The Harry Potter franchise is massive, I don’t think I’ve met a person who hasn’t watched all of the Harry Potter movies and for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed them.
Coming off the back of a movie run, I’ve decided to rank them from worst to best in my own personal opinion of course. Please bear that in mind before you comment that this simply is just my own list and I understand everyone’s will be different.
There are 8 movies in total, and I enjoy each and every single one of them.
1. The Deathly Hallows Part 2
Part 2 is absolutely my favorite in the franchise and it comes with so many fantastic moments. Molly vs Bellatrix, Harry vs Voldemort in the final showdown, Snape’s true colors are revealed and so many more. It was the final film in the series of so many amazing moments and it’s no surprise the Directors and Writers really wanted this to be super special.
It was action-packed from pretty much the first minute. On top of that, it also featured one of my all-time favorite scenes where Harry first confronts Severus Snape in front of the entire school; “How dare you stand where he stood?”. Just absolutely incredible and it sends shivers up my spine every single time without fail.
2. Chamber of Secrets
I remember in primary school, we got a trip to the cinema and it was to actually see Chamber of Secrets, one of the reasons why it remains one of my top Harry Potter movies. I think adding on from that is the seriously spooky elements to this with the blood on the walls of Hogwarts and Myrtle in the bathroom.
I thoroughly enjoy the Chamber of Secrets I think more for nostalgic purposes. I do understand from other people’s opinions this tends to be further down the list but for me, it’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I think this is truly where Harry’s skills were first tested by the Basilisk and Tom Riddle.
3. Prisoner of Azkaban
It wouldn’t be a Harry Potter list without at least mentioning how good the Prisoner of Azkaban truly is. This movie is where we’re first introduced to Harry Potter’s Godfather, Sirius Black. We get to learn more about Harry’s parent’s past and what was actually involved in the murders.
We get to see the Dementors for the first time and the spell needed to get rid of them, and also included one of the best opening scenes in a Harry Potter movie. The first initial scenes always interest me, especially when it comes to Harry’s adopted parents but the triple-decker bus scene was so damn good.
4. Half-Blood Prince
The death of Albus Dumbledore. I think this movie hits harder than most people realize, but as we come to the end of the franchise that includes a normal school year, The Half-Blood Prince calculated the other movies together and brought us to the moment Snape eventually kills Dumbledore.
Obviously, we know it’s all a ploy by Dumbledore and Snape in the end, but when you watch this for the first time and The Deathly Hallows aren’t even out yet, it was obvious from the beginning what type of theories were floating around the internet. This captured everything perfectly and even showcased just how intelligent Severus Snape actually is. He’s the Half-Blood Prince that was editing textbooks to include the correct information as it seems the actual textbooks weren’t 100% accurate.
5. Order of the Phoenix
Dumbledore’s Army and perhaps a character you despise so much more than you ever do Voldemort. Dolores Umbridge, Christ the writers did a good job with this one, and the amazing actress as well. They truly set this character up to make you really hate her. That’s what resonates me with so much is I had a similar teacher in school that truly wanted the students to suffer. I look back and it probably wasn’t that bad but from what I remember it was.
The Order of the Phoenix showed us that Dumbledore actually had his own army which included himself, the Potter’s, and even Sirius Black. The Gryffindor students try to replicate that success in order to fight back against Umbridge’s medieval ruleset. Despite it being quite slow in parts, it’s still a very prevalent part of the overall story. Harry teaching the other students how to defend themselves obviously proved to be useful in the Battle of Hogwarts in the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
6. The Philosopher’s Stone (The Sorcerers Stone)
The film that made all of the series possible. The film that showed books can be turned into exceptional movies. Also, a film that has 2 names depending on what country you live in. Here in the UK, it’s the Philosopher’s Stone. Now this is 6th, and it looks bad, but it isn’t. It’s definitely an enjoyable experience, more so being the first in the franchise. It sets up the entire premise of the series perfectly.
When you watch the other 7 movies concurrently, this is one that you kind of completely forget about as the movies pass on. The Philosopher’s Stone itself plays next to zero part to the story after the first, you literally barely hear of it in the future films lessening the impact of what Harry had to go through in his first year in school. The Sorting Hat scene was great, I’m glad they came back around to that in a later movie.
7. The Goblet of Fire
Tournament. This is what I remember this movie by more than anything but it has a much deeper ending than just the tournament that was a ploy in the first place to ensure Harry ended up where he was supposed to be. That being in the presence of the Death-Eaters to bring Voldemort back to life properly. Not to mention one of the saddest deaths in the franchise with Cedric Diggory.
However, for me, the reason why this is 7th is that the tournament story just didn’t do it for me. Despite this movie’s ending having the most important part to the series, the overall premise of the story just bored me. That’s me being brutally honest with this. It had some incredible moments, especially the ending, but overall, definitely one of the poorer films for me.
8. The Deathly Hallows Part 1
This is the movie that I don’t look forward to when it comes to the run. I enjoy it for what it is but it’s not like the other films. It featured hardly any characters and obviously barely featured Hogwarts. I mean, for the most part, they were just camped out in tents in the middle of nowhere figuring out how to destroy Horcruxes.
Despite the flaws, it still serves a major purpose in setting up the Battle of Hogwarts in Part 2. I understand they wanted to leave the best parts for the second part but I do think it should have featured more of what was happening in Hogwarts under Snape as Headmaster.
