Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
"The Rebellion Begins."
Book Release: 2004 / Movie Release: 2007
(Unlike other reviews on the site, the 'From Book to Movies' feature has to reveal spoilers to make sense.)
Introduction / Brief Movie Thoughts
I loved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in book form - in fact, it may have been my favorite overall of the series, earning a five star rating. The previous two Potter movies were a little disappointing to me, so I had medium hopes for the movie.
Fortunately the movie stayed overall true to the book, and while it changed some stuff, it concentrated on the important similarities, unlike Prisoner of Azakaban.
Umbridge stays evil in the movie form, although there's a few small changes, notably the hand writing punishment. (more below on that). Dumbledore is as cool as ever in the movie, but in the book form he was even cooler, especially in the fight scene during his office.
The movie was a fun romp into the Harry Potter world, although the small changes made some big differences. Still, the movie was enjoyable for those who were just fans of the celuloid form and those who also enjoyed the book.
Biggest Differences
They made Umbridge more universally cruel as she had everyone do the handwriting punishment using their own blood, while in the book it was just Harry and it was kept hidden from others.
The biggest change that annoyed me was condensing Snape teaching Potter. They had several scenes in the book about the Occlumency, and then in the movie just showed one. In the movie they have Harry discover the memory a different way and be repelled right away by Snape, while in the book it was a different scene where he was sneakier about it when Snape left the office. In addition, they delved deeper into his guilt in the book and him asking Jame's friends about his character. In the movie they minimized this. Also, with the memory Snape was tormented by the gang but it was shortened, and they removed the reference of Lily standing up for his behalf and defending him.
Again they omit Dobby - in the book he tells Harry about the room of requirements, but in the book Harry is shown by Neville. It seems Neville is Dobby's stand in.
A huge change is Ron makes the Quidditch team, but the movie leaves that out.
In the movie the Centaurs only attack Umbridge, but in the book they attack Hermione and Harry too, who are saved by luck.
In the book Umbridge admits she is the one who sent the Dementors after Harry but the movie leaves this out.
What really bummed me out was taking away some of the scenes with McGonnagal and Umbridge, those were hilarious in the book. "Are you sure you don't want a cough drop, Dolores?"
Glad the Movie Kept
I am glad that the movie kept the Occlumency teachings, although they abbreviated it quite a bit. I'm also happy Harry was still irritated true to form from the book about being kept in the dark, although they did remove some of the angst level with that.
While the movie didn't touch as heavily upon Sirius's loneliness and reaching out to Harry, I'm glad they kept at least one fire scene. They also did a faithful and sad respect to the book upon a certain passing of a major character that was quite sad, although they removed some of the tragic outplay in Dumbledore's office afterword.
Who is the Big Winner?
Again definitely the book. There was more emotion, there was more intensity in those emotions, and some of the humor was even removed when they fiddled with Umbridge/McGonagall scenes.
Movie Trailer
Check out the full list of Harry Potter Featured Posts for Harry Potter Week
- Book Reviews: The Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows
- Book-To-Film Comparison: The Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows
- Site Features: Mailbox Monday, Cover Crush, Tune-in Tuesday, Universal Studios Trip
- Themed Posts: RIP Alan Rickman, Philosophers Versus Sorcerers, Magical Quotes
