I don't think it was a matter of Dumbledore not knowing what Horcruxes were in the book (after all, he'd already destroyed the ring)...the reason he needed the complete memory was because he needed to know what Slughorn told him and how many horcruxes there might be...that was not in Slughorn's altered memory...in the altered memory, Slughorn yells at Riddle and tells him he'll end up to no good.

The omission of many of the Pensieve scenes was a strange decision, IMO. I felt alot of the teenage angst could have been cut for more of those scenes.

And to me, the development of whether Snape is on the side of good or evil was of the most importance as it comes into play huge in DH

I think out of all the films, the ommissions and changes made in this one bothered me the most. 

Tonebone makes a good point about the pensieve ommissions.  Especially the Guant house.  That scene really gives such great background to Voldemort's origins and it becomes so important in the 7th book when talking about the hallows, notably, the resurrection stone.  I also disliked the ommission of the small battle that takes place in Hogwarts while Harry chases down Snape.  It showed that Dumbledore's Army was still around and that other student's other than the trio, are willing to risk their lives to fight the Death Eater's.  I for one did miss the funeral.  I thought they would have it in the seventh, but now that I know it's not there, it is a very stupid ommission.  

After repeat viewings I have learned to not worry about those so much I guess, but no matter how many times I watch it, I can't get over my hate for what they did with Ginny and Harry's relationship.  Especially since they handled Ron and Hermione's so well in comparison.  I'm surprised you didn't mention it in the article. The cutesy moments between them like tying his shoe for him and the lame little kiss along with her stupid line just irk me to no end.  That's not how teenagers act or talk to eachother.  The way they get together in the book after Ginny wins the Quidditch Cup is so much more epic.  I remember being so excited at that moment when I first read it.  In the film, it comes and goes with no gravity to it.  And in the book they actually have a relationship whereas as nothing else happens in the film.  Harry falls in love with this girl but we don't get any of that in the movie.  Such a missed opportunity.  I will forever hate how that was written in the film.  I wonder how they'll reconcile that in the 7th film?

I agree ddiaz. I won't say there isn't some annoyance there. But for the most part, I enjoy the movies (with Order of the Phoenix being the only one I walked away more disappointed with). Gotta keep reminding yourself that unless they went with 3-4 hour movies or two parts for each, then there was just no way to include it all. I think that's the beauty in the books in that the most mundane and seemingly not important threads, at the end, feel very important or hold some significance to the overall story. At least IMO.

Oh I'm totally with you there Tonebone, it's just a slight annoyance.  I think I enjoy the films so much because I try not to let the omissions taint my opinions.  I guess the changes in HBP were just harder to ignore for some reason than any of the other films. 

And you are dead right on your last comment.  Little thinks like Gaunt's ring, finding the locket in OOTP and trashing it, putting the diadem on a manquin head while hiding the HBP book.  All those would have been so easy to include and would have been great little winks to the fans and would have shown that they knew how important those things would be at the end. 

I've read in some reviews already that non-readers have been confused by some things in Deathly Hallows, such as the piece of mirror Harry has, because they were never introduced or fully explained when they should have been.  It's too bad because it probably lessens the effect the film should have on the audience.

Of all the films, I was most disappointed in this one initially because I found it so radically different from the book.  However, I will give the filmmakers some slack as I do feel the book is almost entirely exposition and set up from the final book, and we all know exposition isn't the most interesting thing to watch.  Upon rewatching the film recently, I've come to appreciate it a lot more, and think it is a very good piece of filmmaking.

However, the one thing I cannot forgive is the omission of the funeral.  It is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing Rowling has ever done, and so inherently cinematic, I can't understand why it was cut.  I suspect this may be the one time in the film series' history where the producers said "We're not giving you the money to do that."

Oh, and one more slight complaint:  the necessity of having an actor actually speak Dumbledore's last words robs them of their ambivilance, because the intention behind them is much clearer.  This was unavoidable, but also robbed fans who hadn't read the book of one of the most heated Potter debates ever (do you remember how passionately people argued about Snape's true motives in the years between the sixth and seventh books?).

I agree with what everyone is saying up there but there are a few omissions that I felt where unexcusible, One the the pensives memories, left out , the visit by the new Minister of Magic, The handling of Ginny and Harry, hated the whole Christmas and Attack of the Burrough, wtf, was that anyway. Oh yeah and the entire Ending of the Movie sucked ass, they completely ruined one of the best scenes written the emotional impact of hHarry frozen the battle in the castle and Harry also worried about his friends. Bill being hurt and funeral and the Phoniex's lament, Oh yeah and the reason behind Harry not just taking off on the search and the wedding.  The book has so much info that is important to the overall story as well as it answers lingering plot points from the other novels that its almost criminal what they did to that movie.  That being said I do agree that after not reading the book for over a yera , it is not quite that insulting but still really really not good.  

 I have to completely agree with sarcasticcaveman. Dumbledore knew exactly what a horcrux was. He was one of the most brilliant wizards ever. He was keeping the library books about Horcuxes in his office,we find that out because Hermione accios the books out of this office in the Deathly hallows book. Dumbledore needed the memory to know exactly what Slughorn told Tom. To know how many Horcruxes Tom made.

I happened to catch the last half of the film last night.  Jared, I think Gambon did a pretty good job of delivering that last line and keeping it fairly ambivalent.  I'd like to know what someone who doesn't know if Snape is truly bad or good thinks about it.  Since readers know what happens, I think we put that knowledge into the way we hear his last words.  Snape also does a pretty good job of knocking Harry on his ass at the end to keep everyone guessing.  And remember, he also tells Voldy when the Order is moving him at the begining of 7. 

I completely agree about the funeral being sorely missed and how wonderfully it was written in the book.  I always pictured the film ending with a slow motion shot of Harry determinedly walking towards the camera with the funeral ending behind him and all we hear is the pheonix lament.