DVD » Family / Kids » Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2 Discs Special Edition) (Region 2)
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Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2 Discs Special Edition) (Region 2)While many movie franchises slide as they reach their later instalments, the Harry Potter films just keep getting better. The latest, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is easily the darkest of the series to date, and it's also one of the best. For while it could easily have been little more than a holding film to set up the big encounters to come in the last two instalments of the series, it's to the credit of British director David Yates that the end result is really very good.
It finds Harry coming under suspicion from his wizarding colleagues, who don't believe his claims that the evil Lord Voldermort has returned. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix thus finds its title character on the backfoot for much of its running time, with a select band who firmly believe his story, and very powerful figures who don't. Where the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix excels though is in its three trump cards. Number one is a far tighter script than we're used to with Potter films, which, combined with trump card number two--the aforementioned David Yates behind the camera--cuts much of the slavish loyalty to the text away in favour of a film with real momentum. The third, and best, card though is the casting of Imelda Staunton as Professor Dolores Umbridge, who simply flies away with every scene she's in. It's a superb performance, and the film is poorer whenever she's not on screen. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not a film without a few problems, certainly: it's a fair criticism that not too much actually happens, and one or two bits feel superfluous. But it overrides its problems with ease, to emerge as a compelling, highly enjoyable family film, which will leave you salivating for the Christmas 2008 release of movie number six in the series. --Simon Brew ... Read More » |
Average User Rating: 60% (99 Reviews) | |
| 4 / 5 | Brilliant...but so much changed and missing
KM (England) - 10 September 2007 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' is the fifth film in the series based on magical books by JK Rowling. Following straight on from the events at the end of The Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger begin their next year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of the wizarding community doesn't believe Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore's news that Lord Volemort has returned and has been restored to full power along with his army of Death Eaters. The news is seen as a lie due to The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge who doesn't want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. Fudge feeds false information about Harry and Dumbledore to the Daily Prophet, the main newspaper that is read by most wizarding folk, which makes them believe that Harry and Dumbledore are liars and their stories cannot be trusted. Fudge also appoints a new Hogwarts Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Delores Umbridge, who steadily begins to take over Hogwarts through the support of the Ministry. Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately dislike Umbridge as she refuses to allow them to discuss the return of Lord Voldemort, and teaches them with no practical lessons. In rebellion of this, and for personal safety against Lord Voldermort and his Death Eaters, Harry begins his own, secret Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons with other Hogwarts students, calling themselves Dumbledore's Army. The film is an extremely good attempt at capturing the story from the book...for the first half at least. Up until the point where the Room of Requirement is discovered nearly everything is spot-on to the book, then the scriptwriter has seemingly gone off on his own storylines, missing out important plot pieces and characters that are essential to the next book(s). There are way too many differences to list here. If, like me, you are a big fan of the Harry Potter books and know the "real" storyline well, this film may come of a bit of a let-down and it will have you commenting "why did they cut that out?" and "why did they change that?" for pretty much the whole second half of the film. Don't get me wrong, this is a very, very good film, maybe the best in the series even and a fantastic addition to the movie saga with some top quality acting, action, sets, comedy and special effects but there is just way too many changes to be able to say it is as good as the book but still a very good attempt at fitting a massive book into two and a half hours. For anyone who has seen the other Harry Potter films and not read the books, this film will probably seem like the best yet.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | DVD 2-Disc Special Features:
Eddie Icelander "Icelander" (Iceland) - 25 October 2007 Rather than just add yet another review of the film (like we haven't had enuff of those already!), I thought I'd actually talk about this particular product, the DVD set itself! So here's a list of the special features included in this 2-disc set that you can look forward to: Additional Scenes - 17 minutes of never-before-seen footage. Trailing Tonks - Spend a day with Actress Nat Tena and receive a very personal and often wacky tour of the Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix stages. Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing - Director David Yates and Editor Mark Day show what a difference a good edit makes to allow the viewers to edit a scene. A&E Documentary: The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter - Viewers take a thrilling look back at the past Harry Potter films in search of clues to the mysteries of the upcoming Harry Potter saga. ROM - Includes a timeline, a link to sneaks of HP6, along with other materials.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | I LOVE THE MOVIE
Football crazy "Cool" (surrey, england) - 11 September 2007 IF YOU THINK THAT THE MOVIE IS REALLY A GOOD MOVIE, SHOW THAT YOU THINK IT IS A HELPFUL REVIEW. IF YOU DONT REALLY LIKE THE MOVIE, SHOW YOU DONT THINK THIS IS A HELPFUL REVIEW! THANKS! |
| 2 / 5 | Decent film, but the DVD picture quality is awful!
Steve (UK) - 14 November 2007 The film is a decent addition to the franchise but my main issue is with the awful dvd transfer. The picture is flickery and grainy and looks like a VHS copy It's funny how the first trailer on the front of the disc is for HD-DVD and Blu-ray, the more cynical of us would say that Warners are down grading the picture quality of their dvd's to force more people down the HD route...... Also, why do UK users have to cycle through 4 language choice screens to get to the UK? Sort it out Warners!... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | A HP film you cannot miss
popmanw "a.wright" (England, UK) - 15 September 2007 For any Harry Potter fan, the film DVD's are items you must have. This is the 5th DVD to go alongside the set. With deleted scenes, chats, teaser trailers and interactive sections...what more can a HP fan want? Lets just hope the DVD box hasnt changed to something else. The first 2 DVDs were cardboard sets, but the 3rd and 4th were standard plastic cases. Maybe this time there in tins LOL. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoneix is once of the best since the originals, and that includes the videogame too. ... Read Full Review » |
RRP
£25.99
Release Date
12 November 2007
Price Range
£6.99 - £21.49