Apples vs Oranges vs Pumpkin Pie

[Steve <bboy_mn@yahoo.com>]

I'm not sure which thread to respond to. There are a couple of really
good threads in the Us vs Them, Apples vs Oranges, CoS vs TTT(LotR);
"Argu...so sick of it..." and "What I didn't like about TTT, and a
couple of things I did".

Let's start with Apples vs Oranges-

Exhibit A.) The story of a long epic quest.

Exhibit B.) The story of a school boy at school. OK.. a wizard school boy.

Well, of course.... I see it now, they're practically the same
story... NOT!

The Films-

Exhibit A - a long epic journey; wide panoramic shots of beautiful
country side, long epic battles (several); long epic walks across the
plains, through the mountains and vallleys, across fantastic lands. 

Emphasis on the words LONG and EPIC.


Exhibit B - the day to day life of a British wizard schoolboy; the
classrooms, sneaking out at night, the nasty caretaker -bane of all
students, schoolboy taunts, schoolgirl crushes, teachers who are evil
(aren't they all*), teachers who are idiots (aren't they all*), and a
few rare teachers who are friends (thankfully there are some*).

Emphasis on the words NOT Long and NOT Epic. 

[ * Note: as seen throught the eyes of a student.]


The Movie vs The Other Movie-

LoR has the luxury of conveying substantial amounts of the books in
very broad epic scenes. 

CoS has a LOT of story to tell in a very short time.

Summary - LOR - Long drawn out epic scene, long drawn out epic scene,
some dialog so you know that the long epic scenes are about, long
drawn out epic scene, more set up dialog, more long epic scenes.

Summary - COS - scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene,
scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene,
scene, scene, scene, ... panting heavily, stops to catch breath..., 
scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene,
scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene, scene,
scene, ...no time to end movie ...everybody hug Hagrid ...fade to black.

"Scene, scene, scene, scene,..."; that's how COS had to be made to get
the story to fit in the available time. Which brings up one of my
biggest complaints about the two movies. How come 2.7 hours for COS is
called 'butt numbing' and 3 full hours or possibly more for LOR
doesn't rate any comment? One review said that despite it's length
(re:COS), he never left a movie so desperately wanting more. That
despite all that was crammed into "scene, scene, scene, scene,
scene,..." it was hardly enough. This reviewer thought that COS was a
4 to 4.5hr movie crammed into 2.7hrs. I agree.

I say, it is an absolute CRIME to make these movies any less than 3
hours. If people can sit for 3 hours through LOR without the world
ending, then they can certainly sit through 3 hours of HP. I saw COS
at a Saturday matinee, before the movie, the place was noisy, kids
running around talking, laughing, throwing popcorn, screaming... you
know, being kids. When the movie started. Dead silences.... except for
laughs and applause at appropriate times, and a standing ovation at
the end. There wasn't a single kid there who was bored. There wasn't a
single kid there who wasn't totally enraptured by the story. I say,
there wasn't a single kid there who wouldn't have love another 0.3
hours of movie.

0.3 hours = 18 minutes. 18 minutes of screen time can literally be
decades of story time. The COS story could have been fleshed out with
so much more plot and character developement. It could have been paces
so much better, and been so much greater a movie than it was (Ron
might have even gotten to keep some of his best lines). I see no
failing in the story, but much in the execution with COS.

LOR-TTT, on the other hand, I haven't read the story, but I found what
I saw to be well developed, emotionally moving, and visually stunning
(which is easy to do when you can endlessly show broad panoramic views
of beautiful New Zealand. I also found the scenery of Britain to be
visually stunning.), with great special effects (they get Gollum,
armies of 10,000, walking trees, fantastical creatures, and we get one
short Quidditch match, an elf, and a snake).

I love both movies, each in their own right, but, despite what I have
done here, I see no need to compare them. They each did what they did
well, but, in my honest opinion, HP-COS could have some so much more
with an additional 18 minutes.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

bboy_mn