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Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
| Release Date | 07 Dec 2009 |
|---|---|
| Director | David Yates |
| Creator |
Daniel Radcliffe Emma Watson Bruno Delbonnel David Barron David Heyman Lionel Wigram Tim Lewis J.K. Rowling Steve Kloves |
| Actors |
Daniel Radcliffe Emma Watson Rupert Grint Michael Gambon Dave Legeno |
| Discs | 2 |
| Region | 2 |
Review
The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series begins right where The Order of the Phoenix left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that "He Who Must Not Be Named" has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is "the Chosen One"--the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end. Dark forces loom around every corner, and now regularly attempt to penetrate the protected walls of Hogwarts School. This is no longer the fun and fascinating world of magic from the first few books—it's dark, dangerous, and scary. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to be a new Death Eater recruit on a special mission for the Dark Lord. In the meantime, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seems to have finally removed the shroud of secrecy from Harry about the dark path that lies ahead, and instead provides private lessons to get him prepared. It's in these intriguing scenes that the dark past of Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Voldemort) is finally revealed. The actors cast as the different young versions of Riddle (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane) do an eerily fantastic job of portraying the villain as a child. While the previous movies' many new characters could be slightly overwhelming, only one new key character is introduced this time: Professor Horace Slughorn (with a spot-on performance by Jim Broadbent). Within his mind he holds a key secret in the battle to defeat the Dark Lord, and Harry is tasked by Dumbledore to uncover a memory about Voldemort's darkest weapon--the Horcrux. Despite the long list of distractions, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) still try to focus on being teenagers, and audiences will enjoy the budding awkward romances. All of the actors have developed nicely, giving their most convincing performances to date. More dramatic and significant things go down in this movie than any of its predecessors, and the stakes are higher than ever. The creators have been tasked with a practically impossible challenge, as fans of the beloved J.K. Rowling book series desperately want the movies to capture the magic of the books as closely as possible. Alas, the point at which one accepts that these two mediums are very different is the point at which one can truly enjoy these brilliant adaptations. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception: it may be the best film yet. For those who have not read the book, nail-biting entertainment is guaranteed. For those who have, the movie does it justice. The key dramatic scenes, including the cave and the shocking twist in the final chapter, are executed very well. It does a perfect job of setting up the two-part grand finale that is to follow. --Jordan Thompson
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Customer Reviews
anybody who is scared easily, don't watch it
I went to see this film in the cinema when it was released, and I have to say that it's the worst Harry Potter film I've ever seen. I saw the fourth, which was very faithful to the book, but although I did love the humour, it never stopped me from being really scared, and I felt exactly the same with the sixth. This one is nowhere near as good as the first to the fifth, but it's horrible trying to get used to a wizard horror, and it's never good to scare yourself deliberately in order to enjoy a film. The Half Blood Prince movie is definitely a film which should have been rated for either fifteen or eighteen years because of Aragog, the fire scene at the Weasley's house, Fenrir Greyback, the bloody scene in the boys bathroom when Harry curses Malfoy, and the worst, the cave scenes. I don't care if young children love Harry Potter, if the films are this scary, it's not suitable for them, and although I'm eighteen, I still watched it with eyes glued to the screen, rigid, and later on practically panicked and kept on opening and closing my eyes to make sure I wasn't still watching it. Basically, this film is not only terribly unfaithful to the book, but a dreadful waste to fans and people who were fans, and I don't think it's particularly good for anyone who may suffer from excessive panic.
Harry Potter Half Blood Prince
My complaint is not with the quality of the DVD or the excellent section on J.K.Rowling, but with the film makers who need to change so much of the book to fit it in the time allowed for the film. I enjoy the DVD but the book is far better...
Best one yet!!!
Writers have finally managed to reflect the real magic created by the books into the film
THIS FILM IS BRILLIANT - Book Purists are Idiots.
The Half-Blood Prince was an amazing film. Only book purists and pensioners (who can't remember their young days) think this is a bad film. Pathetic. They moan about things getting cut out and changed - HELLO ??? ARE YOU THICK !?! Please, look beyond the book and enjoy the film for what it is - a masterpiece. It's an ADAPTATION!!!!!! BASED ON the BOOK!!!!!! A FILM!!!!!!!!!!! The cinematic form is magnifient and the cinematography is superb. Please don't listen to the blind idiots who say it's a bad film because of the changes from the book. This is an extraordinary piece of cinema and is extremeley emotional accompanied by one of the best film scores for the Potter series. You'll be missing out on Potter's best entry if you don't buy this FILM.
Read the book instead - it's more rewarding.
An overall 3 and a half star rating is about right for this film. However, whereas director David Yates turned `The Order Of The Phoenix' from a 3 star book into another 3 and a half star film, here he's badly watered down a 4 star book...I've read other reviewers on Amazon already voicing some of my concerns. So here's my remaining thoughts...
Length - for some (at 153 minutes) the film was too long. However, I believed another 20 minutes more would have served the source material better...
Scenes that weren't in the book -
Cutting out the Dursleys, in favour of Harry Potter being eyed up by a young waitress seemed like cost-cutting - and yet the attack on the Millennium Bridge points to extravagance. If I'd been the director, I'd keep the raid on Diagon Alley (and the relevant kidnapping of Ollivander), but dump the bridge attack, in order to redirect the money for the REAL climax (which David Yates chickened out of). As for the raid of The Burrow...I liked it! Harry acts the fool for being lured away by Bellatrix - but at least it gives Ginny the chance to show her determination to protect him. And the romance between the teenagers was better handled on screen than in the book.
Botched scenes in the film -
1. Why did David Yates decide to block out the sun over Hogwarts for a second year? The metaphor was over-used in the fifth film! Harry's finally got some respite in this story after his previous two years, so some sunshine (especially for the Quidditch) was definitely in order!
2. After the death of a major character, there's a terrific battle at Hogwarts in the novel, with Harry on the warpath chasing after a certain person in the chapter `The Flight Of The Half-Blood Prince'. Yet, Yates & co. rob the climax of almost all tension and adventure, making it the `The Ambling Stroll Of The Half-Blood Prince'. It's the worst mistake in the film.
3. At the end, Hermione tells Harry that Ron's accepted that Harry's now dating Ginny. Er... Ron's in the scene, already! Why doesn't he talk? Did Rupert Grint have a cold affecting his voice, or something?
My other main gripe is just how much of the novel was left unfilmed. Here's what I would've put in:
1. OWL exam results, with the owls arriving at The Burrow to deliver pass marks to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Wouldn't have hurt to remind us viewers they're still ordinary kids, despite the wands...
2. More Quidditch! Especially the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match - with Luna's commentary on cloud shapes and Cormac McLaggan's Loser's Lurgy!
3. Remus Lupin telling Harry about Fenrir Greyback and his werewolf pack. In the film, is it even stated what Fenrir is? This creep infected Lupin!
4. Apparition training (teleportation). Given the importance of Harry and his friends having to apparate later in The Deathly Hallows, why wasn't this scene included?
5. Hermione discovering who was the mother of the Half-Blood `Prince'. In the film, nobody seems bothered who the author of the portions textbook is - and yet we're talking about the secondary character of the title, here...
6. The climax to the book, as it was written. That includes introducing the Carrows, Harry being immobilised, the effects of the luck potion helping the pupils, an upset Harry giving chase, etc.
Best aspects of the film -
1. The attack on The Burrow - and the Inferi in the cavern.
2. Ron and the love potion.
3. Prof. Slughorn - except that he should be bald, fatter, and baring a walrus moustache...
4. Tom Fenton as Draco Malfoy.
5. Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. Only the second film she's acted in - and yet she gives the best performance!
Let's hope David Yates has learnt from his mistakes on this movie - and makes the Deathly Hallows films far better than the plot-device leaden book...