Order of the Pheonix by name only....

Rating: 4/10 (11 July 2007)

This movie was absolutely terrible in my personal opinion. As a fan of the book series, I felt I deserved much more that what was delivered to me for my $8.50. There were too many problems to name, so I'll throw a few out there. 1. The first Harry Potter book was just over 300 pages in length. The movie was roughly 152 minutes according to the DVD in front of me at this moment. The fifth book was 870 pages. The movie was, according to IMDb, "Runtime: 138 min ". Anyone else notice a problem with this? I certainly did. So much more could have been done. 2. Things in the book did not make it into the movie. This would normally be OK. This kind of thing happens all of the time in movies. The problem I have? Things were added in that were not from the book. When it comes to what should and should not be in the movie, parts from the book should be the first thing added in, not taken away. 3. Not only were things missing, but some major things were missing. Members of the Order (from the book) made no appearances what so ever. Those who made the cut played little role. Quidditch played no role in the film while it played quite a bit into the book. What about Ron's problems with Quidditch? The movie focused purely on Harry, and not on the supporting characters. 4. Mixing and matching. The major points that were from the book appeared in a different order in the film as compared to the movie. Scenes that occurred around the middle of the book occurred early in the movie. Some parts from the book were moved around.
Overall, it was like they took the book, cut out all of the pages, added their own to the pile, and then pasted it all into an order that they saw fitting. You'll notice however, that the film did in fact get a 4 from me. You may ask why. That answer is simple. The soundtrack and special effects were amazing. Fight scenes were rather enjoyable, and the music was wonderful. Really, I think the people responsible for these things should have been the only one to receive any recognition. So if you've read and enjoyed the books, this movie really isn't for you. If you've read the books, enjoyed them, but are there for special effects, you may enjoy it. If you've never read the books and your knowledge is based purely on the movies, you'll probably find this one an enjoyable addition to the series.