Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

20101119:
This movie suffered from being half the book. It had built up loads of excitement, but left most of it up in the air.

With that being said, I'm happy the final book got split into two movies (I wish more of the books were done that way). But I can't help but imagine it will be more enjoyable to watch both halves of the movie in one sitting. I hope such an option will be available in theaters during the release of part 2.

Like the last movie, this film was filled with some hilarious lines, but toned down in comparison. For example, "The heart-warming light." and "Let's take a vote."

Some scenes didn't happen the way I had pictured them when I read the story, but I haven't read the book in a while (about a year and a half ago) and of course a movie takes liberties in interpretation. In particular, this movie emphasized Ron and Hermione's roles beyond my original expectations - which is good. It was, however, strange after I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) just the other day which was heavily centered on Harry Potter. It might even be argued that Ron had a bigger role in this film than Harry. Actually, I did get the sense that Ron and Hermione were equals to Harry when I read the seventh book, but my point is the movie pushed the idea even further, which I like.

The seventh book had a lot of great action and those passages made their way into this film. Furthermore, this movie managed to portray more of the action of the books compared to some of the other movies with respect to their corresponding books.

In different words, this portion of the story gets the benefit of focusing less on character relationships and more on the action. Consequently, the movie would be better enjoyed by someone who has read all the books and/or seen all the movies over someone who has only seen a couple of the movies.

On a different note, I felt as if watching this movie in IMAX was a better experience than watching movies without IMAX. The experience was worth the cost; especially since I don't normally watch movies in theaters. However, I'm not absolutely sure because I've only seen the following movies in IMAX (if memory serves me correctly): The Human Body (2001), Avatar: The IMAX 3D Experience (2010), and now Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1: The IMAX Experience (2010).

See also my summary of watching a movie at three in the morning.

[20101206][20171126 Edit][20190918 Edit]

20110707:
I'm glad I got to watch the ending without a bunch of teenagers laughing through a dramatic scene. For this viewing, one person in the group was watching the film for the first time. Her impression of the movie was something along the line of good, but filled with a lot of uninteresting scenes. Indeed, part of the movie is just them wandering aimlessly. This would have been a good time for a montage.

We watched the deleted scenes and liked the one between Dudley and Harry. There was a scene between Aunt Petunia and Harry, but that one was emotionally flat. One of the scenes that took place while they were camping would have been informational, but given the film-makers already had so much of the traveling, it's removal probably helped the already slow pacing.

Overall, my experience with the Harry Potter movies is that I enjoyed immersing myself in the world and overarching story of the book, and that interest enhances my enjoyment of the movie. Otherwise, the Harry Potter series tends to suffer from the occasional drop in performance on the part of the actors and actresses.

We started this movie around 11:30 pm and finished around 2 in the morning. We spent some time after watching some of the special features and discussing the movie.

Oh, I almost forgot to emphasize how much I love the animation sequence that tells the story of the Deathly Hallows. It might be my favorite scene in the movie.

I don't mind the ending so much now that I know that's where the movie ends, sort of like with my first viewing of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Regardless, I'd want to see the first and second part in one sitting, and perhaps with some of the deleted scenes included, and some of the included scenes deleted.

[20110711]

Instant Comments:
3: Hedwig
3: Wand connection
3: Babbitty Rabbitty
3: That's an awkward cheek brush. ("Hermione, you're the best at spells.")
3: That's a powerful patronus.
3: "Yeah, I'm still here."
1: Awkward scene: the dance.
3: "I open at the close."
1: Favorite scene was the Deathly Hallows story.
3: When Bathilda first approached them, the caption said "[FLY BUZZES]"
3: "[INSECT BUZZES]"
1: Unexpected scene: the sensual one.
3: "Right, yeah. Antlers."
3: Three left? The three destroyed are Tom Riddle's diary, Marvolo Gaunt's ring, and now Salazar Slytherin's Locket.
3: Ha. Engorgio on the flame.
3: Mudblood (written onto Hermione's arm)
3: Unscrewing that chandelier.
1=20101119 (Post-Movie Comments), 3=20171125

Released 20101119.
Watched 20101119 Theatre. AMC Loews White Marsh 16 [HARRY POTTER AND T] 3:15 AM $15.50 (Midnight Showing) (The IMAX Experience)
Watched 20110707 Blu-ray
Watched 20171125 Blu-ray (English subtitles)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) David Yates. 146 min. [botn Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) by J.K. Rowling]


Relevant Links:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (IMDb.com)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 (Wikipedia.org)
My Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) post

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