Ok i was thinking a little while back, are people fans of the Harry Potter books or are they only interested because of the movies... Like, there wernt websites when the first books came out, the websites names are all named after the cast (not this one of course BUT) the point is it seems like peoples intrests are all around the cast. not the books. I could go on, but just lleave comments, either telling me im an idiot or i might have a point there. Or even admit the reasons you jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon is because you had a crush on one of the cast.

I see your point.I think that some people may just like someone in the cast and start to get in to Harry Potter.Not me though, i am a real fan.I like the books!I like the movies but, i like the books better.

i so agree with hp792 i think that the movies are great, i use them to get my friends hooked to the books but when it comes down to it its the books all the way. Now the movies are awesome because the effects and the looks of the characters are what i pictured from the books.same with the sets. when i read the books i see dan, emma, rupert alan, maggie, etc. all in my mind and the sets that i saw in the movies. but im a booker all the way.

Hi JesJes14, there are two topics similar to this thread; "When Did you get Interested in Harry Potter?" and "Which is better? The Books or the Movies?" However, your questions are distinct enough in my opinion to potentially have a steady discussion (albeit without sparks) so I will not close it but move the topic to the Lounge. Another Wizengamot may have a different inclination based on circumstance or how the thread evolves, to close it so keep that possibility in mind.

The motion pictures and the websites should IMO be attributed to the grander fan culture that has reached a multitude of nations and their people in a relatively (compared to past works of literature and film with international fame) short period of time because the novels narrate a wonderful story, yet the PS movie gave us the cast to portray the saga. Having real actors take on a fictional world gives the audience a more tangible perspective, it is easier for us to understand and enjoy the storytelling(or other realizations)... As the cast are real people with personalities and careers, viewers are tantalized by the range of what can be thought of said persons and how well they portray a characterization- the idea of threading an identity. Real or not, people will invest interest and/or distaste in others; therefore much is at stake if an actor fails to do their role justice.

I started getting interested because of the movie then i picked up the first book one day and started reading and I loved it! I read the second book and the third and the fourth and I loved them so much I told my friends to read them and they did and they loved them too. I did get started with the movies but I like the books better. When making the fifth on I hope they make the part when Sirius dies as emotional as it was in the book i mean this is harry's godfather! So if they don't make that an emotional and rich part of the movie I will have no respect for that movie.

You do have a point I know a lot of people who only like the films or got into the books through the films but I liked the books before the films came out. I first started reading them when I was 8 but I struggled to get hocked because I read the 2nd book first and was ulter confused. But then later on when I was 9 or 10 I got the first book and I was hocked from there.

psh, books are way better. the movies were choppy, they cut a lot of things out, but i will admit, they were quite ok to watch, i just wish they put all of the parts in. but still the books are definately better. i admit, i got interested in the books after the movies. but definately not because i had a crush on one of the actors.

GOOD question!!

it's not just some people who like movies more than the books.
some of my friends have never even touched philosopher's stone!!
can u believe that??

but for me books are better than movies 'coz they r more convienient than movies!!

Read the first two books before any movie. Saw 1st movie in the theater but didn’t watch CoS until 2 years after it’s release at home. Didn’t bother reading or seeing 3-6.

While in a hotel I caught the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, (which was kinda not the end!) but it got me intrigued to see more. Rented PoA, then saw GoF at the IMAX. So now I’m waaay puzzled because if you didn’t read the books it’s a buzzy mess of a movie. Kids were confused in the theater and so were the adults trying to explain it.

In January I dug out books 1-2 in closet, bought 3-5 in paperback and borrowed HBP from the library in April.

I like the books far more than the movies.
It’s a crafty bit of writing in which a cunning bit of mind can unravel.

I do like the books better than the movies.... But I do enjoy seeing the book come to life! Except I don't like that they have to take chunks out. It would be really nice if they put the whole book into the film. i really wanted to see "the woes of Mrs.Weasley" but they cut that part out whicg totally sucks but I will get over it.

I started reading the books just before the first movie came out. Until the saw the movie, I had no idea who was even in it (and got a pleasant suprise with Alan Rickman!), however I didn't actually go out looking for a place to discuss them until around the time the sixth book came out.

When the fifth book came out, I lined up for it but didn't join any discussion forums, although I read a little on them. However I didn't join up VTM because of the movies. I joined here because I wanted a place to discuss after what happened with the books.

I love Alan Rickman and respect a few of the actors, in particular Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman and Kenneth Branagh, however I have to be honest and say that the movie area of the forum isn't the first place I'll frequent around here. I'd prefer to discuss the books and aspects of them.

The movies are generally good- I hate the stuff that was cut out of them and the acting and direction of POA reeeealllly frustrated me... however I still love the series. But it's the books that have made and kept me as a fan. If any of the actors were someone other than who they are (speaking from the beginning, not changing them halfway through), I'd probably still be in the stage of HP that I am now.

I am a fan of the books. there is much more detail and imagination in the books that you can see everything in your mind and everything is hapening at a decenct rate. As in the movies everything is sometimes not in the right time order or things are missing that could be more important o rnot but I enjoy the books better

I'm a fan of both, but I prefer the books. I've liked the books much longer, and reading is always more fun because you can create your own way of imagining things. In movies, it's "This is how it is, too bad, you can't change it." When it's only written, your imagination is set free.

In every adaptation in the cinema of any book I prefer the books! I love movies and the cinema, but the chance to immagine all in your head, the faces, the movements, the voices...is just incredible!

I love books and my dream is to have one of those librarys that covers all walls... Who knows, one day I might have!

*Cristiana*

I am a huge fan of the books whereas, I dont like the movies that much. However, I only got interested in HP after watching the movie so I still don't hate them but now I am much more interested in the books and would rather read the books again than watch the movie again.

i am a harry potter fan through and through...all though i only read the books after a saw the first movie...i wasnt inlove with any of the cast i just loved all the fantacy...but after i read the books i was hooked and the movie seemed gay because of how good the book was...infact the only reason i watch the movies is to compare them to the books and complain about what they cut...i do like the movies but the books are SO MUCH BETTER!

Yes! I agree completely with Magic Khrixx!! It's all about creating everything in your own mind, in your own way... that's why I tend to lean towards the books.

The movies are good, the books are eternal. I have read the books more times than is healthy. In Hogwarts I can escape from my life, or slide deeper into it. It depends on which part of what book I am reading. Thank you JK for the best gift I have ever recived from another person.

Initially when I saw PS/SS, I was about twelve at the time (at that impressionable age) and I fell in love. The next day, I went out and bought books 1-4. (I don't know how I managed to afford them, I must have borrowed from my trust or something silly) And I read, read and read.

Definately a book fan. The movies are good, but they lack the intricate detail and the subtlety of the plentiful sub-plots that ease the plot along.

I love the movies, I saw the first two before I picked up any of the books, but the books are way better. It's the whole story with the books. I just think that the movies are an added bonus for the fans.

I like the books and the movies. However, I think not all of the movies are 100% faitfhful to the book. For example ,in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire they go from Chapter 1 to Chapter 8. I mean that's totally barbaric and illogical.
Anyone agree

I am more of a fan of the books than I am of the movies, though I have to admit that a good deal of the movies that are out thus far have been very good in my personal opinion. The only problem with the movies is that they don't show what I wanna see from the books, then they also change what the character says/does, slightly I know but it's still diffrent! Though I believe the main reason that I am not a big fan of the movie is because in Prisoner of Azkaban they make the werewolf look more like a were-rat

I got into Harry Potter because when I was in Grade 2 my mum came in daily and read a chapter of PS/SS and after we finished it I came home and started to read CoS. I like the movies but I so prefered the books. When the CoS movie came out, though, Mum toke me out of school to see it. Every year see takes me to see the new movie even if I get taken out of school.

Lol books definitely. I was completely addicted to HP years before the first movie came out... Although the movies are nice of course lol.

[good night everybody, last post tonight.]

Yeah i agree. The movies are good but books are better

The books are definitely better. I watched the films way after I'd read the books. The films miss so much out. I know they have to but they're not even putting quidditch into the fifth film! I really wanted to hear the slytherins sing: 'Weasley is our King'!

I like the movies and the books respecitvely based on their own merits. I personally find the books to be far better detailed, but the movies are a nice streamlined way to follow the story. I admit to being disappointed when parts of the books are omitted to save time, but I also believe that some parts aren't necessary. In GoF my sister inlaw was mad that the elf plotline was left out, and personally I thought it wasn't needed anyway..In the book sure, but in the movie it would have just been an outdrawn distraction. My hubby ws furious that the Quidditch World Cup game was shortened (he's gonna be pretty ticked when he finds out there is no "Weasley is our King" in OotP) My only specific problem was that there wasn't more explained about the Mauraders Map in PoA..I thought: "Not everybody has read the book and it sort of diminishes the map a little to not know where it came from". Other than that I can appreciate how difficult it must be to make a movie that still encompasses the core of the books without being six hours long, and I enjoy them regardless of what I consider to be minor flaws. Maybe I'm just not fanatic enough.......

i love the books and the movies although the movies do cut out bits that were important to the plots in the books. the movies helped me see what all the characters looked like and it helped me to see the story in my head easier so i loved both

Shelerella, I agree with you on the Marauder's Map. I loved the back story about the Marauders being unregistered animagi. You never realize in the movies that Sirius, James, Lupin and Peter are the Marauders. It is sad.

I will admit it...I was a reluctant Potter fan at first. I remember when the movies came out and everyone was making SUCH a big fuss about them. I wanted nothing to do with the movies or the books. Luckily, my ex-fiance knew me better than I knew myself and bought both SS and CoS for me on DVD and told me to watch them when I had nothing else to do. One night I could not sleep and popped the first dvd in...I was hooked within 10 minutes. I have been a faithful Harry Potter movie fan since. I recently started reading the books earlier this year because once again I did not want to feed into the hype about the books ( I thought they were for kids!) Needless to say I got hooked on the books a lot quicker than the movies. I succeeded in reading all 6 books in less than a month! I am now a Potter fan thru and thru and that is never going to change!

Hi

Ok I am weird I watch the first 3 movies then read the last 3 books
So when the GoF movie came out and I went to watch it and a lot of stuff that were different from the book and so I read all the books again and again and again... Thus after the 20th time I read all the books again I got hooked on the books because there are more info in the books as inthe movies

Yeah I like the books more than the movies

I like the movies, but i like more the books, because they have more details, and they're are funner, because you can imagine the things that happen instead of watching it, they're very different

I'm more of a book fan. The movies may have left out a lot of exciting and fun things that happen in the book.

Well, I know of a lot of people who read the books after they saw the movies. I'm happy to say that I'm not one of them.

I read the first 4 a year before the first movie came out, and I loved them from the first page. However, I have to admit that I became more obsessive with Harry Potter after the movies. I loved the books before, and I re-read them twice before PS came out.

I totally prefer the books rather than the movies, because in spite of the fact that I like them very much, they can't compare with the books, they are more detailed, and the most important thing of all is that you can imagine it the way you want to.

I believe that the movies helped to spread Harry Potter all over the world, and that most of the websites were created after the movies came out, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I mean, it's worst for the people who read the books after they saw the movies because they won't be able to imagine things the way they want to, because want it or not, you imagine it like the movies. Even I who read them before am having problems when I re-read them, since a lot of times it happens that I'm reading a scene and I imagine it like the movies, and I hate that, I try hard to remember how did I imagine it before.
xD

i actually saw all 4 movies before reading any of the books. after i saw the forth movie i decided to read the first book(which my mom had gotten me after we saw the first movie but i never read). after reading it i realised the the books were even better than the movies. i decided i wanted the other five books for christmas and after reading the first three i relised how much the movies were changed and that the books were alot better.

i think it took me about two weeks to read all of them. i know book two took me about two days and book five took me 3 1/2. after reading all six books i became obsessed. i've memorized all of the books at this point but i still love reading them every chance i get. the only problem is my teachers yell at me alot for reading in class instead of paying attention to the lesson at hand.

the movies tick me off abit because of how much is left out. i really think that movie five is going to be the worst one yet and won't makesense to those that only watch the movies. but then again i don't think theres to many" movie only" fans left at this point. they either started reading the books or didn't like the movies enough to keep watching them.

I started as a book fan, then went to a movie fan, back to a book fan, to a movie fan, and noe, well I don't really know were I stand. Both movies and books are good.

hello im new here... i was thinking about the question then i decided that i will probably have to be a book fan. i started reading the books when i was in middle school. i thought wow this book is good, then i started thinking what it would be like to have a movie. a few years later BAM out comes the first one, i was so excited. i was one of the first people to actually go see it. i realized that the books are much better.

for some reason when i very first read the book, i pictured draco malfoy with black hair and black eyes . when i saw the movie i was surprised and read the book over again. it turns out that it was already in the story.

i much prefer the books to the films, mainly because they cut so much out in the movies. in the books they go into greater detail about everything, even everyday life at home and school, but i think i understand the films only because i read the books first. if i hadnt i would not know half of what was going on

im both i love the movies but i do love the book more you know it's what really hapens and you can imagine it and then when it's in flim you're like thats not i thought it.
anyone else think this?

If I had to choose between the books and the movies I would definitly choose the books!! I'm one of those people who got in to the books because of the movies but that had more to do with me not knowming Harry Potter. Now I'm totally addicted to the books and I do love the movies but there nothing against the books!!!

Book fan all the way!

so much was cut out of the movies starting around #3. Don't get me wrong, I love all the actors and I love to see the Harry Potter world being brought to life by film,

I personally like the books better.It takes me a longer time to read thatn to watch the movies.The reason i like it is be cause I have been interested in magic and stuff like that. If the movies didnt leave out so much I would be movies all the way!

Book fan !!
I actually refused to read the books because they were making movies about them. The movies made everything really hyped but then a friend of mine forced me to read the books and now I'm hooked.

I don't really like the movies, probably since my imagination is quite different from the movies and also cause I just hate it when even the slightest detail is different or left out.
That's probably why gof movie is my least favourite.

But I have seen every movie and I intend to watch the other 3 as well, even though it's just to critisize them

Books are always better than movies except in certain circumstances (Lord of the Rings). I think they leave way too much out of the movies. They tend to leave important details out, although I realize that that is not completely their fault.

I like Harry Potter

Auror Edit: Short posts are not allowed on the forums. I have sent you an owl explaining this more fully.

Happy posting

I like both the books and the films because they are both two of the things i like to do. Though i do wish there weren't any parts missed out in the films that were in the books like Harry Potter 4- When they show you only the teams at the World Cup instead of showing the whole match .

i think i prefer the books to the movie. the books are nicely written by j.k.rowling and explains everything clearly. in the movies, they cut this out, cut that out.. causing my friends, who had never read the books felt so confusing. though i got interested in the book after watching COS, but i still love the books hehe. the books can make me cry. in COS, in the movie, i did nt feel so sad when ginny was taken into the chamber as compared to the book. the part where sirius died in the 0otp also struck me as well, i hope this time, they will have those parts where harry was thinking of the past where hes with sirius and harry's reaction when sirius was killed by that bellatrix which could make us cry.

I'm a huge book fan! I didn't like the movies much, and i love the books so so much. I've read them so many times, that i've lost count!

But i love the books because they have so much more detail, like just little comments (Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon, doesn't mean we all have) and i have a love for the characters.

The movies on the other hand are to cramed together and they leave out important stuff and put in things that arn't in the book altogether!

overall, i'm a book fan.

i absolutely love the books yet i like the movies all right. the books i think the books contain a little more emotion and it has more detail and you know what Harry is thinking. But in the movies you can't really tell what the characters are thinking and they don't really take time to explain everything so i like the books better.