Yes, read Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore is taken down a peg or two.


Not quite to raving homeless man, though.

Yes, Cherny- there is. You will find out a lot of background info on Dumbledore that may surprise you- he's not always been the the person he was at the end. Really, it was after reading this book that I changed opinion of Gambon's Dumbledore.

Brigitte- maybe dotty isn't the right word, but remember Dumbledore's love of odd things and his sometimes 'out there' statements, designed to distract or diffuse a situation, but nonetheless striking others as a bit goofy? (Such as his 'few words' at the beginning of term, or how he speaks to persons like the Dursleys, or when he's trying to distract Minister Fudge, etc). Dumbledore, as written, is eccentric- genius, but an eccentric one.

The one scene I got the dotty feeling from was when they return after the time turner section. It's more of an eccentricity maybe. He does have a different way of coming across than Harris did. Different actors, different perceptions. He is growing on me though!

That post-time turner scene is Gambon's most brilliant. In it, he's Dumbledore in the present moment who doesn't know anything about sending Hermoine and Harry back to the past to undue some stuff that needs undoing, but also Aware of the Future that NOW DOESN"T EXIST when he tells Hermoine to go back to the past.

If a little dottiness is not called for in such a situation, I don't know when it is!!

True, I think we were just set against him from the start because we loved Harris's performances in the first 2. Having seen the next 3, I should go back and watch the first 2 to see how I feel about it now.

That, and I thought the actor who played Gandalf would've made a great 2nd Dumbledore.

BTW: we're getting dangerously close to some book spoilers in this movie spoilers thread. Some of us have not finished DH.

Had he not played Gandalf, I agree, Ian McKellen would have been awesome. However, two wizards too close together in the space of his career.

I'm warming to Michael Gambon, he is so very different than the warm and comforting Richard Harris, but as WB and others have posted already, Gambon's portrayal is much closer to the books. I liked him a fair bit in OotP, I need to re-watch it, I know I missed a good deal, the film moved very quickly.

Yes, I agree. Please don't post spoilers for Deathly Hallows or Half-Blood Prince here.

Spoilers for Half-Blood Prince?!?!? Um, not that I will do so on purpose, but the spoiler alert for the previous Harry Potter book is no longer valid.







Wait ... here's one spoiler for that book: Read only the last 50 pages, and save yourself 700 pages of pure, unadulterated boredom.

Quit posting and get reading people!