Harry Potter vs Twilight - The Showdown of the Century - Which Is Better?

[AidensDaddy]

"Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War!"


Let's have at it. Wizards vs Vampires. Rowling vs Meyer. And funny enough, the two series that helped put Robert Pattinson on the map.


So, there are so many reasons to put this thread out right now. With Twilight recently released on dvd, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince coming out next month. And New Moon coming out later this year and the two halves of the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, currently in production.

I was on my other summer movies thread talking about HP when I was inspired to do this one. The Potter series as we all know has gained HUGE recognition world wide, and Stephanie Meyer's series is hot on Rowling's heels and rising to the challenge of trying to be the next greatest book and movie series.

So let me get a few things out before I let you all have at it.

I'm gonna start with Potter first......

So the first book, Sorcerer's Stone, comes out in 1997. (And these years btw, are going by the copyright release dates in the US copies that I have here with me.) And the next two, Chamber of Secrets & Prisoner of Azkaban both came out two years later in 1999. And then the fourth book, Goblet of Fire, came out in 2000. So basically, the first four books were out before the first book hit the big screen. In the late fall of 2001, the world was still reeling from the events of the September 11th attacks. And the world needed a place to escape to. Yes, there were the books, but now finally this magical world was taking place on the big screen.

The first films, released for the Christmas holidays of 2001 and 2002, made us feel like we were right there in the books, and gave food for our imaginations as we read the books over and over again. The first 2 films were filmed consecutively and rushed to the screens. And then because of the passing of the original Dumbledore, the late Richard Harris, the third film was a bit delayed and didn't come out till the Summer of 2004.

And then came the 4th book, the Goblet of Fire, released onto the big screen for the holiday season of 2005, featuring a fresh faced Robert Pattinson as the dashing Cedric Diggory. Little did everyone who worked with him at the time know, including Robert himself, what else was in store for him, on screen AND off screen (meaning Kristen Stewart.) Granted some might dispute that there were a few things changed from the book versus the movie, but it was still a nice ride. And then in 2007 came the 5th book in the series, the Order of the Phoenix, set for release on July 11th. And of course, we have the 6th one coming out next month, with the final book having so much to tell, they've decided to split it into two parts, the first in November 2010 and the second in May of 2011.


And now, I bring you the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyers. Not a whole lot I can offer as input to this, being that I haven't read the books. (Gee, can you tell that I'm a Potter fan?) My wife Becka Lynn however, when we met before we got married, she was a big Potter fan. She hasn't read the first 4 books, only saw the movies. She's seen every movie of course, the last 2 with me. But alas, she's crossed over to the other side. She's always been more into the "vampire" type of stories (big underworld fan), and like mostly every other female in the world, she's gaga over Edward. Not Robert, but the character Edward. She's already read the entire Meyer's series, has all 4 books. She even read the unpublished, but leaked on the internet, 5th book by Stephanie Meyer. It was Twilight, the entire first book, but through Edward's eyes. When it was leaked online, Stephanie (who was in the first movie btw if anyone noticed) decided to not release the 5th installment in the series. But, wishfull thinking, right?

I will say that I did see the movie, only not in theaters, but on dvd. (She saw Twilight, and I saw the Keanu Reeves bomb The Day the Earth Stood Still.) Would've rather seen Twilight to be honest. It was an ok film, I will admit I'm only slightly curious about the books. The only time I got a kick out of Twilight was with the recent spoof with SNL's Andy Samburg on the MTV Movie Awards.


Anyways, now that I've said my input on both of these, I leave it up to the rest of you.......

What do you think is the better of the two series? Potter or Twilight? Has Potter ran out of magic, with all books completed, and only 2 movies left? Has the passion and the heat of Edward & Bella quelled the mystery and suspense of Potter & Hogwarts the School of Magic?

You be the judge and don't forget the poll.......

[Rex Dopey24]

here is the way how I see it. boys are going to see harry potter and the girls are going to see edward since it is a romance movie. Harry potter will be the better quality movie.

Besides harry still has some tricks up his sleeve.

[AidensDaddy]

As I'm viewing this thread right now, there's 2 ads for sodahead.com for twilight vs harry potter.

HEY! No piggybacks!

[knittingknerd]

Two of the current top fantasy series in the world are written by female writers. We all win.

[twinmom]

I voted for HP; the quality of writing is far superior to Twilight. I did enjoy the Twilight books, though.

[MTNGIRL]

In my mind, this isn't even a competition. Harry Potter wins hands down. Story and writing was so much superior in the Harry Potter series that I would not even compare them.

That said, like twinmom, I enjoyed the Twilight series for the fun, vampire- chick lit series that it was.

And be careful with the boy/girl stereotypes. I know more girls that like Harry Potter than boys.

[sunnygirl]

No question. Harry Potter.

This is like asking who's a better author, Shakespeare or Judy Blume? Totally different classes.

[stitchon]

No comparison between the two.

Harry Potter is an actual series of thought-out books in amazing places with even more amazing events.

Twilight is the literary equivalent to a twelve-year old's journal-written vampire fantasy.

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

[NeverNeverland]

Originally Posted by knittingknerd

Two of the current top fantasy series in the world are written by female writers. We all win.

LOL Yess!!!!

From what i hear, Twilight is horribly written. HP gets more complex with each book and Twilight gets worse. HP no hesitation.

[joanna71985]

As much as I enjoy Twilight, I love HP much more.

[AidensDaddy]

DANG! So far, all out for Potter!!!


And when I told Becka about it, she was so sure that Twilight would win out. Wait till she hears that so far, it's a no contest.

[sediment]

Just not enough teenage girls reading MiceChat.

[AidensDaddy]

Originally Posted by sediment

Just not enough teenage girls reading MiceChat.

Touche'

[SnorkletsMom]

Harry Potter for the win. The books are very well-written, featuring complex realities, relationships, characters and concepts (increasingly more so as the series grew)
Twilight really is a 12 year-olds fantasy world. Don't get me wrong, I do like witch/fairy/vampire stuff too. But in Twilight the writing is sub-par, the character development is almost non-existent and the only thing that changes through the series of books is that after marriage the vamps do it like bunnies. :-)

[Rex Dopey24]

Originally Posted by knittingknerd

Two of the current top fantasy series in the world are written by female writers. We all win.

yay!!