It looks like there's some truth to the rumors that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was moved back for more than just box office timing. There was some speculation going that while Warner Bros. decision to move the sixth installment to a mid July 2009 debut smacked of copying The Dark Knight's successful debut, there were also issues with the film itself.
Those rumors seem to be confirmed from what early screening reviews have popped up online this week. While these screenings taking place in Chicago this past weekend are incredibly early with the film not officially wrapped and post production nowhere near complete, it does give Warner Bros. executives Alan Horn, producer David Heyman and director David Yates a chance to listen to the feedback and correct critical errors before the release next summer.
The biggest complaint from the screenings out of Chicago seem to be that not enough focus was given on "The Half-Blood Prince", the vital flashbacks into Voldemort's past and the ending climax was completely changed around.
If you don't care about spoilers or you have already read Rowling's sixth novel, you can get an idea on the feedback issues from the screening by clicking here.
It should be noted that there was one positive review from the screening, which can be found here. Of course, the fact that it was posted on a dedicated Harry Potter website makes the review immediately suspect.
By pushing the release date back, Warner Bros. has allowed themselves 10 extra months to get the sixth installment right.
I haven't read any of these books yet, but I plan to after all the movies have been released. I know for a fact that if you read the book before the movie, chances are really high that you will not like the movie. From what I've read in the spoilers, sounds like WB did the right thing postponing the flick so hopefully they fix everything that's wrong with it before its release. Even though I haven't read the book for this movie, I'd have a problem with it too.
DEAR GOD PLEASE FIX THIS FILM!!!!!!!!! This is my favorite book and I was disappointed to see the movie delayed. Now I am hoping that the delay was to fix this apparent mess! Please don't turn this into Dawson's Creek with magic.
On a side note, why don't I stay logged in to this site?
Sounds about right, that they'd hack and slash the STORY and go have wild crazy fun with ACTION.
They've been doing this since "Azkaban." "Phoenix" was the biggest offender." "Goblet" didn't fall into that trap though.
I can't say that I'm that surprise. Always thought Half Blood Prince would be the most difficult book to adapt cause of the flashbacks.
No funeral for Dumbledore is just plain wrong.
This is why they should NOT have waited until the last damn film to split into 2!!! Those books are way too detailed to just do a paint-by-numbers... which is the way I've thought this whole movie series has been treated... Just show key moments without much context, rip key points out - and ,well, hey - everyone has read the books so who cares??
And it sounds like they've blown Dumbledore's death completely. But then I've always thought their recast and treatment of the character on film has been horrible. In the books he is alway a calculated, intelligent, reserved man... In the movies he comes off as an angry old man... Snape has never been given enough screentime to really appreciate how key he ends up being.... I could go on and on...
I haven't read the books (nor will I), but I've kept up with the movies despite their general suckiness. The most impassioned arguments I've heard from fans have generally been along the lines of "well that's how it happened in the book therefore its good," and "I can't believe they cut that from the book therefore its bad." The movies have gone from being decent enough kids movies to bad fantasy that wants to be geared towards adults but can't get over the fact that it still has a teenage cast.
As an unrelated thought, there's this thing called a director attached to the film who makes interpretations, cuts, and changes to suit the visual story he's telling. A serious problem arises when so many people have read the source material and have already made their own interpretations in their head and expect a near verbatim translation on screen. If the director does a good job, people won't mind the clash of interpretation. If the director does a poor job, people will mind.
How exactly did it score so low? I've been keeping up with all the reviews/reactions on this one, and by my count, there's at least 8 positive reviews and opinions, as opposed to those 2 negative. So, no, it didn't exactly score low because of two people who didn't like the film.
These guys both read the book before and as I always say, you can't beat a book with a movie. So since I haven't read it yet, I'm not too worried. I thought the trailer looked great and this first guy says he's been getting bored with the films and I think they just get better, so again, I'm not too worried.
I think this movie (as I've heard about the book) will be a lot different from the other films, and I'm totally ok with that as long as we have a kick ace last movie (slash 2 movies, since the last book was divided in two).
Did I mention I'm not worried?
I just read the two reviews form AICN, and I am a little worried. I hope they fix some of this stuff, but I am also thinking that since they are breaking Deathly Hallows into two movies, they are going to move the funeral scene into that. I mean, if you compare the LOTR books to the movies, they moved things all over the place, but it still worked amazingly well. I am sure they will fix this, they haven't disappointed yet.
1
ADD A COMMENT
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Please click here to login.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
