— by CAM SMITH —
Any Harry Potter film that opens with a flash strobe-popping nod to Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” and closes with a poetic homage to “The Empire Strikes Back” is all-right in my book and last summer’s “The Half-Blood Prince” was the best series entry to date, a darkly majestic work of pure, uncompromised imagination and craftsmanship. It was certainly one of the year’s greatest entertainments and will be a guaranteed addition to my home movie library.
In preparation for the picture’s arrival on DVD and Blu-ray on Dec. 8, Trailer Addict has put up a truly haunting deleted scene for our collective viewing pleasure.
A sublimely atmospheric bit of filmmaking, the clip consists of a moody montage showing the gloomy, black clouds of Voldemort slowly moving into position over Hogwarts while the school choir belts out an intensely eerie melody. Though there’s little in the way of dialogue, director David Yates infuses the piece with so much melancholy and dread that it’s impossible not to feel the portentous, suffocating evil lingering in the heavy air.
I don’t know about y’all, but I’d kill to see this scene edited back into an extended cut of the movie. Please make it so, Warner Brothers!
Follow Cam Smith on Twitter at http://twitter.com/camspcepisodes.
Love it. I agree, “Half-Blood Prince” was definitely the best film in the series.
Just out of curiosity, how big a Potter-phile are you? I’ve never read the books which, some tell me, is likely the reason I appreciated this installment so much.
I’m a huge fan of the books, but unlike a lot of people I know who love the books and didn’t like the movie, I’ve learned to separate the movies from the books. Sure “Half-Blood Prince” left out a few key scenes from the book, but I have faith that the “Deathly Hallows” film will still manage to wrap everything up nicely, and cinematically I think this is definitely the best Potter movie yet, with “Prisoner of Azkaban” a close second.