Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I didn't even notice him in the first two.

[MSM 126]

The biggest discontinuity is the switch of Dumbledores, which was unhappily necessary, but why they did allow Gambon to change the costume as well puzzles me. I mean, if due to the cicumstances main character has to be portrayed by a different actor, I at least would make sure everything else stays the same.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

But that's the point, everything else didn't stay the same in PoA. There were so many design changes (mostly for the better, IMHO), why would they keep just Dumbledore's outfit the same just on principle?

By the way, the Dumbledore that comes closest to my imagination from the books would look very much like Harris (in PS), but with the character and behavior of Gambon (save for some uncharacteristic actions in GoF).

[Samuel Walters 0]

Yeah, Gambon was waaay too emotive in GoF. It's like he had a bad case of wand rage or something. I did like his performances in PoA and HBP, though.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,498]

I still miss Richard Harris.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Richard Harris was the man!

[Jeff 10]

By the way, the Dumbledore that comes closest to my imagination from the books would look very much like Harris (in PS), but with the character and behavior of Gambon (save for some uncharacteristic actions in GoF).

That's how I feel, except I think the Richard Harris worked better in SS and CoS because the mood required a more tender, infallible, and quiet Dumbledore. Overall, I wouldn't change anything about Dumbledore in any of the films except those moments you referred to in GoF.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

He's fantastic in Orca.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Datameister 2,037]

Richard Harris definitely looked the part more than Michael Gambon. Sometimes Gambon brings a certain warm mischief to the character (e.g. "Did what? Good night." in POA), and I think that was rather lacking from Harris's more serious approach, but he's also had some pretty bad moments like those mentioned above. The Dumbledore I imagine in the books kinda has the best of both worlds, while looking and sounding a little less ancient than Harris did. For some reason, I always imagined him with a certain sort of youthfulness behind all the wrinkles and silver hair, which isn't something I usually detect in either actor's performance.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I always thought Patrick Stewart would have been the perfect Dumbledore.

Somebody should get the man a role in the last film! For fucks sake he's the last standing Brit not in the movies!

[Jeff 10]

I always thought Patrick Stewart would have been the perfect Dumbledore.

Somebody should get the man a role in the last film! For f**** sake he's the last standing Brit not in the movies!

Actually, I think you're right. However, he is too well known for his characters in Star Trek and X-Men - it would be like having Captain Picard as Dumbledore.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Yeah but in all that make up?

[Charlie Brigden 7]

it would be like having Captain Picard as Dumbledore.

That would be the best thing ever.

[Jeff 10]

Yeah but in all that make up?

At least for me, it would be hard to shake the image. And I don't even watch Star Trek.

[Datameister 2,037]

Same here. Talented actor, but it'd be tough to accept him as Dumbledore.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

This is true, but I remember most people said that about Heath Ledger.

[Datameister 2,037]

I was thinking the same thing. Then again, his roles weren't so iconic...he didn't have such a distinctive delivery in his other films. But who knows...

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I was thinking the same thing. Then again, his roles weren't so iconic...he didn't have such a distinctive delivery in his other films. But who knows...

True! But it's all academic. Which is good as I've been a fan of Gambon since long before HP, and I like his Dumbledore.

[Marian Schedenig 8,174]

This is true, but I remember most people said that about Heath Ledger.

I'd still find it tough to accept him as Dumbledore.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

This is true, but I remember most people said that about Heath Ledger.

I'd still find it tough to accept him as Dumbledore.

Well, at least he has something in common with one of the Dumbledores

[John Crichton 4]

Richard Harris was wonderful in the first movie, still the definitive Dumbledore IMO. But you can tell he's ill in CoS.

[Datameister 2,037]

Yeah, you can.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,498]

He's fantastic in Orca.

He's even better in Lindsay Anderson's "This Sporting Life", and Jim Sheridan's "The Field". Mind you, no-one could save "The Cassandra Crossing"...

[Charlie Brigden 7]

He's fantastic in Orca.

He's even better in Lindsay Anderson's "This Sporting Life", and Jim Sheridan's "The Field". Mind you, no-one could save "The Cassandra Crossing"...

Jerry Goldsmith could! Well, maybe, I've never actually seen it...

He was fucking brilliant as English Bob in Unforgiven as well.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,498]

Be assured, oh Charlie: the score is EASILY the best thing about it. The second best bit is the bit where it says "The characters, and events in this film are entirely..."

[Marian Schedenig 8,174]

I actually liked Cassandra Crossing...

Richard Harris was wonderful in the first movie, still the definitive Dumbledore IMO. But you can tell he's ill in CoS.

As much as I like him in Philosopher's Stone, I just couldn't picture that version of Dumbledore in HBP.

[King Mark 3,625]

meh,both Dumbledores are fine

He could also have been played by that guy who played Gandalf and it would have been fine too

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I only liked the new Dumbledore in Half Blood Prince. In the other ones, he just seemed kind of insane or drunk...or both.

[joelparnis 0]

HBP was the first time the writing, direction and acting of Dumbledore felt right to me.

I blame Mike Newell for GoF Dumbledore: everyone in that film was yelling a little more than necessary. The portrayal of Voldemort (while not so bad in GoF) has really improved under David Yates' vision aswell, as it seems like Newell liked the majority of his actors to deliver lines very much like THEY WERE REALLY REALLY ANGRY all of a sudden, throughout many of the scenes THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE FILM!!!!!!!!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

HBP was the first time the writing, direction and acting of Dumbledore felt right to me.

I blame Mike Newell for GoF Dumbledore: everyone in that film was yelling a little more than necessary. The portrayal of Voldemort (while not so bad in GoF) has really improved under David Yates' vision aswell, as it seems like Newell liked the majority of his actors to deliver lines very much like THEY WERE REALLY REALLY ANGRY all of a sudden, throughout many of the scenes THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE FILM!!!!!!!!

"HARRY! DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRREEE?!"

"Ahh! No, sir! Don't kill me!"

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

[mrbellamy 6,272]

I only liked the new Dumbledore in Half Blood Prince. In the other ones, he just seemed kind of insane or drunk...or both.

To be fair, though, Dumbledore is frequently described as being "not all there" in the books, which is why it was kind of shocking to actually see him become a man of action, despite the fact that he was so respected. I have a much easier time imagining Gambon's Dumbledore starting off his opening speech with "Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!", or breaking off in the middle of it to tell a joke he heard over the summer to the Weasley twins.

[Datameister 2,037]

Exactly - Gambon is better at that sort of thing than Harris was, but...well, that hilarious image points out what he's not so good at.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Had the character of Dumbledore been played (and written) like in PS/CoS throughout the series, Dumbledore's killing would have been far more upsetting than it played out in HBP.

I can see a man of action like Gambon gettiing killed; but Harris?

[fommes 153]

What bothers me much more about Dumbledore in the films is the way he's adapted: he never does anything useful in the films, and we never really see why he's a great wizard (except for that one escape from the minister, but that was brief and largely irrelevant), not even in Half-Blood Prince.

1) they cut all his explanations to Harry from the films, where it is clear that he's got masterplans and much better views on situations than you'd expect. All he does in the films is being absent when the moment of action has come or when he's needed.

2) even in the HBP action, he's pretty passive, and only undergoes Voldemort's magic. I think they made a huge error by cutting out the moment in the Order of the Phoenix novel when Dumbledore arrives and with a single motion gets all the bad guys. You're never really in awe in the films why he's a great wizard; and his passiveness in HBP makes people not caring about his death.

[crocodile 7,984]

Had the character of Dumbledore been played (and written) like in PS/CoS throughout the series, Dumbledore's killing would have been far more upsetting than it played out in HBP.

I can see a man of action like Gambon gettiing killed; but Harris?

What bothers me much more about Dumbledore in the films is the way he's adapted: he never does anything useful in the films, and we never really see why he's a great wizard (except for that one escape from the minister, but that was brief and largely irrelevant), not even in Half-Blood Prince.

1) they cut all his explanations to Harry from the films, where it is clear that he's got masterplans and much better views on situations than you'd expect. All he does in the films is being absent when the moment of action has come or when he's needed.

2) even in the HBP action, he's pretty passive, and only undergoes Voldemort's magic. I think they made a huge error by cutting out the moment in the Order of the Phoenix novel when Dumbledore arrives and with a single motion gets all the bad guys. You're never really in awe in the films why he's a great wizard; and his passiveness in HBP makes people not caring about his death.

Interesting observations. I agree.

Karol

[Samuel Walters 0]

Everything about Dumbledore's death -- his plea to Severus, his arm-flailing fall, the music -- in HBP was just plain off ... very anticlimactic. And for the most part, I like both the HBP film and score.

[Wojo 2,453]

Had the character of Dumbledore been played (and written) like in PS/CoS throughout the series, Dumbledore's killing would have been far more upsetting than it played out in HBP.

I can see a man of action like Gambon gettiing killed; but Harris?

What would you have wanted to see a Richard Harris Dumbledore do at the end of The Half-Blood Prince? Hunt down Voldemort with an army of Order members, show him his withered hand, and demand that he fix it "or else?"

[davros72 1]

I felt Gambon's Dumbledore was portrayed too much like an old woman. Especially in his movements, and most particularly the way he'd walk around holding part of his robe, like he was a woman holding her skirt so it didn't drag on the ground. Really annoyed me. There's more but that's the big one that jumps to mind. He seemed to do it less and less in the last couple of films but by then I didn't care for him as Dumbledore.

[crocodile 7,984]

I liked him, but whenever I see him on screen it reminds me of Sleepy Hollow.

Karol

[davros72 1]

I liked him, but whenever I see him on screen it reminds me of Sleepy Hollow.

Karol

The clips of him from the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special remind me of Sleepy Hollow.

[mrbellamy 6,272]

Had the character of Dumbledore been played (and written) like in PS/CoS throughout the series, Dumbledore's killing would have been far more upsetting than it played out in HBP.

I can see a man of action like Gambon gettiing killed; but Harris?

I agree, but I think the main problem I had with the death was that we just never really got much of a connection between Harry and Dumbledore in the films. For some reason, after the first two, they completely did away with the grandfatherly relationship Dumbledore had with Harry, and the scenes with Dumbledore (aside from maybe the end of GOF and that little "Trust me" exchange on the Astronomy Tower) usually just consisted of him impersonally dispelling information, with maybe a quirky one-liner here or there. I saw an interview when HBP came out where David Yates, Daniel Radcliffe, and Michael Gambon described the Harry/Dumbledore relationship as being similar to that of a general and a soldier, and I think that was the wrong way to go about it. It was a good decision to translate that "man of action" side of Dumbledore, but the sympathetic angle shouldn't have had to suffer because of it.

[Jay 37,287]

Great observations, sir

[gkgyver 1,645]

I knew the Harry/Dumbledore relationship was going down the drain after the horrible "aftermath" in OotP in Dumbledore's office. That shot of Harry and Dumbledore sitting in front of each other, reading dull lines. Unaffecting, cold, rushed, senseless, and almost off the point.

Particulary lame I find the moment in HBP when Dumbledore asks Harry whether or not he's lip-locking with Hermione. And it doesn't make sense either; what is it, Dumbledore didn't realise for 5 years that Harry pretty much only hangs around with Hermione (and Ron)?

[MSM 126]

I always thought Patrick Stewart would have been the perfect Dumbledore.

Somebody should get the man a role in the last film! For f**** sake he's the last standing Brit not in the movies!

Actually, I think you're right. However, he is too well known for his characters in Star Trek and X-Men - it would be like having Captain Picard as Dumbledore.

I feel Peter O'Toole would have been the only suitable replacement for Richard Harris as Dumbledore.

[davros72 1]

I feel Peter O'Toole would have been the only suitable replacement for Richard Harris as Dumbledore.

Oh, that would've been brilliant! Wow. Just imagine that...

[Wojo 2,453]

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

And damn, she is hot! She started looking beautiful on POA, already...