I’ve yet to read any of the Harry Potter books, marginally enjoyed the first movie, was entertained by the second, and really liked the third, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who had a problem with this.
I don’t want to use the word ‘suck’ when describing the 3rd movie, but it does come to mind. There were too many changes to the sets, costumes, and characters, and WAY too many departures from the book. In the the first 2 flicks, Hogwarts was this cheery medieval setting where children learned magic and figured out how to co-exist in the alternate (and sometimes hostile to their kind) world of the muggles. In the 3rd flick, it’s just a spooky-ass castle. That is just one of my many criticisms of the movie. And what is it with this guy and clocks?
All that being said, I’ll still go see it again, and I’ll buy it on DVD when it comes out.
Oh, yeah. FIRST to say FIRST on topic. It’s a minor victory, but I take what I can get.
It is pretty stupid. I think there was one game in the books where Harry saw the snitch and couldn’t catch it because his team was 160 points down, so they’d have still lost. I like that the school brooms are pathetically slow and useless though. Reminds me of ALL the sports equipment at my school.
You really should read the books, Frank. She really is an excellent writer, despite the fact that Quidditch is really just a literary engine for giving Harry something to feel good about in the midst of people trying to kill him. The first two books set up a lot of background, the third (my favorite) shows her genius of being able to tie everything together, the fourth (the weakest, in my opinion – in the end an overly-contrived device-plot to set up something very important – remember the game “Mousetrap?”) still presents some very important developments, and the fifth really starts to move things along. All in all, she is a virtuoso (as demonstrated by the fact that people my age enjoy her work as much as kids do), and anyone who enjoys epic tales with intricate attention to details (a la LOTR, Star Wars, Back to the Future, early Tom Clancy, etc.) will enjoy the heck out of them.
By the way, there is a Quidditch World Cup video game from EA that is kind of fun. And yes, it is two seperate games wrapped up in one. Not a real sport at all. But what should you expect? She’s ENGLISH. She comes from a land where SOCCER is wildly popular and induces riots. At least Quidditch is WAY more entertaining than SOCCER.
I think having the castle spooky was a nice touch. The place was surrounded by dementors and we all know that dementors suck the joy out of everything.
–Yeah… the point of this story was that even fun old Hogwarts wasn’t fun anymore… with the dementors and Sirius black and all. It was supposed to be that way.
–Read the books, Frank… well worth it!
I’m surprised that out of all the things to nit pick from the 3rd movie you would pick the rules of a quiditch game. I like that it has two different objectives, that adds to the suspense for me. I’m pretty fanatical about the series, and so far the 3rd book is 2nd only to the 5th book. I’ve got to agree that the 4th book is a little rough, while still full of entertainment value it doesn’t carry the weight of any of the others. My major disappointments with the 3rd movie were all plot related, namely what was left out. I mean, for goodness sakes, they didn’t even explain to the audience who the 4 map makers were!! I could rant for a few paragraphs here, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. BTW, it is out at IMAX theaters too.
I always thought capturing the snitch should end the game and give one point to the capturing team – enough to break a tie, but nothing else.
Under the current rules, my team strategy would be to kill the opposing seeker immediately (you’ve got two team members who carry CLUBS, fercryinoutloud!) and try to make it look like an accident. Or frame a ninja monkey for it.
What’s to stop a team from have 1 goal keeper and the rest of the team go after the snitch? if you can catch it in the first couple of minutes, you’d automatically win.
I only saw the first movie, so I could be wrong, but catching the snitch DOES give the catching team 150 pts and it DOES end the game, but I was under the impression that the game also has a time limit. So catching the snitch is a grerat way to snatch victory from defeat.
Just pickin nits.
well, the Snitch is basically the “clock.”
In the fourth book it illustrated better why the Snitch was worth so many points— professional quidditch players (as opposed to the schoolchildren playing it at Hogwart’s) can rack up points with the quaffle at lightning speed. And since the game can go on indefinitely, humongous scores could be racked up…. So a 150 point bonus at the end may only be a marginal tip either way. Plus the difference between the scores at the end of the game determines the team’s ranking in the league.
Well, in the NBA/Chess analogy, you would really only be adding 15 points to the final score. Still a chunk, but not that big a chunk. I agree with Megan that you could fill volumes of stuff they left out that was critical to the backstory of the movie.
Questions to ask yourself, if you haven’t read the books.
1. What made Sirius escape?
2. What was the signifigance of the shrieking shack.
3. Why is it signifigant that Harry Patronus takes the form of a stag, although you only see it clearly in one shot.
4. Why was everyone SURE that it was Sirius who betrayed the Potters, they were only in hiding after all. Someone down at market could have spotted them and ratted them out.
I could go on, but I won’t.
Les
Tom Franck deconstructs the sport of quidditch of Harry Potter fame, noting that it “sucks.” The general idea of a broom-riding basketball/hockey/soccer game is not…
Oh come on Quidditch is awesome. sighs Muggles. I had issues with the movie (being a HP purist and all) PoA is my favorite book in the series and they did a better job with this movie than the other two. How they’re going to keep GoF and OOtP in one movie each is beyond me.
You know its a slow news day when three A-list bloggers (James Joyner, Eugene Volokh and Frank J.) all chime in on this post about…Quidditch. Quidditch, in case you’re wondering, is the fictional game played by the fictional characters in…
Yeah, the scoring of Quidditch always bothered me, too. I just put it down to “Harry needs to be the hero all the time” syndrome on Rowling’s part. Playing well in a sports team means passing the ball sometimes — the person who hogs the ball and tries to hog all the glory is the one who’ll lose the game for his team. But Rowling wanted Harry to be the hero of the day in just about every match he played; what better way than to invent a game where only one position, that of seeker, has any real meaning in the game’s result?
1
first!!
You’re geeking out a bit here.
I don’t want to use the word ‘suck’ when describing the 3rd movie, but it does come to mind. There were too many changes to the sets, costumes, and characters, and WAY too many departures from the book. In the the first 2 flicks, Hogwarts was this cheery medieval setting where children learned magic and figured out how to co-exist in the alternate (and sometimes hostile to their kind) world of the muggles. In the 3rd flick, it’s just a spooky-ass castle. That is just one of my many criticisms of the movie. And what is it with this guy and clocks?
All that being said, I’ll still go see it again, and I’ll buy it on DVD when it comes out.
Oh, yeah. FIRST to say FIRST on topic. It’s a minor victory, but I take what I can get.
Seriously? What kind of nincompoop over-analyzes the fictional game of quidditch? He’s just asking for a dementor visit.
It is pretty stupid. I think there was one game in the books where Harry saw the snitch and couldn’t catch it because his team was 160 points down, so they’d have still lost. I like that the school brooms are pathetically slow and useless though. Reminds me of ALL the sports equipment at my school.
You really should read the books, Frank. She really is an excellent writer, despite the fact that Quidditch is really just a literary engine for giving Harry something to feel good about in the midst of people trying to kill him. The first two books set up a lot of background, the third (my favorite) shows her genius of being able to tie everything together, the fourth (the weakest, in my opinion – in the end an overly-contrived device-plot to set up something very important – remember the game “Mousetrap?”) still presents some very important developments, and the fifth really starts to move things along. All in all, she is a virtuoso (as demonstrated by the fact that people my age enjoy her work as much as kids do), and anyone who enjoys epic tales with intricate attention to details (a la LOTR, Star Wars, Back to the Future, early Tom Clancy, etc.) will enjoy the heck out of them.
By the way, there is a Quidditch World Cup video game from EA that is kind of fun. And yes, it is two seperate games wrapped up in one. Not a real sport at all. But what should you expect? She’s ENGLISH. She comes from a land where SOCCER is wildly popular and induces riots. At least Quidditch is WAY more entertaining than SOCCER.
–Okay… off topic…
–Is this calling out for a caption contest… or is it just me?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040606/ids_photos_wl/r2324187351.jpg
That’s freakin’ hilarious.
Also off topic: go check this out to see what the USS Reagan has done on their web site.
http://www.reagan.navy.mil
…and yeah, that definately needs one of our captions.
“Is that a baggette in your pocket, Monsoir???”
–Oh, Sh*#!!!!! That was a really good one, Greywolf!!! Too funny!!!!
–Come on, Frank!! Put up that picture and let the savages have at it!
Quidditch might be stupid as all get up, but it still makes more sense than cricket.
i like quidditch, i just wish the snitch wasn’t worth so many points.
really should read the books, Frank, they’re awesome.
Agreed!
Instead of a snitch, the players should have to catch one of those flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz.
I think having the castle spooky was a nice touch. The place was surrounded by dementors and we all know that dementors suck the joy out of everything.
–Yeah… the point of this story was that even fun old Hogwarts wasn’t fun anymore… with the dementors and Sirius black and all. It was supposed to be that way.
–Read the books, Frank… well worth it!
I’m surprised that out of all the things to nit pick from the 3rd movie you would pick the rules of a quiditch game. I like that it has two different objectives, that adds to the suspense for me. I’m pretty fanatical about the series, and so far the 3rd book is 2nd only to the 5th book. I’ve got to agree that the 4th book is a little rough, while still full of entertainment value it doesn’t carry the weight of any of the others. My major disappointments with the 3rd movie were all plot related, namely what was left out. I mean, for goodness sakes, they didn’t even explain to the audience who the 4 map makers were!! I could rant for a few paragraphs here, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. BTW, it is out at IMAX theaters too.
I always thought capturing the snitch should end the game and give one point to the capturing team – enough to break a tie, but nothing else.
Under the current rules, my team strategy would be to kill the opposing seeker immediately (you’ve got two team members who carry CLUBS, fercryinoutloud!) and try to make it look like an accident. Or frame a ninja monkey for it.
What’s to stop a team from have 1 goal keeper and the rest of the team go after the snitch? if you can catch it in the first couple of minutes, you’d automatically win.
I only saw the first movie, so I could be wrong, but catching the snitch DOES give the catching team 150 pts and it DOES end the game, but I was under the impression that the game also has a time limit. So catching the snitch is a grerat way to snatch victory from defeat.
Just pickin nits.
nope, NYRuss, no time limit. Quidditch matches can last years.
well, the Snitch is basically the “clock.”
In the fourth book it illustrated better why the Snitch was worth so many points— professional quidditch players (as opposed to the schoolchildren playing it at Hogwart’s) can rack up points with the quaffle at lightning speed. And since the game can go on indefinitely, humongous scores could be racked up…. So a 150 point bonus at the end may only be a marginal tip either way. Plus the difference between the scores at the end of the game determines the team’s ranking in the league.
Well, in the NBA/Chess analogy, you would really only be adding 15 points to the final score. Still a chunk, but not that big a chunk. I agree with Megan that you could fill volumes of stuff they left out that was critical to the backstory of the movie.
Questions to ask yourself, if you haven’t read the books.
1. What made Sirius escape?
2. What was the signifigance of the shrieking shack.
3. Why is it signifigant that Harry Patronus takes the form of a stag, although you only see it clearly in one shot.
4. Why was everyone SURE that it was Sirius who betrayed the Potters, they were only in hiding after all. Someone down at market could have spotted them and ratted them out.
I could go on, but I won’t.
Les
Read the books, Frank. Twenty years from now, Potter will rank up there with Narnia.
paulie,
Rank with what?
🙂
Get a life people, its just a movie.
Quidditch Deconstructed
Tom Franck deconstructs the sport of quidditch of Harry Potter fame, noting that it “sucks.” The general idea of a broom-riding basketball/hockey/soccer game is not…
Oh come on Quidditch is awesome. sighs Muggles. I had issues with the movie (being a HP purist and all) PoA is my favorite book in the series and they did a better job with this movie than the other two. How they’re going to keep GoF and OOtP in one movie each is beyond me.
Slow News Day
You know its a slow news day when three A-list bloggers (James Joyner, Eugene Volokh and Frank J.) all chime in on this post about…Quidditch. Quidditch, in case you’re wondering, is the fictional game played by the fictional characters in…
Yeah, the scoring of Quidditch always bothered me, too. I just put it down to “Harry needs to be the hero all the time” syndrome on Rowling’s part. Playing well in a sports team means passing the ball sometimes — the person who hogs the ball and tries to hog all the glory is the one who’ll lose the game for his team. But Rowling wanted Harry to be the hero of the day in just about every match he played; what better way than to invent a game where only one position, that of seeker, has any real meaning in the game’s result?
MORE ON QUIDDITCH
First post here….