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List Price: $28.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 11
Released: December 8, 2009 |
| Our Price: $9.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series begins right where The Order of the Phoenix left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that "He Who Must Not Be Named" has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is "the Chosen One"--the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end. Dark forces loom around every corner, and now regularly attempt to penetrate the protected walls of Hogwarts School. This is no longer the fun and fascinating world of magic from the first few books—it's dark, dangerous, and scary.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to be a new Death Eater recruit on a special mission for the Dark Lord. In the meantime, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seems to have finally removed the shroud of secrecy from Harry about the dark path that lies ahead, and instead provides private lessons to get him prepared. It's in these intriguing scenes that the dark past of Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Voldemort) is finally revealed. The actors cast as the different young versions of Riddle (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane) do an eerily fantastic job of portraying the villain as a child. While the previous movies' many new characters could be slightly overwhelming, only one new key character is introduced this time: Professor Horace Slughorn (with a spot-on performance by Jim Broadbent). Within his mind he holds a key secret in the battle to defeat the Dark Lord, and Harry is tasked by Dumbledore to uncover a memory about Voldemort's darkest weapon--the Horcrux. Despite the long list of distractions, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) still try to focus on being teenagers, and audiences will enjoy the budding awkward romances. All of the actors have developed nicely, giving their most convincing performances to date.
More dramatic and significant things go down in this movie than any of its predecessors, and the stakes are higher than ever. The creators have been tasked with a practically impossible challenge, as fans of the beloved J.K. Rowling book series desperately want the movies to capture the magic of the books as closely as possible. Alas, the point at which one accepts that these two mediums are very different is the point at which one can truly enjoy these brilliant adaptations. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception: it may be the best film yet. For those who have not read the book, nail-biting entertainment is guaranteed. For those who have, the movie does it justice. The key dramatic scenes, including the cave and the shocking twist in the final chapter, are executed very well. It does a perfect job of setting up the two-part grand finale that is to follow. --Jordan Thompson
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Full-Screen Edition) Reviews:
Harry the Wimp? 
2009-12-05 - Among other disappointments with this movie was the ending. In the book Harry is immobilized and cannot do anything when Dumbledore is killed. In the movie he is not even immobilized and he just stands there and does nothing! The Harry Potter I know would in no way have just stood there and let Dumbledore be slaughtered. He would have tried to come out of his hiding place, screamed, tried anything to save him! The entire ending of the book was simply left out, too,as Dumbledore's death is just sort of glossed over. And where were all the questions in Harry's mind as to how Dumbledore could not know that Snape was on Voldemort's side? These questions Harry asks himself are extremely important to what is to come. Finally, is this a Harry Potter story or just a love story? I think the makers of this film wanted to appeal to the teenagers in the audience rather than make a faithful adaptation. I thought this was the worst of the movies yet.
Disappointment
2009-12-05 - This review is for the film.. i will updated once i get the DVD.
I was incredibly disappointed when i saw Order of the Phoenix. Its my favorite book of the series and they completely butchered it on film. I went to see Half Blood Prince thinking that it was going to be a different experience..and I was right.. it was WORSE! They concentrated too much on things that weren't important to the story (romances are you serious?) and cut scenes that SHOULD have been included (battle in hogwarts). The most disappointment though.. was the ending. Dumbledore death...well.. it wasn't as sad as it was in the book. It was very emotionless to me. What was up with that?
It had some good. The visual affects were amazing... and the acting improved quite a bit. Tom Felton did an incredible job as Draco Molfoy. Kuddos to him!! Unfortunately it wasn't enough to save the film. I was more bored to tears than anything else. I hope the last installment its worth watching!
When will we get Harry Potter films that in some way resemble the books?
2009-12-05 - When a movie of a book is made it's understandable that not everything in a 400+ page book is going to end up on the screen. However, I can see no reason why the film can't contain most of the key story elements. The first two films, directed by Chris Columbus, did very well at this. However, subsequent films tended to veer away from Rowling's genius-level storytelling in order to emphasize pet interests of the producers/screenwriters/directors. Whoever was responsible for these messes has a lot to apologize for. Obviously, they are going after market, changing the stories to suit what they perceive as the prime audience for their films, and presumably they conceive of this audience as largely never having read the books. All sorts of extraneous material is introduced and key Rowling settings and subplots are left out. And it's not just a matter of what's left out but of focus. Key gut-wrenching climaxes in the books are breezed by in the film, in order, I suppose, to pack in more teenage angst. Anyone with even a modicum understanding of storytelling ought to be able to come up with a screenplay that preserves the focus of Rowling's storytelling, particularly the breathtaking drive toward the final climax, which is a keynote of her stories and among the best in the biz. It astonishes me that this should be completely ignored by the makers of the Harry Potter films. I am tempted to attribute this to an intentional effort to drive more profit out of the various properties, but a niggling suspicion lingers that they are just inept and clueless, yes, and rather egotistical to imagine they can better stories, which emerge from Rowling's pen, compelling, dynamic, and in every way worthy of the worldwide phenomenon they have created.
The acting in this movie is what I remember 
2009-12-01 - This movie has many strengths. The actor performing as Dumbledore is very, very good. The way this movie proceeds near the end sent chills down my spine. I was by no means prepared for some of the dark turns this movie took me. I was holding my breath with suspense during some parts of this powerfully gripping movie! The special effects are another strenght to this movie. All of the Harry Potter movies are feasts for the eyes and this one is magical as well. I'm looking forward to the DVD release of this one to enjoy watching it again. The weaknesses of this film are some of the performances by the role characters. Some of the young love bird scenes were creepy and clumsily awkard. But I think this movie is overall above average, with the some moments just spectacular.
Hollywood is illiterate or ( JK Rowling lets evil win) 
2009-11-29 - Was this movie actually based on the book? I realize there are time restrictions for movies, but when I couldn't even explain what some of the scenes or plot was about to a casual fan friend of mine, that left me sad. How about at least giving us fans an "under edited" version for the DVD! Come on, the burrow never burned down and Dumbledore died, where's the funeral scene! These last two theatrical installments are miserable! I'm just completing collections at this point. I just hope they don't flub the final two movies. At this current rate of deviation, they might as well make Harry Potter a vampire in a homosexual love triangle in the deathly hallows movies! My advice would be to read the books for a plot, see the movies for mental imagery then, reread the book to figure out what you just saw. p.s.(the audio books are awesome!)
