I’m extremely nostalgic for Harry Potter and really love the books. I also love the movies but always felt they could be improved. I made a set of movie edits a while back, but they weren’t very polished so I’ve gone back to upgrade the quality of each one, and have done tons more work to make them my definitive versions of these movies.
A few highlights:
- Added in many deleted scenes, but not all of them. Just the ones that I thought enhanced the story.
- Made Hagrid not appear to be so dumb, especially in the first couple movies.
- Cut around Harry holding the sword of Gryffindor by the blade in the second movie. I always cringe when I see it.
- Cut out so much bad writing in Goblet of Fire, and I took out the entire plotline of Ron not talking to Harry. It was done so poorly in the movie.
- Fixed up Ginny and Harry’s awkward scenes. It’s not completely fixed, as I don’t think it can be, but they are a lot better in these edits. No more “shoelaces” scene.
- During Snape’s memories I changed young Lily’s eyes to blue to match adult Lily and Harry.
My main goals:
- Create light edits that don’t try to reimagine or create anything new, but rather just enhance the original movies
- Remove small annoyances and some poor performances (Harry shushing Ron, Barty Crouch Jr tongue flicks, dumbing down Hagrid, etc)
- Retain as much world building as possible (Clock in the Weasley’s home, monster roar at housekeeping in PoA, etc)
- Tighten up action wherever I could
- A callout to Anjohan (Andreas), and JJPotter. I took a lot of inspiration, and some exact cuts from their edits to make my own.
If you are interested in watching, PM me.
Full list of edits:
Sorcerer’s Stone:
Original - 2:24 (2:32 with credits) Edit - 2:20 (2:28 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Make Hagrid not appear to be so dumb, cut out a lot of Harry’s unnecessary one-liners, and trim up some of the dated CGI.
- Starting with the Ultimate Extended Edition as a base, I kept some extended scenes, but cut others
- Trimmed Dumbledore turning out the streetlights so many times
- Trimmed Dudley jumping down the stairs on top of Harry’s room
- Cut extended scene - Dudley’s suit
- Trimmed Hagrid breaking down the door
- Kept extended scene - Hagrid and Harry’s train ride but trimmed a bit of the end
- Trimmed Harry meeting Quirrell
- Cut Hagrid fumbling for Harry’s key to the vault
- Added some ominous music when Harry is asking about Voldemort, and also cut Hagrid not being able to write his name
- Cut Hagrid saying that Voldemort is still out there instead of dead
- Added apparate sound effect when Hagrid leaves Harry at the station
- Cut Malfoy trying to extend a hand to Harry. He just bullies them a bit and it’s over. This scene always felt too “in your face”. I opted to remove it
- Mixed Snape’s extended potions class with the original
- Trimmed the first flying lesson a bit for the bad CGI and unnecessarily long scenes
- Added a tiny bit of music when the trio first meet Fluffy and escape. Also trim it so they don’t overpower a giant dog while pushing the door closed
- Harry doesn’t say “I like this ball” when Oliver is teaching him Quidditch
- Cut Harry’s one liner saying they need another feather after the explosion
- Cut Hermione telling Ron how to swish and flick when he saves Harry from the troll. It made the mood too casual for this scene, and it also elevates Ron more if he’s doing it on his own
- Cut Quirrell freaking out about the Troll roaring after being knocked out
- Cut Snape telling Harry good luck in Quidditch. This scene felt out of place for me for some reason
- Cut most of Harry doing nothing during the first half of the Quidditch match. He just sits in the air most watching the others most of the time…
- Cut Hagrid saying Harry’s gonna be sick after he catches the snitch. I don’t know why but I hated this line. Just a personal annoyance
- Trimmed Hagrid talking about Nicolas Flammel so he doesn’t sound so dumb all the time
- Cut Ron going to see the mirror completely. Harry’s emotional scene at the mirror along with the extended scene with Ron trying to comfort him just don’t work as well with Ron’s mirror scene in there. Now there is no comedic bit to pull you out of Harry’s emotional struggle
- Kept Neville’s leg lock curse but trimmed the end
- Cut Harry shushing Ron while Hermione tells them about Flammel
- Cut Hagrid talking like an idiot again just before the dragon hatches
- Cut Voldemort walking through the forest before the group splits up. Doesn’t make sense for him to be walking around in view of the others
- Heavily trimmed up Voldemort trying to attack Harry in the forest and removed a lot of the bad effects here. Much better now
- Cut half of Firenze’s talk about Voldemort. This was too much exposition
- Completely cut the trio going to see Hagrid to ask him about the dragon seller and Hagrid being an idiot again telling them how to get past Fluffy. This is unnecessary as they don’t use this knowledge to get past Fluffy, it’s already done for them, and it’s yet another scene of making Hagrid look dumb
- Cut Snape talking to them just after seeing McGonagal to try to tell Dumbledore about the stone. Because I cut the scene with Hagrid explaining Fluffy this scene had to be cut because they are talking about Snape knowing how to get past the dog
- Added a bit of music to when Neville confronts the trio, and cut Ron saying it’s for his own good after they leave him on the floor
- Trimmed them getting past Fluffy so he doesn’t wait so long to bite them, and doesn’t bite the door
- Trimmed up the next few rooms just slightly for pacing
- Other minor edits throughout
Chamber of Secrets:
Original - 2:32 (2:41 with credits) Edit - 2:28 (2:37 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Trim down the movie a bit to make it more in line with the lengths of the other movies, cut out some of the one liners and poorly written lines and scenes (Harry shushing Ron a couple times, and Harry always needing to get a final word in), and reduce some of the more over the top stuff (Harry almost falling out of the car, Harry holding the sword by the bloody blade in Dumbledore’s office, Lucius trying to Avada Kedavra Harry)
- Used the extended edition as a base
- Cut the Dursleys rehearsing their plan for the evening to get to the night faster
- Added music to Dobby’s arrival
- Slight trims throughout Dobby’s arrival and the dinner party for pacing
- Added a very slight music cue to Ginny seeing Harry arrive and then running away, and trimmed it to fit nicer and have less awkward acting from Ginny
- Cut the questioning of a rubber duck
- Cut the Malfoy’s in Knockturn Alley and most of Harry in the shop
- Cut Draco getting his last word in at the bookstore. The scene ends with Lucius as he is the main focus of the scene
- Cut Harry almost falling out of the car while flying from the train. There is still some action here, just no ridiculous almost death of falling out of the car
- Trimmed them running into the Whomping Willow in many spots for pacing
- Cut extended scene - Filch’s magic pamphlet
- Harry doesn’t say “Spooky” at the end of Lockhart’s detention
- No awkward interaction with Dumbledore about Hermione almost telling him that Harry was hearing voices
- Trimmed the Quidditch match a lot for pacing. No Colin almost dying on the field
- Cut extended version’s Justin’s intro before Lockhart’s dueling club
- Snape attacks Lockhart immediately during the duel instead of waiting forever after the countdown
- Cut quips between Malfoy and Harry before their duel
- Cut Harry looking over the lake asking who he is
- Trimmed Harry being stared at in the study room
- Cut extended scene of the kids wondering if Harry is the Heir of Slytherin
- Cut extended scene of Harry seeing Hagrid right after the study room
- Cut Harry talking to the hat before he sees Dumbledore
- Trimmed up the Polyjuice gathering scenes
- Trimmed up the whole scene of Harry writing in the book and saying everything he writes as slowly as possible
- Cut Hagrid talking to the trio right before Neville comes to get them
- Cut extended scene of Ron and Harry pulling the cloak out. They just go straight to Hagrid’s hut
- Harry doesn’t shush Ron in the forest. Cut out both shushes
- Cut extended scene of them finding the car in the forest before it rescues them
- Small trims for pacing in the spider attack
- Cut them knowing that Ginny is in the chamber. This only gets revealed now when Harry finds her
- Trimmed just a bit of Harry talking to Tom
- Cut Tom explaining that the Basilisk got blinded by Fawkes. Unnecessary exposition for the action scene
- Trimmed some of the Basilisk attack, mainly where Harry is flailing a sword like an idiot and not hitting anything
- Cut them ridiculously flying out of the Chamber of secrets with Fawkes
- Cut Harry picking up the sword in Dumbledore’s office. I cringe when he grabs the blade. The only time you see the sword in Harry’s hand is a brief moment where he is in the background.
- Cut Harry saying he’ll always be around to save the day
- Cut Mr. Malfoy trying to use Avada Kedavra. It’s just a normal spell now
- Trimmed Dobby and Harry’s final scene with a bit of music added over it. Cut Harry telling Dobby to never try to save his life again. So corny
- Lots of other minor edits throughout
Prisoner of Azkaban:
Original - 2:10 (2:22 with credits) Edit - 2:08 (2:20 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Trim some of the poor performances (Hermione’s laughing, some of Harry’s acting), cut out some of the one liners and poorly written lines and scenes (Neville’s “I’m okay” joke, Hermione mocking Trelawney, and Harry always needing to get a final word in), and reduce some of the more over the top stuff (Trim the whole whomping willow scene)
- Trimmed some of Harry’s awkward delivery after Marge asks if he gets hit with canes at school
- Cut one of the two button attacks on Dudley in the beginning. It was just a bit too goofy for me having a second button knock him down
- Cut the old lady crossing the street during the Knight Bus along with the first of Harry slamming into the window. I absolutely hated Harry slamming into the window. I tried cutting around the old lady but it worked better to just cut her out entirely
- Right after Harry asks Mr. Weasley why would he go looking for Sirius, the shot lingers on Harry’s face way too long. Shortened it just a bit
- Took out Hermione shouting at Ron for stepping on her foot when the dementor is coming in on the train. It was a weird moment that Ron doesn’t even react to
- Trimmed just a bit of Ron holding onto the window as the dementor is coming. He holds it there for so long. Just felt a little forced
- Cut Hermione’s cringe delivery as she mocks Trelawney on the way to Hagrid’s class
- Cut Neville getting knocked down by the monster book and the awful joke - “I’m okay!” It’s one of my most hated “jokes” in film for a character to fall down and then get back up saying “I’m okay”
- Cut back a bit on Hermione’s over the top laughing after Harry’s snowball fight with Malfoy & gang
- Slight trims to Harry’s Patronus lesson. I took out Harry’s line “just do it” to Lupin. Felt weirdly aggressive in the scene
- Very slight trims when Harry is crying in the snow. Lots of bad acting here with the fake cries and yells. I tried to cut out most of the crying but I could only turn it down a bit because it is on every channel in the audio mix. I also trimmed a bit of his intense breathing after he yells. I just can’t take him seriously. Sadly I couldn’t get rid of all the bad acting, but these very tiny trims make this scene better
- A few quick trims for pacing as Harry and Hermione are getting Buckbeak out of the pumpkin patch. Wanted to speed this up so it was more realistic to match the timing of when the trio are originally running up the hill
- Trimmed up the Whomping Willow fight. At first I tried cutting the whole thing out, but ended up keeping most of it in. Hermione still flies around but I tried to tone it down a lot so it isn’t so ridiculous
- Trimmed a bit of Harry’s first encounter with Sirius for pacing
- Cut Sirius gasping at the Dementors because the very next shot he’s knocked out again. Weird jump cut
- Cut Harry and Hermione seeing Snape walk into the Whomping Willow right after Lupin when he should’ve arrived a short while later. The timing on this one always bugged me.
- Trimmed a bit of when Harry and Hermione see the bats fly by so Harry doesn’t have to have the last word on everything
- Cut Harry’s nonchalant line when the Werewolf starts running at them
- Cut Harry saying Lupin is having a bad night right after they get saved by Buckbeak in the forest
- Straight to black right before credits instead of the freeze frame
Goblet of Fire:
Original - 2:08 (2:27 with credits) Edit - 2:34 (2:37 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Remove the Ron and Harry’s broken friendship subplot, cut out as much bad acting, dialog and writing as I could , and take out all instances of the Crouch Jr tongue flicks
- Slight trims for pacing in the intro with the old man
- HP4 Title now pops out right after the old man dies, along with the Harry Potter theme behind it
- Cut Hermione angrily waking the two up. It now starts with the group walking towards the portkey
- Cut the stupid walking on air as they come down from the portkey
- Cut Harry in the tent saying “I love magic”
- Cut the Malfoys talking to them before the game
- Tightened the Death Eater attack
- Cut all instances of Barty Crouch Jr and fake Moody doing the weird tongue thing
- Removed Filch awkwardly running into the hall and added some music behind Dumbledore talking about the new guests and tournament
- Cut Karkaroff doing shady stuff to the goblet of fire
- Cut the entire Ron not talking to Harry plot. Though this is a decent plotline in the books I think it was done extremely poorly in the movie. I used some of the rearranging from Anjohan
- Rearranged Moody’s lesson to go after the names are chosen from the goblet rather than before. This works as a good transition from Dumbledore telling Moody to keep an eye on Harry after his name is chosen, and also it is a scene with Harry and Ron together so it doesn’t feel so weird that there is a chunk of the movie where they aren’t together.
- Cut Hermione’s “It’s not going to wo-ork” line when Fred and George try to get past the age line
- Cut Dumbledore shouting at Harry after his name comes up
- Trimmed Harry’s interview with Rita Skeeter a bit
- Cut the owl biting Harry “joke”
- Cut the mini dragon reveals just before they fight the dragons. It feels like a tease for these cool fights with the other champions but then you don’t get to see them.
- Cut Hermione yelling at Harry to use his wand at the start of the 1st task
- Tightened up the entire dragon fight
- Cut Harry pompously asking the Gryffindors if they want him to open the egg
- Trimmed and cut some forced jokes with the twins while talking about the Yule ball
- During the Yule ball, cut the big lady nastily picking a thing off Hagrid’s beard and eating it
- Cut the pop music section during the ball
- Added the deleted scene of Karkaroff and Snape in the courtyard. This adds just a bit more depth and mystery with Karkaroff and Snape, and also bridges the gap in the theatrical where Harry is suddenly not with Ron and Hermione at the Yule Ball
- Trimmed some of Hermione’s overacting as she talks to Harry on the bridge
- Trimmed underwater egg scene with Moaning Myrtle
- Cut Hermione pronouncing “Grindylow” in a French accent
- Trimmed some overacting of Barty Crouch Jr in the memory of his trial
- Cut the awkward dialog and performance just after Harry saves Cedric from the vines
- Cut excessive moaning Voldemort when he touches Harry’s scar
- Trimmed some of Harry’s bad acting when he comes back with Cedric’s body
- Cut the awkward dialog between the trio at the very end. They don’t share any last words now. They just watch as everyone leaves
- Lots of other minor trims throughout
Order of the Phoenix:
Original - 2:08 (2:18 with credits) Edit - 2:10 (2:20 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Incorporate most of the deleted scenes, and cut out as much bad acting, dialog and writing as I could
- Tightened up the Dementor attack for better pacing
- Added HP Theme when Moody opens up the Headquarters building
- Tightened up a bit of the hearing to remove Mrs Figg hand raising joke and her describing the boys rather than the dementors. I don’t think that translated so well to the movie
- Added the deleted scene of the kids in Gryffindor Tower. Followed JJPotter’s audio editing and adjusted further to get the audio matching better. Slight color correction
- Added the deleted scene of Trelawney getting evaluated, and followed how JJPotter removed her original scenes, but adjusted the audio differently to blend better. Again more adjustments to color
- Cut Harry telling Hermione that the others came to listen because he is a freak. He just tells her that they should go now
- Cut Ron saying “Who are you and what have you done with Hermione”. It was really forced
- Cut out a bit of the Filch ridiculousness while he tries to get into the room of requirement
- Cut the “I’m okay” bit when the kid gets dropped in the room of requirement training
- Trimmed some of Hermione’s long pause and then awkward laughing with Ron and Harry after the “emotional range of a teaspoon” bit
- Cut Sirius toasting “Harry!” That line always bothered me for some reason
- Trimmed the trio walking down the stairs because there is an awkward pause in Ron and Hermione’s dialog
- Cut some of Harry talking to Sirius about being the snake in his dreams because of some awkward dialog
- Added some heroic Neville music when he is talking about how his parents died
- Cut the bit about Dumbledore having style right after he teleports away with Fawkes. Another forced and unnatural joke that is better left in the book
- Trimmed Grawp’s intro and cut some unnecessary stuff like him picking up Hermione and Ron hitting him with a stick
- Added the deleted scene in the forest with Umbridge and did a lot of color correcting to get this matching
- Trimmed up the kids running from death eaters in the department of mysteries for better pacing
- Adjusted a shot of Harry as he’s possessed by Voldemort to make it look less awkward
- Cut another shot of Harry as he’s possessed when he stretches up like a snake but doesn’t move his legs. It looks really dumb
- Added the deleted scene of Harry walking into Dumbledore’s office. Followed JJPotter’s color correcting some but had to adjust further to get it how I wanted
- Added the deleted scene of Ron asking Harry to go eat with them and color corrected
- Trimmed the very last line when Harry says that they have something worth fighting for. The pause between his words was really long so I just cut it down
- A few other minor trims throughout
Half Blood Prince:
Original - 2:24 (2:33 with credits) Edit - 2:23 (2:32 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Incorporate most of the deleted scenes, try to establish Harry and Ginny’s connection better, and cut out as much bad acting, dialog and writing as I could
- Added all extended scenes in except the ending one with Harry asking Hermione and Ron to keep the snogging to a minimum
- Right after Harry and Dumbledore are hit with all the camera flashes I added a new intro, bringing Snape’s unbreakable vow here. I felt that this is a better intro to the movie
- When Harry first shows up at the Weasley’s house there is an awkward reflection on Harry’s glasses and I can’t ever look at anything but it when he walks up. I tried to tone it way down by darkening the shine.
- Adjusted when Harry hugs Ginny when he arrives at their house. Slight rotation to the frame so it appears that Ginny isn’t towering over him. I know it’s dumb but I always felt weird that she was so much taller than him
- Cut Ron pointing out Hermione has toothpaste on her. It’s so awkward
- Heavily trimmed the trio overly laughing at Ron’s joke about Dumbledore’s age
- Cut Ginny asking why Harry is always covered in blood. Her delivery is so stiff
- Cut Dumbledore asking if Harry is into Hermione
- Trimmed Dumbledore and Tom’s first meeting for pacing
- Cut Ron pointing out Hermione’s butterbeer mustache. Again another really awkward scene. Didn’t feel cute or funny, just really awkward
- When McGonagall asks why whenever something bad happens why is it always you three, I cut Ron’s response because the question really felt more rhetorical
- Added a bit of playful music behind Ron and Harry talking about Ginny
- After Hermione asks Harry how it feels to see Ginny with someone else they see Ron walk in. Way later Harry finally says “like this.” I cut this line
- When Ginny feeds Harry I adjusted it so you don’t see Harry bite it out of her hand, and I also added some music this scene. I felt like this scene needed to stay, but I tried really hard to make it less cringey
- Color corrected Harry talking to Mr. Weasley in the garage
- Cut the shoelaces scene. We already have Harry and Ginny’s interaction just before this to show that they like each other. Now it goes straight to the attack without this awful scene. I know a lot of people don’t like the burning of the burrow but I’m okay with keeping it in. I think it further bonds Harry with Ginny, and we definitely need more from them.
- Added deleted scene of Harry talking to Hermione about Malfoy in the corridor. Had to color correct and blend with the previous scene as it cuts in during the middle of the original shot
- Added deleted scene of Harry talking to Hermione in Gryffindor tower
- Cut just a bit back on Lavender’s “Won Wons”. Only one spot
- Did more rotations to the frame as Harry and Ginny hide the book in the Room of Requirement. Slight rotations to make Harry look taller.
- Cut when Harry and Ginny both say “What was that?” together
- Replaced the music when Harry and Ginny kiss with the song Ron Returns from Deathly Hallows pt1. This music and scene is still bittersweet because of the circumstances, but now it feels like there is a more romantic connection
- Fade out on their kiss. Feels a lot less awkward now
- Cut Slughorn taking the spider venom. It was an unnecessary break right here
- Cut Harry saying “Poof”
- Trimmed a bit of Harry convincing Slughorn to give him the memory. He ends with him saying that if Slughorn doesn’t give him the memory then his mother died in vane, rather than continuing a bit more
- Cut Dumbledore noticing Harry needs a shave when his face is as smooth as can be
- Added deleted scene of Dumbledore at the cave entrance talking about the kids Tom damaged there. Added ominous music over it, and heavily color corrected to match the scene
- Cut Harry using Sectum Sempra on the water zombies. He now only uses it on Malfoy and tries to on Snape. I think it gives just slight more impact to his final moment with Snape in this movie
- Added deleted scene of them escaping the cave and Dumbledore saying he’s not worried because he’s with Harry
- Blended into the alternate deleted scene of the sad music montage before the Death Eaters get let in
- Added deleted scene of Harry alone in his bedroom mourning Dumbledore
- Minor trim, the last line is now Hermione telling Harry that he needs them, rather than Harry looking out over the lake saying that he never realized how beautiful the place is. I feel like it’s a better line to end on
Deathly Hallows Part 1:
Original - 2:15 (2:26 with credits) Edit - 2:17 (2:29 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Incorporate a select few deleted scenes, and fix bad writing and acting wherever possible
- Added the intro deleted scenes for Petunia talking to Harry, and Mr. Weasley making the radio, but left out the Dudley scene. It required way too much work and I don’t think I could fix it well enough in high enough quality
- Color corrected some of the darker scenes like Snape’s intro as he’s traveling to Malfoy manor
- Cut the short scene in the tunnel where Harry runs across the top of the bus while Hagrid spins them around the tunnel. It was a really goofy scene in the middle of the battle
- Slight tweak to the timing when Lupin is questioning Harry to make sure he isn’t an imposter
- Did the same thing I did in HBP where I did some slight rotations to the frame to make it appear that Ginny isn’t so much taller than Harry. Only in the scene when they are all arriving at the Weasley house after the initial sky battle and then in the Zip me up scene. I know it’s superficial but I prefer it changed like this
- Really tiny cut, when Ron convinces Harry not to leave the burrow alone, as they are walking back Ron is saying “Where are the horcruxes?”. I cut the line because it felt so forced
- Kept the “Zip me up” scene with Ginny, but changed the music to be more intimate for them and less somber
- First time Harry is looking at the broken glass I trimmed seeing Aberforth so it doesn’t linger quite so long. Only cut a few frames
- Added the deleted scene for Ron telling them that Voldemort’s name is taboo
- Cut Hermione telling Harry that they could stay out in the forest and grow old together. It was a weird line from her
- At the Lovegood house, when Mr Lovegood says “Deathly Hallows” the trio all say “What?” but staggered. Cut that awkward delivery
- Another minor trim of the broken glass at the end when Harry asks for help
- Trimmed Dobby’s last words. Instead of ending saying “Harry Potter”, his last words are now “Dobby is happy to be with his friend”. It felt better to me like this
Deathly Hallows Part 2:
Original - 1:58 (2:10 with credits) Edit - 2:01 (2:13 with credits)
My main goals for this edit were to - Incorporate a select few deleted scenes, change young Lily’s eye color to match adult Lily and Harry, and fix bad writing and acting wherever possible
- Color corrected many darker scenes throughout the entire movie for just a bit more visibility
- Added the deleted cottage scene with Bill talking about the goblin, and the scene right after with Luna talking to Harry at Dobby’s grave. Color corrected both to match. Added On the Rocks song from Deathly Hallows Pt1 behind the first deleted scene
- Trimmed up the timing as the dragon burns the goblin alive
- Added music behind when Ginny first sees Harry return to Hogwarts. Used the same track I added to the previous movie with her scene with Harry for continuity
- Added in the deleted scene with Harry holding Ginny’s hand as they walk to Snape (Credit to JJPotter for the footage without greenscreen)
- Added in the deleted scene with Tonks and Lupin before the battle (Again credit to JJPotter for the footage without greenscreen)
- Cut back on just a bit of Snape being bitten by the snake so many times
- Changed all shots of young Lily’s eyes to be blue instead of brown to match adult Lily and Harry’s eyes
- Shortened the shot of mini, bloody Voldemort in King’s Cross station. It just lingered on him for way too long
- When Neville pulls the sword out of the hat he stands in a really goofy position. I just removed that shot
- Cut Voldemort slapping Harry during their fight a little before they jump off the tower. It was a little too goofy for the scene
- Cut the shots of Voldemort and Harry merging into one while flying around Hogwarts
