Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 3)
W**V
Again, simply the best
As I said in my review of the second film, the real problem with Chris Columbus was not that he tried to be faithful to the books, it was that he didn't have the talent to pull it off. So after enduring the crappy 2nd film (which managed to be worse than the book, which itself was not too good), the Potter film franchise is given a much needed shot in the arm thanks to hiring of a real director, Alfonso Cuaron, who, despite still being saddled with that idiot screenwriter Steve Kloves, succeeds where Columbus would have fallen flat on his face.Perhaps we shouldn't be surprise that the best of Rowling's books proved to be the best of the films.Which is not to say that the film is not without flaws. The films continue to pointlessly butcher Ron into a stupid, cry baby coward instead of portraying him as the loyal, funny, protective friend that he was in the books, and Rupert Grint's inability to act doesn't help. Exactly why the filmmakers feel they must ruin Ron, and why JK herself allows them to ruin Ron, is unclear. While the original book showed Ron defending Hermione from Snape and, in one of his all time greatest moments, stood up the an alleged killer declaring that he would have to be killed as well if it meant defending Harry, but the first moment is changed to Ron agreeing with Snape after Snape insulted Hermione - which makes no sense following previous events that would have him growing more protective of her, not less, and also screws with the so called romance brewing between them. And who gets to say "If you want to kill Harr you'll have to kill us too!"? Hermione! That's right, once again, Kloves screws Ron while blowing Hermione way out of proportion, apparently unaware that he is ruining the balance between the trio and making it impossible to believe that Ron and Hermione have romantic feelings for each other. The films never portray Hermione and Ron as having a bond that is developing beyond friendship, and despite so called "extra hints" that "foreshadow" their love, Ron and Hermione merely come off as two stupid brats who want nothing to do with each other while lacking the romantic undercurrent that charged up the sparks between Hepburn & Tracy as well as Han Solo & Princess Leia. Do you think that Princess Leia would have fallen in love with Han Solo if Han constantly acted like a stupid, effeminate, inarticulate, weak willed coward who's scared of everything - including his own shadow? Hell no. Han wasn't always gallant, but he was never stupid nor cowardly; he also had the guts and the quick thinking, which in the end is what drew Leia to him. While he's not exactly Beowulf or Hercules, or even Aquaman, what is supposed to make Ron redeeming to Hermione is that he's clearly not as dumb as he occasionally appears to be and he's clearly a brave guy, otherwise, he wouldn't have landed in Gryffindor along with the rest of his family. Sadly, it appears that none of the filmmakers involved here, not even Alfonso Cuaron, easily the best of them, really understand that, and they apparently have no idea of how to portray the relationship between Ron and Hermione; they just expect the audience to go along with it figuring that most of them have read the books, so they put little to no effort into making it believable. They don't even try to include the moments that JK Rowling herself used to demonstrate the ever changing relationship with Hermione & Ron; in fact, they have the nerve to throw out those moments and come up with their own crap, but their crap only comes out as superficial and insincere. Meanwhile, Hermione, as played by Emma Watson, continues to move away from the bookworm we knew in the novel to a shallow, "so cool & charming she's girl power" twit. (Since when does Hermione cackle at Ron, fret over her hair, wear a pink hoodie with a rainbow belt, has the strength of Rocky Balboa that allows her to punch Draco down rather than just slap him, and show up looking dirty blonde instead of frizzy brown?).Ron deserved better.Adding insult to injury, while it may not have been intentional on the part of the filmmakers, is that Hermione and Harry, who are presented as sharper and more focused, which is somewhat true even in the books, come across as having much more chemistry between the two of them than Hermione does with Ron, and at the end, they are even shown mocking him, once again throwing the balance of the trio out of whack because we don't see that Hermione also has a tendency to annoy Harry even though they're friends. Maybe Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe just have a natural chemistry with each other, but this also screws with the audiences because the film versions of Hermione & Harry seem to play so well off each other that it seems they are the ones destined to be together, as opposed to Hermione being with Ron (this will also make it even more difficult when trying to sell the audience on the concept of Harry's future romance with Ginny in "Half-Blood Prince"). When Hermione reaches out to a distraught Harry at Hogsmeade and flashes her big brown eyes to him, while Ron keeps his distance, you half expect Hermione to embrace Harry and give him a kiss. When Harry and Hermione are alone in the Forbidden Forest, you half expect Harry to rip Hermione's clothes off and make love to her (their lovemaking would probably be spoiled by the arrival of either the Lupin wolf or the Dementors). I know this probably wasn't intentional, but the filmmakers don't seem to understand that they're giving off the wrong impression to audiences.Despite these unfortunate changes, star Daniel Radcliffe finally begins to show us just how good an actor he's becoming - he's easily the best of the three, striking the right balance between his serious and light hearted moments without going over the top like his co-stars. Radcliffe works very well with both David Thewlis, in the role of Lupin, and Gary Oldman, in the role of Sirius Black. It's too bad that Radcliffe was not given more of a chance to interact with the new Dumbledore, Michael Gambon, a fellow Irishman chosen to the replace the late Richard Harris, who's life & career sadly ended with the last clunker.Cuaron's stronger sense of pacing and visual narrative along with characterization also become apparent in his handling of the action pieces and atmospheric moments of fear. I sincerely hope that he returns to direct either the sixth or seventh installment.
L**O
Things get darker for Harry Potter and his fans in this one,
All I remembered about J.K. Rowling's novel "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" when I watched the movie was who Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) was in the Harry Potter world. Of course, it is hard not to remember that given the climax of the fifth book. But it is actually the fourth book that comes to mind because that was the novel where Rowling warned that things start to got significantly darker for our hero and it is clear that director Alfonso Cuarón has already sent the series off in that direction. Part of the look is visual, with Michael Seresin's cinematography given the old Hogwarts a new look, but there is also the fact that this is the shortest Harry Potter movie to date although each novel has been longer than its predecessors. Screenwriter Steve Kloves has streamlined the story so that the focus is on Harry dealing with the truth about how his parents were betrayed by a friend and sent to their deaths.There are not too many series were the main characters are children played by actors who are growing up as well (the norm is to just forget about the kids in the sequels, like they did in the "Jurassic Park" series), which also us a sense of how things look different. On the way back to his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) learns that Black has escaped from the infamous wizard's prison at Azkaban and that the vile Dementors, the scariest things we have seen to date, who guard the prison are now watching the gates of the school because Harry is his target. The "why" is even worse for Harry than the idea that there is once again somebody out there trying to kill him.Of course there is a new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin (David Thewlis), who appears to like Harry; but you never can trust anybody in that particular post. The kids are also taking Divinations, which introduces them to Professor Sybil Trelawney (scene stealing Emma Thompson) and their friend Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) will actually be teaching the Care of Magical Creatures class. Those two are in on the primary action this time around, which leaves precious little time for Profesor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) to do anything, although as always we treasure every moment with Professor Snape (Alan Rickamn slowly milking the role of a lifetime for everything it is worth).The best part of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is that in the climax (or should I say climaxes) right by Harry's side is Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), making sure there is one person who is up to speed on what is happening (at least as much as is possible given the massive plot complications in this one). Harry might have the raw talent, but Hermione has the smarts and this time she has ample opportunity to use them. There is no reason at this point to consider replacing any of the actors in the cast, young or old, except for the cold hard reality that has Michael Gambon now playing Albus Dumbledore. If it is all fixed, don't break it.But above all this one comes back to Rowlings, her story, and her characters. Learning magic is not easy and Harry still does not really understand that he is going to be a great wizard, mainly because he is too busy being angry at the world (and he will get a lot angrier in the next couple of movies). This is a story about second chances and not just for Harry (think about it). "Prisoner of Azkaban" is the least interesting of the three films, and the five books for that matter, in terms of the larger story, especially since what is being set up here is rally being done so Rowling can take it away. But if there is one thing that Cuarón convinces us with this film, it is that this is not a kid's story anymore, even if that was how Chris Columbus played it in the first two movies.Where the franchise needs to be careful is that this film has reduced both Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to comic relief caricatures. Ron, who was so brave at the end of the first film, now gets to shake for fear at the drop of a hat so that we can laugh at him. The film suggests that Ron and Hermione are fated to pair up, but if he keeps acting like this she will have nothing to do with him. Meanwhile, Malfoy acts like a bully without doing anything particularly mean. At this point the difference between Malfoy and his henchboys Crabbe and Goyle is that Draco speaks, but then he usually ends up whining and running away. Yes, replacing a slap with a punch is an interesting upgrade from the book, but then the book sets it up as a small moment of satisfaction against Malfoy's war against Harry; the film treats it more as an element to be played out by the numbers. "Prisoner of Azkaban" ups the ante on the Harry Potter series, and all of the characters need to put all of their chips on the table from here on in.
S**S
Like
like
R**R
Great film
Replaced our old copy ........ worn out from watching too many times
A**E
Très bon DVD proposer en VF 👍
Je ne regrette pas d’avoir acheté ce éviterCar en effet je pouvais me méfiercar sur la jaquette rien n’est écrit en français,Mais personnellement lorsque je l’ai misdans mon lecteur,il y avait plusieurs langues proposéesy compris le françaisdonc je suis satisfait de mon achat 😊
J**J
ハリポタファンなら必携帯
ストーリーは書きませんが、ハリポタファンなら何度見ても飽きません。
J**Z
Me encanta Harry Potter
A llegado muy rápido.Lo quiero ver tranquilamente el fin de semana
F**T
Bon produit
Bon produit est en v f
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