Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was by far the most highly anticipated film of 2011 and of all time. The film, in my eyes, was practically perfect.
Scenes such as breaking into Gringotts, meeting Aberforth, seeing McGonagall duel, protecting the castle, interacting with the Grey Lady, and breaking the shield were all breathtaking on the big screen. However, when it all came down to “the big showdown” scene, which was advertised to its death, there wasn’t one.

I can’t help but feel that Warner Bros. pushed the 3D conversion just to make the money and scaled back plans to film more battle sequences. David Yates spoke on the 3D just after the film had been released, after a German reporter asked him if he considered filming any more scenes following the epilogue reshoot. He replied:

“Once we wrapped shooting, we had everything we needed for the film to be right, and the epilogue was all that needed immediate attention. To have had more scenes with Tonks, Lupin, the teachers and more of the Order fighting would have been good, however the 3D conversion held us back. We couldn’t balance the two in our schedules and Warner Bros. were happy with our early edits, and so were we. The additions may have helped the film, but to have a July release date, we couldn’t do it all.”

The interview shows that more fight scenes may have been filmed. Classic moments in the book, such as Trelawney throwing crystal balls, Neville with the Mandrakes, and McGonagall with the tables and chairs could’ve been among them. The lack of one-on-one fighting in the film was very disappointing. The only duels were Snape vs. McGagonagall (direly short), Molly Weasley vs. Bellatrix (mediocre and also short) and Harry vs. Voldermort (good, however overly done).

Warner Bros. have held back scenes, too. Scenes of Flitwick fighting Nagini and more dueling in the courtyard before it explodes could be seen on ‘Hogwarts’ Last Stand’ but were not included in theatrical or DVD releases. Sean Biggerstaff (who played Oliver Wood) has said also in an online interview that he was scheduled to be filming for three additional days for the “Battle of Hogwarts”, but they were cancelled, he believes due to the 3D conversion that was decided during the latter half of filming Parts 1 and 2.

Don’t get me wrong, the battle scenes that were there (despite the trolls running down the hill being too dark) were very good. But what do you think? Did the push for 3D ruin the chances of the Battle of Hogwarts being more grand, epic and fast-moving?