Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone is a children’s book about a boy who discovers he’s a wizard, published on June 26, 1997. The author JK Rowling then wrote six more books. Then on November 16, 2001, the first book got its movie adaptation, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Harry’s best friend, Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. But as of recently, HBO announced that they’re rebooting the series as a TV show with an all new cast. I have recently taken the time to rewatch all of the original 8 movies and rank them from worst to best.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of the movie franchise. This movie follows Harry during his second year at Hogwarts where Harry is told by a mysterious house elf named Dobby that he mustn’t go back to school. But Harry is broken out of his aunt and uncle’s house by Ron and his two older twin brothers, Fred and Geroge. While at school, students are found petrified and messages on the walls state that the “Chamber of Secrets has been opened.” Suspicion falls on Harry due to his ability to speak Parseltongue (snake language). Hermione deduces that the monster is a basilisk, a giant snake whose gaze kills, but causes petrification if seen indirectly. Harry finds the Chamber in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, saves Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) who was possessed by Tom Riddle’s journal to open the chamber. Harry kills the basilisk with help from Fawkes the phoenix and the sword of Gryffindor, and destroys the diary.Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby the house-elf by hiding his diary inside a sock and gifting it to him. I believe this one is the worst film in the franchise because I think it was boring, there was  a lot of talking and we didn’t get a lot of action until the end of the movie. The writers and director also didn’t do enough with Ginny while she possessed by Tom Riddle’s journal.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

Deathly Hallows: part 1 is the sixth movie in the franchise. In the beginning, The Order of the Phoenix attempts to move Harry to safety, resulting in a battle. Both Mad-eye Moody and Hedwig die while protecting Harry. Harry, Ron, and Hermione go into hiding, focusing on destroying the Horcruxes to break Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) immortality. They break into the Ministry of Magic to steal the Slytherin locket horcrux off of Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). However the locket has a dark influence on the group, while Ron wears it and it causes a fight that makes him leave the group. Harry and Hermione learn about the legend of the three Deathly Hallows—the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Cloak of Invisibility—which could provide ultimate power. While searching in Godric’s Hollow, the trio are attacked by Nagini and escape, but a blasting curse breaks Harry’s wand. Ron returns, and they destroy the locket. They are later captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, where Dobby is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (Helen Bonham Carter). The film ends with Voldemort securing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s tomb. I believe this one comes a close second to the worst due to the fact we don’t actually see Mad-eye die while on screen, we are just just that he does while rescuing Harry. Which I think takes away from the heartbreak. But I did enjoy the development you see with the main three, now that they are older and how  deal with the world they’ve grown up in as it takes a dark turn.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the final movie in the franchise. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are now at a safe house that belongs to Bill Weasley (Domhnall Gleeson) after escaping Malfoy Manor. They take polyjuice potion that shapeshifts them into different people, Hermione as Bellatrix Lestrange and Ron as Dragomir Despard, while Harry hides under his invisibility cloak. The trio breaks into Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault to steal Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup, one of the final Horcruxes. Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, Voldemort breaks the magical protective border around the school, which allows him and the Death Eaters to start purging students and teachers. This causes a massive war called, “The Battle of Hogwarts.” Voldemort kills Snape (Alan Rickman), believing it makes him the master of the Elder Wand; a dying Snape shows Harry his memories, revealing he was a double agent protecting Harry out of love for Lily, Harry’s mother. Harry realizes he is a Horcrux and willingly allows Voldemort to cast the killing curse on him, sending him to a limbo-like state where he chooses to return with the resurrection stone. Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) kills Nagini, who is also a Horcux, with the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry reveals he is alive, and during their final duel, Voldemort’s killing curse rebounds due to the Elder Wand’s allegiance to Harry, destroying him. Harry breaks the Elder Wand and throws it away, believing it is too powerful for any hand to hold. The film then fades to black and then fades back to Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione watching their children board the Hogwarts Express. I put this as the third worst because there is so much that happens in the original book that doesn’t make it into the movie. But, I loved getting to watch all the character stories come to a satisfying closing and there was great action during the Battle of Hogwarts. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone (2001)

This movie is the first official movie in the franchise and follows Harry discovering his way through the magical world of Hogwarts. Harry was orphaned and placed with his abusive aunt and uncle. He learns on his 11th birthday from Hagrid, a half-giant (Robbie Cultrane) that he is a wizard and will be placed in Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry enters the magical world and finds he feels at home there after being sorted in the Gryffindor house, with his new friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The three of them discover that there is a magical, life-expanding stone hidden in the school, and suspect that Professor Snape is after it. The trio makes their way to the magical and dangerous defense, a three-headed dog owned by Hagrid named Fluffy. They go through a series of tasks that separate Ron and Hermione from Harry. Harry then discovers that the one after the stone was really Professor Quill (Ian Hart), who is sharing a body with a very weak Lord Voldemort. In the end, Harry manages to protect the stone from Quill and is later reunited with his two friends. This movie isn’t bad but better than some of the others, because it gives you a full introduction into the world of Hogwarts. It has a very warm feeling, even with the dark story hidden underneath. 

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Order of the Phoenix is the fifth movie in the franchise that follows Harry after the death of Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) in The Goblet Of Fire. The Ministry put Harry in front of the Ministry of Magic for using magic outside of school, after saving himself and his cousin Dudley from dementors. He is cleared after Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) comes to defend him in court. One of the jury members, Dolores Umbridge, is appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. While a teacher at Hogwarts, she restricts practical magic and punishes Harry for speaking up against the backlash of Cedric’s death, after he was killed by Lord Voldemort. She eventually becomes High Inquisitor, practically running the whole school. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to fight back, and form a secret group to teach other students how to defend themselves with magic, calling themselves “Dumbledore’s Army.”  Harry discovers a prophecy that tells him why Voldemort tried to kill him as a child. Harry and his friends go to the Ministry after he has a vision of his uncle, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) being tortured. They end up fighting Death Eaters in the Department of Ministry, but Bellatrix Lestrange kills Sirius. Dumbledore soon arrives and fights Voldemort, making the wizarding world accept that Voldemort is back. This movie has such good character building and introduces characters who will end up being important in later movies. It does, however, leave out some important information that was in the books, but that unfortunately is what happens with a lot of book-to-movie adaptations. 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2008)

Half-Blood Prince is the sixth movie in the franchise that follows the events right after Order of The Phoenix, with the movie opening with Dumbledore leading Harry out of the Ministry of Magic. During Harry’s potions class, he finds an old, used potions textbook with handwritten tips and spells, belonging to someone called “Half-Blood Prince.” Dumbledore takes Harry through different memories of an ex-Hogwarts teacher, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), who was a teacher of Tom Riddle. Harry discovers that Voldemort split his soul into seven horcruxes to achieve immortality, two of which are already destroyed. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), Harry’s school bully, works secretly inside Hogwarts on a dangerous task for Voldemort, which Harry obsessively tracks. Dumbledore takes Harry to a hidden cave where they find a fake locker Horcux placed there by Regulus Black, Sirius Black’s brother. When they come back, Dumbledore is confronted by Draco, who needs to eliminate him for his mission. However, Professor Snape steps in and kills Dumbledore himself, revealing himself to be the Half-Blood Prince. The wizarding world is opened up after the death of Dumbledore, and allows Death Eaters to attack both magical and muggle worlds. The movie ends with Harry deciding not to go into his seventh year, but to hunt for the Horcruxes. This movie is one of my favorites out of all seven, because it’s the one where you see the truth behind characters, like Snape, who have been labeled as “mysteries,” like Snape. But I also didn’t like how they introduced Harry and Ginny’s relationship in this movie. The two had more chemistry in the books, so when it came to the movie it was like it came out of nowhere. 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment of the franchise, and follows Harry in his third year at Hogwarts while a proclaimed murderer is on the loose. The movie starts with Harry running away from the Dursleys after inflating Aunt Marge, and learns that Sirius Black who escaped from Azkaban prison to kill him. On the train to school, dementors (guards of Azkaban) board looking for Black, affecting Harry, but new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin (David Thewills) helps him. Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus Charm to defend against them. Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn that Sirius Black is innocent after confronting him and Lupin in the Shrieking Shack, and was actually a friend of Harry’s father. The real traitor was Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall), disguised as Ron’s rat, Scabbers. However, the wizarding world still sees Sirius as a murderer, and sets him up to have his soul removed by a Dementors kiss. So, Harry and Hermione use a Time-Turner and go back in time to save Sirius and Buckbeak the Hippogriff, who was set for execution after hurting Draco Malfoy’s arm.  Sirius Black escapes, proving to be an ally and Harry’s godfather. The reason I love this one so much is that you get so much revealed about Harry’s parents and their past life. Harry also is just “Harry” in this film. He isn’t given a new nickname by the press like, “The Boy Who Lived,” “The Boy Who Lied,” or “Harry Plotter,” so it was nice to see him be himself without another name hanging over his head. 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Goblet of Fire in the fourth installment and the best movie on this list. This movie follows Harry’s fourth year back at Hogwarts as they host the Triwizard Tournament. However, Harry’s name ends up getting put into the goblet and chosen, even though he is only 14 and the tournament is only meant for people over 17. Chose Harry and upperclassman Cedric Diggory as Hogwarts champions. While Harry goes through the three difficult tasks against three other students such as fighting a dragon, rescuing friends from the lake, and navigating a maze, he is also losing his connection with Ron and Hermione. It isn’t until after the first task with the dragon that the trio make up their friendship, after Harry finds out it was Ron’s older brother, Bill, who passed the word about the task being dragons. During the end of the last task, Harry and Cedric grab the trophy, but are teleported to a dark and foggy graveyard. That’s when it’s revealed that Voldemort was brought back to life by his Death Eaters. In a graveyard, Voldemort kills Cedric Diggory and uses Harry’s blood to regain his physical form and powers. Harry manages to escape with Credic’s body and announces Voldemort is back. Mad-Eye Moody drags Harry away to his office where we discover he is really Barty Crouch Jr., a Death Eater who manipulated the tournament to ensure Harry would reach Voldemort. The movie ends with the wizarding word debating if Voldemort is truly back. This movie is the best on my list because you get to see so much action and get to see Voldemort’s full form. I love getting to watch Harry move his way through trying to survive the tournament and keep his friendships together, which shows how much Harry can really handle.

The HBO Harry Potter television series is officially scheduled for release in early 2027. Warner Bros produces the series and will air on the HBO network and stream on Max, with a planned 10-year run that offers a faithful, season-by-season adaptation of the books.