12 Huge Problems With Harry Potter Movies Nobody Admits
No franchise is perfect, but some of these problems could have easily been avoided...
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00:00 Maybe the most remarkable thing about the Harry Potter movies is how consistently good 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 really get any attention.
00:15 With that in mind, I'm Wilford Culture and here are 12 Problems With The Harry Potter Movies Nobody Admits.
00:21 12. 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.
00:29 And as such, Harry usually wears his invisibility cloak during his many night-time adventures around the castle.
00:35 However, after being introduced to Hagrid's new pet, a dragon named Norbert,
00:40 the main 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 more believable.
00:57 It doesn't ruin the plot of the movie or anything,
00:59 but it's still rather odd that the filmmakers didn't recognise this rather obvious blunder.
01:04 11. 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. Rowling is replaced with an entertaining,
01:16 if rather cheesy, action sequence which ends 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 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
01:47 and Harry was forced to look at the lifeless form of his arch-nemesis.
01:51 10. Percy's Estrangement - The Order of the Phoenix
01:55 Percy Weasley is probably the least popular member of the Weasley family,
01:59 and this is understandable. 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 of Fire,
02:08 he simply disappears from the story. In The Order of the Phoenix, he has no dialogue,
02:12 but he does crop up regularly alongside Cornelius Fudge. The issue is that there's no explanation
02:18 given about Percy's transformation from a loyal member of the Weasley family into the minister's
02:22 assistant. 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. 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,
02:43 and then disappears for the rest of the game. The Slytherin's tactics are barbaric,
02:47 to say the least. Oliver Wood is walloped with a bludger, and Angelina Johnson is forced into
02:52 the stands by two of her opponents. Both of them are rendered unconscious, and yet Madame Hooch does
02:57 absolutely nothing in response to these illegal actions. While the violence of the Slytherin team
03:02 is rather amusing, they really shouldn't have been allowed to get away with it. Their actions
03:06 are totally illegal in the context of the sport, yet for whatever reason, neither Madame Hooch nor
03:11 any of the other teachers did anything to stop them.
03:14 8. Lumos Maxima - The Prisoner of Azkaban
03:17 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. In order to see what he's doing, he uses the
03:35 incantation Lumos Maxima. Yet even a casual Harry Potter fan could tell you that the use
03:40 of underage magic outside of school is forbidden. In fact, in the previous movie, Harry was given
03:45 a severe warning by the ministry just because Dobby performed a hover charm in the Dursley's
03:50 living room. It's a fun scene, and a good demonstration of the Dursley's dislike of magic,
03:55 but it also contradicts all the established rules of the universe for very little payoff.
04:00 7. 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. In the movies, on the other hand, this significant piece of information
04:18 is simply left out. And while Snape's memories are adapted relatively well,
04:22 they lack that extra emotional punch. In Rowling's version, Snape feels responsible
04:27 for Lily's death, because his information led Voldemort to hunt down the Potters. In other words,
04:33 he's dealing with guilt as well as loss. 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. 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 Diadem
04:54 is located in "the place where everything is hidden" - the Room of Requirements. But how
04:59 would she know this? It's very unlikely that Voldemort told her because he was so protective
05:04 over his Horcruxes. 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 Dumbledore
05:14 for a job. Later on, Harry hides his copy of Advanced Potion Making in the Room of Requirement,
05:19 and purely by chance, he covers the hiding place with a wig and a tiara to make it more distinctive.
05:25 After speaking with Helena during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry comes to the sudden realisation
05:30 that Voldemort hid the Diadem the night he asked Dumbledore for a job, and that the tiara he'd used
05:35 to hide his potions book the previous year was in fact the Diadem. Granted, there is a fair bit of
05:40 luck involved with such a revelation, but at least there's a reasonable explanation given. Whereas in
05:45 the movie, we're supposed to just accept the fact that Helena knows where Voldemort hid her mother's
05:50 Diadem. 5. 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 Borough
05:59 during the Christmas holidays is pretty quiet. He discusses his suspicions about Malfoy with
06:04 Lupin and Mr Weasley, and enjoys the time 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 from
06:13 Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback. The pair of them attempt to destroy the Borough,
06:17 and Harry and Ginny chase them into the surrounding countryside. Though the scene is
06:21 fine as a standalone action sequence, it's also completely nonsensical. Like most buildings
06:27 connected with the Order, the Borough was given extra protection, defensive spells and enchantments
06:32 to prevent unwanted visitors from wrecking havoc. As such, Bellatrix and Greyback should not have
06:37 been able to arrive at the Borough, let alone destroy it. Also, why didn't Voldemort come
06:42 himself? If the Borough was so easily accessible, it would have been an ideal place to try and take
06:47 Harry whilst he was away from the protection of Dumbledore. 4. Barty Crouch Jr's Escape from
06:53 Azkaban - The Goblet of Fire Barty Crouch Jr's backstory is fascinating. The way Rowling ties
06:59 together the Quidditch World Cup, the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins, and the events of Harry's
07:03 fourth year at Hogwarts is superb. Whilst it would be tricky to cover everything in the movie
07:08 adaptation, the lack of explanation here is unforgivable. Harry knows who Barty Crouch Jr is
07:14 because of his venture into the Pensieve, but there are no details given about how he escaped
07:19 from Azkaban or how he managed to communicate with the Dark Lord. To make matters worse,
07:24 Crouch's fate is left rather ambiguous - 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
07:35 Fudge. The book version is much more logical, because it explains why he doesn't appear in any
07:39 of the later entries. All things considered, the butchering of Crouch's fascinating story was a
07:44 massive mistake. A ten minute flashback would have made for an interesting sequence in one of the
07:49 more mediocre Harry Potter movies. 3. The effect of the Polyjuice Potion
07:54 The Chamber of Secrets/The Goblet of Fire/The Deathly Hallows
07:58 When adapting a novel, there are always going to be changes to the source material. Some aspects
08:03 of the original story will be altered or removed, and new things will also be added. Unfortunately,
08:08 the filmmakers complicated the Polyjuice Potion purely for the sake of it. In The Chamber of
08:13 Secrets, Harry and Ron both take the Polyjuice Potion, and in terms of their appearances,
08:17 they look exactly like Crabbe and Goyle. But for reasons that are never explained,
08:22 they retain their original voices. While this does lead to a few comedic moments,
08:27 there was really no need to impose this rule. That rule is then abandoned in The Goblet of Fire,
08:32 when Barty Crouch Jr. transforms into Mad-Eye Moody. But in both halves of The Deathly Hallows,
08:37 the filmmakers revert back to the rule established 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 the
08:49 potion. This would have avoided any inconsistencies and saved a job for the sound department.
08:54 2. 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 portrayed
09:07 Harry's parents and murdered a street full of muggles, not Sirius. And Lupin also reveals
09:13 that he's a werewolf, which is why he's been missing classes. However, the details of this
09:17 backstory are never explored. You wouldn't know from watching the film who created the Marauder's
09:22 map, or why they knew so much about Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts grounds. Most frustratingly,
09:27 those who haven't read the book will not know that Harry's Patronus, which takes the shape of a stag,
09:32 is the same animal James Potter transformed into as an Animagus. It's a shame, because The Prisoner
09:38 of Azkaban is a terrific movie. Yet the filmmakers managed to miss out what many Potter fans consider
09:43 to be the best backstory in the entire franchise. 1. Harry Doesn't Do Any Magic In His First Year -
09:51 The Philosopher's Stone As ridiculous as it might sound,
09:54 Harry doesn't actually do any magic in his first year at Hogwarts. In fact, the only time he
10:00 successfully casts a spell is whilst he's trying out wands in Ollivander's shop. If you watch The
10:05 Philosopher's Stone closely, you'll notice that Hermione does all the major spell work. She uses
10:10 her considerable talent to fix Harry's glasses, unlock doors, set Snape's robes on fire, petrify
10:16 Neville, and take down the Devil's Snare whilst beneath the trapdoor. Even Ron does more than
10:21 Harry, because at least he uses Wingardium Leviosa to take down the Troll on Halloween.
10:26 It's really hard to believe the filmmakers didn't spot this crucial misstep at some point. Sure,
10:32 Harry still has a lot to do in the first movie. He plays Quidditch and is incredibly brave when
10:36 he fights Quirrell. But given he's the title character of a story about being a young wizard,
10:41 he really should have performed 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.daogyu. I'm Will for What Culture, thanks for hanging out and I'll see you next time.