I can’t handle the gore. I find it really unnecessary because I wind up avoiding and missing good movies that I know will have gore in them. I wasn’t aware this one would be so gory so I was stuck watching it – or rather, I was stuck looking away for half the movie because if I didn’t, I may have thrown up. When will movie makers learn that they would reach a bigger audience if they didn’t put such blood and guts in. I realize they are trying to portray what a brutal time it was but you don’t need vivid images to get that across in my opinion. I have a lot of interest in ancient civilizations so I’d been looking forward to this movie – but I spent more time studying the ceiling then the movie.

As for historical inaccuracy, that bothered me too but at the time, I was just trying keep my lunch down.

As an avid mythology fan, I found it really difficult to put aside all the changes that Hollywood made to this classic, ancient epic. It especially bothers me because now millions of people probably think that the Hollywood version is the original version. You don’t know how many people have said to me “Really? I didn’t know that” when I explained that the ending of the movie is a complete deviation from the original story. Just because the original epic it’s not entirely a historical account does not mean they should change it however they like. It is still historical because the myth is such an ancient classic. It’s still an insult to history.

This movie seriously lost the plot. It just became so confusing and meaningless as it went on until finally at the end you realize the reason none of it made any sense is because it was all just the insane delusions of a loser before killing herself.

I was loving this show until the season finale. What happened? At the very end, it all seemed to go so wrong. If Claire was the only one who could stop Peter than why was Nathan standing right next to him? And why did Nathan have to fly Peter into the sky? Peter can fly too! And even if Peter couldn’t, why would Nathan fly him into the sky instead of just shooting him? If Peter was shot, only one person would die. If Nathan flew him into the sky, BOTH of them died. Where exactly is the logic in this?

I’ve never been so disappointed by a season finale before. They really managed to screw it up so badly that right now, I’m not even interested in watching the next season.

I do think it’s possible to read and enjoy this even as a non-Christian. But it can be difficult to ignore the overt Christian themes and lessons, plus the way it constantly suggests that if you don’t agree with every single Christian value taught in the book than you must be a horrible person. Even so, I still found it an interesting book to read, not only as a good fantasy tale but I enjoy seeing connections between modern day fantasy and ancient mythology/religion. Just because I find it interesting does not necessarily mean I have to either believe every Christian value or despise them. I read them as an adult though so this may have something to do with it.

It was far too slow. I don’t mind a slow-paced movie but this was unbearable. Even my husband who usually enjoys a slow paced movie more than I do thought it was gruelingly slow. And (warning, here comes the controversial part) I feel like it was only so popular because it’s breaking barriers when it comes to homosexuality. I applaud that part of it but I wish they could have done so with a decent movie.

And please would someone tell me why Heath Ledger was incapable of moving his lips? I understand character development and all but that was just silly.

A lot of people slated this claiming “nothing actually happens”. They forget that fear is in the mind. Ever been afraid of the dark even though nothing has happened and you know nothing will happen? It’s the same concept. This is a psychological thiller which is more difficult to produce and considering they did so with minimal production is pretty amazing. I think the reason it gets to people is because it seems so real. We’ve all heard urban legends and the home-video production makes them feel real. Love it or hate it, it was a unique production.

Warning: A few spoilers if you haven’t read the books.

This was definitely the best movie so far. Daniel Radcliffe’s acting has improved (though Emma Watson is still overacting) and as the stories keep getting deeper and darker, the movies are doing them justice. The imagery was great, as usual, and I think they did a great job portraying certain things that might have been difficult to transfer from book to movie, such as the concept of occulemency.

At first, I was a little worried they would completely take out the occulency lessons with Snape, which would mean you don’t learn about his past and how James Potter used to bully him at school. Fortunately, they did manage to squeeze this in, although a bit later in the story than it was in the book.

There were a few moments I felt they kind of brushed over so it may not have made great sense to someone who hasn’t read the books but it was nothing like how confusing the 3rd movie, Prisoner of Azkaban, was to those not familar with the story. This one is definitely enjoyable for those who haven’t read the books too.

But for example, I think they could have explained a little better why Dumbledore was ignoring Harry the whole time. In the movie, he says he was just trying to protect Harry. But in the book it also explains that with Harry’s psychic-like connection forming with Voldemort, Dumbledore can’t risk Harry knowing too much without Voldemort possibly finding out as well. This seems like a minor thing to brush over but I believe it’s important to the story that the viewers understand how deep this connection can run if Harry can’t seal off his mind from Voldemort’s invasion. They also made it seem like this was just one of Voldemort’s many talents to take over someone’s mind. They didn’t explain that in the book, the connection between Harry and Voldemort is unique and in Harry’s dreams, the ability to enter each other’s minds is not just Voldemort’s doing and in fact, Voldemort is not even aware of it happening in the very beginning. I do understand these are difficult thing to get across in a movie though.

Another moment they seemed to brush over though was the court room scene. My husband who has never read the books felt it was rushed and there was no warning of it. There was no mention of him needing to go to court until he was suddenly there and it was happening. Although I do understand the purpose of rushing through the court room scene because it’s main importance was to introduce Umbridge, I felt they could have let the viewers know it was coming.

They also did not fully explain the prophecy but they did get across the main purpose of it: that eventually either Harry or Voldemort will be the undoing of the other.

Enough negativity though because the movie was excellent. They did a great job portraying how each character was feeling and what they were going through. The politics and build up was all the same as it was in the book. The casting was of course perfect. Staunton did an amazing job portraying Umbridge – you could really feel the frustration and disgust for her. Evanna Lynch was an excellent “Loony” Lovegood, she had the perfect voice for it too. Overall, they did a fantastic job packing so much into only 2 hours time and still have all the main points make sense and come across fluently.

This was one of the last books my mom read to me before I started reading exclusively on my own (even once I learned to read, my mom would still read to me sometimes, as a mother/daughter bonding). I always remembered it because it was one of the first times I remember something like a book reaching me on a deeper level than the books I had been reading before.

My Mom read these to me when I was little – possibly young enough that I didn’t know how to read yet but I can’t remember exactly when. I don’t remember much from them except that I loved them so much, I named my cat after Chester because he was an orange tabby!