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Rate the Harry Potter movies from fave to least fave iyo
I just spent the last week rewatching all eight on DVD. My ranking is most definetly from fave to least fave,
1. Chamber of Secrets
2. Goblet of Fire
3. Philosophers Stone
4. Deathly Hallows Part 1
5. Deathly Hallows Part 2
6. Half Blood Prince
7. Prisoner of Azkaban
8. Order of the Phoenix
Chamber of Secrets just has it ALL, Richard is still there as Dumbledore (I never adjusted well to Michael's portrayal), we have the great opening scenes with the car and again the great car chase scene where Ron & Harry are escaping from Aragog and his spiders, all the backstory with Tom Riddle & Moaning Myrtle, Dobby, the great final scenes of Harry battling with the Basilisk. I wish Chris Columbus has directed Prisoner of Azkaban as I really didn't like the darkness that Alfonso brought to it.
1. Chamber of Secrets
2. Goblet of Fire
3. Philosophers Stone
4. Deathly Hallows Part 1
5. Deathly Hallows Part 2
6. Half Blood Prince
7. Prisoner of Azkaban
8. Order of the Phoenix
Chamber of Secrets just has it ALL, Richard is still there as Dumbledore (I never adjusted well to Michael's portrayal), we have the great opening scenes with the car and again the great car chase scene where Ron & Harry are escaping from Aragog and his spiders, all the backstory with Tom Riddle & Moaning Myrtle, Dobby, the great final scenes of Harry battling with the Basilisk. I wish Chris Columbus has directed Prisoner of Azkaban as I really didn't like the darkness that Alfonso brought to it.
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2) Order of the Phoenix
3) Deathly Hallows (view them as one film, but 2 then 1 if you want an order)
4) Goblet of Fire
5) Half Blood Prince
6) Chamber of Secrets & Philosophers Stone
Totally the opposite for me, I can take or leave the first two movies, the series really comes alive from Azkaban in my eyes.
I am not a fan of Harry Potter so I would not be able to put into any order but once my father received Prisoner of Azkaban for Christmas and we watched it as a family and I thought the film was very good and the direction was spot on and adding in Gary Oldman always makes for a very good film. I have spoken to a few Potter fans and in the main I would say this is not well received by them so maybe what I look for in a film and what the real Potter fans look for are 2 completely different things. What I will say is that this is the film that brought Alfonso Cuaron to my attention and I have been a fan since and long before Gravity. I then bought Paris Je T'aime and Children of Men and I was not disappointed by either.
Best
M
Alfonso Cuarón made the franchise his own with this third film which took a lot of risks in moving the series away from the style of the first two movies. The cast line up is as superb as ever but they're thrown into what feels like a very good indie film here, with subsequent directors trying to replicate the style of this one but none as successfully so. The cast is sublime as always - Emma Thompson and David Thewlis are amongst the standouts and it was a shame to see their characters ebb into the background later in the series. Alan Rickman gives one of his best performances here and I actually came to prefer Gambon's take on Dumbledore as well. This film is pure fun and manages to balance the sense of wonder and darkness in the films better than any of the others.
2 - The Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter 2)
Kenneth Branagh steals every scene he is in as Gilderoy Lockhart and once again a shame to not see him back again despite his character appearing in Book 5. It's a brilliant adventure story that improves upon the first in every way whilst remaining loyally honest to the style of the first.
3 - The Deathly Hallows: Part Two (Harry Potter 8)
A fitting enough conclusion though the omissions from the final battle were frustrating, the change in location for Voldemort's death similarly frustrating, and a magical battle could have been so much more interesting than it actually was - with wands becoming honorary guns in the end. Lots of nice nods to the series though, from the return to the Chamber of Secrets, a nice cameo from Harry's parents and Sirius and that superb exit for Snape as well. Maggie Smith also gets a terrific last chance to shine as well in a far-from-perfect, but perfectly acceptable film.
4 - The Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter 1)
The one that started it off still has a sense of grandness and wonder that none of the other films managed to match. Of the films it will probably (and perhaps Azkaban which thrives on being a bit artsy) date the least and it was a wonderful introduction to everything. The young actors do struggle a fair bit, but are supported by such a superb adult cast and a decent enough, rather innocent story that it doesn't jar too badly once the film properly gets going.
5 - The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Harry Potter 7)
There was a lot of interesting stuff in here, but it was spread so thinly across gapes of plotless and meandering "fugitive" guff that this one is a challenge to watch. The palette is so dark in places that it goes way beyond metaphoric and reaches the point of ridicule - even in the cinema it was occasionally a strain to see what was going on. The death at the end of the film was also severely overdone and jarring as well, whilst another death that was meant to happen never occurred at all, giving Timothy Spall the most undignified exit from the series (at the time I presumed it was to give him an acting credit in the final film, but nope... it was just removed for no good reason).
6 - The Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5)
The longest book and the shortest movie. As much as the book dragged for ages in places, the ending was very impressive and evoked the sense of wonder that the very first book did - the very mysterious Department of Mysteries and Ministry of Magic was grossly underexplored in this film. Imelda Staunton is wonderfully sinister in this, but precious little can be said for anyone else as the plot is practically non-existent in places and is the first film to feel like a meandering wait for the end. The final battle is very impressively done, but the film demands a lot to get there and doesn't even reward us with a satisfying death scene.
7 - The Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter 4)
The one with the funny haircuts. And David Tennant. This film has already begun to date horribly, and I feel in part that the story is the least original from Rowling as well - a shame after a major hit with Azkaban both as a book and a film. The artsy feel of the third film is lost with this one sort of just blundering through, and worse still it is the first that loses the sense of magic for the series - we're presented with an impressive Quidditch Stadium but have to skip the match, the subtler plot points of the Yule Ball are lost in translation to film, and it's also in the finer details such as how most paintings in Hogwarts are now actually just paintings. This oddly doesn't feel like a Harry Potter film in places...it feels a bit fan-fiction (at no fault of the director), and a bit like a self-aware parody of Harry Potter (at every fault of the director).
8 - The Half Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6)
Along with 'Azkaban this was the only film that had a real sense of style to it - it wasn't quite as impressively done, but it was quite artsy all the same. It was all pointless though as the plot of the movie was ridiculously turned on its head - the b-plot-worthy teenage angst issues are brought front and centre of this one (ironically Twilight-esque, given the film was delayed by half a year with Twilight released in its intended place) not only at the expense of the quality of the main plot, but at the expense of the main plot altogether. The book was impressive, and the film had the chance to have a real identity where Harry and Dumbledore explored the memories of Voldemort's past. Azkaban was the 'time travel movie', Goblet was the 'tournament movie', Phoenix was the prophecy movie, this one should have been the memories movie but it simply wasn't. The ending of the novel was completely changed so it wouldn't undermine the climatic battle of the seventh book, but this ended up doing more harm than good. The reveal of the Half Blood Prince was also poorly delivered, despite the accomplished actor concerned - it just felt very amateur and unbalanced. If there was any redeeming factor beyond the hint of style that the film possesses it must surely be Jim Broadbent who is absolutely sublime - a shame he was introduced so late in the series. A lot of the time this one doesn't even quite feel like a Harry Potter movie... it feels like a parody of itself! It was extremely disappointing.
The Prisoner of Azkaban
The Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Philosopher's Stone
The Half Blood Prince
The Deathly Hallows Part 1
The Chamber of Secrets
The Order of the Phoenix
2. Philosopher's Stone - lovely start to the series and I still get chills when I hear the music remembering when I heard it for the first time.
3. Deathly Hallows 2 - a mess of a film with too many stupid changes and it felt like a series of set pieces instead of an actual film but those set pieces were by and large done very well and there were some top performances.
4. Goblet of Fire - again too many changes but I enjoyed the emotional roller coaster and Ralph Fiennes first appearance as Voldemort was wonderful.
5. Chamber of Secrets - the weakest book in the series imo and thus the film didn't work well. I didn't like Branagh as Lockhart much either.
6. Order of the Phoenix - despite Imelda Staunton's brilliant performance this just didn't hang together well for me. There were some great scenes but I remember feeling underwhelmed.
7. The Desperate Need to Milk the Franchise for all it was Worth AKA Deathly Hallows 1 - I don't think I'll ever forgive them for splitting the final film not least because part 1 was probably the most bored I've ever been in the cinema. The only saving grace of this film was the wonderful little animation of the Peverell story.
8. Half-Blood Prince - one of the best books and sadly the worst film. So much potential missed and what was left wasn't much fun.
2. Goblet of Fire - love the world cup and tournament!
3. Deathly Hallows 1&2 - just brings it all together and even the main 3 stars seem to have improved their acting
4. Half Blood Prince - the reveal at the end is poor but some good little scenes eg Slughorn & Hagrid singing
5. Order of the Phoenix - my least favourite book and they missed out loads to make the film
6. Philosopher's Stone - it's a great kids film and very nostalgic for me but it's a bit cheesy now
7. Chamber of Secrets - urgh, Ginny - portrayed so awfully by Bonnie Wright. This film is cheesy like PS but without the originality and nostalgia.
Love them all though!
2. Chamber of Secrets (even with the glaring plot holes).
3. Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2
4. Order of the Phoenix
5. Goblet of Fire
6. Prisoner of Azkaban
7. Half Blood Prince
I like the 1st 2 and last 2 best as I think they were the closest to the books, plus in the 1st 2 I think Richard Harris was a far better Dumbledore (Gambon made him too abrasive and a miserable git) and also liked the background portrayal of the wizarding world with Diagon Alley and the school lessons, which were sadly trimmed from the later films. The bottom 3 on my list are my least favourites as too much was cut (and replaced by pointless stuff) and the films themselves were so dark (not dark story, dark print) and washed out they were almost black and white and looked horrible.
2
3
7 part 2
7 Part 1
5
4
6
I never found the sixth book great and the film wasn't great either. Just something a bit dull about it. It's one of those films where the only thing i remember is the ending.
I also can't fathom anybody preferring Michael Gambons version of Dumbledore. The way he almost throttles Harry after his name comes out the Goblet of Fire was just AWFUL.
Dumbledore would never have done that to Harry.
I genuinely don't get the love for Harris' interpretation if the character. The humour, the twinkle in the eye, all of that was gone. Harris sucked the life out of every scene he was in, he even ruined the earwax Bertie Bott's bean bit.
Harris' also played him as doddery old coot who might have blown over in a strong gust of wind. No way would it have been believable for Harris' Dumbledore to take on the inferi or Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic. Even watching PS for the first time I remember being disappointed.
I respectfully disagree.
We will never know how Harris would have portrayed those scenes as he never got the chance to film them had he not been as ill as he was in COS (which I thought never showed on film at all btw) he very possibly could have shown another side to his performance in the later films.
My point however is that I think Michael Gambon was miscast.
Although I'd rather have seen the likes of Peter O'toole take over from Richard Harris, Michael Gambon did grow on me and I now feel that it was a good choice. I love his performance in the limbo scene in the final film. Obviously, ideally I'd have loved to have seen Richard Harris outlive the films.
Saying that, I do agree with you about GOF. As well as him throttling Harry, there was that bit where he was shouting out Harry's name in the great hall like a crazy person.
I've always assumed that this was not MG's fault but the director's who imo, did not have a clue.
Thank God for David Yates who managed to get the films firmly back on track.
Regarding my order. I know this is a cop-out but I just cannot decide other than
The first 3 are my favourites
The last 4 are my second favourites
And GOF is by far my least favourite and I only watch it for continuity reasons.
on TV again. Aside from the final 15 minutes or so it is so obvious to see why it's my second-to-least favourite of the films.
Gambon is brilliant though and I am glad that he brought his own slant to the character rather than trying to re-enact what came before him. Goblet was his worst performance but as others have said I put that down to director issues.
Harris was very endearing and his Dumbledore worked perfectly adequately at the time. But eight films with his perfect, elderly ways would have been a real misjudgement and I like whatever it is that Gambon adds a lot more. He's...spunkier?! He just brings the kind of energy to that kind of character you need, someone who often feels like a big kid himself which itself could mirror the psychological impact of his younger life which we learned about later on.
Harris's Dumbledore was a character from a book drafted over in the exactest details that could be managed from the text, and that's wonderful. But Gambon's Dumbledore exuded an energy and a character that a film brings to life in a way a book cannot. Like a lot with Azkaban (Trelawney springs to mind) as a film I feel Gambon was perhaps one of the boldest creative choices of the whole series - an interpretation of Dumbledore rather than an adaptation
Philosophers Stone
Goblet of Fire
Deathly Hallows Part 1
Deathly Hallows Part 2
Half-Blood Prince
Prisoner of Azkhban
Order of the Phoenix
As for the Harris vs Gambdon debate I can see both sides. Personally I think both have the merits. Harris had that soft fatherly air about him that Dumbledore oozed particually when he was looking out for Harry IMO but where as Gambon was more action and was convincing as a warrior almost with great energy especially in OFTP!
I think I prefered Richard Harris over all but they were both good.
2 Azkaban - Sirius, Hermione punching Draco.
3 Goblet of fire - the other schools, Rita Skeeter.
4 Deathly Hallows 2 - conclusion, Ron/Hermione kiss
5 Philosophers stone - setting scene for whole series
6 Deathly Hallows 1 - boring
7 half blood Prince - unmemorable.
2. Chamber of Secrets - Maybe it's nostalgia, but I really enjoy this one.
3. Deathly Hallows - Part 1 - I really enjoyed the slow pace of the film, everyone else hated it but I liked the change in focus. I hated the later films, went into the cinema expecting to hate this but really enjoyed it.
4. Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - A bit too rushed for me, would've liked more focus in some areas and less focus in others but it came out the best I could've hoped for under Yates. A decent output.
5. The Philosopher's Stone - A good start, very much a nostalgia viewing now but a solid start to the series.
6. Goblet of Fire - The first film I hated at the cinema. Some of the worst acting in the series. I've rewatched it since and I can enjoy it now but an adaptation that I simply think was far off the mark.
7. The Half-Blood Prince - I liked the dark tone but, again, too much time faffing about with flowery "look at out wonderful effects" sequences rather than focussing on the story. Too much lovey dovey. I accept they have to strike a balance but they didn't manage that balance IMO.
8. Order of the Phoenix - One of my favourites in the books but the movie was awful. Worst film by far. It was like they pinpointed certain sequences that they could use to show off the special effects the most rather than how to tell the most effective story. The Weasley fireworks scene springs to mind. Just a tragedy from start to finish. I hated the actress in the Umbridge role too. She was a decent actor but made Umbridge a bit too much of a comedy bit part.
Edit - As for Dumbledore, Harris and Gambon both portrayed a side to Dumbledore that was in the books, the gentle Grandfather side and the managing ego maniac but each portrayal focussed more on one side.
I always defend Harris though when people say he was too this or that and he wouldn't have been able to pull off OOTP etc because he portrayed exactly the side of Dumbledore that was present in those first two stories. No doubt if he'd lived and had the health to continue he'd have pulled off the development and revelations of Dumbledore's past brilliantly in the later stories. He simply never got the chance to do it.
Most of the time he looks bored out of his mind.
Philosophers Stone
Prisoner of Azkaban
Deathly Hallows 1
Deathly Hallows 2
Order of the Pheonix
Half Blood Prince
Goblet of Fire
Like the TC said Chamber of Secrets had it all. I also enjoyed the overall mystery element of it. Goblet of Fire is where it all starts to go horribly wrong imo, with everything feeling disjointed and too much being left out. It didn't start to improve until Deathly Hallows part 1.
Order of the Phoenix
Prisoner of Azkaban
Half-Blood Prince
Philosopher's Stone (Extended)
Chamber of Secrets (Extended)
Goblet of Fire
Chamber of Secrets
Goblet Of Fire
Philosopher's Stone
Order of the Phoenix
Deathly Hallows Part I
Deathly Halows Part II
Half-Blood Prince
3
2
1
The others are shit, and are a confusing, jumbled mess indistinguishable from one another. I lost interest after 4.
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
5. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
None of them are bad.