(I know this window in tiny, but if you click on the video once it's playing, it will take you to the bigger Youtube version.)
For almost every HP movie Warner Brothers makes a huge deal out of these trailers and rightly so. They announce exactly when the trailer will be released down to the minute. Fans immediately flock to the fansites and to Youtube (this fan included). Mugglenet.com, my personal favorite fansite, strips their site down to just the trailer on a blank page because the insane amount of traffic they get in the first 3 hours or so often crashes their site.
Let me say that this is not my favorite trailer. Certain parts of it make me a little worried. (Can you guess which part I will angrily rant about?) I prefer the trailer released before Part I that included scenes from both movies:
However, there are lots of things I do like about this trailer, so here's my analysis. It's quite lengthy so if you just want to read my angry rant, scroll down to the bold section.
BEWARE OF SPOILERS THROUGHOUT
I really like the way this trailer begins. The very simple version of Hedwig's Theme is really eerie sounding. It's incredible how many different reincarnations Hedwig's Theme has gone through from Sorcerer's Stone to Deathly Hallows. We see shots from The Prince's Tale: Snape at the Potter's home in Godric's Hollow and Young Lily and Petunia. I'm so happy The Prince's Tale is included. It is one of the saddest, most amazing chapters from the book. I'm just hoping it isn't fleeting as Snape's Worst Memory was in Order of the Phoenix. Also, we see a shot of Ravenclaw's diadem. If you look closely, you can see part of "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." It's that sort of attention to detail that makes the super-fans happy.
Then the epic music starts. We hear Voldemort say, "Harry Potter. You have fought valiantly, but you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself." This is almost verbatim from the book. It's the speech Voldemort projects to all of Hogwarts and Hogsmead during the battle as he tries to smoke Harry out. During that voice-over we see shots of Voldemort fighting. Now, here's one of the tricky things they often do in trailers: They set voice-overs to shots of entirely unrelated moments that kinda-sorta fit with the voice-over. For example, when Voldie says "you have allowed your friends to die for you" we see a shot of Voldemort walking barefoot through a room of dead bodies, but it is clearly not at Hogwarts. It's Malfoy Manor and I'm guessing these are Death Eaters he's killed in a rage after our heroes escape at the end of the first movie.
Then there are three shots of Harry, Ron, Griphook and Polyjuice-Potion-Hermione-Bellatrix descending into the depths of Gringotts. We get a good look at the dragon blasting it's way through the Gringotts lobby with the trio on its back. I like that they've made the dragon white, as if it hasn't seen sunlight in a very long time.
And then we have my FAVORITE shot from this trailer: The suit of armor dropping from the ceiling after being animated by McGonagall. Isn't it so epic?? I can't wait to see Maggie Smith in full-on battle mode.
Voldemort has another voice-over saying, "On this night, join me and confront your fate." It plays over more shots of Snape, the Death Eaters, and the battle. It looks like they went all-out when it comes to destroying Hogwarts Castle.
At 0:55 we see a wizard on a broom shouting, "Come on!" You can't really see who it is, but my theory is that it's Oliver Wood, the former Gryffindor quidditch captain. According to Sean Biggerstaff's IMDB page he's in the movie, so why not put him on a broom?
Right after Oliver we see another epic shot of an army of animated suits of armor.
Then there's a shot of Ron saying,"We can end this." This could be from anywhere during the battle, but it looks like he's kneeling (see Hermione standing in the background?) so I think he's kneeling with Fred's body after he's been killed.
We hear Harry saying, "I never wanted any of you to die for me." There's shot of Mrs. Weasley and Ron crying over Fred's body. This shot actually made me gasp the first time I saw it. I have a feeling I'm going to be crying for most of The Battle of Hogwarts which, by the looks of it, is going to be most of the movie. (Tissues. Check. Waterproof Mascara. Check. Somebody's shoulder to cry on. I guess that's whoever is lucky enough to be sitting next to me, stranger or not.)
Then there's a shot of Hermione crying and hugging Harry. Now, I've heard two different ideas of when this may be. Some people have told me it's right before Harry's walk to the Forbidden Forest as Hermione realizes what he's going to do. Other people think it's a hug of relief after Voldemort is dead. In the book, Harry doesn't tell anyone what he's doing, but they may have changed it. I just don't know.
At 1:06 we see Tonks and Lupin reaching for each other. I really hope they get a death scene in the movie. It's one of the things I wish was in the book.
At 1:07 there's a wide shot of Hogwarts defenses being broken through. I don't really like how the protective enchantments are made to look like a giant bubble, but then again that's one of those things that is great when you read it, but is not easy to make into a visual.
Okay, now we come to my angry rant. Harry and Voldemort are standing on a ledge and Harry says, "Come on, Tom. Let's finish this the way we started it. Together." He then grabs Voldemort around the neck and pulls him off the ledge and they both plummet to the ground. I do like that Harry uses Voldemort's Muggle name, but other than that, there are so many things wrong with these 5 seconds. First of all, I don't recall reading this in the book. Sure, these movies take artistic license a lot but this is just heresy. Secondly, if Harry has time to say this trying-to-be-epic-but-just-sounding-ridiculous line why doesn't Voldemort just kill him? They are standing SO close together and they both just have their wands at their sides. Wizard duels are all about reflexes, timing and skill and I see none of that here. And finally, the jump. It is SO INCREDIBLY WRONG for Harry to touch Voldemort. At this point in the story, we now know that the reason Harry's scar was so painful when Voldie was near is because of the part of Voldemort's soul that resided within him. This must take place after the forest, so that connection no longer exists, but that does NOT mean that Harry is all of a sudden going to be okay with touching him. The final face-off between The Chosen One and The Dark Lord is what these films have been working towards for the last 10 years and the filmmakers should NOT have messed with it. I'm grumpy.
Really?
At 1:27 we see the shots from the duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix. This one of my favorite scenes and it is home to one of the most famous lines from all 7 books "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Go Molly. Go Molly.
At 1:28 we hear the exact same shout of "Harry!" from Mr. Weasley that has played in every trailer since the first one for Half-Blood Prince. It's from the scene in HBP when the Death Eaters attack The Burrow.
At 1:30 there's another voice over from Voldemort saying, "Only I can live forever." We all know that's not true, Tom. Why do you kid yourself?
The moment at 1:37 seriously freaks me out. It's Ginny screaming "NO!" and running towards something off screen. This first played in a 30-second TV spot a few months ago and, as it does in the book, it got my heart pounding. This must be when Hagrid is carrying "dead" Harry to the castle.
And finally, at 1:47 we see my least favorite shot from this trailer. "Complete the Journey in 3D." I am so mad that this terrible trend of turning action movies into 3D had tainted Harry Potter. Of course, it will be released in 2D also, but most likely every midnight showing will be in 3D. Grrr.
Wow. I'm out of breath. THE END.
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