves until we hear a good answer. This is not to even mention that Death Eaters get into Hogwarts AND NOBODY FIGHTS THEM. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
I just don't get how GoF is not the most hated film of the bunch. To say that this film missed the plot from the book, is just hilarious to me comparing it to GoF.
Yeah Goblet of Fire is my least favourite. I really don't think the pacing works at all in it. I can't blame them, because I don't think they knew when making the earlier films, but Cedric really needed to be introduced far earlier in the films
This is my least favourite film in the series because it completely misses the point of the book. That being Voldemort's past and the Half-Blood Prince storyline. I wish they didn't have that burning down the burrow scene and didn't focus on the teen romance. The only romances that are actually interesting to me are Harry and Ginny which was completely butchered and all the scenes with them together are kind of cringey, and Bill and Fleur's which is completely cut out. They could have cut so much to focus on the Tom Riddle memories, but instead they focus on Ron and Lavender. The only things I enjoy in this film are after Harry takes the Felix Felicis, from that point onward I think the movie drastically improves.
Half Blood Prince has always been my favorite book in the series. There’s so much backstory detail and that’s my favorite part. But it is my least favorite movie
I definitely think the romance was done pretty damn well in this movie. In the book, it was a bit overly angsty and exaggerated at times, making it feel unrewarding because the way it's written makes you think you SHOULD care about this but you just don't. The way Kloves rewrote basically all of the romance scenes with much heavier focus on comic relief worked a lot better. I also agree with you that the decision to leave out the less important things of Voldemort's backstory was the right one. At the end of the day, the book is a massive expodump at times, which works in literary form but would just be incredibly boring in a movie. So they made the right choice to cut out most of it.
As a Movie, it's the WORST Adaptation of all. Let's just take a few - The Voldemort backstory is FAR more extensive in the book. Because the HBP IGNORED the Voldemort Backstory, there are HUGE holes in the Deathly Hallows movies. The Christmas attack on The Burrow. Who's STUPID idea was that? The Lack of a Battle in the build up of the Death of Dumbledore. The LACK of the Relationship of Lupin and Tonks. The DARKNESS of the movie's tone - of all the novels, the HBP is Harry's HAPPIEST year at Hogwarts - he's Dumbledore's confidant (or at least he thinks he is); he's Quidditch Captain; he's the "Potions Prince"; even with Snape as DADA, he's confident enough in his abilities to disagree, academically, with Snape; and he (eventually) gets together with Ginny. Yes, the Darkness of the outside World OCCASIONALLY intervenes within Hogwarts; BUT Overall, the tone ISN'T completely dark. The movie, on the other hand is UTTERLY Dark, at ALL Times.
I just think that the Half Blood Prince movie is a bad adaptation of the book. They ignore most of Voldemort's backstory and they forget about the whole Half Blood Prince story, even though it's the title of the damn movie and book. They also took out the battle from the end of the book which I thought was really exciting whereas in the movie they made everyone in Hogwarts look like morons as the Death Eaters roamed in and destroyed some property without any sort've pushback. Instead they add a really unnecessary fight at the Burrow, which doesn't happen in the books at all, and its never mentioned again.
Azkaban is the worst movie IMO. They cut so much, which I understand, but they also added so much crap that wasn’t even in the books (God I hate that talking head lol). It’s the only one that doesn’t feel like a Harry Potter movie to me
@@mylittlethoughttree I was trying to update my comment, and saw it blocked... Now I know... I loved the slow pasing, because it allowed to enjoy Slughorn best. He suffered the most in the movie loosing a lot of personality.... (Y)
