Just got back. AMAZING. More thoughts in a bit.

A+

Best of the series IMO, though my GF strongly disliked it.

Eagle, does your girlfriend know she has bad taste?

My first impression is that it is, perhaps, the best of the Potter films.

And this from a guy who hate hate hated Goblet of Fire.

^

That's a good thing because I also hate hate hated GOF.

Goblet Of Fire is still my favorite of the films, but this is a close, close second.

I just got back and I loved it. It might be the best of the series. Also Daniel is getting better as these movies progress. I will break the movie more down tomorrow.

Loved it as well...will say more tomorrow.

Second best of the series for me behind Azkaban.

Fantastic performance by Imelda Staunton, she really is a stand out. Radcliffe was very good also, easily the best he has been. I thought Yates did a great job and im looking forward to seeing how he tackles Half Blood Prince.

I felt that the film really captured the feel of the book also. It certainly comes off a lot darker than previous Potter films.

My rating would be an A/A-

Looking forward to checking this out again.

Early results but five As. Sweet. I'm looking forward to Today/Evening.

The first 2/3's were horrible, but the last act was excellent.
The best parts of this movie were easily the 3 new girls: Bellatrix (PERFECT Casting), Umbridge (with an excellent Imelda Staunton or whatever her name is) and an eerie Luna Lovegood.

Overall, I'd give it a C+

And my rankings are....

1. HP3
2. HP4
3. HP1
4. HP5
5. HP2

Oh, and my other complaint is that Rickman and Maggie Smith weren't used enough...they're excellent as always, but largely absent from the film.

One more complaint: the mental asylum scene with the Longbottom's from the book, which is far and away the most emotionally compelling scene in any of the HP books, was missing. I hate this director.

Oh, and even more than that...Sirius' death was handled horribly wrong...there was no emotional impact whatsoever.

The first one I've actually liked. They've finally achieved the perfect balance between following the book and making a good movie. This puts the fourth film to shame.

In terms of adapting the book page-for-page, it really fails quite remarkably. However, none of the other films in this series better captures the heart and soul. Production values were high (didn't like the music, but everything else was pretty solid). Staunton was perfect. Carter was perfect. I suspected them to be good choices from their respective announcements, but I was more pleased than I thought I could have been.

Spoilers -- The book fan in me is a little disappointed in some regards. A lot of the backstory is omitted, shifted around, reworked or trimmed down. I didn't mind too much. There were some things that should have been better fleshed out. Harry's angst wasn't really forefront enough. His relationship with Cho (and the ultimate demise in said relationship) could have used more too. The Weasley twins' exit was well-done, but I wished they could have stuck more to the book there. I always liked the idea that the swamp they left behind was so advanced that Umbridge could do nothing to rid it, and that Flitwick was so impressed that he left a little of it in the corner. But it was really done quite well; I was worried that the scene really wouldn't get the credit it deserves. Once they left Hogwarts it went downhill form there, IMO. The fight in the department of mysteries was too short. Actually getting there and finding the prophecy and the initial chase through the prophecy room was quite good. In fact, all of it was quite good. I would have loved to see more though. Sirius dies all too quickly. The fight between Voldie and Dumbledore was great though. I'm glad Yates did that scene justice, since its really the only time we ever get to see how powerful Dumbledore really is. The scene following the fight in the ministry in Dumbledore's office was bullshit. It is by far the highlight chapter of the entire book series, and Yates didn't even come close to doing it justice.

As I said though, it has heart, and lots of it. Loved the message and how it was built up (one reason I was disappointed in the lack of Harry angst, since that could have fleshed it out that much more). The middle act was incredibly strong. The point form which DA is formed all the way through Weasleys' exit was basically perfect, in my opinion. The past Potter films have a bad tendency to let the focus stray. Yates keeps that in check wonderfully. It really speeds things along and the movie doesn't feel at all paked or forced along as the others do.

Overall I'd say its the best of the bunch. I'll wait for final word and grade when I see it again later this week with my girlfriend (whe would have been there tonight were it not for a damn plane delay

I stopped reading the books after Goblet of Fire, so I was worried I'd be confused throughout, but my worries were without reason. Prizoner of Azkaban still may be my favorite film, but Order of the Phoenix is a strong entry in the series that I certainly feel should be remembered as one of the better films.

What kind of question is that to ask a guy?!?

A/A-

Turned a patchy book into a less patchy film. The quick snappy pace was a definite + from BJ. The film flowed well but had dialogue issues, I was surprised they actually made the grawp scenes watchable, I considered all chapters centered around Hagrid and his Bro to be crap while reading the book. Not my favorite film but most curtainly #2 to potter4.

Having not read any of the books and seeing onLy GoF (which I gave an A), this one was a Letdown for me from the Last one. I Liked the darker theme and Potter turning into someone eLse but IMO, this just Lacked the excitement and intense moments GoF had. The action sequences in the end though visuaLLy good, feLt too short and not that engaging. On the better side, it had stronger characters than GoF. OveraLL, stiLL quite an experience. Seeing this too, made me way more interested than ever in seeing the previous fiLms and to what's gonna happen in HaLf-BLood Prince.

A-

STUPID. STUPID. STUPID.

WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT FOR A WHOLE WEEK!!

IF THIS MOVIE GETS ANOTHER DELAY, I'M GOING TO BURN UMP (the distributor of this movie here) OFFICE!!

...

Anyway, glad to see a lot of As here..

I think one of the omissions that has me a bit worried is Dumbledore's explanation about Snape alerting the Order after Harry told Snape about Padfoot.... The whole idea in the book was that when Harry reached out to Snape as his last hope, Harry thought Snape didn't care at all, based on his response. But then later Harry gets a bit of a comeuppance when he finds out that Snape was only pretending for the sake of not letting on to Umbridge, and immediately went to alert the Order.

I don't like that they cut out the info about Snape alerting the Order... It makes him look like he truly is a heartless bastard.

But other than that, the other omissions in the movie were fine. I hope we'll have plenty to see on the DVD.

All in all? A solid A. Best movie of the series. Can't wait for HBP! Yates was awesome, and I'd love to see Nicholas Hooper come back for the score.... Too bad Steve Kloves is coming back to write, though....

Joy

Personally, I also wondered why the order was alerted too later. If Snape had warned them right after Harry told him that, then they should have showed up sooner. It always makes me wonder if he delayed warning them, liking he was playing both sides.
I do wonder what got cut. I know these scenes got filmed. Hagrid getting sacked and Mcgonagall getting hurt. Ron and Hermione being named Prefects. I read there was a party scene filmed for them. And a scene with Harry outdoors crying that also showed Hagrid, Mcgonagall and Malfoy. Not sure what else got cut, maybe they will have an exapanded version of the DVD. Oh and also I noticed that it wasn't Siruis who broke the Orb. First he punched Lucius and Lucius lost his grip on the Orb. It actually really sets up HBP better because it shows why Voldemort is really pissed off at Lucius.

C

Lifeless. A lot of stuff was missing.

I can't believe I totally forgot about McGonagall getting hurt... I was so into the movie I didn't even notice the absence of the Astronomy Tower stuff.

Man, Sirius punching Lucius got such a huge round of applause and cheers!!! That was so awesome! And you're right--it does give Voldemort a more believable reason to be angry at Lucius. In the book, Lucius just simply failed to get the prophecy.... But to actually get the prophecy and not keep it from breaking? Yeah, Voldy's sure to be pissed. LOL

You know, I've not bought any of the previous HP films on DVD. I told myself I was going to wait 'til all 7 movies came out in a boxset, hopefully as extended editions (like how they play the first two on ABC with deleted scenes added back in)...... But I think OOTP might end up being the first HP movie I'll buy. Doesn't surprise me, as OOTP is my favorite book of the series thus far, and now my favorite movie.

Joy

I thought the movie made it seem as though Snape did tell them, and that's why they knew to come. And since we never saw Harry angry that Snape didn't tell them, that makes perfect sense to me.

Additionally, the only scenes I thought could have been done better were Harry and Snape practicing to keep Voldemort out of Harry's mind. It was such a huge part of the book, and the progression of Harry learning to block out Snape, and thus Voldemort, was poorly done in the movie. One of my few complaints.

Very very good. Maybe the best of the series? I dunno yet...I'll have to rewatch it, but so far I'd say yes. It was, of course, visually stunning. The Ministry of Magic set was masterful as were all the usual settings. Imelda Staunton was so good, especially towards the end. The scene in the forest was priceless. Helena Bonham Carter was excellent as well and perfectly cast. Others who stuck out to me were the actress who played Luna, Gary Oldman, and Daniel Radcliffe. I must say that the scene with Voldemort possessing him was so well acted and frightening. I was a little worried with a lackluster beginning, but it soon picked up and never let down. And for those saying this was a lot darker than GOF, I would argue that. Sure it was dark and should have been, but the end of GOF was just as dark as this and this one had a lot of funny scenes as well. All in all an excellent addition to this amazing francise.

A