Harry Potter vs Avatar

I recently recorded and watched again the Cameron Mackintosh film "Avatar". It reminded me how wonderful it was on the large screen in 3D. I actually saw the film twice at the cinema - not something I can say about any other film - and enjoyed it as much the second time as I did the first.

In contrast TV has also been playing a number of the Harry Potter films, m0st recently "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". I also watched this, but found my concentration waning.

This contrast got me thinking about the quality vs quantity trade off.

When the Harry Potter books first came out I read them, but found that after three volumes I really did not have the interest to read more. I have broadly found the same with the films, maybe even more so, because no matter how good the films were they really did not match up to the books - and I was not as engaged with them as I had been.

Now for sure, the Harry Potter empire is not to be sneezed at. Many books and films, a theme park or two and so much merchandising that there are have been many fortunes made.

In contrast Avatar was a one-off, or at least I think so as I cannot see how one creates Avatar2! Also the imagineering (ie the translation of imagination into "reality", at least on the screen) was such that I think in this case, no book could match up to the film.

While a home TV (albeit HD and 50") is not match for a cinema screen in 3D, the tale was still gripping. Even my 80-something father-in-law was engaged and impressed.

So while HP undoubtedly wins in the quantity stakes, I think Avatar wins on quality. The key test is that I still have Avatar protected on my TV box, while HP has been deleted to free space for other items.