[HPFGU-Movie] My 2c on the DVD

[TACtalk at adelanta.co.uk]

My comments on the DVD;

Deleted scenes; I thought that only two or three of them should have been kept.

Firstly; the scene in the snow and at the foot of the staircase, when Harry
is voicing his own doubts about whether or not he is the heir of Slytherin.
That theme comes over very clearly in the book, but is only touched upon in
the movie. I wasn't altogether happy with the way the scene was written,
though; acting from the twins not that great; when one of them calls Harry
a 'seriously evil wizard', Harry should have smiled, to make it plain that
he knew that they didn't mean it. Script for the scene generally weak,
which is probably why it was cut.

The scene in the library, where the Hufflepuffs are talking; someone else
has already mentioned this one; makes the school's attitude to Harry much
clearer, as in the book.

Most importantly, the scene where Harry and Ron visit Hermione in the
hospital (after she drank the Polyjuice Potion and turned into a cat) when
Hermione puts together the whole 'Tom Riddle + fifty years ago + last time
the Chamber was opened' scenario. Makes far more sense then for Harry to
ask the diary, when he finally realises how it works, whether it knows
anything about the Chamber of Secrets.

Other DVD stuff;
Liked the set construction info based around Dumbledore's office. Liked the
JKR/Kloves interview. Liked the production drawings for
Dobby/mandrakes/Fawkes etc.

Deeply disappointed with the cast interviews; I wanted meaty, informative
interviews, not 10-second soundbites.

Desperately wanted more info on the making of the movie; more about the
sets, more about the filming, more off-camera moments on the set; a
movie-length commentary by CC/Kloves/Heyman would have been terrific.

Once again, Warner have catered well to the kids, but I'm really not into
'guess-the-effect-of-the-spell' games. I wish that they would realise that
HP has a large adult fanbase too.

Regards,
Nicholas