The Epic Conclusion for the Journey Beyond Imagination

With Part 1 has already set up the grand finale, fans of worldwide phenomenal series “Harry Potter” will now have an even more impatient wait for the conclusion. Those who read the book certainly know how “Deathly Hallows” will end, but they are anxious to see if the movie version maintains that power. The first part released last fall has also generated a range of reactions from critics. Some were really excited for the extravagance ending that will cap the series off, while others expected it would redeem the slow pace of the setup. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was an excellent book that was evenly divided into two parts. One tale was of three friends who have matured together attempting to survive in a world gone insane. That tale centered on their journey and took the occasion to strike a chord that friends should be appreciated no matter how hard is the difficulty they face. The following part of the tale is different. It is a big clash between good and evil that concludes with the foreseeable showdown between trustworthy wizards battling for a better future and self-centered opportunists willing to forfeit all they recognize in order to satisfy a tormented maniac. As everything comes to an end in splendid and magnificent approach, especially as they dealt with all the camping in the last, one can imagine the reviews to be glowing. With two-thirds of the book over and done with, the second part almost utterly focuses on the battle at Hogwarts once a quick heist at Gringott's at the start is pulled off. There'll undoubtedly be criticisms of the pace but I'm definitely curious to see how it will affect the various opinions and reactions to the first part when it's all complete. Whether this once a generation movie event shatters box office records also remains to be seen but therefore, nothing less than an all-time classic ending may do this summer.

In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.
David Yates directs once more, and the cast features a huge collection of returning cast members: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Matthew Lewis, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters and Bonnie Wright.

All fact’s well that ends it all well:

# As maintained by producer David Heyman and director David Yates, Part 1 and Part 2 were treated as one film during production, but are ultimately two different films with separate tones and styles, connected only by the "linear narrative that runs through the middle". Yates commented on the contrast between the two parts, saying that Part 1 is a "road movie" and "quite real", "almost like a vérité documentary", while Part 2 is "much more operatic, colourful and fantasy-oriented", a "big opera with huge battles."

# In the story, Voldemort has created several Horcruxes in an attempt to cheat death. Appropriately, his name is French for "Flight of Death" or it can also mean "Stealer/Cheater of death".

# Most of the events in this film - from the raid of Gringotts to the Battle of Hogwarts - take place over the course of a single day.

# Kate Winslet was first considered for and reportedly offered the role of Helena Ravenclaw. The role was rejected by her agent before she was able to consider it, believing that Winslet would not want to "follow suit with every other actor in Britain by being a part of Harry Potter". The role subsequently went to Kelly Macdonald.

# A huge blaze wrecked the Hogwarts set after a battle scene went spectacularly wrong. According to the report, explosives used in action sequences set light to scenery for the wizardry school, and that firefighters battled for 40 minutes to bring the flames under control but the set - centerpiece for the film's Battle of Hogwarts climax - was left badly damaged. It was later confirmed that the fire was greatly exaggerated, and that the set that had been damaged was going to need be rebuilt anyway for use in another scene. Some actors were still filming at the studio but none of the movie's main stars were involved. No one was injured.

# It had been reported that, due to her commitment to “Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)”, Emma Thompson would be unable to appear in this film. However, she was able to return shortly before the end of filming to once again play Professor Trelawney. She joins her real-life sister Sophie Thompson, as well as her Nanny McPhee cast mates Maggie Smith, Rhys Ifans and Ralph Fiennes.

# Both Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have stated in several separate interviews, that filming their much awaited on-screen kiss was an "absolutely horrible" experience. Perhaps partly because of this, it took only six takes to complete; whereas the kiss between Harry & Ginny took around ten, Ron & Lavender approx. 15, and Harry & Cho took over 30 takes, by comparison.

# Not long after Alan Rickman started to play Severus Snape, J.K. Rowling told him some character secrets about Snape that would not be otherwise revealed until the last book. Most significantly, Rickman was one of the very few people other than Rowling to know (years ahead of the last book's publication) that Snape had been in love with Lily Evans (later Potter) when they were students at Hogwarts, and both Snape's protection of and antagonism toward Harry came from that. Rowling said that she shared this information with Rickman because "he needed to understand, I think, and does completely understand and did completely understand where this bitterness towards this boy, who's living proof of Lily's preference for another man, came from."

Magically mark your calendar on:

July 13, 2011: Belgium, Finland, France, New Zealand, Sweden

Jul 14: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Czech Rep, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore

Jul 15: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, UK, USA, Venezuela

Jul 29: Armenia

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.