From best to worst. Prisoner of Azkaban Deathly Hallows 1 & 2 Order of the Phoenix Goblet of Fire Half-Blood Prince Sorcerer's Stone Chamber of Secrets The first two were the most true to the books, but, while they're both good movies, they don't have the same drive and artistry that the others do. They're enjoyable to watch, but they play it very safe, as if they're afraid to deviate too far from either the content of the novels or the conventions of family films, which can make them feel kitschy and trite at times. Half-Blood Prince is a slow movie, but it has a lot of very well-done character moments. It suffers inherently because it has to set up Deathly Hallows and defer to that movie's major plot beats, but it overcomes that hurdle and manages to deliver its own satisfying self-contained plot. However, the film feels lacking in focus and reduced in scope compared to its peers because the whole thing essentially just builds to Dumbledore's death scene and then stops. There are a number of annoying cuts (like most of Dumbledore's lessons) and weird additions (like the burning of the Burrow) that hamper the script too. Even so, it's a damn good movie... It's just not as good as it [i]could[/i] have been. Goblet of Fire is a pulse-pounding elimination movie with sinister undertones and a shocking ending. It's like watching a violently dark game show that ends with Hitler rising from the dead and killing your classmate. It manages to retain the essence of the long and unwieldy novel on which it is based while still preserving most of the important scenes from the book. I must say that Sirius' absence is disappointing, but the film still works well without him. Voldemort's return to power is a classic scene and one of the major highlights of the entire series. Order of the Phoenix took what was easily my least favorite book of the series and made a fantastic film out of it. Michael Goldenberg's influence shines through in the script, as OOTP manages to feel very different from its predecessors penned by Steve Kloves. The film is well-paced and never deviates from its focus on Voldemort and the dark shadow he casts over the entire wizarding world. The Deathly Hallows movie really benefited from being split in half because it had plenty of time to explore the characters without missing any of the major action beats. The pacing was perfect and all the important bits from the book were kept. It would have been hard to screw this one up, but it's amazing that they got it [i]so[/i] right. One minor complaint is that the movie assumes that the viewer has read the books at times, as with the mirror Sirius gave to Harry, which becomes a plot point in this movie despite the fact that it was never mentioned in any of the previous films. Even in this one, the writers never offer any origin or significance for it. Occasionally, the film also brings up plot points and then forgets about them later. Part 1 seems like it's building toward a revelation about Dumbledore's past, but then Part 2 never follows up on it at all. While annoying, it doesn't hurt the film as a whole. Prisoner of Azkaban is easily the best of the series. Alfonso Cuaron re-defined the entire series. Before he came along, Harry Potter was a sweet family-oriented franchise that felt comfortable alongside E. T. and the Santa Clause. This movie launched the series into a more artistic space, and that's entirely due to Cuaron's influence. PoA is not only a great Harry Potter adaptation, but a great [i]movie[/i], period, and it's the only one of the bunch that displays such a high degree of artistry and subtlety. There is not a false note anywhere in the whole film. Additionally, John Williams provides a fantastic score that complements Cuaron's direction impeccably and ranks as the best in the entire series. But that's just my opinion. What do you think, Flood?