Rate Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (spoilers)

[Pseudonym]

Having never read any of the Harry Potter books, I wasn't burdened with any baggage going in. I found the movie interesting and enjoyable. I'm sure there is a level of meaning that I just didn't get, but having no fanboy expectations for the film to live up to, I gave it an 8 as a work in its own right.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I'd really like to hear from some folks who hadn't read the book, to see if any of it was confusing to them. It seems to me that it worked very well. I really liked Cuaron's direction, and while I can see the points about the transitions being a little of a stretch at times, it was a lot of fun too.

EDIT: I see we got Pseudonym responding from the "haven't read the book" camp. It seems things came through pretty clearly without needing to have the further details spelled out - as I thought it would.

 

[DM_Matt]

I see we got Pseudonym responding from the "haven't read the book" camp. It seems things came through pretty clearly without needing to have the further details spelled out - as I thought it would.

I'd like to add my voice to that pile. I wondered why the stag form and didn't like the time-travel sceme (I understood it, I just didn't like the logic), but having never read the books it was perfetly understandable to me.

 

[Kai Lord]

Ah, but apparently it's not allowed to discuss things in the trailer lest you incite the ire of Mistwell, who ignores anything related to the movie except the movie itself. And threads on ENWorld.

I was smart enough to not read this thread too carefully before seeing the movie, but that attitude just isn't cool. So if a trailer gives something away, its okay to be a jerk to the next guy? If you knew someone unfamiliar with LOTR who just started watching Fellowship of the Ring, you'd just give away the fact that Gandalf survives because it ends up in the trailer for The Two Towers?

I stayed off all messageboards on the internet for months before Return of the King came out, because I knew there'd be a ton of posts like yours. Its like if a movie is based on a book or has a revealing trailer common courtesy is just thrown out the window. "Oh you haven't seen the trailer that spoils the end of Cast Away? Well let me tell it to you then. Oh you haven't read the book? Well its been out for a few years so let me ruin it for you."

Was the movie being discussed here ruined by any posts on this thread? No. But most people reading this forum are movie buffs, and we all like a good story. Some people don't want the ending spoiled and some people don't want smaller surprises ruined like what kind of fantasy creature will be the focus of any given Harry Potter movie. So why the snide attitude toward someone who just wants to preserve the maximum possible enjoyment of a movie when its so easy to not be inconsiderate?

 

[Stone Angel]

I am a huge fan of the books. And I love the movies. I am giving this a nine. I really loved the new landscape, I would of however would have liked to see more of the innards of the castle. Did anyone else notice that during Harry's and Buckbeack's scene that they showed the little hidden area from the PS2 game. Anyway I though that Lupin looked great. both of them. especially the later. It was a little refreshing to see one that had some different qualities to it. My fiancee never read the books and she had no problems understanding it or had any problems with the plot. Also I read this thread before I seen the movie and had no problems with the "spoilers".

My one complaint was at the begining it seemed to almost sprint, I feel that they could have put a little more yeast in the dough so to speak. I just felt rushed, but I loved it, everything about, look, music, feel, actors.


The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[Desdichado]

Was the movie being discussed here ruined by any posts on this thread? No. But most people reading this forum are movie buffs, and we all like a good story. Some people don't want the ending spoiled and some people don't want smaller surprises ruined like what kind of fantasy creature will be the focus of any given Harry Potter movie. So why the snide attitude toward someone who just wants to preserve the maximum possible enjoyment of a movie when its so easy to not be inconsiderate?

The book has been out for years. Previews and trailers have been showing for months. The post that caused Mistwell's rant didn't spoil anything that wasn't in the trailer.

I understand where you're coming from Kai Lord, but at some point there has to be a line drawn between preventing spoilers and being ridiculous. If you can't even discuss things that were in the frikkin' trailer or any standard non-spoiler critic's review without getting someone mad, then I think you've come down firmly on the side of being ridiculous.

 

[NeoSamurai]

Saw the movie. It was good, but for some reason, I didn't like it as much as the first two. The impression I got from PoA was that it was done more in the style of Burton in Edward Scissorhands. The whole experience was presented as surreal and eerie in a Burtonesque style which I felt annoyed with considering the quaint-style of Columbus.

Understandably, this is a transition movie where the stories get darker, but the transition from quaint to surreal could've been emphasized better.

 

[WizarDru]

Liked it a lot. I consider it the best of the three, so far, but it's a hard call to make. I enjoyed the first movie much more when I rewatched it on DVD than I did in the theater. I think the second one is better than the first...but I think this one holds together on it's own better than the other two.

Cuaron and Klowes cut a lot of material, but kept the core intact. There are lots of little things I would have liked to have seen added in, but the movie already went to 2 hours and 21 minutes, and I'm sure that Cuaron had to make tough choices. Things like identifiying the four partners in crime, for example, would have required a great deal more background to not feel superflous and confusing, I think. I fully expect that we'll get all that material summed up tidily in the next movie, instead, combined with the material on Snape, as well.

With all of the characters, side-plots and continuing sequences, things have to drop to the floor. That's what the DVDs can really adress, later. Everyone's going to have their favorite moments or items that were missed...that's just the danger of having to do such an adaption.

Mike Newell, the fellow chosen to do the fourth film, isn't exactly a piker, either.

 

[NeoSamurai]

A side note: the four mischief makers on the map (IIRC) is actually in Goblet of Fire and not covered in the book PoA.

 

[Desdichado]

A side note: the four mischief makers on the map (IIRC) is actually in Goblet of Fire and not covered in the book PoA.

Sorry, you do not remember that correctly. Lupin does clearly tell Harry who all four of them are when he gives the map back to him (and explains the whole deal about his father being a stag animagus.)