this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
355 points (97.8% liked)
Movies and TV Shows
33 readers
1 users here now
General discussion about movies and TV shows.
Spoilers are strictly forbidden in post titles.
Posts soliciting spoilers (endings, plot elements, twists, etc.) should contain
[spoilers]in their title. Comments in these posts do not need to be hidden in spoiler MarkDown if they pertain to the title's subject matter.
Otherwise, spoilers but must be contained in MarkDown as follows:
::: your spoiler warning
the crazy movie ending that no one saw coming!
:::
Your mods are here to help if you need any clarification!
Subcommunities: The Bear (FX) - [!thebear@lemmy.film](/c/thebear @lemmy.film)
Related communities: !entertainment@beehaw.org !moviesuggestions@lemmy.world
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I've always thought Harry Potter is one of the best cast movies of all time. Michael Gambon had massive shoes to fill with Dumbledore with everyone already having 2 movies under them and him needing to rise to the occasion, and he did. Sad day for sure, those movies had a permanent impact on me.
I generally respect Michael Gambon and am sad to hear of his passing, but personally I thought he was a horrible Dumbledore in comparison to Harris. His general manner was a stark contrast in Prisoner of Azkaban, and his treatment of Harry in Goblet of Fire was very unDumbledore IMO, and whatever might have been excused regarding differences in style was somewhat destroyed when he said he'd never even read the books in prep for the role.
https://www.slashfilm.com/1406736/dumbledore-actor-michael-gambon-never-read-harry-potter-book/
By the final movies I found him passable, and I will go to my grave believing it's because he didn't understand the character well enough for the first couple, and by the end he did.
I wouldn't discount Harris' innate advantages there too; he was 10 years older than Gambon, aged more poorly (having been an alcoholic hellraiser in his younger years), and his natural delivery - even when he was much younger - had that sort-of wizened wheezing sound to it; "old and physically frail but with incredible magic power" was sort of baked in even before he added any actual acting to the mix.
But I don't know if there's an alternative who would have been better in that regard; the three I'm aware of them talking about were Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, and Peter O'Toole, but the latter two would have played him very much like Gambon did, and I'm not sure if Lee could have pulled off "frail" either given his voice + physical stature.