Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Differences Between The Book And The Movie

too me the worst moment to have missed out in the films was in the half blood prince, it explains the grand funeral of Dumbledore…all we ever see is in deathly hallows, a pretty pathetic grave.. to me thats the largest let down in the films. also i would really like to see harry talk to dumbledore in heaven.. when the “new” voldermort” is quivering under a chair…i dont know how it would work, but i really hope it gets in as harry has a heart to heart with him, from what i can remmeber

Very nice post, Shelly. I’ve got lots to say on this one. I’m a huge HP geek and a film student, so I figure my input is welcome. =] For me, Deathly Hallows Part 1 exceeded my expectations. I agree with the Dudley point. It would have been awesome to see Dudley and Harry reconcile on screen. I believe alot of the novel was left out of the film in order to raise suspense for the sequel. Tonks DID mention in the film that she and Lupin were married (I believe the quote was “My husband, the werewolf.” or something along those lines), then proceeded to tell Harry good news, but was interrupted by Mad-Eye. The pregnancy will no doubt be revealed in Part 2. The appearance of Lupin at Grimmauld Place is unecessary, in my opinion. It would have made their time there drag on for way too long. The news of the pregnancy will come. Dumbledore’s history will surely be told in Part 2. It is too crucial to leave out. Everybody wants their Dumbledore closure. But as you said, “Such is the nature of adapting books for film.” Much of the novel had to be left out for a few reasons. The movie would have been extremely too long (seeing how it already runs at around two and a half hours), and the budgeting for the film probably was not able to back up alot of the details (ie; hiring actors to play Tonks’ parents, set costs, etc.). In response to Holly J., I thought the dancing scene between Harry and Hermione was beautiful. It went to show how much Harry cares for Hermione even in times of deep peril and depression. Ron and Hermione’s relationship status should be very clear to the public, despite the images that sprouted from the Horcrux locket. I thought the first part of this film set up the second part very nicely. Harry disarmed Draco in Malfoy Manor (which was CRUCIAL), and it emphasized a strand of Bellatrix’s hair landing on Hermione in the same scene (also CRUCIAL). Sometimes you have to view the movie from another persons’ view. Someone who hasn’t read the books. In the end, they got the details they needed, and were starved of the ones they didn’t. Sorry for the long post, but HP is like….my life. =]

I’m with you, Ani. They butchered that scene.

Great article…I wanted to add the thing that was unsettling to me; the death of Hedwig. In the movie, Harry releases it outside the Dursley’s before taking off with the Order. When it returns to defend him in the midair battle, a deatheater strikes it down with the killing curse. In the book, Hedwig is crammed into the sidecar with Harry, and the curse strikes it dead instead of Harry. This seemed a strange choice for the adaptation, as this scene alerted the deatheaters that this was the real Harry. I imagine they were trying to make it a little less dark…a pet and service animal essentially dying in a tiny cage is much more emotional than Hedwig zooming in to try and save the day. It seems more crucial to the plot that the deatheater recognized this was the true Harry because he used the stunning spell. This is a heated conversation between him and Lupen later on, too…though I suppose any elaborations on that character were pretty much nixed in this portion of the movie. By the way, how absurd were those scenes, dipping down into traffic, flipping cars, knocking power lines over for all of London? I’m sure it’s fun for those who haven’t read the books, but we readers have a very specific image and knowledge of what is important to these plots. Emotion doesn’t have to be dull!

Holly J. I agree with your sentiments. However, I hated seeing Hermione and Harry kiss because I had hoped to see Ron get there first. I think Ron is the most realistic of the three characters and I always rooted for him.

Even the nine-year-old that I viewed the movie with said the dancing scene was pointless. lol

Good post Shelly. Between that and the comments, most everything I noticed is covered. I do have one thing though. One of my favorite moments in the book was the conversation between Harry and Ron after the Riddle-Harry and Riddle-Hermione come out of the locket, embrace and kiss, and Ron finally smashes the Horcrux. I loved when Harry told Ron that Hermione was like a sister to him, he loves her in that way, she loves him in that way and that’s the way it’s always been. That makes it very clear where that relationship stands. The movie leaves out that whole convo, and actually made the relationship much more ambiguous, hinting that maybe there was more between Harry and Hermione. That dancing scene wasn’t in the book, nor was Hermione saying it would be nice to stay in the forest and “grow old”. I think that not having Harry clarify things to Ron was a big moment not to include and a big difference….(but who didn’t love seeing Harry and Hermione kiss??)

voldemort’s snake,Nagini, is a horcrux but in the movie there is no mention of it

Peter and Nic, you are both correct. I was reserving judgment on the last scene until I see what they do with the next film. The Krum/Lovegood incident was overlooked because I simply didn’t have enough room for all of the differences.

I hope they do the Gringott’s heist. That should have come directly before the theft of the elder wand.

And what about the final scene, where Voldemort steals the Elder Wand? I haven’t read the book in a while, but it seems to me that in the book this scene occurs much later, and also Dumbledore is buried at Hogwarts, wheras in the film he strangely seems to have been buried in the middle of the forest.

Also Krum was not present at the wedding. In the book he gets in a fight with Lovegood over the Deathly Hallows sign.  In the movie there was no mention that saying “Voldemort” gave away your’re location, rather minor details. nice article.

Very good observations.

Overall, I thought the movie was a very good interpretation of the book. I was, however, disappointed at the lack of Lupin/Tonks in the movie. The book was much more elaborate than the movie (obviously) when it came to everyone’s favorite werewolf and metamorphagus.

Which leads me to wonder if Lupin will appear at Shell Cottage or not. I am glad they included Bill and Fleur’s wedding, however, it seemed slightly random if you had not read the books. Fleur has not been in the movies since Goblet of Fire and Bill had never made an appearance, until now. It will be the same if Lupin comes and announces Teddy’s birth. Unless you read the book, you would not know that Tonks was pregnant.

Perhaps, I am being being too picky, just because Tonks and Lupin are my favorite characters. Nevertheless, certain parts will simply not make sense to the viewer without prior mention or explanation of events.

Again, I believe the movie was, for the most part, very well made. I was pleased. And I certainly cannot wait for Deathly Hallows: Part II!

I’m with you, Austin. The lack of conversation and invisibility cloak was too much. I liked the movie, but certainly not as much as the book. There is no way to redeem the invisibility cloak significance. They have already gone too far into the plot.

I hated the movie because of all the differences, more than any other movie. One difference that really bugged me was the lack of in depth conversation among the three. It felt very rushed. I also disliked them not using the invisibility cloak AT ALL. It was mentioned over and over in the book especially when they learned about the Deathly Hallows. It was their way of staying safe. Anyway, this was one of my least favorite Harry Potter movies, but my favorite book in the series.

Phil’s right - it is mentioned. After Bill says about his run in with Greyback, Lupin says something about liking his meat on the rare/bloody side, then Tonk’s says “my husband, the joker” in reference to Lupin.

Phil’s right - it is mentioned. After Bill says about his run in with Greyback, Lupin says something about liking his meat on the rare/bloody side, then Tonk’s says “my husband, the joker” in reference to Lupin.

little bit different from the previous movies of HP. nice post

Ian, you are absolutely right about wormtail. I meant to add that. Thank you for mentioning it.

Tonks and Lupin try to tell Harry but mad-eye interrupts, and another two differences is in the book Harry’s use of ‘expelliarmus’ gave away which one was the real one however in the film Hedwig gave away which one was the real one and in the book its Wormtail’s hand that kills him as he owes harry him life but in the film Dobby kills Wormtail. R.I.P. Dobby

Really, Darin? I didn’t think so. It certainly wouldn’t have taken much time for her to say “We’re married” and then have Mad Eye interrupt. As it was, all she said was that she had something to tell him. Where is the implication in that. Besides, people who haven’t read the novels are watching these movies as well.

I thought enough was said AND implied by Tonks and Lupin to understand that they were married BEFORE Mad Eye interrupted, so I’m not so sure that could be considered a difference worth mentioning.