We all have our opinions when it comes to our favorite Harry Potter movie. The seven books were adapted into eight successful films which brought the magic of the books to life on screen. The series had four different directors through the years and specifically one of them left a huge impact and his mark on the series. The third installment ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’ came out in 2004 and was directed by Alfonso Cuaron. The movie got a lot of critical acclaims but we feel it is still quite underrated and sometimes overlooked by the fans.
Let us take a look at some of the things that make this movie unique and the best one out of the lot.
It is the most artistic one:
Remember the scenes that showed the changing seasons with the help of the Whomping Willow? They were shown beautifully and so were many other scenes. A lot of moments in the movie looked like a dream. Director Alfonso Cuaron is known for his unique style and the artsy feel in his films. Even though POA is part of the Potter series but Cuaron gave it something totally different than all the other Potter films. He made it stand out in the whole franchise and we can never get enough of that uniqueness in this film.
It is the only movie with no appearance by Voldemort:
The absence of the main villain of the series from one of the movies can make it weaker and less thrilling but that is NOT the case with POA. Prisoner of Azkaban is the only installment which has no physical appearance by the Dark Lord and it still manages to be equally interesting. The movie has so much suspense and it all unfolds beautifully with an amazing pace. It is also the movie that makes the tone darker and more mature just like the book did.
THE BEST SOUNDTRACK:
The first three movies had music by John Williams who gave us the main themes (Hedwig’s theme) and a soundtrack that carries on till the end. John Williams gave his best to this installment and we can never get enough of it. The movie has the best music out of all the Potter films. Remember that tune in all the suspense scenes? It gave us goosebumps every time. ‘Window to the Past’ is by far the best track from the whole series and ‘Buckbeak’s Flight’ is a close second. Music has always been an important part of this franchise and POA really set the standards high.
Sirius Black!
We all love Padfoot and this is the movie that gave us this legendary character. The movie sets such a great suspense about him and makes you believe he is the bad guy. Throughout the movie, he is shown as the scary and dangerous fugitive from Azkaban. If you had not read the book then you would definitely get scared of him. Particularly the two scenes with Professor Trelawney add something extra and the tea leaves in the cup forming the dog shape was so grim! (get it?) Gary Oldman was one of the best adult actors of the series and this was really his movie, it’s a shame we could not get more of him later.
It really justifies the Book:
Whenever a book is adapted into a movie we are ready to say “the book was better than the movie”. This movie, however, makes it pretty hard for us to say this. This is the one and only Harry Potter movie that actually portrays some scenes even better than the book! There are two scenes in particular that really stand out. The scene with Harry and Lupin standing on the bridge and talking about his parents is so beautiful and as far as I remember it was not there in the book. The director took the liberty of putting this scene in the film and if we listen to the dialogues, it actually kind of predicts some major events of the story. Another scene that stands out is Harry’s first flight on Buckbeak and this was another creative move by the director. Some may say that the movie still misses out key scenes of the marauders but the fact that the movie still manages to show most part of the book justifies it. After all, we can never expect an adaptation to have 100% content of the book.
So these are some of the reasons why Prisoner of Azkaban is our favorite Harry Potter movie. Do you agree with us? If not then which one is your favorite? Tell us in the comments!
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