Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

[Farwa]

I'm inclined to agree with Poppy; I prefer the ones set in the school. The story, when outside of the school, loses some of it's charm for me.

Oh come ON! That is when the real adventure starts! I love all the parts, in school and out of school!But I guess that's just because I'm such a fan.

[Deej]

I actually enjoyed the parts of the book outside the school more than inside. Hunting for horcruxes across the Muggle World. That was how Voldermort was to be defeated!

Harry Potter are probably my favourite books along with Blyton. I never really took to the films the same.

[Farwa]

No, Deej, the films were pretty good.
In fact, to tell you the truth, the HP films were the only films based on a book series which actually did justice to the original. Try watching any other film based on a book, and you'll find that it misses out many nice things in the story.
Even TV episodes based on Enid's Famous Five series didn't include the children's jokes and other little things in the books, but just hurried the story.

[deepeabee]

The first few films did follow the books quite closely but after that they ran to their own schedule. You probably didn't notice because you had read the book and filled in a lot of the gaps yourself. I know this becuase my husband is quite a film watcher went with me to the see the Harry Potter films and didn't have a clue what was going on in the later films. I filled in a few gaps for him but he wasn't impressed and had more questions than answers. Also, in a few scenes, such as the one where Voldemort and co were flying round The Burrow and set fire to it, I hadn't got a clue myself because that wasn't in the book.

The books are the besst in my opinion.

[burlingtonbertram]

I'm inclined to agree with Poppy; I prefer the ones set in the school. The story, when outside of the school, loses some of it's charm for me.

Oh come ON! That is when the real adventure starts! I love all the parts, in school and out of school!But I guess that's just because I'm such a fan.

Ah well: charm and adventure are two very different things. I guess it depends on what elements of the stories appeal to the individual.

[Katharine]

I read the books before I saw the films, so could just about follow what was going on, but I would think that if someone had never read the HP books, then some of the films, especially the later ones would be quite difficult to follow. Although I enjoy the films in their own right, I think some of them stray too far from the books. I don't have a problem with some bits being edited as the films would be even longer if they'd been left in, and the bits left out don't have any bearing on the story line. Similarly, sometimes it's probably necessary to turn pages of descriptions into a few simple camera shots. What I really objected to though was including bits that seemed to me to have absolutely no reason to be there.

The first bit that springs to mind is the stupid bit with the flying car. The train being behind them, and Harry falling out of the far weren't in the book. They just waste a couple of minutes of film which could have been filled with something from the book that got chopped. Then there's with the Fat Lady singing and smashing a glass - WHY?????? What a waste of time. The only reason I could see for that bit being put in the film was to give Dawn French a few minutes extra screen time. Much as I like the actress, the film wasn't about her!

Some bits I can understand, the moving staircases for example. I don't think they were actually in any of the books, but to me they conveyed the fact that the staircases and corridors in Hogwarts were liable to change at times. I think there's a reference to one corridor only being available on a certain weekday. I wouldn't have thought it was practical to include every single reference in the films, so by just having the staircases moving about, summed up the whole idea.

I hadn't really thought about which setting I preferred for the books, but I suppose it would be the outside school bits. After all, that's really what the story was all about. I'm afraid the Quidditch bits always left me bored, but then I feel the same way about Enid Blyton's Lacrosse descriptions.

I hadn't really thought about which bits of the books I liked, but I suppose it would be the outside best.

[Farwa]

The books are the best in my opinion.

Of course you're right, Burlingtonbertram. Films can NEVER beat the books, in fact. What I meant was that they are much better than other adoptions, at least.

[Deej]

No, Deej, the films were pretty good.
In fact, to tell you the truth, the HP films were the only films based on a book series which actually did justice to the original. Try watching any other film based on a book, and you'll find that it misses out many nice things in the story.
Even TV episodes based on Enid's Famous Five series didn't include the children's jokes and other little things in the books, but just hurried the story.

I disagree. I thought the films were too long, missed vital parts from the book out and generally followed their own schedule. I rarely enjoy film adaptations based on books and this is no exception!

[Fiona1986]

I'm reading Philosopher's stone at the moment. The bit about the staircases goes some that led somewhere different on Fridays.

I'm a fan of the books and films. I saw the first six films, read the seven books then saw the final film. There are a few things that bug me about the films but I can't think what they are right now. On the whole though I think they're great adaptations and it doesn't bother me mostly when small things are changed about as the essence of the story is the same.

I always get mixed up as to what was written and what was filmed as it's easy to imagine a film scene that doesn't exist or a page of text likewise.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I enjoyed the films, even though there are a few inconsistencies from one film to another.

Things I wish they'd included:

- A proper explanation of the Marauder's Map in Prisoner of Azkaban

- The story of Hermione's teeth in Goblet of Fire

- More detail of Neville Longbottom's background.

Things I'm glad they left out:

- Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party in Chamber of Secrets, as it would have slowed down the story

- Hermione's obsession with the house elves - I was bored by that when reading the books.

Things I liked which weren't in the books:

I can't recall many things, not having watched the films for a while, but I love the dance in the tent between Harry and Hermione in Deathly Hallows Part 1. It's a moving scene which hits just the right note.

[Katharine]

Interesting comments Anita. I wholeheartedly agree that Neville's background should have been made more of. The death party wasn't necessary, nor was Hermoine's house elf campaign. I didn't mind either bits in the books, but they didn't particularly add anything to the overall stories. I feel the total opposite about the dance scene in the tent though, I thought it totally unnecessary, and I actually hate watching it. I feel it really spoils that part of the film. It wasn't in the book, so why include it?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Deathly Hallows Part 1 is extremely intense and intimate, so I feel that a very personal scene like that fits in well. It's a time of despair, and the dance between Harry and Hermione allows us - and the characters - a moment to reflect on their deep friendship, which gives them the strength and courage to keep going. It's touching to have a warm moment like that amid the gloom. That's how I see it, anyway.

[Katharine]

Possibly that's what the film makers were trying to convey. I guess my interpretation is clouded by my experience from my teenage years. On the whole when I was at school, boys and girls weren't friends. The opposite sex was seen as someone you tried to attract. Dancing was always a 'smoochy' affair, if you liked the boy, hopefully they'd ask you on a date, sometimes we'd have the misfortune to dance with an 'octopus' and spend the whole record removing his hands from where they shouldn't be. The idea of a boy and girl dancing with their arms around each other but not have any kind of physical feelings towards each other seems so odd to me.

Having read the above I now feel a bit sad, I feel I missed out on something in life. My teenage daughter has a large mixed group of friends, and no one bats and eyelid if she spends the evening round a boy's house watching TV, just the two of them. It just didn't happen when I was at school. It would seem that some things in modern life are better than they were in the past.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It was like that at my school too, until the Sixth Form. At that age (16-18), people were more mature and it was fine for a boy and girl to be good friends without necessarily having a romantic relationship.

In Hermione's case, she had been a close friend of Harry and Ron since the age of eleven and J. K. Rowling had already revealed the romantic leanings of the main characters. Watching the dance for the first time, I was a little worried that the film-makers were going to take things too far with Harry and Hermione. But they didn't, and I think the resulting scene is beautiful.

[Katharine]

I didn't go to sixth form, so possibly things might have been different then. In high school 3 of my friends had met their husbands by the time they were 15, one leaving to have her first baby just before we took our O levels. All three couples are still together! Out of the rest of us that are still in touch, we'd all met our partners by the time we were 17, so that didn't give any of us a chance to see boys as friends. The closest I ever had to a male friend who I wasn't romantically involved with was the boy at whose 18th birthday party I met my husband. Whether we would have been friends in our own right I don't know, because from that point onwards I was always his mate's girlfriend. Even now I sometimes feel uncomfortable about chatting to the male members of the forums. It just doesn't seem right for me to have a male friend

Back to Harry Potter, although I don't think I'll ever like the dancing scene, I am relieved that the producers didn't take things too far and spoil it. In fact all the romantic bits in the film were quite tame by today's standards (thankfully).