Ranking All 8 Harry Potter Movies
We’ve already ranked the seven Harry Potter books on this blog, but the movies are an entirely different, though just as great, experience. When I was in high school, I had a tradition of watching all eight movies while studying for midterm exams. I’m not sure if I recommend it as the best study tactic, but it sure was a good stress reliever. There are few things more relaxing and comforting than curling up with a blanket and watching these movies. I will continue to watch all these movies for an endless amount of time in my life, but there are some that I think are inherently better than others, so let’s rank them all!
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
How can you take the longest book of the series and put it into one of the shortest movies without missing key details? You can’t.
The Order of the Phoenix movie had the chance to keep the momentum going after a fantastic Goblet of Fire film. There certainly was plenty of content for the script to work with, but unfortunately they cut out and changed far too much. Only Umbridge’s vileness seems to translate well from the book to the movie, but even then the movie misses out on some great details in Umbridge’s story. How could they not put in “Have a biscuit, Potter” or “It unscrews the other way”? Missed opportunities.
We also see significant chunks of sidestory and backstory excluded. S.P.E.W is left out, though I would argue that was a good decision, but we also completely miss the history of the Longbottoms which becomes very important later on in the series. While they couldn’t have put everything in the movie, it feels like we miss some really key character development moments for much of the supporting cast.
The biggest letdown for me in this movie though is the fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort. In the movie, Dumbledore is always on the defensive, looking like he’s holding on for dear life, casting magical shields from his knees while Voldemort towers over him. Speaking as someone who thinks The Only One He Ever Feared is the best chapter in the entire series, this fight was a letdown. If you read that chapter, Dumbledore is in full command of the fight and probably could’ve beaten Voldemort then, but knew it was not his destiny. In a series which up to this point had lacked some truly advanced magic, I wish they had really showed us everything the greatest wizard of all time could do in this movie, but alas.
7. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
This film follows the story of the book very accurately, the problem is that the book itself doesn’t have much substance.
The Sorcerer's Stone movie does well to set the tone for the series and display the wonder of the magical world with Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. These are key visuals which will stay with the audience for the rest of time and they did a great job with capturing that special aesthetic early on.
Yet the story itself is a bit lacking and geared toward a younger audience. There’s the necessary exposition to set up the characters’ backstory and the ultimate bad guy, but the actual conflict itself with Quirrell is over quite quickly. We also don’t see Harry really cast a single spell in the entire movie, with Hermione doing the most magical work in the Golden Trio. It’s a good start to the series, but even the next movie quickly feels more like a step up in terms of seriousness and storyline.
6. Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets
Speaking of the next movie, The Chamber of Secrets sits at number six on this list, but it is already in the “good movie” territory. They stick to the book closely again in this film, but this story benefits even more from the big screen as you get to watch giant spiders, house elves, and flying cars come to life.
We also see Voldemort in the flesh for the first time, though as Tom Riddle. This allows us to visually grasp onto the villain for the first time and sets the tone for what’s to come. The only negative to this movie is again really the lack of detail provided by the book and the fact the characters are still too young to accomplish any sort of impressive magical feat.
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This book is hands down the best in the series, but the movie adaption just doesn’t hit the same way to me. The awkward preteen vibes of the characters are on full display in this movie in a way that isn’t shown in the book and it feels like the actors are trying to settle into their skin but never quite get there.
We also get the issue of time travel, and while it seems fascinating in the book, somehow it doesn’t reflect the same in the movies. You basically realize that you are just rewatching the movie again from a different perspective but without as many twists and realizations as you come to in the book as the descriptions unfold before you. The entire revelation that Harry was the one that cast the patronus seemed huge in the book, but rather obvious and not that impressive in the movie. It’s hard to truly fault them for this as they did stick to the book pretty well, it just seemed that the story was hard to translate into film format.
Still, the casting of the characters, especially the adults, has always been a highlight in the Harry Potter films and it’s no exception here. Lupin, Snape, and Sirius Black were all at their best here with portrayals that greatly aligned with the book and drew the audience in. This sets up an even better payoff for these characters, especially Severus Snape, later in the series.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Experiencing this movie in theaters will be a lasting memory to me simply because of the snake scene. If you’re a die-hard fan, you should know what I’m talking about. Everyone in the theater knew the snake was going to lunge out, yet my friends and I still jumped out of our skin in the theater when it did. We still laugh about it all these years later.
But in all seriousness, the two Deathly Hallows movies are a bit of a conundrum to me. They aren’t the best in the series, but they are obviously the most important, and they are where we finally see our heroes triumph. However, the essence of what makes Harry Potter so great is missing both in the book and these films, and that is Hogwarts. Every other story revolved around this magical school we all wanted to go to and included the great professors and other students that gave the story depth. However, in Deathly Hallows that is all gone and replaced with Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the run. It’s necessary for the plot, but takes away from the overall magic of the series.
Unlike other times they have split a single book into multiple movies (looking at you The Hobbit) The Deathly Hallows was definitely worth multiple movies, but it does make for the first part to be a bit slower and drawn out. Still, we do get some great sequences in this movie. The run through the woods is an iconic shot, and the hijacking of the Ministry of Magic brings an amount of comedy that is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise dark and serious movie. It just isn’t exactly at the level we’ve seen Harry Potter films reach previously.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
This movie has many of the same pros and cons as its sequel but is ranked higher since it is the ending of one of the best movie sagas ever created. We find ourselves back at Hogwarts here, and the Battle of Hogwarts doesn’t let the viewer down. It’s vast and encompasses all of the Hogwarts grounds, bringing in great visual callbacks to the previous films.
The Battle of Hogwarts isn’t without its flaws in this movie though. Not showing Fred’s death feels like a disservice to the fans that loved him so much. And the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort felt quite different than the book where it took place in the Great Hall. Perhaps it made for better action to have the two of them flying around the Hogwarts grounds, but the Great Hall is such an iconic location that it’s a shame it wasn’t utilized for the final sequence at all.
We also see Neville ultimately be the hero at the end, but since his backstory is never told in the movies, you don’t really know how big a deal that is unless you’ve read the books. I suppose there’s some things that can be left to the readers and true Harry Potter fans, but Neville’s story seemed like a big one to miss out on.
The ultimate payoff of the final movie is still there though. We get great shots of McGonagall defending Harry against Snape, Harry learning who Snape really is, and Ron and Hermione finally getting together (even if they don’t last). The final frame of the Golden Trio all grown up felt like a fitting end to a series that defined so much of pop culture as we know it. Still, it’s hard to say goodbye, and I much prefer the next two on this list because of that.
2. Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire
When I rewatched this movie recently I remembered just how good it is. Since it’s the middle movie and book, it would be easy to get lost in the mix of the beginning and end, but Goblet of Fire stands out in almost every way.
I absolutely love the concept of the Quidditch World Cup, and I wish we got to see more of it in the film. I also think the Tri-Wizard tournament along with the Yule Ball were really fun and clever plot devices in the story. We finally got to see dragons in action in Harry Potter and they felt realistic and significant. The portrayal of Mad-Eye Moody and Barty Crouch Jr. again goes back to the brilliant casting of the adults in the movie, with the two actors teetering that line between mad genius and absolutely insane perfectly.
The sets are sprawling and realistic for all the different sequences in the story, and unlike the movie right after, Goblet of Fire doesn’t shy away from telling as much of the story as possible within the film. We see the nightmares and flashbacks Harry has as well as an in-depth view into each task. Obviously the unveiling of Voldemort at the end was of utmost importance, and other than the strange decision to not give him a nose, the portrayal of Voldemort and his brutality right from the start was spot on.
Goblet of Fire showed you can take a large book and fit it all into one movie while still doing it justice, it’s a shame Order of the Phoenix couldn’t follow suit.
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Perhaps a controversial number one on this list, but hear me out. This is the last Harry Potter movie we get with the Hogwarts, Quidditch, and Great Hall moments we all came to love in the previous five movies, and in some ways, I think the Hogwarts school year storyline is the best in Harry’s sixth year. The contrast of the darkness closing in on the school with Harry struggling through everyday teenage life makes for a great visual story. We get a bit of everything in this movie that we’ve loved in the past, from classroom dynamics, to Quidditch sequences, to the Golden Trio being at the center of trouble, this movie feeds on nostalgia in a way that is rare for a movie that isn’t the end of the series.
Of course, we get the darker sides of the story too, but it’s done in a way that is as memorable visually as it is important. Watching Harry and Dumbledore going after the locket is a tense experience and seeing the Death Eaters destroy that bridge in London at the very beginning sets the tone early. The slow motion shot of Dumbledore falling from the tower will be ingrained in our heads forever, along with the students holding their lights up later to dissipate the Dark Mark. We also dive into the pensieve multiple times, and get more backstory here than in any other film in the series.
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