I'm a massive fan of the Harry Potter books but have never been too enamoured of the films simply because they're not very good adaptations. I think for a film of a book to work, it needs to be just as easy to watch for those who haven't read the original source material as those who have and unfortunately, most of the HP films only seem to be decipherable to those who have read at least some of the books.
I haven't really seen the point of splitting the last book in two (apart from that it'll make Warner Bros. more money!). The first half of the last book is just Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting in a tent talking and occasionally having a fight. It makes for great reading but I can't imagine it translating well on to film. If it were down to me, I would have shortened that section into a bit of a montage sequence and made the second half of the novel the bulk of the film. Hell, they've already missed so much out that the films barely make sense... Why stop now?
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