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Reviews
Nature Unleashed: Fire (2004)
This movie deserves no audience
This is the worst movie I have ever seen. The story line is a joke, the effects are terrible, the cinematography doesn't fit the tone of the movie, the dialogue is cheesy, and the actors do a good job at screwing up the rest. People just don't act that way in real life situations. My question is: Who would fund such crap?
The movie starts where some miners fall down a mine shaft after a fireman fails to save them. Next we join some bikers in a forest who ride around doing stunts on their bikes. One guy falls and breaks his leg or something. The fireman arrives to help them. Meanwhile, somebody starts a fire. Some more bike stunts. Bla bla bla.
I wasted my time.
Do not watch this movie.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
The Movie vs The Book
In Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince our heroes (Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley) are portrayed as lovesick teenagers with more serious things to worry about. Again the enemy (the dark Lord Voldemort) has a mole inside the Hogwarts school of magic. One of the people that Albus Dumbledore trusts most makes a secret pact with the enemy to protect this mole.
While all this cloak and dagger stuff is going on, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter uncover the past of Lord Voldemort. More secrets are revealed about Voldemort aka Tom Riddle and Potter and Dumbledore goes on a quest to find one of the Dark Lord's best kept secrets. In the process Harry Potter almost dies fighting off zombies in a dark, wet and very scary cave.
Here I must admit that I almost had to clean my seat. Scary as hell...
This latest Harry Potter movie is an action packed thrill-ride and had me (a thirty three year old male) chewing my nails, laughing out loud and crying like a girl. I think it is probably the best Potter film yet.
I suppose some Potter fans who read the book will be somewhat disappointed. The screenwriters definitely cut a few large chunks from the original story and some scenes were completely changed! In addition, if this is the first ever Potter movie you plan to see you may end up not having the foggiest idea what the hell it's all about!
You absolutely have to watch the first few Potter movies to know what's going on in this movie. And if you REALLY want to enjoy this movie, stay away from the book at all costs! You will only spoil it for yourself. Rather read the book after the movie. You will certainly appreciate the book even more that way.
I did however read all the Harry Potter books prior to this movie and watched all the movies up to date, and although this movie did leave out a few chapters that I would have loved to see on the big screen (Snape attempting to teach Potter to do silent spell casting in Defence Against the Dark Arts class), this movie did impress me more than any of the previous Potter movies.
Most of all, the acting was a lot better. Especially Alan Rickman impressed me tremendously as Snape on the scene where he made the unbreakable vow. Jim Broadbent was also a pleasure to watch as professor Slughorn.
Of the children, I would have to say that Emma Watson (Hermoine Granger), and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) delivered the best performances. Although I wouldn't say that their performances warrant Oscars, they did quite well for kids. Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasly) also deserve some mention, but only because she actually learned to act a bit. In the previous movies she was more of a cardboard character.
I was also impressed by the performances of the two kids who played Tom Riddle at age 11 (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin) and 16 (Frank Dillane). If I saw a kid behaving like that in real life, I would either try to kill him in his sleep or run for my life!
Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe? Well, in the previous Potter movies, I always thought that Rupert was a bit of a better actor than Daniel. I never liked those funny twitches Daniel used to make with his mouth to simulate emotion. However, in this movie the three main characters (played by Daniel, Rupert and Emma) played nicely off each other. Obviously they have played opposite each other in a few other Potter movies, so it would only make sense that their on-screen chemistry should improve over time.
I know that the movie does not come close to the book, but should the book really be the instrument of measurement? Admitedly, a movie and a book are two different mediums. The book was a whopper packed with scenes and scenarios, and I do not think one can honestly expect a scriptwriter to include every little detail in the movie.
Let's face it. A script is a few pages long. This book was an action packed read with a fresh plot-twist every second page! The book had everything plus the kitchen sink in it! You simply cannot fit it all into one movie.
All in all, I think the movie was darn good and worth the wait. The final two movies will really have to be good to top this one. I will not be surprised if Halfblood Prince gets a few nominations.
Harry Potter rules!