12 Huge Problems With Harry Potter Movies Nobody Admits
No franchise is perfect, but some of these problems could have easily been avoided...
Transcript
00:00 Maybe the most remarkable thing about the Harry Potter movies is how consistently good
00:04 they are.
00:05 With any lengthy series, however, there are going to be problems here and there.
00:09 Some of these issues or lapses in logic are well known, but others, big or small, don't
00:13 really get any attention.
00:15 With that in mind, I'm Will Fort Culture and here are 12 Problems With The Harry Potter
00:19 Movies Nobody Admits.
00:21 12.
00:22 Harry, Ron and Hermione's Midnight Stroll - The Philosopher's Stone
00:25 Every Hogwarts student knows they are forbidden to roam around the school at night, and as
00:29 such Harry usually wears his invisibility cloak during his many night time adventures
00:34 around the castle.
00:35 However, after being introduced to Hagrid's new pet, a dragon named Norbert, the main
00:40 trio stroll back through the castle in the dead of night without a care in the world.
00:44 They don't even bother to keep their voices down as they head back to Gryffindor Tower,
00:48 and Harry also conveniently forgets his father's invisibility cloak.
00:52 If Harry, Ron and Hermione had been more cautious during this scene, it would have been a lot
00:56 more believable.
00:57 It doesn't ruin the plot of the movie or anything, but it's still rather odd that
01:01 the filmmakers didn't recognise this rather obvious blunder.
01:04 11.
01:05 Voldemort's Death - The Deathly Hallows Part 2
01:08 The Dark Lord's death is strange, to say the least.
01:11 The terrific exchange between Harry and Voldemort written by J.K.
01:14 Rowling is replaced with an entertaining, if rather cheesy, action sequence which ends
01:18 with the two characters locked in battle.
01:21 This is all perfectly fine, but Voldemort's demise makes no sense whatsoever.
01:25 After Harry claims his opponent's wand, the Dark Lord starts to deteriorate.
01:29 His body crumbles into an ash-like substance which floats away into the sky.
01:33 The only possible explanation is that Voldemort was so dehumanised that he wasn't able to
01:38 die normally.
01:39 Regardless of why the filmmakers thought this was an acceptable way to finish the Dark Lord,
01:43 it would have been much more striking if his body had remained intact and Harry was forced
01:48 to look at the lifeless form of his arch-nemesis.
01:50 10.
01:51 Percy's Estrangement - The Order of the Phoenix
01:55 Percy Weasley is probably the least popular member of the Weasley family, and this is
01:59 understandable.
02:00 He's pompous, annoyingly ambitious and obsessed with following rules.
02:04 Percy occasionally makes an appearance in the first three movies, but in The Goblet
02:07 of Fire he simply disappears from the story.
02:10 In The Order of the Phoenix, he has no dialogue, but he does crop up regularly alongside Cornelius
02:14 Fudge.
02:15 The issue is that there's no explanation given about Percy's transformation from
02:19 a loyal member of the Weasley family into the minister's assistant.
02:23 We're supposed to just accept that he's sided with the corrupt politicians.
02:27 In the books it's actually explained, but in the films we get nothing.
02:31 9.
02:32 Harry's First Quidditch Match - The Philosopher's Stone
02:35 Madame Hooch might be the worst referee in the history of magical games and sports.
02:39 She starts Harry's first Quidditch match with a blow from her whistle and then disappears
02:43 for the rest of the game.
02:45 The Slytherin's tactics are barbaric, to say the least.
02:48 Oliver Wood is walloped with a bludger and Angelina Johnson is forced into the stands
02:52 by two of her opponents.
02:54 Both of them are rendered unconscious and yet Madame Hooch does absolutely nothing in
02:57 response to these illegal actions.
03:00 While the violence of the Slytherin team is rather amusing, they really shouldn't have
03:04 been allowed to get away with it.
03:05 Their actions are totally illegal in the context of the sport, yet for whatever reason, neither
03:10 Madame Hooch nor any of the other teachers did anything to stop them.
03:14 8.
03:15 Lumos Maxima - The Prisoner of Azkaban
03:18 Most Harry Potter fans agree that The Prisoner of Azkaban is the best movie in the franchise.
03:22 Unfortunately, this terrific film doesn't get off to a particularly good start.
03:26 Just before the opening titles, the camera zooms into Harry's bedroom and we see him
03:30 underneath the covers with his schoolwork.
03:32 In order to see what he's doing, he uses the incantation Lumos Maxima.
03:37 Yet even a casual Harry Potter fan could tell you that the use of underage magic outside
03:41 of school is forbidden.
03:43 In fact, in the previous movie, Harry was given a severe warning by the ministry just
03:47 because Dobby performed a hover charm in the Dursley's living room.
03:51 It's a fun scene and a good demonstration of the Dursley's dislike of magic, but it
03:55 also contradicts all the established rules of the universe for very little payoff.
04:00 7.
04:01 Snape and the Prophecy - The Half-Blood Prince/The Deathly Hallows
04:05 One of the more overlooked chapters in the Harry Potter series is the Seer Overheard.
04:10 In this chapter, Harry learns from Professor Trelawney that it was Snape who told Voldemort
04:14 about the prophecy.
04:15 In the movies, on the other hand, this significant piece of information is simply left out.
04:19 And while Snape's memories are adapted relatively well, they lack that extra emotional punch.
04:25 In Rowling's version, Snape feels responsible for Lily's death because his information
04:29 led Voldemort to hunt down the Potters.
04:32 In other words, he's dealing with guilt as well as loss.
04:35 This is a key aspect of why he agrees to protect Harry.
04:38 He's redeeming himself while simultaneously making sure Lily did not die in vain.
04:43 6.
04:44 Helena Ravenclaw and the Location of the Diadem - The Deathly Hallows Part 2
04:49 Toward the end of the second part of The Deathly Hallows, Helena Ravenclaw tells Harry the
04:53 Diadem is located in "the place where everything is hidden, the Room of Requirements".
04:59 But how would she know this?
05:00 It's very unlikely that Voldemort told her because he was so protective over his horcruxes.
05:06 The book version of events, though more complex, is much more satisfactory.
05:10 Back in The Half-Blood Prince, Harry is shown a memory which involves Tom Riddle asking
05:14 Dumbledore for a job.
05:15 Later on, Harry hides his copy of Advanced Potion Making in the Room of Requirements
05:19 and purely by chance, he covers the hiding place with a wig and a tiara to make it more
05:24 distinctive.
05:25 After speaking with Helena during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry comes to the sudden realisation
05:29 that Voldemort hid the Diadem the night he asked Dumbledore for a job and that the tiara
05:34 he'd used to hide his potions book the previous year was in fact the Diadem.
05:39 Granted, there is a fair bit of luck involved with such a revelation, but at least there's
05:42 a reasonable explanation given.
05:44 Whereas in the movie, we're supposed to just accept the fact that Helena knows where
05:48 Voldemort hid her mother's Diadem.
05:51 5.
05:52 Death Eaters Attack the Borough - The Half-Blood Prince
05:55 For those who are not familiar with the sixth Harry Potter novel, Harry's visit to the
05:58 Borough during the Christmas holidays is pretty quiet.
06:01 He discusses his suspicions about Malfoy with Lupin and Mr. Weasley and enjoys the time
06:06 away from the school with the other Weasley kids.
06:08 In the movie adaptation, on the other hand, his holidays are ruined by a random attack
06:12 from Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback.
06:15 The pair of them attempt to destroy the Borough and Harry and Ginny chase them into the surrounding
06:19 countryside.
06:20 Though the scene is fine as a standalone action sequence, it's also completely nonsensical.
06:26 Like most buildings connected with the Order, the Borough was given extra protection, defensive
06:30 spells and enchantments to prevent unwanted visitors from wrecking havoc.
06:34 As such, Bellatrix and Greyback should not have been able to arrive at the Borough, let
06:39 alone destroy it.
06:40 So why didn't Voldemort come himself?
06:42 If the Borough was so easily accessible, it would have been an ideal place to try and
06:47 take Harry whilst he was away from the protection of Dumbledore.
06:50 4.
06:51 Barty Crouch Jr.'s Escape from Azkaban - The Goblet of Fire
06:55 Barty Crouch Jr.'s backstory is fascinating.
06:58 The way Rowling ties together the Quidditch World Cup, the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins
07:02 and the events of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is superb.
07:06 Whilst it would be tricky to cover everything in the movie adaptation, the lack of explanation
07:10 here is unforgivable.
07:12 Harry knows who Barty Crouch Jr. is because of his venture into the Pensieve, but there
07:17 are no details given about how he escaped from Azkaban or how he managed to communicate
07:22 with the Dark Lord.
07:23 To make matters worse, Crouch's fate is left rather ambiguous.
07:27 The implication is that he's sent back to Azkaban.
07:29 But in the book, he has his soul sucked out by Dementors due to the ineptitude of Cornelius
07:34 Fudge.
07:35 This version is much more logical because it explains why he doesn't appear in any
07:39 of the later entries.
07:40 All things considered, the butchering of Crouch's fascinating story was a massive mistake.
07:45 A ten minute flashback would have made for an interesting sequence in one of the more
07:49 mediocre Harry Potter movies.
07:51 3.
07:52 The effect of the Polyjuice Potion - The Chamber of Secrets/The Goblet of Fire/The Deathly
07:57 Hallows
07:58 When adapting a novel, there are always going to be changes to the source material.
08:03 Some aspects of the original story will be altered or removed, and new things will also
08:06 be added.
08:07 Unfortunately, the filmmakers complicated the Polyjuice Potion purely for the sake of
08:11 it.
08:12 In The Chamber of Secrets, Harry and Ron both take the Polyjuice Potion, and in terms of
08:16 their appearances, they look exactly like Crabbe and Goyle.
08:20 But for reasons that are never explained, they retain their original voices.
08:24 While this does lead to a few comedic moments, there was really no need to impose this rule.
08:30 That rule is then abandoned in The Goblet of Fire, when Barty Crouch Jr. transforms
08:34 into Mad-Eye Moody.
08:35 But in both halves of The Deathly Hallows, the filmmakers revert back to the rule established
08:40 in The Chamber of Secrets.
08:41 This can be seen during the Battle of the Seven Potters and during the Gringotts heist.
08:45 It would have been much easier if the filmmakers had just stuck with Rowling's version of
08:49 the potion.
08:50 This would have avoided any inconsistencies and saved a job for the sound department.
08:54 2.
08:55 The Marauder's Backstory - The Prisoner of Azkaban
08:58 Toward the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban, the truth about Sirius Black is revealed.
09:03 The audience learns that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew and that it was he who betrayed
09:07 Harry's parents and murdered a street full of muggles, not Sirius.
09:11 And Lupin also reveals that he's a werewolf, which is why he's been missing classes.
09:15 However, the details of this backstory are never explored.
09:19 You wouldn't know from watching the film who created the Marauder's Map, or why they
09:23 knew so much about Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts grounds.
09:26 Most frustratingly, those who haven't read the book will not know that Harry's Patronus,
09:31 which takes the shape of a stag, is the same animal James Potter transformed into as an
09:35 Animagus.
09:36 It's a shame, because The Prisoner of Azkaban is a terrific movie, yet the filmmakers managed
09:41 to miss out what many Potter fans consider to be the best backstory in the entire franchise.
09:47 1.
09:48 Harry Doesn't Do Any Magic In His First Year - The Philosopher's Stone
09:52 As ridiculous as it might sound, Harry doesn't actually do any magic in his first year at
09:57 Hogwarts.
09:58 In fact, the only time he successfully casts a spell is whilst he's trying out wands
10:03 in Ollivander's shop.
10:04 If you watch The Philosopher's Stone closely, you'll notice that Hermione does all the
10:08 major spell work.
10:09 She uses her considerable talent to fix Harry's glasses, unlock doors, set Snape's robes
10:14 on fire, petrify Neville and take down the Devil's Snare whilst beneath the trapdoor.
10:19 Even Ron does more than Harry, because at least he uses Wingardium Leviosa to take down
10:24 the Troll on Halloween.
10:25 It's really hard to believe the filmmakers didn't spot this crucial misstep at some
10:30 point.
10:31 Sure, Harry still has a lot to do in the first movie.
10:34 He plays Quidditch and is incredibly brave when he fights Quirrell, but given he's
10:37 the title character of a story about being a young wizard, he really should have performed
10:42 some actual magic at some point.
10:45 And there you have it folks, 12 Problems With Harry Potter Movies Nobody Admits.
10:49 Feel free to drop this video a like if you enjoyed it and drop me a follow on Twitter
10:52 at @usly.u.
10:53 I'm Will for What Culture, thanks for hanging out and I'll see you next time.