I am SO concerned about Half Blood Prince! I did like Order of the Phoenix better than Goblet of Fire BUT I did feel it was VERY rushed and choppy. Also I just read some of the recent movie news on the homepage here at veritaserum and one of the articles someone asks David Yates if Dan and Bonnie get to kiss and he says something like no they were about to but then the death eaters show up...UM?? I'm not saying this as a Harry/Ginny shipper because really I just enjoy the story and don't really ship much but I do hate when they change the story around and make it different from the book!!

I just read the home page for the first time in weeks and I was a bit thrown when I read that interview about HBP being like Trainspotting.

Trainspotting is an amazing film but I really don't want a HP film about sex and drugs really. I mean, how else could you compare the two... that's all Trainspotting is in essence. I know there's the whole elements of light relief. But I think DY is putting too much of a 'teenagers/culture nowadays' twist on it, which the book doesn't have.

And how can they not have Harry and Ginny kiss. That was like a defining moment of the book!

Kelly
x

I agree with this statement completely. It is a very risky move to try and appease the fans by taking a straw pole on what they expect in the film. As said previously, each fan would want to concentrate more on the parts of the book that captivated them while reading and have that turned into a fabulous scene in the movie. Yates, or the Screenwriter for that matter couldn't possibly satisfy everyone.


I think what is important to keep in mind here is that although these elements are what make up that particular movie, we know that is not what make up HBP. What we can take as comparison is the struggle of life. The busyness, the conflict, the hardship that Harry goes through that sixth year. In essence this is where the comparison lies for me.

What I would like to see is a movie that shows the danger and darkness that has befallen the wizarding world. I would like to see the transformation of Draco: to show his excitement and feeling of his importance at becoming a Death Eater to becoming distraught and worried about his task. I would like to see the comedy laced through out the movie, but not the focus of the entire movie.

Actually what I think Trainspotting is about being forced to grow up, or at least get older, "choose life" and all that, because what you do effects everyone around you. I think I love Trainspotting so much because it's so honest, what doing drugs really does to you. How good it all feels, but then what happens after the high wears off. I don't know what in HBP is compairable to this message. About the high, and then it wearing off to crashing lows, but I'm all about the honesty.
Really H/G won't kiss!! Really! Oh lord, say it isn't so!

Yes, I think that this movie really needs to be on the darker side. We need to see the emotional, physical and mental struggles going on within the characters and between the characters. I really hope they don't skirt around DD and Harry this book and include DD much more than just appearing in certain scenes. He needs to be present and we need to see the puzzlr of LV laid out in front of us, as viewers, so that we experience the same feelings as we did when reading the book. I think the director just needs to stay true to the book, include the main themes/elements, and then bring some of the smaller yet important themes into it as well. The smaller ones should be the themes that make the books fun and enjoyable to read but also serve a purpose in the series as a whole or just the rest of the series.

I think, comparing HBP to Trainspotting, that in HBP there is a sort of parallel with drug use involved, because Romilda uses the love potion doesn't she? Or tries to. And then David Yates said a while ago that there is a scene where Ron tucks into harry's tainted chocolates and then when harry comes back ron's all dizzy and high. That's a contrasting parallel to the drug use in Trainspotting i must say, because the dizziness is what happens when you take drugs, and there's a scene in Trainspotting where the main charcater is in bed and he's hallucinating about the baby crawling along the walls and this affects him as well as everyone else.
We all know (well some of us) what happens when Ron ate those chocolates. He fell madly in love with Romilda Vane and then as a result of that he hallucinated his attraction to her and then that led to him getting poisoned, so that in a way is a parallel of what happens with Ewan McGreger in Trainspotting and the baby. Near tragedy occurs with Ron all because he ate some love-potion chocolates (i.e. drugs) and he nearly got killed because of the circumstances and consequences that happened afterwards.

Hope that cleared things up a little bit.

Only no one will be dying of AIDS or having sex with minors.
monkeymushroom, I can't believe I didn't see that before. It makes complete sense now. Because Ron gets poisoned and could have died from indirect result of taking the love potion. I think that a theme in HBP is what happens when feelings of love or happiness are artifically created, like with Voldemort's parents. So I suppose in that way you could fit Trainspotting in with HBP.

Amyrat151 and monkeymushroom, you guys are both right on in your assessment of compairing Trainspotting and HBP. There are so many elements that could be pulled from the movies to draw a paralell to the growing up and the hard choices and enhancing substances.

I agree about the kiss. This kiss is something that I wouldn't mind seeing, as opposed to the Cho/Harry kiss in OOTP. This sets the tone for their relationship going into DH and Harry's emotional decision over his wants versus Ginny's safety.

Heh. This is what I'm concerned about -- not the tone so much as the devices. That's been a trend for the past couple movies (licorice snaps in GoF comes to mind), but it's showing no signs of letting up.

I'm not happy with the direction the wind seems to be blowing so far as the romance, comedy, and romantic comedy themes go for many of the reasons that have already been expressed in this thread, not least in the opening post. However, I feel much the same way about most of the HBP book -- and JKR did tie things up with a well-written, serious, and emotionally intense sequence, so I have no reason to believe why Yates's perhaps overly fluffy movie won't culminate the same way.

But Ginny tying Harry's shoe () and then wham-o! Sexually Charged Moment? I just can't imagine how they can bring this off without making the whole relationship seem horribly contrived. And while I know that my opinion is not shared by several people who have posted in this thread, I think the Harry/Ginny romance seems contrived enough in canon without the director adding new cheesy bits.

That said, I do like Yates in general, and it's easy to be skeptical when you're just reading excerpts from interviews and don't have an accompanying visual picture.

I can understand contrived. I have a bit of a love/un-love thing with Harry and Ginny, because I can understand how people see forced development, though I don't mind their relationship no matter what either way. If I'm thinking today their relationship was rushed or that it was developed just fine.
I have complete faith in Dan as understanding Harry perfectly, so I know the moment with him and Bonnie won't be bad by any means, even if it feels like a decive.
Thank you nevillesgirl, I like to think I know what I'm talking about most of time.

It is a little concerning, I must confess. With the last leg of the series, it's very... a foreboding doom kind-of feel with the comic relief. You know, Voldie's slowly taking over the wizarding world but Ron's in an awkward makeout session right now.

I like that. Even though it's a meaty topic- Voldemort's essentially trying to kill off all Muggleborns- it shows that there are still happy or funny parts of life.

However, that's not the main theme of these upcoming books. It's more about growing up, facing the facts and realizing that there is bad in the world and sometimes there's no one to protect us from it.

Unfortunately, this comes down to more of the interpretation of the book rather than who or what will be cut. Keeping certain scenes will definitely help keep it on the right path, but it's all how the director wants to put it together.

As far as romance goes, for the most part all we see are snippets into how Harry feels toward Ginny... until the end when they're "official". But it's not the predominant theme. Also, for part of the book Harry doesn't even realize he likes her that much. If it was incorporated into the movie the same way (we just got little hints and visuals about Harry daydreaming or something) than it would be chill. But romance is more a subplot and shouldn't be used as the main focus just because it's more appealing to the masses or easier to manage.

Well, my only wish is that Half Blood Prince is not like Ootp. I think we need to go for something a little bit different this time. Even though Order of the Phoenix was brilliant in it's own right, i don't think the atmosphere would suit Half Blood Prince, do you?

That's my opinion for deathley hallows, also. They should make that as different and surprising as possible because if they made it exactly like the book then it wouldn't be exciting coz we know it all ready.

Anyway, i'm getting a little ahead of myself, and not to mention off topic.

So, i should hope that Half Blood Prince is unique and different in it's own way.

[b]in reply to earlier comments about hpb ending up like a rom-com;
are you serious?? there is no way that this movie will end up like a light hearted fealgood rom com
i mean the relationships are mearly subplots and( in my opinion) relevant subplots as they show that these characters (now 16) are growing up!! jk put these in for a reason- to show that they are normal teenagers!!

as for it being one of the funniest films in the series;
in my opinion the hbp is one of the funniest books in the series- i mean the jokes are actually pretty funny- 'there is no need to call me sir professor' haha

the movie will still hav all the dark gloomy riddle stuff..obviously

I'm feeling really aweful right now, really quite depressed ... because you see last night my eldest sister came round for a night of dvd watching and i kinda got the biggest shock of my life (well when i say shock i really mean disappointment) when she told me she might not want to go see the new harry potter movie. This is what i was feeling inside, at that moment: .
And this is how i'm feeling now:

This is like my worst feelings come true! And i know because about two weeks ago i had a sort of disturbing and uncomfortable dream. I dreamed that my sister came round and she was in a very funny mood and her attitude towards things was very negative - she was like 'devil sister' or 'possessed sister' - and she looked different as well; her face was sullen and quite skinny, and because she wears glasses it made her look like the librarian in harry potter - quite scary. And guess what i was waching in my dream - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! But in my dream i was seeing it for the first time before it even came out in the cinema, and wasn't impressed with the movie i'll tell ya that much (the film was nothing like how it looks in all the pictures, and after i had the dream i had to go on the internet and remind myself of what the film will be like by looking at all the pictures), but back on track ...

... so in my dream i was in the middle of watching the film and my sister turns round and says in a very nasty manner, 'what are we watching this for?'. I told her off for betraying me and then i stormed out of the room.

I was telling her about this dream the next day and we were discussing what it meant and she said ' well obviously your worried that some day i'm gonna suddenly not want to watch dvd's with you anymore,' which she assured me would never happen. But now i think i know what that dream meant: i think it was warning me that the tone of the movie is going to be quite dark and because of that my sister is going to be repelled by it. Recently she hasn't been fond of dark movies and she told me yesterday that she doesn't like the way the harry potter movies have gotten so dark. I was trying to reassure her that half of it will definitely be funnier than the rest, but part of me still felt let down and now i'm left feeling down-hearted about the film and about the fact that i won't be able to enjoy the rest of the harry potter films with my sister.

[watery eyes] sorry, now i'm crying - i can't help it, this makes me so sad. Now i'm hoping that this film won't be too dark so my sister can enjoy harry potter, and so we can watch it together, but i also don't want the film to lose it's essence.

Sorry for going off on a little tangent there.

I'm sorry that you had such a bad dream. But I personally don't think they will mutilate the film bad enough to make it not worth seeing. Have we only gotten the opinions of two people who are making the movie? No one I've seen yet has mentioned this so I'm assuming that they're keeping in the movie but, the whole Malfoy thing is pretty imprtant and I think it's worth spending a scene on. I mean, when Harry used that curse he got from the potions book on Malfoy, a freaked out (I really mean freaked out) that was the first time, well besides trying to torture Beautrix, that he did something illegal. And it lead up well to Malfoy trying to kill DD and showed he had some feelings. Besides, Snape fixing those wounds (which he invented) and Harry scrounging around for Rons nasty book is to awesome to keep out of the movie. Sorry, I ranted a bit there.

Yeah, i didn't quite understand what you were trying to say there, it didn't make sense. Don't take that the wrong way, i'm not trying to be rude.

But, anyway ... that was ages ago since i had the dream. But i think the fact remains that Harry Potter is getting darker, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Yes, there's nothing wrong with HP getting darker, but there's also nothing wrong with it having a light side. I think that the test of whether HBP is good, maybe even great, is how well it will balance out the serious tones and the lighter ones.