re: Rank the Harry Potter books (or movies) (Spoilers) (long)

Books:
1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Half Blood Prince
5. Deathly Hallows
6. Chamber of Secrets
7. Sorcerers Stone

I really enjoy the middle, those books seemed to encompass the actual magic and the story line the best.

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He's definitely gifted I don't think there's any doubt really. I really think the books did a good job of having Harry be special, but not an uber elite freak like Dumbledore and Voldemort.

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Harry Potter proved to be a better wizard than either of them though. Dumbledore and Voldemort both strove for power at young ages. While Dumbledore stopped looking to become all powerful after the death of his sister, Voldemort continued to strive to become the greatest and most powerful wizard who ever lived. Just look at how both men approached the Deathly Hallows. They both wanted the Elder Wand so they could be the mightiest wizards on the face of the earth.

Harry wanted none of that. The Deathly Hallows didn't intrigue him like they intrigued Dumbledore and Voldemort. Harry's lack of elite power was made up for by his undaunted courage, his undying love for, and his fierce loyalty to his friends. No other wizard had gone mano-a-mano with Voldemort, with the exception of Dumbledore, and lived to tell the tale. And that counts for something.

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Harry wanted none of that. The Deathly Hallows didn't intrigue him like they intrigued Dumbledore and Voldemort. Harry's lack of elite power was made up for by his undaunted courage, his undying love for, and his fierce loyalty to his friends. No other wizard had gone mano-a-mano with Voldemort, with the exception of Dumbledore, and lived to tell the tale. And that counts for something.

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Yes, but I prefer my protagonist to want to be powerful. Walking away from power is not an admirable trait to me.

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I like to think that James Potter and Sirius Black were two of the most advanced students at Hogwarts at the time, James was just more popular because he was also an athlete.

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Me too, and I would rather read about someone like that. While I will concede that Harry is above average, he is not elite. I would rather my hero be elite.

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He's elite in his own way. I mean he was the youngest seeker ever, he survived a damn killing curse as an infant so he was obviously pretty powerful (I know his moms love helped that but still). And I think what's great about Harry is that he can do great things without being super elite skill wise.
I do wish he wasn't always do determined to be a loner though

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I disagree with some of this. He was the youngest seeker in a hundred years, not ever, though that is still impressive. But that is an athletic feat unrelated to actual wizarding. He survived solely because of his mom. He had absolutely nothing to do with it. He has done some great things, but relies way too much on luck and others. He never came up with an awesome spell or did something no one has ever done before. He really seemed to only have about 2 or 3 spells at his disposal.

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I cannot get passed how terribly the battle at the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2 was. It was a complete abortion. The jumping off of the cliff, the deletion of the entire battle and badass monologue scene between Harry and Voldemort in the Great Hall, the stupid snake killing scene with Ron, Hermione, and Neville, the lack of Hagrid in the last movie, and the list goes on and on.

It may not be the popular opinion, but they really sucked it up with the last movie.

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mother f'n this. ive thought this since i saw it. was like WTF when i first saw it. left me hollow on the inside after seeing it. they really screwed it up. im glad to find out im not the only one that thought this, but of course i dont follow what everybody else thinks of these movies.

i for one have been wanting a reboot of the series since about the goblet of fire movie. every movie seemed to leave me thinking they could of done better. make a quick reboot, ala the amazing spiderman, i think it would do well.

oh and for the OP...

The books:

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Half-blood Prince
4. Goblet of Fire
5. Deathly Hallows
6. Chamber of Secrets
7. Sorcerer's Stone

The movies:

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Deathly Hallows Part 1
3. Sorcerer's Stone
4. Half-blood Prince
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Goblet of Fire
7. Chamber of Secrets
8. Deathly Hallows Part 2

I change my mind about this anytime I think about it. I could really switch any of my top 3-4 books and still be satisfied. Right now, here's my answers.

Books:
1. Half Blood Prince
2. Deathly Hallows
3. POA
4. Goblet of Fire
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Sorcerer's Stone
7. Chamber of Secrets

Movies:
1. POA
2. Goblet of Fire
3. DH2 - even though I strongly dislike everything that happened after Harry was "resurrected," I liked the rest well enough to put it here.
4. Sorcerer's Stone - pure wonderment
5. DH1
6. Order of the Phoenix
7. Chamber of Secrets
8. Half Blood Prince - everything about this movie was wrong. Radcliffe admitted to showing up to work drunk, and it shows. They COMPLETELY screwed up Harry and Ginny (tying his shoelaces? REALLY??)! Burning of the Burrow??? Final showdown with Snape? Everything was just wrong, wrong, WRONG!!!

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quote: quote: If you knew the themes of the books then you would accept that Harry Potter being or not being all-powerful really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. Exactly. The Hero's Journey in sci-fi and fantasy basically never relies on the protagonist as having superior skills than the antagonist. They usually have some key blind spot or loophole that the protagonist can exploit to defeat him. I can't really think of many exceptions to this rule. The best exception I can think of is Wheel of Time, and it is one of the reasons why it is my favorite fantasy series. Rand al'Thor, especially in the latest book, is all powerful, and I love it.

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I agree Rand is all-powerful but he was always struggling to figure how to use and control that power...that is also a common theme...the hero having more power than anyone but not the knowledge to apply it...
That theme also applies to one of my all time favorites THe Sword of Truth series...

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Yes, but I prefer my protagonist to want to be powerful. Walking away from power is not an admirable trait to me.

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Then I'll take it you don't like 90% of hero's arcs. Its the villain who desires power at any cost, not the hero. And walking away from power is admirable really. It shows that there are more worthwhile things, like freedom, friendship, and love. There's a reason why a hero rarely actively seeks power, and its to separate himself from the power hungry villain. The hero rising to his destiny is one thing, but pursuing power for the sake of power is just not admirable. Writers have long figured this out, and heroes that actively seek power usually turn into tragic heroes.

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I will say that Half Blood Prince was my favorite book and I am surprised so many fans on here gave it lower marks...

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I'm surprised so many people like its so much on here (compared to the others). It's hard for me to down any of the books bc they're all great; but most people I talk to agree HBP is the weakest o the books 3-7