Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Pure-Blood Edition

spelledaren dec 8 2011

There was a lot to like about this. I too thought that this was the worst of the series, and was very happy to find a well rated edit of it here.

This edit is more focused on the plot that matters, something that got lost somehow. It’s Draco and the half-blood Prince. Sadly, there isn’t enough about the half-blood Prince, and I assume that no deleted scenes could help with this. Snape’s revelation at the end is still horribly off and weird as the movie hasn’t properly built up to it. I was severly dismayed by this lost opportunity in the theatre, and I still think it misses out. But that’s a fault of the movie – not the editing.

I liked nearly every change.
Something I did not like was video quality. There wasn’t a DVD avilable, will there be at some point? To make things even worse I watched Northwest Passage right after this, and it has amazing video.

All in all I recommend this, it is better than the version shown in theatres, but could use some extra finishing. With focus on the editing and editing ideas I rate this 8/10.

Update sep 7 2012

Added ratings for the categories.

foolsfollowing jun 23 2011

This is a definate improvement on what I consider to be the worst installment in the series (its critical acclaim absolutely boggles me). The film in its original form is a real mess, a lot of badly edited, randomly connected scenes. It lacks the claustrophobic atmosphere of the book, has no clear narrative, and includes a lot of horribly acted scenes with cringe-worthy dialogue.

While I think this edit could use a little more work, on the whole this is very good. I will mention the edits as I noticed them and what I thought did and didn’t work.

The opening credits – The moving of the London attack is a very good idea, it serves no purpose in the film at this point. Putting it in later with the snatching of Olivander works well. Opening with Belatrix and Snape is much better as it directly links to the films plot, and resembles the opening of Goblet of Fire. However, the mixing of the scenes of Harry being photographed (immediately following the end of the last film) with the titles was quite messy in my opinion. I went back and watched the original version which runs much smoother, I don’t really see the point in this edit, it is unnecessarily jarring.

The waitress scene was awful and the film is better without it. The cut is slightly off, as you see the waitress arrive in the top half of the frame then the scene changes, I’m not sure if those last few seconds of the scene are removable.

You removed Harry being apparated into the lake at the burrow, but now Harry emerges from the water for no clear reason. If you are going to start the scene here I think you need to show why Harry is in the Weasley’s lake by himself in the middle of the night. However, this scene is immediately followed by probably the worst scene in the film: the really wooden staircase scene which is played for laughs and completely unnecessary. If you included an establishing shot and then cut straight to Harry talking to Ron and Hermione, you would avoid both the bizarre lake scene and the horrible staircase scene.

Cutting the darkness powder was an excellent idea. Firstly it trims down the joke shop scene which is nice but goes on too long, secondly the scene on the train is much, much better now. The awkward way in which Harry infiltrates the carriage is pretty dumb in my opinion, the way its cut now actually makes Harry seem quite savvy (for a change) and suggests he is becoming smarter as he ages (as the original films portray it, all the characters actually grow stupider as the series continues).

Bad scenes which I’m glad you cut: Dumbledore talking about Harry and Hermione; its creepy and pure exposition of something we already knew. Cormac and Hermione during Quidditch, played for laughs, but too over the top. In general the cutting of the ‘love’ scenes is excellent, the film is considerably better without them. Perhaps the best editing in the film is the way you cut Harry and Ginny’s scene at the burrow, removing the horrible shoelace scene and intercutting it with the attack. You suggest that something is occuring between them, but leave it to our imagination, something the HP films have often failed at.

The restored deleted scenes are good.

The fade to black after Dumbledore’s funeral was a bit jarring. I like the idea, but the timing’s not quite right and it felt unnatural.

The film’s original ending isn’t great, but I don’t think your editions here help. The final line of “I never realised how beautiful this place is” is a pretty bad line to finish the film on and I would personally cut it, however the final shots of Fawks flying away quite poigniant. I did not like your restoration of Ginny waiting in the Common Room, it feels unnecessary and is like the start of a new scene. We dont need to see that Ginny is waiting for him, and I think the better emphasis would be Fawks’ final flight.

Frankly, David Yates is an awful director and Mark Day is a terrible editor. They have absolutely no understanding of film language, and the continuity in this HP film and its predecessor is a total mess. (The use of greenscreen is equally bad… the basilisk fight in Chamber of Secrets looked better than the cave scenes in Half Blood Prince or the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix) As such, there is a limit to how far this film can be improved by editing. This is still a significant improvement; though I still consider this to be the worst film in the series, its at least rougly on equal par with the others now. I would suggest a bit more tinkering could improve this film even more.

I mentioned in another thread that I would love to see the first two Harry Potter films combined into a single movie, and I hope Shortround24 gets a chance to give that a go at some future time. For now, I give this edit an 8/10

neglify aug 7 2012

(I watched and rated this in Jan 2012 but never left a review. I no longer have this edit and it’s offline. I don’t remember everything 100% so forgive me.)

This was quite entertaining but the video looked very squashed. I’ve always had a sore spot for HP6 the movie and this edit made it better, but it’s still a movie I wouldn’t revisit unless I was doing an HP marathon.

FANEDIT RATING – 7.5 (rounded up to 8)
Audio/Video Quality – 5
Visual Editing – 9
Audio Editing – 9
Degree of Editing – 7

(NOTE: “Degree of Editing” is a 100% arbitrary rating that I keep in mind when reviewing edits. This is not meant to insinuate that a faneditor is lazy or not. Some fanedits require a lot more work than others and I take this into account.)

MOVIE RATING – 8
Narrative – 8
Enjoyment – 7

OVERALL RATING – 8

steelio2006 feb 10 2011

Yesterday, I finally had the chance to sit down and watch this. I’m a fan of the books and enjoy the movies. My fiancee, however, is more of a huge fan of the books and enjoys the movies. When I sat down to watch this in the theater originally I was expecting a lot more. Which, imo, the big thing that I thought detracted from the film originally was all the love storylines. It seemed like the darker tone took a bit of a back seat and was more subtle.

I am happy to say that this is definitely my go-to version of the Half Blood Prince. I enjoyed this version so much more than when I originally saw it. Some of the stuff that I deemed fluff is gone. (Harry flirting with the waitress, etc.) This actually makes the film (imo) the Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter franchise. (actually, it’d be Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, HBP, DH Pt. 1 all make the Empire Strikes back portion if you were going direct analogy to the SW)

A lot of the cuts I actually hadn’t noticed til I came back to the thread and took a gander at the cutlist. The pace of the movie flows well. I enjoyed the fact that it seemed to move a brisker pace. It reminded me more of how the first Harry Potter was. For the time while I was watching this, I was transported back to my 7th grade self. (Which was the year when the first Harry Potter came out) This actually reinvigorated my sense of awe and wonder and made me reignite the passion I had for the series before.

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone that wasn’t happy with HBP when it came out in theaters originally. Like I said before, it moves a brisker pace. I didn’t mind the fluff being removed. It strengthens the characters and their storylines. (Also, kudos for making the Harry-Ginny relationship seem more natural. Unlike the original version, where it seemed like they were hitting you over the head and forcing the two characters together, imo. Also enjoyed the deleted scene that was restored. Dunno why it was cut out of the film originally.)

Recommendation: Highly recommended. And Two Thumbs Up.

p3jedi feb 25 2011

*This rating was given before reviews were required*