All Harry Potter Movies, Ranked by Book Accuracy

The magical world of Harry Potter has captured the attention of movie goers for over 20 years, but the franchise got its true start 4 years earlier when the initial novel took the world by storm and inspired a generation of children to read. Since the publication of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, generations of readers have been enraptured by the adventures of the young wizard and the whimsical yet dangerous world in which he inhabits. With an upcoming television adaptation coming soon readers wonder how faithful this adaption will be to those that came before.

While certain aspects of the Harry Potter film franchise are beloved by die-hard readers, such as the iconic casting of the main trio in Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, other choices and factors were met with disappointment or regret. The Harry Potter novels are massive and their world even wider. Some cuts have to be made in even the most perfect book-to-film adaptations. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is no different, but some films have definitely handled this task more than others.

9 The ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Films (2016-2022)

Directed by David Yates

Admittedly, this is more of a technicality and an excuse to poke fun at them than anything, but the Fantastic Beasts films ARE technically based upon a J. K. Rowling penned wizarding world novel. They are also, decidedly, not fantastic. The titular novel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an in-universe textbook the unplanned and unfinished series of mostly flop films have decidedly nothing to do with their source material other than a shared name and the occasional mystical animal.

While the first film managed to craft a somewhat successful, intriguing romp set in the Harry Potter universe, the latter two films (The Crimes of Grindlewald and The Secrets of Dumbledore) devolved into a string of nonsensical plot points, dower lighting, and shoehorned-in consistently forced references to the Harry Potter canon. Fantastic Beasts should have taken from its novel more and been a fun glimpse into the world of Harry Potter outside that titular character, but the series wanted to stand as a prequel rather than on its own merits. With three out of a planned five films made, and no future in sight, Fantastic Beasts is failure and a stain on a great franchise.

8 ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ (2009)

Directed by David Yates

As the penultimate book in the original series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince bears the burden of largely being setup for the grand finale that would follow. In book form, this makes for a thrilling slow burn, as action and adventure take a backseat to love triangles, backstory, and a loving send off to the boarding school drama part of the story. A movie has neither the time nor patience for all this character setup and chooses to radically cut and change The Half Blood Prince’s story to include more action and explosiveness. The most obvious example of this being the nonsensical attack on the Burrow around the midpoint of the movie, a scene which seemingly only exists to provide a burst of action in the movie’s middle section.

The most glaring omission in The Half-blood Prince, however, is the vast depth of backstory given to Voldemort in the novel. The film touches on this aspect in a few scenes, but it is greatly reduced from the original story, leading to the loss of much context, characterization, and the true darkness of the dark lord’s origin story. In novel format, a large amount of time can be used to convey Tom Riddle’s transformation into he who must not be named and his history with characters like Dumbledore or newcomer Professor Slughorn (played by Jim Broadbent in the film), but in film format, much of this is streamlined and simplified to expand the action sequences. While characters such as Tom Felton‘s Draco Malfoy, and Alan Rickman‘s iconic Severus Snape (the titular character of this entry), maintain plenty of depth, others pale compared to their book counterparts.

7 ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ (2007)

Directed by David Yates

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest Harry Potter book by a wide margin. This means that it’s film adaptation moves quickly from plot point to plot point while unfortunately making costly cuts, such as the depth of Harry and Snape’s Occlumency training, Snape’s backstory with Harry’s father, and extra context around the fan favorite Silver Trio. The characters of Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis), Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright), and Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) are firmly solidified as some of the golden trio’s closest allies in this outing, but are sadly also the source of much cut content and inaccuracies. While the spectacular battle at the Ministry of Magic is translated fairly well, making for one of the most action-packed Harry Potter films, the full context of the trip is omitted, leading to a massive let-down.

As the book fully explains an iconic twist, the prophecy retrieved from the ministry of magic ties not only Harry to the dark lord, but Neville as well. Had the dark lord chosen to go after Neville as a child, he might bear a scar similar to Harry’s and be the leader of this resistance. Its amazing context that adds a lot of emotional complexity as well as a near-Macbethian take on fate to the wizarding world. It also ties to one of the series’ most devastating scenes, which was sadly cut from the film, in which Harry finds Neville in St. Mungo’s Hospital visiting his parents, who were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange.

6 ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ (2011)

Directed by David Yates

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 differs from its book in combination of mistakes seen already, the need to broaden its action and disservices to Harry’s supporting cast. After the events of Order of the Phoenix, Ginny, Luna and especially Neville are invaluable allies to Harry and his friends. The film showcases Ginny, Neville and a rescued Luna alongside other Dumbledore’s Army members in the Room of Requirement, but the book makes clear that, in the absence of the golden trio, this new trinity had been waging guerrilla warfare all year long to protect Hogwarts and its students. And whereas the film showcases Neville waging a protracted fight against the important Horcrux Nagini, the book portrays him swiftly doing the deed in a confident motion.

The largest difference in the movie comes merely from expanding the Battle of Hogwarts from a few climactic chapters to over half of a feature film. The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a climax to a decade-long franchise, and it feels the need to go out with a bang, a change which is in some ways actually better than the book it is based on. However, it requires the film to omit extra context about characters such as Snape and his full relationship with Harry’s parents, and almost fails others such as Dumbledore. Movies and films are different mediums and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 does its best to show instead of tell…but a few more things needed to be told.

5 ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’ (2005)

Directed by David Yates

The funniest inaccuracy in the Harry Potter franchise is found in its fourth entry, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Famously, the line “Dumbledore calmly asked Harry” was translated as full of screaming accusations, and while this change may be completely justified, it has stuck as the most commonly known change between Harry’s on-page and screen adventures. As a whole, however, the fourth outing for Harry and friends largely follows the structure of its tournament-based novel, even capturing the growing tone of teenage romance and drama that the fourth novel went to great lengths to introduce.

Like other films on this list, the changes largely come through a lack of nuance and context, this time specifically relating to the film’s handling of its twist villain Barty Crouch Jr. (David Tennant). In the novel, this reveal is foreshadowed multiple times by strange occurrences revolving around Harry’s new teacher, Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson). In the film, however, the reveal that Mad-Eye was a man named Barty Crouch Jr. comes out of seemingly nowhere barring a quick side reference. Smaller changes are made to story beats, such as Neville helping Harry with the second trial rather than Dobby as in the book, and the omission of challenges such as the dangers lying within the hedge maze in the film’s finale. However, it is the great disservice to the character of Mad-Eye Moody and Barty Crouch that stands out as the film’s greatest failure in the adaptation.

4 ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1’ (2010)

Directed by David Yates

As alluded to earlier, the deathly hallows novel and movies share some key differences largely related to the character of dumbledore and the shocking reveals that come out about him after his death. While the movies touch upon these reveals the novel spends much more time exploring Dumbledore’s secret history with the dark wizard Grindelwald, and the parallels this draws between Dumbledore, Snape, Voldemort and Harry himself. A major theme in the back half of Harry Potter’s saga is that of morality and choice, and knowing that Dumbledore was a few choices away from being Voldemort adds much needed emotional relevance to the already bombastic finale.

For the bulk of its runtime, however, Deathly Hallows Part 1 shows the rare benefit that two-part adaptations can have, using its increased screentime to page count ratio to faithfully recreate the front half of Harry’s final novel. For every unfortunately absent scene such as Harry’s somber farewell to the Dursleys numerous Iconic moments such as Harry’s escape from Privet Drive, the trio’s capture at Malfoy manor and the heartbreaking demise of Dobby are faithfully recounted. The tightened focus also means that, unlike other Harry Potter films, Deathly Hallows Part 1 not only omits fewer plot points, but is afforded the time to allow its reveals to resonate with the audience before moving on.

3 ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ (2004)

Directed By Alfonso Cuarón

Often considered the best Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban lives up to its hype as a near-perfect fantasy. The film provides an ideal midpoint for the whimsy of the first two Harry Potter movies while showcasing some of the darkness and adult drama that will come to dominate the latter half of the franchise. While as an adaptation the film is undoubtedly as good as the book, it still makes changes to befit its new format and runtime. The most apparent of these changes is the absence of the series’ iconic school robes, a change which serves as an effective visual que of the more adult tone of the film, but loses much of the uniqueness that makes the franchise “Harry Potter”.

More impactful to the story however is the absence of the backstory of the Marauder’s Map. In the film, this is Harry’s newest magical tool which helps in the plot of Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall) and the prisoner of Azkaban (revealed to be Harry’s Godfather Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), but in the book, the map is itself a key part of the backstory of these characters and crucial to theirs and Harry’s shared past. Indeed, the marauders that gave the map its name were Pettigrew, Black, as well as Harry’s new teacher, Remus Lupin, (David Thewlis) and his own father, James Potter. This intricate backstory is largely absent from the film and would have helped inform not only it’s climax, but the familial fondness Harry shares for Sirius and Lupin in later films.

2 ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ aka ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (2001)

Directed by Chris Columbus

The original pair of Harry Potter films directed by Chris Columbus do the best job of translating the otherworldly and fantastical feel of Hogwarts to the big screen. While the later films would begin focusing on action drama, the first two sit firmly in the camp of adventure, and as an introduction to this world of whimsy and wonder, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stoneis a near-perfect family film. Nearly every exciting moment and character piece from the original novel is translated on screen, creating a truly magic experience.

The most glaring omission from this outing for Harry and friends, however, is the absence of the potions trial to access the Philosopher’s Stone. Like Harry’s catching of the winged key, or Ron’s mastery of Wizard’s Chess, Hermione’s decoding of the potions riddle is an important character moment which informs exactly what she will bring to the trio going forward. The film attempts to make Hermione’s knowledge of the Devil’s Snare her moment in the climax, but the book showcases that true intelligence is deeper than the memorization of facts.

1 ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ (2002)

Directed by Chris Columbus

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is the second-shortest Harry Potter novel and yet the longest of the films by far. This allows the film to be a near-perfect adaptation of its source material and to translate some of the most iconic Harry Potter moments in a way that casual viewers and die-hard fans equally love. The mystery of the heir of Slytherin, the establishment of such likable characters such as Dobby, Ginny Weasley, and moaning myrtle, and the film’s climactic action finale are ripped, nearly from their written counterparts, making for a truly faithful adaptation.

Chris Columbus also makes sure that the film works as a film, however, and hones the bouncy, eccentric feeling of Hogwarts that he introduced in the first film, while introducing the world’s darker elements and characters. Harry’s first proper meeting with Voldemort, his battle with the fearsome Basilisk, and his triumphant raising of the sword of Gryffindor are some of the most memorable moments in Harry Potter. And when they are mixed with some of the film’s most iconic locations, and characters in their purest forms, the film is proof that you can faithfully adapt a novel, without sacrificing the visual nature of film.