Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows teaser trailer analysis

"Why do you live?"
"Because I have something worth living for!"

The first full glimpse of the final two parts of the Harry Potter franchise (namely Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2) were unveiled earlier this morning via an internet stream. The trailer can be seen in front of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in cinemas from July 3rd (UK) and reportedly in front of another Warner Bros. film, Christopher Nolan's Inception released on July 16th.
There have been two short previews to date for the films of the Deathly Hallows. The first of which appeared on the blu ray edition of the Half Blood Prince film released in December 2009. We got a brief glimpse of the filming, lots of running in a forest, and Ollivander trying to explain away the myth of the deathly hallows. It was exciting to see just a short glimpse of what to expect and to see producer David Heyman and director David Yates so enthusiastic for bringing the final parts of the saga to audiences. Secondly there was a short preview shown at the MTV Movie Awards last month in America which included some short shots that are seen in the full trailer. We saw the pale Gringotts dragon, Voldemort waiting in the forest for Harry, and Ron arguing with Harry telling him that he has no family so he has nothing to lose. That was amazing footage but nothing compared to what has now been released.

The trailer opens withe a death eater telling Voldemort that there is no sign of Harry as Voldemort waits impatiently in the forest. A dishevelled Voldemort and death eaters then turn to see Harry approaching them. Voldemort proclaims: "Harry Potter, the boy who lived, come to die!"Harry closes his eyes as Voldemort raises his wand beginning the spell 'Avada Kedavra', the killing curse, and we are then treated with shots from the rest of the films in quick succession.

In the picture above, knowing they have to get into Gringotts to find one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Harry, Griphook the goblin and a polyjuiced Hermione (to look like Bellatrix) and polyjuiced Ron (to look like a foreign wizard called Dragomir Desplad) make their way along the cart inside Gringotts before they encounter the dragon.

The dragon soars from Gringotts bank, spreading its wings.

From the seven potters sequence, Harry and Hagrid use Sirius' old motorbike to escort Harry from the Dursleys to the safety of the burrow at the beginning of the film whilst being pursued by Voldemort and his death eaters.

In the destroyed Hogwarts ramparts, Ron shields Hermione from an oncoming spell.

Good versus evil as the battle takes on gigantic proportions.

Ralph Fiennes playing an angered Voldemort to perfection in the final battle.

Voldemort's snake, Nagini, wraps itself around Harry in Bathilda Bagshot's house in Godric's Hollow. One of the very creepy moments of the book. One slight doubt is that the bedroom looks way too modern for the home of an elderly person.

Harry and Ginny embrace in the final battle. Hopefully this isn't going to look cliched and awkward in the final film as it does a bit in this image.

The trio look up at the devastation to Hogwarts inflicted by the death eaters.

Voldemort and Harry duel in the destroyed Hogwarts courtyard; an extension of the sequence written by Rowling in the final book.

A chilling moment from near the end of the trailer - Voldemort grabs Harry by the chin and asks "Why do you live?" for Harry to respond "Because I have something worth living for!"

That pretty much sums up the new Harry Potter trailer. A plethora of new moments from the film, and an insightful look at how the many action sequences from the final book will be transferred to the screen. Now go and see the trailer on You Tube and make sure it's in HD. Even if you're not the biggest Potter fan you won't deny that this is the most epic trailer in years - probably since the Lord of the Rings trilogy. With a heavy heart, we must nearly say goodbye to Harry Potter after a decade on the screen.

James Bond in review - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Peter Hunt, 1969)

"This never happened to the other fella!"

It's 1967 and Connery announces he is to leave the role that has made him a worldwide superstar over the last five years and five films. It is also time for Connery Bond editor Peter Hunt to take the director's chair for the long delayed but finally ready for production On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Lazenby would prove to be the most controversial thing about the sixth Bond adventure, apart from the small fact that Bond gets married. Having seen him only in a Fry's chocolate television commercial in 1968, this non-actor with a thick Australian accent was undoubtedly incredibly lucky to become the second James Bond. What marks Lazenby out, despite his lack of prior acting experience, is his ability to see an action sequence through. He has some great timing and fights with purpose which in some respect improves on his predecessor. Where Lazenby struggles, on the flipside, is in some of the delivery of the dialogue. The fact that he has to wear a kilt for at least 10 minutes of the film doesn't do a lot to help his reputation as the successor to Connery's suave secret agent.

Lazenby's Bond kneels before the audience for his gun barrel sequence

The relationship between Rigg and Lazenby, clearly falsely reported as frosty on and off the set, appears in reality to be a great one with a lot of chemistry. Tracy has the intelligence and the self will that a man like Bond would become instantly attracted to and there is a definite Scottie/Madeleine "Vertigo" parallel between the characters and their predicaments. Lazenby is at his best when he is getting stuck into the action and when he can show genuine sincerity in the character. Bond pacing M's office whilst Tracy is held hostage by Blofeld and Bond and M's frosty tones between each other are wonderful moments in the film and of course the ending is bar none the most brilliant in the series. Lazenby wants to know if he can meet our high standards? Well he's no Connery but the saddest thing is, if he'd stayed with the character particularly for another couple of films, not only could he have made Diamonds are Forever one of the best follow ups in the series rather than the awful mess that it is, but he could also have shortly become the best Bond. As the wonderful Louis Armstrong notes, he could have had "all the time in the world" to perfect his Bond. Sadly it wasn't to be.

Mr and Mrs Bond make their way to a very short honeymoon

What director Hunt delivers with OHMSS is a raw, engaging adventure, and along with John Barry's electric score and John Glen's erratic editing technique (no doubt influenced by Hunt's own editing of Connery's Bond adventures), presents us with an adrenaline charged Bond adventure. As Moneypenny insightfully recognises, "same old James...only more so"

James Bond in review - Live And Let Die (Guy Hamilton, 1973)

"I know who you are, what you are and why you have come.
You have made a mistake. You will not succeed."

Quite the opposite in fact. After the cold reception afforded Connery's last outing as Bond in the frightful Diamonds Are Forever, Bond's die hard fans had to prepare themselves for a new Bond - the third in the space of 10 years. Enter Roger Moore with his tongue in cheek, English gentleman approach to the role, as far apart from both Connery and Lazenby's interpretations of the character as possible...and rightfully so.

Moore's Bond faces interrogation from crime lord Mr Big

Live and Let Die marks a controversial entry in the series for many reasons, the principal one being the abundance of black actors cast in villainous roles. It is an engaging and very entertaining eighth outing for the secret agent and Moore takes to the proceedings with plenty of smirks and a clear sense of a man on a mission to make this his own Bond (he would eventually have 12 years to show the world that his Bond was the Bond to remember). Let Die boasts an atmospheric, sometimes intense story centering on drug profiteering and voodoo curses. Yaphet Kotto proves a formidable match for Bond and one of the more surprising of the Bond villains. Geoffrey Holder's Baron Samedi grabs the audience's attention and there is a great shroud of mystery surrounding his character - giving him the film's final shot is an inspired stroke of genius of the filmmakers - and Jane Seymour is also more than competent in her first lead film role as the virginal heroine Solitaire. In summarising Live and Let Die it would be wrong not to commend George Martin's frenetic score which seems to fit the tone of the film perfectly and most importantly Paul McCartney and The Wings' title song for the film, one of the very best of the series, over some of Maurice Binder's most creative title graphics of skulls and fire.

One of the more intriguing bit characters in the Bond series', the mysterious Baron Samedi

There are a lot of similarities between Connery and Moore's first outings as Bond. Dr No sees Bond at an airport before embarking on his mission, as does Moore in Live and Let Die. Both are "taken for a ride" in two "death" cabs, Quarrel Junior is Bond's ally in Live and Let Die; it was his father Quarrel who assisted Bond in Dr No, and there was also a rumour around the time of release that Ursula Andress would return as Honey Ryder in the film as a cameo! Both Connery's debut and Moore's debut stand up as two of the most engaging Bond adventures.

Live and Let Die ultimately grabs the viewer by the jugular from the get go. Although it takes Moore nearly 25 minutes before he projects the now world famous line "The name's Bond...James Bond", audiences accepted the face of the new Bond with open arms and we welcomed Roger Moore to the hot seat. As Moore insists in the film, "let's just wing it!"

James Bond in review - The World Is Not Enough (Michael Apted, 1999)

"I could have given you the world"
"The world is not enough!"
"Foolish sentiment"
"Family motto!"

The 19th Bond adventure, released in November 1999, allowed Pierce Brosnan's Bond and his audience to say goodbye to the century that saw the birth of our fictional hero and 37 years of the Bond films. The promise over the end titles was for Bond to inevitably return in the new Millennium (in foresight we now know that Bond's 20th adventure left a lot to be desired and kind of made us wish we could just have The World Is Not Enough on repeat!) but onto the film itself.

Bond bids an unprecedented goodbye to Desmond Llewellyn's long standing Q

Brosnan actually feels at home with the character in his third outing. It's a fairly tight story but with enough fluidity and creativity to allow for movement. There are some well rounded characters, a thrilling extended pre-credits sequence (to date, still the longest in the series' history and probably will remain that way) and some superb action sequences and final bows for a couple of characters, including one obvious stalwart who made his first appearance back in 1963 in From Russia With Love; the beloved and dearly missed Desmond Llewellyn. It was Barbara Broccoli who realised the plot elements - oil tycoons in the East. The story dominated the news in the late 1990s and would seem to provide a different and complex narrative for the latest Bond adventure. The film is a game of cat and mouse - Bond trying to work out whether the captive and the captor are in alliance or whether Renard is actually out to get Elektra. Carlyle and Marceau in that respect are some of the best villains in the Brosnan Bond films. The idea of a character feeling no pain until the day he dies seems fairly unique for this franchise and most of all it seems believable in the Bond macrocosm.

Robert Carlyle plays Renard with understated menace but is he the main villain?

There are some negative elements. Though far from the worst Bond girl in the series, Denise Richards' aptly named Christmas Jones is one little present you would only want to unwrap once a year. To have her around you for too long would drive you insane with her screeching accent and her nonsense dialogue - if she is supposed to be a nuclear scientist then I could be the next James Bond! Goldie playing Zukovsky's side man is also another highly superfluous character who is a waste of screen time when you'd rather be seeing more of the wonderful Judi Dench, who incidentally has the most to do here in any of Brosnan's Bond films.

Denise Richards and Sophie Marceau as the film's female leads - Christmas Jones and Elektra King

Whilst this isn't amazing Bond fare, it's also far from the worst as some have described it. We have an often taut and intelligent Bond film with some eye candy, exotic locations, good humour and once again some of the finest actors working in the business. As regrettable as it sounds, before the reboot with Casino Royale we have to watch Brosnan's swansong in Die Another Day. Suddenly, TWINE seems like a masterpiece!

James Bond in review - Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)

"I have no armour left. You've stripped it from me. Whatever is left of me, whatever I am, I'm yours."

Rewind to 2000. The Bond producers finally acquire the rights to Fleming's first and most influential Bond novel Casino Royale and are looking to bring 007 into the 21st century with a bang. With Brosnan's contract not quite through after the release of The World Is Not Enough at the turn of the millennium, it would be another six years before we would be introduced to a new 007 and taken back to the genesis of Fleming's spy.

Daniel Craig is 007 number seven

Whilst distinctly having a very different look to the previous 20 official films in the series, (which makes sense as this is essentially the birth of James Bond), Casino Royale is arguably one of the best films in the series. The direction is crisp and taut; director Martin Campbell returns to Bond after introducing Brosnan to audiences in great fashion in Goldeneye in 1995, the acting is also meticulous, particularly from Eva Green as the defining Bond girl Vesper and the ever brilliant Judi Dench returns as Bond's icy boss M : all the elements generally seem to click.

One of the most beautiful and the most integral of Bond's ladies - Vesper Lynd (Eva Green)

Despite a backlash from many claiming that Craig was NOT BOND he delivers brilliantly and gives perhaps the strongest debut performance of a Bond actor. Bond returned to battle the box office here and overseas once again and, surprise surprise, he triumphed, even after 44 years and six incarnations of the eponymous hero. All in all a terrific kick start to what some have suggested to be a dying franchise after the commercially successful but realistically disappointing Die Another Day. 'You know his name, you know his number', as the old Bond tagline says.

James Bond in review - The Spy Who Loved Me (Lewis Gilbert, 1977)

"Goodbye Mr Bond." "Well let's say au revoir, I have the oddest feeling we'll be meeting again sometime"

Proving the theory that bigger is sometimes better and in particular that Cubby could work as sole producer on the biggest film series of all time, without the aid of his partner of the last nine films, Harry Saltzman, the 10th Bond adventure was born. Fans would have to wait two and a half years after the release of The Man With The Golden Gun for Spy to premiere which, by today's standards, is fairly average but at the time was an agonising wait for fans of the series. Only the title of Fleming's novel was to be used which gave Broccoli and his writers an unenviable task of constructing a taut adventure story for Roger Moore's third outing as Bond.

Bond faces off against Bond heavy Jaws, a performance relished by Richard Kiel

The majority of fans disappointed by Moore's previous film and its inability to take itself even remotely seriously could now rejoice, as The Spy Who Loved Me is big, bombastic and thoroughly entertaining. The elements gel brilliantly; there is just enough humour to distance Moore's Bond from Connery whilst there is also ample opportunity for Moore to perfect some excellent dialogue, particularly Anya's short and sharp reference to Bond's short term marriage in On Her Majesty's Secret Service which Moore responds to in a subtle but very effective fashion. The sets are incredible, the women are beautiful - some of the very best in the series - and the locations, Egypt in particular, look stunning under the cinematographic eye of Claude Renoir.

Moore and Bond girl Barbara Bach hunt down Jaws in the desert

Just as it is easy to see why Connery favours the exciting, totally Fleming-like From Russia With Love, so too it is easy to see why Moore clearly enjoyed working with director Lewis Gilbert on The Spy Who Loved Me. The humour is there but the film is not reliant on the humour to drive the story forward. The film also looks unlike any Bond film released up to that point. While some draw parallels to You Only Live Twice in terms of the enormous set pieces - volcano versus super tanker - Spy triumphs as a film first and foremost because it is arguably more entertaining, the characters are more interesting, yep, even Jaws, and the film is simply more engrossing. On the series' 15th anniversary, Broccoli's gamble to pay out the big bucks and put Bond back on the big screen with a bang paid dividends. Still one of the biggest box office successes in the series, The Spy Who Loved Me proves its title singer Carly Simon right - Nobody does it better. 7/7/77 could really have only belonged to one man.

James Bond in review - Goldeneye (Martin Campbell, 1995)

"Bond... come back alive"

It's June 1994 and it has been almost five years since audiences were last treated to a Bond adventure. Timothy Dalton has kissed goodbye to his three picture Bond contract after two films and the world has changed. The Berlin wall has fallen, communism has disintegrated and the Cold War is over. With John McClane, Rambo and so many other action heroes permeating the genre, many felt that Bond had had his day. Goldeneye, thankfully, proved the naysayers wrong. The task was for Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli (the producers, taking over from an ailing Cubby Broccoli) to reinvent Bond for the nineties audience. The public welcomed Pierce Brosnan as 007 number five and within a year he would be deemed 'the best Bond since Connery'. Whether this is true or not it is undeniable that Brosnan's debut as Bond is as assured a return for Fleming's secret agent as anyone could have hoped for.

Pierce Brosnan sets the screen alight as 007 number six

Daniel Kleinman has modified the traditional Maurice Binder gun barrel to give it a 3D effect and created a memorable title sequence playing on the fall of Communist Russia and dictatorship whilst taking care to incorporate the titillating images of scantily clad women with guns now synonymous with the world of the Bond titles. It is Eric Serra's score that proved most controversial with its electronic synthesizers arguably tearing the traditional Bond theme to shreds in favour of sporadic melodies and musical jumps that feel somewhat out of place in the Bond universe. There are some classic action cues but the best thing about the music in Goldeneye is the brilliant Tina Turner belting out Bono and The Edge's lyrics in the title song in true fashion reminiscent of the mighty Shirley Bassey in the early Bond years.

Bond and his ally 006 (Sean Bean) in the pre-titles sequence

First and foremost, Pierce Brosnan gives a strong debut performance as the secret agent. He has the wit and self deprecating nature of Bond to a tee even if he does at times appear a little young to play the spy - Brosnan was 42 in Goldeneye though you would never guess it! Backing up Brosnan are the strongest supporting cast of any of his Bond films. Famke Janssen is a brilliant femme fatale and Izabella Scorupco is a gorgeous and resourceful leading lady who is crucial to the story and forms a strong relationship with Bond. There was a time when I felt Sean Bean's portrayal of 006 Alec Trevelyan and Janus was a 'play it safe' performance but on further viewing it is clear that he plays this assertive, conflicted character with great nuance and vengeance. Brosnan and Bean work very well together on screen - the break in to the Arkangel plant in the pre-credits demonstrates their buddy relationship brilliantly which makes the betrayal all the more convincing in the film's second half. The only weak casting link is Alan Cumming, hamming up the unnecessary role of Boris Grishenko. The character is played for laughs and comic relief but rarely generates either.

The film's two leading ladies - Onatopp (Famke Janssen) and Natalya (Izabella Scorupco)

The star of the picture is both the sparkling dialogue from Michael France - particularly between Bond and the new M (played effortlessly by Dame Judi Dench) and in the graveyard confrontation between Bond and Janus, but also New Zealand-born director Martin Campbell. Here is a man who it would be hell to work with due to his no nonsense approach to directing and short fuse but nevertheless a man with a keen eye and enough understanding of the Bond character that he can reinvent the wheel with a new Bond not once but twice, most recently in 2006 with Daniel Craig's Bond debut in origin story Casino Royale. Both are conflicted Bonds - Brosnan's for the guilt in watching Trevelyan 'die' and then in having to hunt him down, as well as adapting to changes in society in the nineties, Craig's in falling in love and being betrayed by the woman he was prepared to give up his life for.

With Goldeneye fans could ultimately relax. Quite the antithesis to M's insistence that Bond is a "relic of the Cold War", 007 ignited the box office on release in November 1995 making more than $350 million domestically, the best Bond film gross since Thunderball 30 years previously. James Bond had returned, and in hindsight, Cubby must be smiling from the grave. An impressive debut for Brosnan and a welcome return for the world's greatest secret agent. It is perfectly justifiable to say that had Goldeneye failed at the box office we would not now be nearly celebrating half a century of James Bond. 'The trick is to quit while you're still ahead" suggests Onatopp. "That's one trick I've never learned" quips Bond. Quite!

James Bond in review - For Your Eyes Only (John Glen, 1981)

"The Chinese have a saying. Before setting out on revenge, you first dig two graves."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, you're English. But I'm half Greek, and Greek women, like Elektra, always avenge their loved ones."

After the mildly entertaining but hardly engrossing Moonraker, Cubby delivered to fans that which he had promised at the close of The Spy Who Loved Me; that James Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only. Thankfully the wish of so many Bond fans craving a harder edged, more realistic Bond was fulfilled and audiences could hardly be disappointed. Lifting moments from Fleming's Live And Let Die (the thrilling shark keel hauling sequence) and elements of short story Risico, Moore is launched into action as Bond in the 12th adventure, and his 5th. Notably beginning to show his age, Moore gives ironically his best performance as Bond. John Glen, a trusted second unit director and editor most notable for his work for On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me is given his chance to display his directing skills and what a brilliant job he manages. The principal cast are all terrific and the story is sped along at a sensible pace, ensuring that audiences can enjoy the film as well as be thrilled at the same time.

One of the most famous Moore Bond poses as he pursues Locque's car to the top of the cliff face

That For Your Eyes Only was the highest grossing Bond movie of the 1980s is no surprise - this is a tight story with beautiful touches to Bond's past adventures (see the pre-credits graveyard visit to Diana Rigg's Tracy Bond - We have all the time in the world) and the somewhat less successful dispatching of a bald villain stroking a cat who fans can only assume is Blofeld, though this is never explicitly stated. This scene aside, the humour is less obvious which is a great thing considering the implausibility and double-entendre-heavy previous Moore Bond outings and there are no gigantic set pieces: everything is simple yet startlingly effective.

One of the most beautiful actresses to be a Bond girl and later a model, Carole Bouquet

Alongside The Spy Who Loved Me, this is Roger Moore's best Bond because firstly it is very watchable and secondly because the characters are well rounded, particularly the vengeful Melina. It is a brilliant directorial debut for Bond veteran John Glen and safe assurance for the fans that the 1980s would be another exciting decade for 007, even if it would later feature a 58 year old Moore trying to bed Grace Jones and dressing up in a clown outfit! The only thing that is still puzzling is why For Your Eyes Only is so under regarded by critics and glossed over by many a Bond fan. You want Moore's closest depiction of Fleming's Bond, then look no further people. Forget Octopussy, For Your Eyes Only is Moore's 'All Time High.'

Shrek Forever After

After nearly 10 years and three films that would be justly considered a mixed bag, in particular 2007's weak Shrek The Third with its abundant pop references and lack of steady pacing, it is finally time for Shrek and co to go out with a bang. With wonderful references back to the moments that made the first Shrek so brilliant interweaved within a clever It's A Wonderful Life-esque plot of Shrek signing his life away in a contract, the fourth Shrek film concludes this story in style. All the players are here, Donkey is perhaps the funniest he's ever been with Eddie Murphy on top form - particularly in his renditions of You've got a friend and Whitney Houston - yes, you heard me correctly. Even Puss in Boots who I haven't taken to since his first appearance in Shrek 2 shines as it appears that since Shrek was never born, the once fiesty swahbuckling feline has let himself go and has a large paunch on his little ginger self. The cat that got the cream you might say, considering he is the pet of Fiona in this ulterior universe, who is herself a noble protector of ogre kind.

All the old characters are there and even one or two new ones, the best of the bunch being the sly Rumpelstiltskin brilliantly voiced by Walt Dohrn who is also part of the writing team behind the fourth Shrek film. What is splendid this time around is how all the story elements are tied together. We return to the castle with Shrek as he wonders who has rescued Princess Fiona from the clutches of the Dragon and we watch the brilliant comic interplay between two characters who have become best friends, Shrek and Donkey, and by the end of the final chapter are definitely best buddies. We have taken a long journey with these characters over the last decade and it is brilliant to see the creative team behind the films bring the series to a satisfying conclusion. There are plenty of laughs, some moments that may make you well up just a little and Harry Gregson Williams returns with a score that blows the socks off the rest of the music for the previous Shrek films. Yes, True Love's Kiss has never sounded better. There are no gimmicks, there's thankfully no Justin Timberlake voice added to the cast and little product placement, it's all about the story, which is essentially what made the first of these films so special back in 2001.

The glorious thing about the last of the Shrek films is that ultimately the narrative purpose of these films is turned on its head. Back in 2001 the notion was to create a family friendly parody of the classic fairytale and the effect was a well honed, clever, original film. In tieing the series up the team working on the films, whether they intended to or not, have gone against their own sense of parody. Essentially, Shrek's redemption is his family. He is a family man and is just looking to hold on to love and life. That's about the best fairytale ending you could possibly imagine. Dreamworks animation are without a doubt on a high. Shrek set the high standard and in the last few years we have seen films like Kung Fu Panda and the incredible How To Train Your Dragon demonstrating the capability of the studio to capture our hearts and raise our spirits. Shrek Forever After can be proudly added to that high pedastal. 9/10