You can never grow up enough to outgrow a good old Harry Potter marathon.
Yes, they did leave a lot of details from the books, but still, the movies are enough to give you an enchanted, magical experience as you go through Harry’s years as a wizard at Hogwarts.
However, every marathon requires dedicated time, buckets of popcorn, and a stellar internet connection to stream all the movies back-to-back without any buffering and in the highest resolution.
I recommend that you use an Xfinity Internet connection for a Harry Potter marathon so that it goes as smoothly as possible. As an added benefit, you can also get access to services like Peacock, where you can stream the entire series in high quality if you subscribe to their TV bundle.
Though you’ll be going in order, I thought I’d tell you about my favorite parts in a sequence so that you would have something to look forward to. Here are my favorite Harry Potter movies, ranked.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Though this was the third installment in the series, it will still be number one for me.
I love how the movie had a dark setting throughout, with brilliant color-grading and amazing cinematography. Also, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went through a lot of character development through this part, and that’s what I love the most about the movie.
Some moments in the movie will have you clutching your seat, so make sure you watch the movie with attention and dedication so that you don’t miss any essential details. Plus, you’ll love the twist that comes towards the end of the movie, and that twist will have a lot to do with the parts to follow.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
This is the movie that started it all and introduced us to the magical world of Harry Potter.
The movie shows how Harry was mistreated at his aunt’s house because his parents had died when he was an infant. But then, his life turned around when he turned 11, and he was invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It also marks the beginning of his journey to bring down Voldemort, which is amazing, keeping in view that he was just an 11-year-old boy at that time.
The movie also shows the beginning of his friendship with Ron and Hermione. This movie is going to be the first in line for your marathon, and even with the dated visuals, I’m sure you’ll have the time of your life watching it.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
This is the second movie in the series and has a pretty compelling story.
Plus, it also takes a dark turn pretty fast since students at Hogwarts start getting attacked directly in this movie, which I felt like was a dark undertone to the movie. However, Harry manages to put up a fight and save all those who were petrified.
The movie also gives a backstory for Lord Voldemort and how he became what he is today. While Voldemort still doesn’t have a physical body, that doesn’t stop him from carrying out his evil planning to return as the Dark Lord.
Harry’s heroics not only put a stop to Voldemort, but also save all the Hogwarts students in the process.
If you want more details for the story, then you should definitely read the books as well. The first three books are relatively shorter, so they’ll go by like a breeze.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Okay, they missed a lot of details from the book, but still, Goblet of Fire was a pretty decent movie.
Though they did get something very wrong. In the movie, Dumbledore nearly burst a vein when asking Harry, “DIDJA PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE!?”.
However, in the book, it goes like: “Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?” Dumbledore asked calmly.
There was nothing calm about the line’s execution in the movie, but what I loved about it were the effects. Dragons flying around, great lighting, and of course, the entire Triwizard Tournament, which put students of different schools to the test.
This movie also has a great twist, so be sure to prepare yourself for that because you definitely won’t see it coming.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Both Parts)
I think the movie did a good job of finally concluding the story of Harry and his showdown against Voldemort. Harry also learned a lot, not just about Voldemort and his past, but about himself, something that came off as a shock to Harry (and the audience).
I like how they split the movie into two parts so that they could summarize the events of the book, and I think that was a great move, since they covered a lot of the major aspects.
Though I must add that the last three parts, including Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows, had some pretty serious undertones.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The real villain was never Voldemort; it was Dolores Umbridge (just kidding, it was Voldemort, but Umbridge was no less).
If you ask me which character I despise the most in all the movies, I’ll always reply with Umbridge.
But what I loved most about the movie was how Harry worked with Ron and Hermione and all their other friends to create “Dumbledore’s Army” so that they could fight to protect Dumbledore (I can’t give you any more details without spoiling the plot), so that’s something you’ll have to watch to experience.
Though the movie was very slow-paced, I still enjoyed watching it throughout.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The movie was great from a story’s perspective, but I feel like it was super slow-paced, even more than Order of the Phoenix.
Though a lot was told about certain characters and what their intentions were, I still believe that the movie could have been better from a cinematic point of view.
Other than that, all the characters had pretty good character development, and the movie was fun to watch. Now you’ll have to watch all of them to see whether you agree with me or not.
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