Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)

The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (released June 4, 2004) included the basic plot of the book; however, the story centred around the difficulties of becoming an adolescent. It was directed by Alfonso Cuarón and produced by David Heyman, Chris Columbus, the director of the first two movies and Mark Radcliffe. It was the first movie to be using IMAX Technology only on IMAX Theaters.

Cast

 * Harry Potter - Daniel Radcliffe
 * Petunia Dursley - Fiona Shaw
 * Dudley Dursley - Harry Melling
 * Vernon Dursley - Richard Griffiths
 * Marge Dursley - Pam Ferris
 * James Potter - Adrian Rawlins
 * Lily Evans - Geraldine Somerville
 * Stan Shunpike - Lee Ingleby
 * Ernie Prang - Jimmy Gardner
 * Shrunken Head - Lenny Henry (voice)
 * Sirius Black - Gary Oldman
 * Cornelius Fudge - Robert Hardy
 * Ron Weasley - Rupert Grint
 * Hermione Granger - Emma Watson
 * George Weasley - Oliver Phelps
 * Fred Weasley - James Phelps
 * Percy Weasley - Chris Rankin
 * Molly Weasley - Julie Walters
 * Ginny Weasley - Bonnie Wright
 * Arthur Weasley - Mark Williams
 * Remus Lupin - David Thewlis
 * Albus Dumbledore - Michael Gambon
 * Severus Snape - Alan Rickman
 * Minerva McGonagall - Maggie Smith
 * Rubeus Hagrid - Robbie Coltrane
 * Neville Longbottom - Matthew Lewis
 * Draco Malfoy - Tom Felton
 * Gregory Goyle - Josh Herdman
 * Sybill Trelawney - Emma Thompson
 * Vincent Crabbe - Jamie Waylett
 * Walden Macnair - Peter Best
 * Peter Pettigrew - Timothy Spall

Other Cast:
 * Filius Flitwick - Warwick Davis
 * Argus Filch - David Bradley
 * The Fat Lady - Dawn French
 * Sir Cadogan - Paul Whitehouse
 * Dean Thomas - Alfred Enoch
 * Gryffindor Girl - Kandice Morris
 * Seamus Finnigan - Devon Murray
 * Gryffindor Boy - Rick Sahota
 * Padma Patil - Sharon Sandhu
 * Parvati Patil - Sitara Shah
 * Lavender Brown - Jennifer Smith
 * Angelina Johnson - Danielle Tabor
 * Pansy Parkinson - Genevieve Gaunt
 * Madam Rosmerta - Julie Christie
 * Alicia Spinnet - Unknown
 * Slytherin Boy - Bronson Webb
 * Katie Bell - Emily Dale

Plot
Harry Potter is spending his summer at the Dursley's house. Uncle Vernon's sister Marge arrives for a visit and at dinnertime, she viciously insults Harry and his parents. Harry's anger and unconscious magical powers cause her to inflate and float away. Expecting to have been expelled from Hogwarts for using magic outside of school, Harry flees. After seeing a large black dog, the Knight Bus appears and takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron. There, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge tells Harry he will not be expelled. Harry learns that Sirius Black, who is said to be a supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban. He is also informed by Arthur Weasley that Black will likely come after him.

Harry journeys to Hogwarts with his best friends Ron and Hermione; they are now entering their third year. On the train they share a compartment with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, who is sleeping when they enter the compartment. Abruptly, the Hogwarts Express is stopped and a Dementor boards, searching for Black. The creature has a profound effect on Harry, causing him to faint. Lupin awakens and repels the Dementor. At school, Albus Dumbledore informs the Hogwarts students that because Black is at large, Dementors have been set up around the school as a protection. In addition to Lupin's appointment, Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. As lessons begin, Hermione frequently arrives at their various classes by appearing out of nowhere. Lupin's lessons prove enjoyable, as he teaches useful spells and helps less confident students like Neville. However Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class does not go as planned, and on the first day, Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes the Hippogriff Buckbeak into attacking him. His father successfully has Buckbeak sentenced to death. Later, third year students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade, but since Harry's uncle Vernon didn't sign his, he stays talking with Lupin, and he says that he knew his parents, which were to great individuals.

Returning to the Gryffindor's tower, they find the Fat Lady's portrait empty, and has been attacked. Dumbledore and Filch find the Fat Lady in another portrait, completely scared. She says that Sirius Black has entered the castle, and wanted to enter Gryffindor's tower. Dumbledore sends all the students to sleep at the Great Hall, in which Snape says to Dumbledore that the appointment of a teacher may had been dangerous. Dumbledore denies this, and both think that Harry may be in danger. Later, in a Defence Against The Dark Arts class, Snape substitues Lupin, saying that he's incapable of teaching. He teaches them about werewolves and animagi - the firsts alway transform by the full moon to a wolf, the seconds choose when they want to transform into an animal they want.

During a Quidditch match, several Dementors approach Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick; Dumbledore slows his descent. Harry then decides to learn how to fight the Dementors. Lupin says he will teach him, but after the holidays, since he feels sick. Near Chrismas, Harry attempts to sneak to Hogsmeade without permission, but is caught by Fred and George, who give him the Marauder's Map so that he can enter the village through a secret passage. At Hogsmeade, Harry overhears that Black was his godfather and his parents' best friend. Black is said to have divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Voldemort and murdered their mutual friend Peter Pettigrew. Harry says to his friends that is looking forward to kill Black.

The holdays pass, and Lupin teaches him the spell to conjure a Patronus, a 'shield' or 'force' that can repel a Dementor. A Patronus is the opposite of a Dementor which breeds on unhappy thoughts and bad memories. The happier the thought used to cast the spell, the more powerful the Patronus. After several tries, Harry manages to create a Patronus. One night, Harry is using the Marauder's Map, and he sees Pettigrew's name. Going where he's supposed to be, he sees no one, but is caught by Snape. Lupin appears and sees the map, he then gets Harry away. In his classroom, he says to Harry that is very irresponsible of his to wander around with the map. Before leaving, Harry says that the map may be broken - he has seen Pettigrew's name on it, when he's supposed to be death. Lupin says that it's not possible, and stays looking at the map, quietly.

In Divination class, after everyone's gone, Professor Trelawney enters a trance while Harry's there and predicts that the Dark Lord's servant will return to his master that night. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hagrid to console him over Buckbeak's impending execution. While there, Ron discovers his rat, Scabbers, who had disappeared earlier in the year, and whom Ron had believed to be dead. While the trio is chasing Scabbers, a large dog drags both Ron and and the rat into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione follow, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. The dog is revealed to be Sirius Black, who is an Animagus. Lupin arrives as well and upon seeing Scabbers, embraces Sirius as an old friend. After being confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf. Snape appears, planning to catch Black and Lupin and hand them over to the Dementors, but is knocked out by Harry. Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. Everything that Black is accused was actually Pettigrew and the pair force Pettigrew back into his human form. Lupin and Sirius prepare to kill Pettigrew but are stopped by Harry, who tells them that it was not what James would have done. As the group head back to the castle the full moon rises, causing Lupin to transform and Pettigrew to escape. Lupin and Sirius fight in their animal forms, until Lupin is distracted, and Sirius and Harry are attacked by Dementors. As Sirius is about to have his soul removed, Harry sees a figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the Dementors and saving their lives.

Hermione reveals that she possesses a time-turner, which is how she has been taking multiple classes at once. She and Harry travel back in time three hours, watching themselves go through the night's events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. As the Dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Sirius, Harry realizes that the person he saw was actually him and casts the Patronus. Harry and Hermione rescue a captured Sirius and give him Buckbeak to escape on, as time equals out again. At the end of the year, Lupin resigns, knowing that people will not allow a werewolf to teach their children. Later, Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt, an extremely fast racing broom.

Differences Between Novel and Film

 * The movie starts with Harry performing the "Lumos Maxima" Spell, well aware of the Restrictions of Underage Wizards and did not receive any warnings. The spell was also invented for the film. In the book, Harry uses a simple flashlight. Lumos Maxima is later brought back for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
 * In the book Hermione rescues Sirius Black with "Alohomora," but in the film, she uses "Bombarda," a spell made up for the films.
 * In the film version, Harry unintentionally causes Marge's brandy glass to explode after he is angered by her comments, but before he inflates her. In the novel, the incident with the brandy glass does not occur.
 * In the book, Harry pretends to be Neville Longbottom while on the Knight Bus, running from the Ministry of Magic. In the film, Harry doesn't pretend to be Neville.
 * The film makers added Shrunken Heads that have the ability to talk. So far these creatures have been unique to this film only.
 * The origins of the Marauder's Map are not revealed in the film. The whole storyline of the Marauders is left out, including that James Potter was an Animagus that transformed into a stag. However, in the film Harry still makes the connection between the stag and his father. This also causes a continuity error in the later films as Harry knew who Wormtail and Padfoot were.
 * Like in the previous films the majority of the Quidditch season was cut out, aside from the first match, and the game where Harry meets Cho Chang and sees Marcus Flint, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy disguised as Dementors, and Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup were also omitted.
 * In the book both Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang were introduced as Quidditch players then identified by name in the following book. In the film they were not introduced until the following film and though the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match is kept in the film, Cedric is not mentioned to be on their team.
 * In the book the rain during the Hufflepuff Quidditch match makes it difficult for Harry to see until Hermione casts Impervius on his glasses, In the film, the Quidditch players wear goggles.
 * In the book, Harry sees the Grim in the Stands watching him. Whereas in the movie, Harry flies high into the sky, and instead sees a cloud shaped like the Grim. In the game Harry sees it in the stands like in the book.
 * In the book, Harry received his Firebolt for Christmas right after his Nimbus 2000 was destroyed. Eventually, Sirius Black revealed he had sent the broom. In the film, Harry receives the Firebolt at the end of the film, and although there was no note, Harry knew that Black had sent it after seeing one of Buckbeak's feathers enclosed with it.
 * Crookshanks' role is diminished.
 * The scenes of Harry and Ron not being on speaking terms with Hermione because of the problems she caused towards their possessions (Harry's Firebolt and Ron's rat Scabbers), as well as Hagrid's stern lecture towards putting them ahead of their friendship with Hermione have been omitted from the film. However, some of Ron's initial arguments with Hermione were left intact.
 * In the film, the part where Sirius tries to kill Wormtail disguised as a rat in the middle of the night is omitted. The part where Sir Cadogan becomes the portrait for Gryffindor is also omitted. This is left as a deleted scene.
 * In the film, Harry's two visits to Hogsmeade are combined into a single trip.
 * In the film, Harry throws snowballs at Draco and his cronies while under the Invisibility Cloak. In the novel, he throws mudballs. The scene is also extended, with Harry also pantsing and kicking Crabbe's backside, pulling the other Slytherin Boy's hat over his eyes and swinging him around by his scarf, and dragging Malfoy away by his feet. Additionally, the scene of Draco finding out about Harry's unauthorized visit when the hood of the cloak accidentally fell off of Harry's head was omitted from the film. Hermione is also there in the film, but in the book, she was not present.
 * In the novel, Hermione slaps Malfoy and he reacts passively. In the movie, this is slightly extended. Instead, Hermione first draws her wand on Malfoy, and then punches him in the nose, in both situations he acts cowardly.
 * In the book Harry, Ron, and Hermione all try and disarm Snape at the same time, causing him to hit against the wall and go unconscious. In the film it is only Harry who does this.
 * In the book, Snape had been unconscious because of the spell cast by Hermione, Ron, and Harry and had to be suspended in mid-air by magic to be brought out of the Shrieking Shack. He was not there to protect Hermione, Ron, and Harry when Lupin transformed into a werewolf, but in the film, Snape was not unconscious and he protected Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Lupin. In the book Snape gains consciousness only after Sirius and Harry become unconscious because of the Dementors but in the film, he is conscious from the beginning.
 * In the book, Hermione is with Harry and Sirius when they are attacked by the Dementors. In the film, she stays behind with Ron.
 * In the film, when Harry and Hermione go back in time, Hermione throws an ammonite fossil at Harry to get his attention, so he can see Fudge and Macnair coming to Hagrid's hut. Hermione later howls like a wolf to call Lupin away from fighting Padfoot, in turn causing him to come after them instead, at which point they are rescued by Buckbeak. In the novel, neither of these two events occur.
 * Where Harry saves his earlier self by casting his Patronus, in the book, he did it alone (Hermione and Buckbeak where hiding back in Hagrid's Hut); in the film, both Hermione and Buckbeak are present and witnessed Harry casting the Patronus.
 * In the book, during his anti-dementor lessons, Harry tries to ward off the dementor three times. In the movie, he only tries twice. Also, Harry's memory in the book that works is the memory of how happy he was that he would be leaving the Dursleys. In the film, he uses a made-up memory of his parents.
 * In the book, Lupin's nickname is spelled Moony. In the movie, it is spelled with an "e," making it Mooney.
 * In the novel, while trying to make the Marauder's Map "reveal its secrets", Snape tries once and fails. He then tries again and it fails. He tries once more and it finally works. In the film, he only tries once and it works.
 * In the film, Harry sees Pettigrew's name one night on the map and goes to find him. He gets caught by Snape and then Lupin takes him away. This doesn't happen in the book - in it, Snape catches Harry after being seen by Malfoy in Hogsmeade. Then Lupin takes him away. Also, that visit to Hogsmeade doesn't happen in the film.
 * In the film, after seeing Pettigrew's name on the map, he says this to Lupin. Lupin can't believe it, and starts to believe Sirius. In the book, Harry never saw Pettigrew's name on it, and Lupin was the one who saw Pettigrew's name after adquiring the map. It is then when he believes Sirius.

Differences from the series:

 * In the, to date, single most noticeable change of cast, Michael Gambon now plays Dumbledore, following the death of Richard Harris who played the wizard in the first two films. As a younger actor, Gambon's portrayal in this and future films is of a more robust and active wizard. The films have so far made no attempt to reconcile the change in Dumbledore's appearance and demeanor, although given the concept of the series, it is not impossible to do so (Rowling, for her part, did not suggest any change of appearance in Dumbledore in the books she wrote after the part was recast).
 * The Harry Potter logo itself has changed, with the "P" lightning bolt and 'tongue' merging,and a 'tail' is inserted.
 * The Leaky Cauldron has now changed location and structure.
 * Tom, the bartender and landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, has been replaced by a different actor.
 * Hogwarts itself has new features: A Clock Tower and a wooden bridge is added to the back of the school and The Quidditch pitch is mostly shown with only the wooden frame.
 * Hagrid's Hut is now located down hill of the castle.
 * Most wands have taken different shapes.
 * Scabbers, Ron's rat, now has excess hair on his ears.
 * The location of the portrait of the Fat Lady, the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, has been moved to the middle of the moving staircases, in plain view to any student not in Gryffindor. The appearance of the Fat Lady has also changed, with a different background and ballgown.
 * Whenever a spell is now cast in the film, a faint whistling can be heard. This is the only film where this sort of event takes place.
 * The Whomping Willow is in a different location than in The Chamber of Secrets; in the earlier film, the Willow was very close to the school and on relatively flat (or at least driveable) terrain. In this film, the Willow is a considerable distance from the school, at the bottom of a hill and amidst rocky terrain.

Mistakes

 * Harry's shoe got chewed up by The Monster Book of Monsters, but in the next scene his shoe's intact.
 * In the beginning of the movie, Harry is practising the Lumos Maxima spell while at the Dursley's, but did not receive any warnings under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

Box office
Prisoner of Azkaban has the dubious distinction of being, as of 2009, the lowest-grossing film in the series. It was far from a failure by any means: it generated worldwide box office of more than US$750 million and is currently ranked the 21st highest grossing film of all time.