Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Plot synopsis:
The Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, addresses the wizarding media, stating that the Ministry will remain strong even as Lord Voldemort gains strength. Despite the Ministry of Magic's attempts to maintain an image of stability, the Death Eaters have made major gains after Dumbledore's death, committing mass killings of Muggles and infiltrating the Ministry itself. Harry, Ron and Hermione prepare for a journey to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, with Harry watching the Dursleys depart and Hermione wiping her parents' memories of her.
Severus Snape arrives at Malfoy Manor to inform Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters of Harry's impending departure from No. 4 Privet Drive. Voldemort commandeers Lucius Malfoy's wand, as Voldemort's own wand cannot be used to kill Harry, because the wands are "twins."
Meanwhile, the Order of the Phoenix gather at Privet Drive and escort Harry to safety, using Polyjuice Potion to create six decoy Harrys out of Ron, Hermione, Fleur Delacour, Fred, George and Mundungus Fletcher. During their flight to the Weasley family home at the Burrow, all are ambushed by Death Eaters. They kill Mad-Eye Moody and Harry's owl, Hedwig, injure George Weasley, and knock out Hagrid. This forces Harry to take over and drive his flying motorbike while fighting Voldemort. In the process, he destroys some power lines and causes a blackout in a Muggle city. After arriving at the Burrow, Harry has a vision of the wand-maker Ollivander being tortured by Voldemort, who claims that Ollivander had lied to him. Ollivander claimed that the only way Voldemort could kill Harry was by using another person's wand.
Scrimgeour arrives at the Burrow with Albus Dumbledore's will and distributes three items to Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, Hermione a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry the first Golden Snitch that he ever caught in a Quidditch match. Scrimgeour reveals that Harry was also bequeathed the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. The minister states, though, that the sword was not Dumbledore's to pass on and, in any case, is missing.
The Death Eaters kill Scrimgeour. As a result, the Ministry falls to the Death Eaters and they replace him with their puppet Pius Thicknesse who is under the influence of the Imperius curse. They begin persecuting Muggle-born witches and wizards. The Ministry attacks Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding, but they had been forewarned by Shacklebolt's patronus charm and many escape. Harry, Hermione, and Ron disapparate to Shaftesbury Avenue in London. After they are attacked by Death Eaters in a diner, they find sanctuary at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. There they discover that the "R.A.B." from the false Horcrux locket is Regulus Arcturus Black, the younger brother of Sirius Black. Kreacher, the Black's house-elf, tells them that Mundungus Fletcher stole the real locket. Kreacher and Dobby apprehend Fletcher, who reveals that the locket is in the possession of Dolores Umbridge. Under the disguise of Polyjuice Potion, the trio infiltrate the Ministry. In the courtroom, Umbridge is interrogating a Muggle-born witch and threatens her, which enrages Harry, who then stuns Umbridge and Hermione successfully retrieves the locket. The trio escape from the Dementors by fleeing into the wilderness after accidentally revealing the location of No. 12 Grimmauld Place to Yaxley, a Death Eater.
Unable to destroy the Horcrux, they take turns wearing it to dilute its malignant power. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort interrogating and killing Gregorovitch, a renowned wand-maker, who claims that a teenage boy had once stolen the legendary Elder Wand from his shop. While Ron wears the locket, he is overcome by his negative feelings and after arguing with Harry, he leaves, upsetting Hermione. Harry and Hermione decide to go to Godric's Hollow, where they visit Harry's parents' graves and the house where they were killed. They also want to search for the Sword of Gryffindor, which Hermione deduces is able to destroy Horcruxes. After traveling a cemetery where Harry's parents are buried on Christmas Eve, they visit Bathilda Bagshot, who they believe has the Sword. They are surprised by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, who has been possessing her corpse. Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand as they escape into the Forest of Dean. Hermione is able to identify the mysterious thief seen in Harry's vision as Gellert Grindelwald.
When evening falls, Harry sees a Patronus in the form of a doe which leads him to a frozen pond. Gryffindor's sword lies beneath the pond's ice. Harry breaks the ice and jumps in to reach the sword. The locket around his neck attempts to strangle him, but Ron arrives just in time to rescue Harry. Despite the soul inside the locket attacking both of them, Ron manages to destroy it with the Sword of Gryffindor. Hermione is angry with Ron at first but then reconciles with him.
The trio then visit Xenophilius Lovegood to learn about a symbol seen several times on their journey. He tells them that the symbol represents the Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. Lovegood betrays them to the Death Eaters in an effort to have his kidnapped daughter returned.
The trio escape into the wilderness once more, but Snatchers appear and chase them. Harry has a vision of Voldemort learning from Grindelwald that the Elder Wand lies with Dumbledore in his grave. They are then captured and taken to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange imprisons Harry and Ron in a cellar, in which they discover Luna, Ollivander, and Griphook the goblin. Bellatrix tortures Hermione for information on how they got the sword of Gryffindor. After Dobby apparates in the cellar to save them, and incapacitates Peter Pettigrew, a short battle ensues; Harry duels and disarms Draco Malfoy. Narcissa Malfoy's wand is taken by Dobby who then disapparates the group out of the manor. Bellatrix throws her knife at them in fury. They appear on a beach outside Shell Cottage where Dobby dies in Harry's arms, having been stabbed in the stomach by Bellatrix's knife. Meanwhile, Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore's tomb and takes the Elder Wand.

Tags: dark, fantasy, boring, cult, flashback, good versus evil

Review:
With "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", I think the makers have finally succeeded in crafting a movie that was both fun to watch for casual viewers while also catering to the needs of the hard-core fans who know the books by heart.
Members of the Order, including Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) and Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), attempt to escort Harry to safety- but even that mission is met with an attack from the Death Eaters, culminating in a dizzyingly exciting high-speed flying-bike chase that shouldn't disappoint fans looking for some action sorely missed in the last movie.
Meanwhile, Harry can barely conceal his frustration with getting no headway and starts losing his temper at Ron. Infused with a profound sense of isolation and loss, this middle stretch in the film may be tedious for some impatient viewers, but fans will be rewarded with probably the richest depiction of the relationships between the characters since the first two movies.
Well, I'm always a big fan of the blurring of these clearcut good/evil categories in Fantasy.As the book is split into 2 parts, all of a sudden, there's also time for little embellishments I hadn't realized I had missed in the earlier movies!
I haven't been a huge fan of any of the HP movies to date, but I was pleased with the Deathly Hallows because it took a big step up in maturity from the "children's fantasy" genre and focused on themes very central to the seventh book: hopelessness and desperation.
With dark undertones running through the cinematography, Part 1 of the Harry Potter finale is the film that deals more with the emotional stagnation of the characters and spends less time with action scenes and major plot points.
The Deathly Hallows continually feeds us a feeling of desolation as Harry, Ron and Hermoine fail to discover a way to destroy the horcruxes; they seem to be making no progress towards defeating the Dark Lord, but as an effect the movie seems to be making no progress towards an ending.
Performances were fine, effects were impressive, and best of all, nothing dastardly was done to J.K. Rowling's story.The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is a nice improvement and a fine addition to the Harry Potter series and should serve as a solid emotional base for Part 2 to take off with next year.
With the last few films crafting the level of suspense into a crescendo, where each film augments the impending doom and gloom culminating in the finale seen in The Half Blood Prince, things get a lot worst here from the start, where The Deathly Hallows begins with a grim reminder from the Minister of Magic, before we see Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his ghastly lieutenants plot to take over both realms Muggle or not in quite Fascist terms.Yes you read that right, and what I thought was quite the brilliant stroke of genius to transmit that level of fear and dread into the Potter world through something quite familiar in our world, where there's a takeover of ministries and the installation of past villains who are puppets of the regime, the continued discrimination and probable extermination of the ordinary, non magical Muggles and even the half-breeds against those who are of pure magical blood, and a curious scene where a disguised Potter head inside the undergrounds of the Ministry only to see propaganda being created by the masses in creepy, clockwork like fashion.Everything is doom and gloom with copious amounts of shades, shadows, black and grey (save for Hermione's red dress in one scene), where our heroic trio are quite clueless without their guardian headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) always ready to pull some strings from behind the scenes.
They become the hunted with little allies to rely on, where betrayal seem the norm, almost from within their own circle of trust as well where a major subplot continues to dwell on the suggested romantic/platonic dynamics between Hermione with Harry and Ron, the former sharing a curious dance sequence while on the run, and the latter, well having his worst fear confront his lack of courage to tell Hermione just how he feels for her, well, from how many films ago.So the verdict is whether The Deathly Hallows warranted two films.
My answer is a resounding, definite yes, because there's so much going on in the story, of the relationships and friendships forged over the years, of the closure both good and bad that has to come to the myriad of characters introduced (J.K. Rowling doesn't show a lot of mercy by the way), and not to mention the inherent quest that Harry, Ron and Hermione chose to embark on that has gone beyond just the survival of Harry Potter, and what's more, introduces to us what those Deathly Hallows actually are, which goes just beyond the destruction of the Horcuxes.
Danger lurks at every corner and the narrative spins at breakneck speed, harrowing most times with the frequent close shaves the rookies encounter against their enemies who are growing more powerful by the minute.While the previous films have boasted special effects extravaganzas be it little things to pepper the scene or large battles between wizards and witches, this is kept surprisingly muted in the film since it's swaying on one end of the spectrum with Evil gaining an upper hand, and most of the effects not already something seen before in the earlier Potter films.
But what ultimately leads this film into being the more powerful one, is the strength of the story and how it leads you along the way, building anticipation as we root for positive outcomes as much as possible, with slight comedy punctuating appropriate moments to lift the spirits.Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all share that perfect camaraderie that's been built over the years, it's no wonder that they add that convincing depth and natural realism to their friendship, with an audience that has largely grew up with them as well.
There's no ensemble cast like the one assembled for the Potter franchise, though most of them - Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Bill Nighy, Tom Felton and a long list more - come and go too frequent and too soon, but one hopes the evil Death Eaters do get their spotlight by the time the second installment rolls over.Chris Columbus may have begun the film franchise and made it a large welcome for the young (especially) and old to embrace J.K Rowling's magical world, but I am of the opinion that David Yates inherited the franchise at the right point from The Order of the Phoenix where things required a consistent hand rather than a rotating director's chair, and developed the franchise into what it is today in quite unassuming terms.
This Part 1 ends very well with a sky-splitting final cliffhanger sequence.Its been repeatedly mentioned how the main actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have all grown up in front of our eyes as this movie series unfolded.
In its whole 146-minute run, "Deathly Hallows" follows Harry, Hermione and Ron who are on the run from the MInistry of Magic now controlled by the bald-looking, dangerous, evil Voldemort as well as trying to locate and destroy Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes as explained in "Half-Blood Prince".
Director David Yates I believe has done a fine job so far, however he must have taken the job of directing the final part of the story on the basis he does as he is told by splitting it in 2 and basically filming the book.
I believe the first two Harry Potters are the weakest of the movies as they simply filmed the whole book.
That being said, she deserves a better role than the girl-from-the-first-movie-who-was-really-dorky-that-we-all-think- Harry-is-going-to-sleep-with-by-the-end-of-this-film.I felt bad for all the Potter fans around me.
decided to make this final book into two separate movies but maybe its better this way, it allows the viewers to get the most detail of what happens in the book, and it allows the filmmakers to express the most detail of the final chapter of the Harry Potter series.Overall I really enjoyed the movie, it has a runtime of about 145mins but I went into the theatre and it felt like the movie was about 20min long.
Beginning with an exciting broomstick battle over London which sees surviving members of the Order don Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) face in an attempt to elude the lurking Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), things soon turn gloomy as Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are forced to go solo in the countryside in search of the Dark Lord's remaining Horcruxes.
Certain plot points continue to be hammered home, multiple times, and it makes you feel like the film doesn't think you are smart enough to remember them.Without involving the secondary characters, the film turns out to consist mostly of Harry, Ron and Hermione, one of which ends up being absent for a large chunk of time, searching around various locations for the remaining Horcruxes.
I'm not a Harry Potter fan and I've never read the books, but I have seen all the movies up to now and have been following the unfolding plot.
Here they display the kind of camaraderie that can only be developed gradually, after having acted together in several films, and it makes the scenes that deal with their relationship feel natural and unforced.I actually look forward to seeing the movie again at some point, just so I can sit back and take in more of the details.
Fans have followed the series as the characters, the films, the books, the iconic actors and they themselves have matured bit by wondrous bit, and now they deserve a final stupendous culmination.For those who have never read a word of J.K Rowling's writings, the first half of Voldemort's villainous endeavour to secure a total domination over the wizarding world and its often courageous but mostly desperate opposing struggle to his power is powerfully conveyed.
Directed by David Yates, the best of the Harry Potter directors, it of course stars that lovable trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as well as the brilliant Ralph Fiennes, with Imelda Staunton and Helena Bonham Carter making memorable appearances..
The earlier movies did a good job holding their parts of the book series, but the Deathly Hallows seems to have been slashed into bits and pieces and has not meant my standards whatsoever when it comes to including the magic of the writing from the book itself.There are many parts of the book that were missing in just this first half of the last installment of the movies; the second part I'm afraid is going to end up being just the same way.There was plenty of good graphics and the sequencing was decent, but as I said there was just too much missing for me to enjoy the movie.
Directed by David Yates - HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 1 is the seventh episode in the Harry Potter series and is part one of a two part final conclusion to the story.The film starts with Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) the new Director of the Ministry of Magic telling Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) the details of the lately deceased Albus Dumbledore's (Michael Gambon) last will and testament – along with a warning that due to the resurgence and return of the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and with Dumbledore no longer there to protect them – they are advised that Hogwart's is no longer a safe place for them ...Previous events have determined that the soul of the Dark Lord has been split up and is contained within seven different horcrux objects – in a bid to attain immortality ...
Special mention should be made for the performances of Brendon Gleeson as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange – who both stole every scene that they were in  and the ever consistent Alan Rickman as Severus Snape.There are many twists and turns and highs and lows throughout to keep everyone entertained through to the end  I took my niece along to this showing for her birthday (she being a Harry Potter expert) and she quotes that "this is the best of the series of films so far, and is actually the first to better the associated book"  and this coming from such an ardent fan is high praise indeed  she (and I) were not disappointed and we are very much looking forwards to the final installment which is due out in 2011 HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 1 is 146mins long, is a PG-13 certificate and will be on general release for muggles everywhere from Fri 19th November 2010.
Though the movie is book-ended by some admirably crafted action sequences that effectively immerse us in the far-flung world of wands, potions and evil lords, the middle sags, as Langston Hughes would say, "like a heavy load."Our protagonists' interactions have become increasingly complex as they've aged, and that's pushed to the next level in Deathly Hallows.
Ever since David Yates took over the directing of the Harry Potter series, the film has become uninteresting and surely very confusing as it misses the most crucial messages from the book.
Coming from a person who has not read the books I really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and cannot wait for part 2.
And once David Yates signed on, I began to lose faith in the art of adaptations.The 5th, 6th, and 7th Harry Potter books are my top 3 favourites in the series (not in that order, mind you), and after the butchered story & characters that made up "Order of the Phoenix", I wanted to die.
I was a bit leery seeing the film after how disappointed I have been since David Yates took over the franchise but like any dedicated fan boy, I walked into the theater hoping for the best."Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One" is the beginning of the end of one of the most popular and beloved book/film franchises in history.
In the seventh entry in the film series, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) along with his two best friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Rupert Grint have to fight time and evil as they discover that the three of them have to track down and destroy the missing Horcruxes.
I can't even complain about that!In the end, would I classify "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One" the best film in the franchise?
For being such a redundant and unnecessary movie, they could have invested some minutes in "Previously on Harry Potter", or something like that, in order to have a clearer perspective of the situation and the past events.Of course that that will be unnecessary for the "hardcore" fans who know the seven books by heart and spend hours discussing about the sexual tension between Ron Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange (or similar subjects).And I am sure that those fans will find Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 much more satisfactory than me.But as a casual spectator, I found it to be extremely tedious and repetitive.Besides, the melodrama in this movie feels artificial, while the "comic relief" is not funny at all and the action sequences lack of any emotion or suspense (even though the special effects are very well done).And the least I say about the central mystery between the "horcruxes" and the relics, the better...it does not make too much sense and it sins from the typical "deus-ex-machina" from Rowling.On the positive side, I have to mention that Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint bring solid performances.I think that the biggest problem from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 is that I could never feel a real narrative impulse, or the organic development from a story; I simply found a list of situations and places the film has to visit, but without a genuine cohesion between them.So, in conclusion, I personally found this film to be very boring and unsatisfactory...and if that were not enough, I was left with the impression that this film is nothing more than a financial trick from the executives from Warner Bros.
But there are a couple of things that irked me while watching the new addition to the series.First let me advise anyone who's going to see this movie to watch 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' first, since the story is a direct follow-up of the previous film.
'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)' starts off strong but comes screeching to a halt right after an enthralling sneaky section set inside the ministry of magic, stopping for around an hour with almost nothing happening in terms of plot or character, and it's this section that drags the film down to be perhaps the least successful in the series, tied only with the first.
Overall, i think this film was still good and can see why people like it, but nothing compared to other movies in the series..
I have almost finished my harry potter series an I have just watched the deathly hallows part one and ultimately like it's predecessor the half blood prince it is alright but I believe it is a bit disappointing.
These Harry Potter movies are starting to make me grumpy.Coming out of "Half-Blood Prince," I felt that the filmmakers didn't even try to make the film coherent to people who hadn't already read the book, and that trend continues with the first half of "Deathly Hallows." To make matters worse, all fun and whimsy have been drained out of this story, so not only was I confused, I was also depressed.
So, did they split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two movies for money?