Harry Potter (HBO series)

As much as I think a series would have been better for adapting the books, I just don’t see this working out, personally. There is too much the films got right that would be practically impossible to top. Alan Rickman? The entire Dursley family? The Hogwarts Express? Robbie Coltrane? John Williams’ indelible theme? How could it work without these things? Hell, they couldn’t even really replace Richard Harris, in my opinion. Michael Gambon did a fine job, but he was an actor first and a servant to the story second. He didn’t play his Dumbledore as an extension of Harris’, he didn’t know the source material (which is fair, the script should be all an actor needs, so it’s more a fault of the script and direction, but still), and he came across as somewhat inconsistent. One movie he just sort of muddled about, then the next he’s shouting, then he’s back to being silly ol’ grampa Dumbledore. Anyway, my point being that, it’s far too soon and these characters and films are far too impactful to be replacing them already. They aren’t like Bond or Batman or Sherlock Holmes, where new stories can be told and new perspectives can be had. The films did a good job capturing the spirit (if not a lot of necessary details) of the books, and that’s that.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about this happening. With today's cancel culture, particularly surrounding this property, there's a chance that Warner will decide to not go through with it because of the negative publicity this series might garner them. If they go through with this, someone will probably publish the addresses of all of the Warner execs that greenlit the show and everybody that had anything to do with it down to the on set caterer to the lowliest security guard. They'd put it out there with the unspoken directions to go to these addresses and harass the people that live and work there.

Then again, all of the complaints and whining and crying about the recent Harry Potter game ended up making it sell much better than it probably would have otherwise. If the same crowd that was against the game do the same with the series as they did the game, it just might gain HBO a lot of new subscribers and make the show a huge hit as a means of counter protest.
 
If this gets the hate that the game got, & HBO goes through with it anyways, I'll prepay my subscription by the year for as long as it airs. I'll support (ALMOST) any entity that stands up to the professionally outraged victim brigade.

Let me change that...

Not 'stand up to' per se, but just give less than two fornications about what they think or how they feel.

I pre-ordered the game for PS5 when all the controversy began. As they say on here all the time, "You vote with your wallet".

Best part?

I don't have, nor do I intend on buying, a PS5.
 
IMO, I've never seen anything that she said that wasn't just science/biology. We've gotten to a point where talking about an issue, just discussing something, is labeled hate or phobia. THAT is why companies are rolling over. I think in this case the amount of money the property can make them will overrule any virtue signaling the company would usually do.

Having said that, I don't know why they would go the route of a show bobbing and weaving around the movies. There were rumors there was going to be a show centered around Hogwart's Legacy or in that era. That would give them a lot more room to create some new interesting stories.
 
HMSwolfe said:
As much as I think a series would have been better for adapting the books, I just don’t see this working out, personally. There is too much the films got right that would be practically impossible to top. Alan Rickman? The entire Dursley family? The Hogwarts Express? Robbie Coltrane? John Williams’ indelible theme? How could it work without these things? Hell, they couldn’t even really replace Richard Harris, in my opinion. Michael Gambon did a fine job, but he was an actor first and a servant to the story second. He didn’t play his Dumbledore as an extension of Harris’, he didn’t know the source material (which is fair, the script should be all an actor needs, so it’s more a fault of the script and direction, but still), and he came across as somewhat inconsistent. One movie he just sort of muddled about, then the next he’s shouting, then he’s back to being silly ol’ grampa Dumbledore. Anyway, my point being that, it’s far too soon and these characters and films are far too impactful to be replacing them already. They aren’t like Bond or Batman or Sherlock Holmes, where new stories can be told and new perspectives can be had. The films did a good job capturing the spirit (if not a lot of necessary details) of the books, and that’s that.
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I totally agree. I'm not sure what you can improve on. But hey, it'll no doubt make a ton of money.

On the subject of movies vs TV, for me, I much prefer movies if I have the choice. The greater production quality, the better cinematography, better (usually) acting, all make for a MUCH better presentation. I find a lot of modern TV shows tend to be far too drawn out with filler anyway.

It's funny this announcement came up. I was thinking about starting a Harry Potter thread just to get everyone's opinion of them. I saw the first two when they originally released and I thought they were absolutely fantastic. Never followed up with the sequels. Last year, they re-released them at Regal Cinemas. It was a great opportunity to catch them on the big screen so I went and watched 3-8. I've never really had a chance to discuss them in depth. I thought 3 was great. Not quite as strong as 1 and 2 but not far behind either. I preferred Richard Harris as well (family who have read the books also tell me he's more faithful to the character than Gambon) and I also missed Chris Columbus' direction. 4 took a very dark turn and from there I didn't enjoy the series quite as much. They were still solid movies and I enjoyed watching them enough but, I found the whimsical childlike spirit of the first 3 much more endearing and fun.
 
Ron said:
I totally agree. I'm not sure what you can improve on. But hey, it'll no doubt make a ton of money.

On the subject of movies vs TV, for me, I much prefer movies if I have the choice. The greater production quality, the better cinematography, better (usually) acting, all make for a MUCH better presentation. I find a lot of modern TV shows tend to be far too drawn out with filler anyway.

It's funny this announcement came up. I was thinking about starting a Harry Potter thread just to get everyone's opinion of them. I saw the first two when they originally released and I thought they were absolutely fantastic. Never followed up with the sequels. Last year, they re-released them at Regal Cinemas. It was a great opportunity to catch them on the big screen so I went and watched 3-8. I've never really had a chance to discuss them in depth. I thought 3 was great. Not quite as strong as 1 and 2 but not far behind either. I preferred Richard Harris as well (family who have read the books also tell me he's more faithful to the character than Gambon) and I also missed Chris Columbus' direction. 4 took a very dark turn and from there I didn't enjoy the series quite as much. They were still solid movies and I enjoyed watching them enough but, I found the whimsical childlike spirit of the first 3 much more endearing and fun.
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Three might be my favorite of the films, because it manages to adapt the story while also being one director’s specific voice, and so the opposing parts of my brain (film nut vs book nerd) are both pleasantly satiated. I cannot stand 4 or 5, though. I love them as books but the films for those two…ugh. So much done just horribly wrong. That being said, they do get darker from that point on in the books, so if it’s the darker tones you don’t love that’s where it comes from. As for films vs. television, I prefer bigger budget and bigger scope, but those later books get so long that a longer format might have done better at adapting their stories.

For all that’s going on right now on the topic of Harry Potter, I think without a doubt those stories will go down in history. When the last book came out, people were reading it everywhere. You saw people in parks reading it. If you walked through a parking lot, you were bound to see a copy or two on someone’s dash. It was a cultural phenomenon that remains unmatched, in my opinion.
 
HMSwolfe said:
Three might be my favorite of the films, because it manages to adapt the story while also being one director’s specific voice, and so the opposing parts of my brain (film nut vs book nerd) are both pleasantly satiated. I cannot stand 4 or 5, though. I love them as books but the films for those two…ugh. So much done just horribly wrong. That being said, they do get darker from that point on in the books, so if it’s the darker tones you don’t love that’s where it comes from. As for films vs. television, I prefer bigger budget and bigger scope, but those later books get so long that a longer format might have done better at adapting their stories.

For all that’s going on right now on the topic of Harry Potter, I think without a doubt those stories will go down in history. When the last book came out, people were reading it everywhere. You saw people in parks reading it. If you walked through a parking lot, you were bound to see a copy or two on someone’s dash. It was a cultural phenomenon that remains unmatched, in my opinion.
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Yeah, I gotta get around to reading them sometime. I could tell a lot was ignored from the books even though I've never read them. Half-blood Prince comes to mind. It didn't have much to do with its namesake. And if I remember, they don't explore Voldemort's origins very thoroughly which I'm guessing the books do.

Here's a question for you...is Hermione meant to be unattractive and nerdy in the books? Because I couldn't understand why Ron Weasley wasn't interested in a girl as pretty as Emma Watson who obviously had a huge crush on him lol. In fact, most of the romances didn't make sense. Like Cho who was Harry's love interest in one movie and then completely forgotten about afterward.
 
Ron said:
Yeah, I gotta get around to reading them sometime. I could tell a lot was ignored from the books even though I've never read them. Half-blood Prince comes to mind. It didn't have much to do with its namesake. And if I remember, they don't explore Voldemort's origins very thoroughly which I'm guessing the books do.

Here's a question for you...is Hermione meant to be unattractive and nerdy in the books? Because I couldn't understand why Ron Weasley wasn't interested in a girl as pretty as Emma Watson who obviously had a huge crush on him lol. In fact, most of the romances didn't make sense. Like Cho who was Harry's love interest in one movie and then completely forgotten about afterward.
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Yes it's mentioned in bits a pieces leading up to Half-blood Prince where it is linked to the Horcruxes.

Yes, she was meant to be that way in the books. In fact Rowling once had an interview with Daniel and told him that the biggest difference that their film characters had to the book versions, was that he, Rupert and Emma were nowhere near ugly enough.
 
I’d like to see them cast Jaeden Martell as Harry.
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It's like betting a single number on a roulette wheel. Sure, it has the potential to pay off big if it hits, but the odds are not in your favor. There's a way to make it great, and 35+ ways for it fall on it's face.

edit: the sad part is that the way to make it great is not complicated: Stay true to the books. and I have absolutely zero confidence in their ability to resist the temptation to update it or "try to make it more relevant"
 

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