Books:
Goblet of Fire, because we get to see Voldemort return. Also the book was a lot more fun and broke the formula we had seen 3 times over (Harry at home with Dursleys and his birthday sucks, Harry goes to Hogwarts and something strange happens on the trip, Harry plays some quidditch games, Harry solves the mystery and fixes the problem, Harry says goodbye to Hogwarts and goes home to the Dursleys again). We get to see more of the other 2 houses and how they interact with Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Order of the Phoenix, because we get a serious shift in tone and consequences are more dire. We also get to learn some key bits about why Voldemort is so keen on killing this one particular child, and we also learn a bit about the deeper magics involved.
Chamber of Secrets, because this is when it's revealed that Voldemort and Harry have a much deeper connection. Also, we learn that Voldemort is not just some villain-of-the-week, but is instead a much stronger character than previously imagined.
Prisoner of Azkaban, because we get more of a backstory about Harry's parents. Rather than Harry getting information about his family from people who barely knew them or from people who despised them, we are introduced to Lupin, Sirius, and Pettigrew. Also, Harry begins to really develop his abilities.
Half-Blood Prince, because we get a lot of answers to a lot of questions, especially questions about Voldemort
Philosopher's Stone, because it was a solid start and did a fantastic job of introducing us to many of the main concepts
Deathly Hallows. Not last because I dislike it, but because there has to be a last place in any ranking system. I wasn't happy with Voldemort in this one, either. Throughout the first 6 books, we are led to view him as a cold and calculating type of person, but in this book he is a Hitler caricature and it's a bit of a letdown. It was nice to see Harry, Ron and Hermione grow up a bit, but I had made a few death predictions that came true (I don't think anybody was surprised that Pettigrew or Lestrange were killed, but I had predicted that one of the Weasleys would bite it and my money was on either Molly or one of the twins), so parts of it felt a little formulaic. Voldemort seemed to solve all of his problems through killing and I find it hard to believe that he never had to deal with anybody trying to revolt in his ranks. There would've had to been at least one or 2 wizard/witches who would've thought, "I believe in Pureblood superiority, too, and I wouldn't be such a tyrant. I could kill him and take his place!" If he was calm, cool, and deliberate, then it'd be easier to see why his ideals and methods would have been so popular in the wizarding community. But to have his fire off death curses just because he was upset would have caused dissent.
Movies:
I'll judge the movies by how closely they followed the books. One of my major problems with the movies is that they never really spent time on the underlying mythology. There were no explanations for why a sacrifice of love would create a magical protection that was more powerful than any other kind of magic (which I felt was a core of the books, that all people, Muggle and Wizard, possess the most powerful magic of all, and the self-proclaimed greatest wizard of all time was unable to fathom it), and that upset me a lot. I felt that it wouldn't have added much more time and it would've given the movies more depth (thus enhancing their replay value).
1) Deathly Hallows, Part 1. I was very pleased with how closely this followed the book. It made me so happy, that I was looking forward to Part 2.
2) Philosopher's Stone. The shortest book was the easiest to adapt into a screenplay, which is why it followed the story so closely.
3) Chamber of Secrets. Again, the length of the book allowed for them to adapt this rather easily.
4) Prisoner of Azkaban. This is where they started to rush through a few things and the plot started to follow a more linear path. Each scene was just building off of the previous scene and it felt rushed. However, they were fairly faithful to the book, and aside from the use of the Time-Turner (which, in my opinion, violates Dumbledore's notion that there's no magic that can revive the dead), it was solid. Also, seeing Hermione punch Draco in the nose, twice, was fun.
5) Goblet of Fire. They really had to rush this one. Many scenes felt like they were just shoe-horned in to advance the plot. With the last 4 adaptations, they could have easily split each film into 2 parts and remained faithful to the source. You want to try and tell me that people will pay for 8 tickets, but not 11? Rushed character introductions, Dumbledore acting out of character (DIYUPUYORNAIMINAGOBLEHOFIRE!!!!), and changing who does what (like Neville giving Harry the gilly weed instead of Dobby) distracted me. The final duel was awesome, though, and I still get misty-eyed when Amos Diggory realizes that his son is dead. However, Dumbledore's barely muttered "Priori incantatum," which explained nothing to Harry or us, still irks me.
6) Order of the Phoenix (Hey, these movies are just going right in line for the most part, aren't they?). They dropped a lot in this movie. We don't really get a sense that some of the main actors are even acting anymore. Emma Watson huffs and puffs a lot and Daniel Radcliffe just seems like he's phoning it in. Rupert Grint actually does develop Ron a bit and Tom Felton seems to be putting effort into playing as Draco (less as a comic foil like he was in the previous movie, and more as a guy who can become extremely dangerous). The introduction of the members of the OotP seemed a bit rushed, too. For instance, Tonks' intro kind of bugs me, and it seems like they were more interested in showing us some special effects magic, rather than showing us a new character. But the biggest shame was Harry and Dumbledore after the battle in the Ministry. To me, that's the best part of the book and one of the best parts of the entire series. This is where we learn so much about Harry's place in the world, as well as how important he is to Dumbledore. We get to see Dumbledore as a flawed human who has failings and weaknesses and Harry has to wrap his head around the fact that he is going to have to come up with a way to defeat Voldemort, because it's not just something that the adults can fix. And all of that is just omitted from the movie. We don't get to see Harry's grief or rage explode in the headmaster's office or Dumbledore saying good-bye to Harry with tears in his eyes. We get pretty much nothing.
7) Half-Blood Prince. I'd rate this last, but that's reserved for DH:Part 2. Aside from a few cool memories about the young Tom Riddle (but not all of the memories that were in the book, which pissed me off), and Jim Broadbent's tear-jerking recollection of his fish that Lily had given him (which to me, was just brilliant), there's not much that can save this movie. The attack on the Burrow made me want to shut the movie off, and the omission of Dumbledore's funeral (and Fawkes' departure) was a missed opportunity.
8) Deathly Hallows: Part 2. For as much as the first part stayed faithful to the book, it's like this part went right off the rails. It's not like they were pressed for time. They could've cut out 7 minutes of the battle-fluff and given us more time in Kings Cross station, where Harry and Dumbledore could've had their conversation about the Hallows, Grindelwald, Voldemort and the nature of life, death, and love. Instead, we got to see a few extra minutes of Neville running from Voldemort's army as well as Neville giving his inspirational "Never give up! Never surrender!" speech. They could've cut out the whole final showdown between Harry and Voldemort and opted for the showdown that was in the book. Harry revealing to Voldemort just how screwed he was (and just didn't know it), the tense anticipation, the sunrise and the final confrontation in the Great Hall. Voldemort's body could have flown back and collapsed, and Harry could've repaired his wand (instead of breaking the unbeatable wand, which seemed stupid to me). It was a very disappointing end to what started out as a promising movie.
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