7.6/10
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Trailer
2:27 | Trailer
As Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, he discovers an old book marked as "the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past.

Director:

David Yates

Writers:

Steve Kloves (screenplay), J.K. Rowling (novel)
Popularity
607 ( 26)
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 35 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Radcliffe ... Harry Potter
Michael Gambon ... Professor Albus Dumbledore
Dave Legeno ... Fenrir Greyback
Elarica Johnson ... Waitress (as Elarica Gallacher)
Jim Broadbent ... Professor Horace Slughorn
Geraldine Somerville ... Lily Potter
Bonnie Wright ... Ginny Weasley
Julie Walters ... Molly Weasley
Rupert Grint ... Ron Weasley
Emma Watson ... Hermione Granger
Helena Bonham Carter ... Bellatrix Lestrange
Helen McCrory ... Narcissa Malfoy
Timothy Spall ... Wormtail
Alan Rickman ... Professor Severus Snape
Oliver Phelps ... George Weasley
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Storyline

In Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe's) sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, he finds a book marked mysteriously, "This book is the property of the Half Blood Prince", which helps him excel at Potions class and teaches him a few dark and dangerous ones along the way. Meanwhile, Harry is taking private lessons with Dumbledore (Sir Michael Gambon) in order to find out about Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes') past so they can find out what might be his only weakness. Written by heather

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Once again I must ask too much of you, Harry. See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The set used for Professor Slughorn's office is a redress of the set that served as the Trophy Room in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). The same set also served as the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) as well as this movie. See more »

Goofs

When Dumbledore and Harry approach the Slughorn armchair, on the left there is a white lampshade lying on the shelf hanging over the edge. When Slughorn stands up and walks to the door to lock it, the lampshade is farther back on the shelf. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Bellatrix Lestrange: [faded voiceover] I killed Sirius Black!
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Crazy Credits

The end credits take their shape from what look like ink spills, resembling the appearance of the collected memories when they are poured into Dumbledore's Pensieve. See more »

Alternate Versions

Some of the dubbed versions change the names of a few characters, to match their translated novel counterparts in each respective language. Examples include Hermione, who in the German version (of all the Potter films/books) is named Hermine, and Dumbledore, who in the Dutch version is Perkamentus. (Source: Multi-lingual Blu-Ray copies of the films) See more »


Soundtracks

Original Quidditch Theme
(from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004))
Composed by John Williams
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User Reviews

 
My favorite Potter movie (coming from an avid fan)
15 July 2009 | by JohnnyOnAQuestSee all my reviews

Let me start off by saying, I am a huge HP fan. I have read the books countless times, am a daily visitor on MuggleNet, and have subscribed to Mugglecast for four years. The books are definitely where it's at, and the movies are so-so. I can still remember storming out of the theatre after OOTP two years ago, yelling the whole way home about how David Yates screwed everything up and how awful of a movie it was altogether, story line and directing style. However, the Half-Blood Prince surpassed each of the last 5 movies greatly in almost aspect.

I came into the movie theater completely stoked because of all of the positive reviews it was getting on Rotten Tomatoes. After seeing all the previews last fall, I thought the general look of the movie was just overall better. And it was. I owe David Yates a huge apology for cursing his name so many times over the last two years. This was a great picture and I know the next two will be great as well. I also owe Michael Gambon a bit of an apology, but WHERE WAS THIS DUMBLEDORE THE LAST 3 MOVIES?? Gambon totally exceeded my expectations, he was so good in HBP! I could not stand him at all in the previous three, he was just a grumpy old gray man. In HBP he was old, wise, with his white shiny hair he was supposed to have the whole time. A great performance out of him, so great I really really wish we had seen this out of him in the other movies.

When I first saw Slughorn in the previews, I was completely irritated. He was supposed to be a largely obese man with a big mustache? But then I got to thinking, how many quality actors are actually really fat? There's only two answers- Richard Griffiths and that fat guy from the Diabetes commercial. Neither of them could play Slughorn. Broadbent made this movie, I love that dang cooky smile he always had on and how his eyes just always looked so crazy...I can't describe it but I loved it. He performed amazingly.

I know people are upset about the omission of the battle and confused on the burrow scene, and I will say I partly agree with you. The Burrow scene was in there to show that the death eaters were f***ing s**t up this whole time. Remember in the book how they read the paper every morning and reading about everythign that was happening? That scene was a lot better than having stupid newspaper flashbacks or whatever they had in OOTP.

For me, it was the little things that made this movie. When they include tiny details from the book, it really makes it special to me. I was ecstatic that they had the whole Aragog burial scene, it was so well done and I was glad to see Hagrid get some screen time. Also, just random little lines that were so similar to the book, it makes the movie that much more special.

For everyone who's complaining about how funny it is- lighten up! This is how it's supposed to be. I catch myself laughing out loud whenever I read the books, they're hilarious. JK just has a writing style that can be so serious at one point and hilarious the next, I was laughing and enjoying myself the whole time, it just really made me feel good.

Overall, really spectacular movie. The people complaining about how they left too much stuff out are also the ones complaining that it jumped around. I liked how they focused on central things and really got deep into them, instead of going ADD and showing every little possible thing for 30 seconds. Whether you liked it or not, you really do have to admire the trio growing and Gambon and Broadbent's performances, they were so outstanding. Go see it again! I know I am.


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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 July 2009 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

The Half-Blood Prince See more »

Filming Locations:

Wiltshire, England, UK See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$250,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$77,835,727, 19 July 2009

Gross USA:

$302,305,431

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$934,454,096
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Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1
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