...when it's finished, there is the lingering feeling that nothing has really happened.
Yet the movie's scene-stealer is newcomer Imelda Staunton as Hogwarts latest teacher, Dolores Umbridge. Forget about Voldemort; Umbridge is the real villain of the piece. Indeed, she may be the best villain the series has had yet. Her character is deliciously evil in a smug, self-righteous way, meting out torturous punishment to anyone who crosses her, all the while believing that her teaching methods are for the good of the children. She's the sort of person who would kill her students in order to save them. Worse, she's a snitch for the Ministry of Magic and presents a second obstacle for Harry and his followers to overcome.
Still, it's hard to see exactly what they need to overcome, since we never see what Voldemort is really up to. As in the book, the film simply tells us that the Dark Lord seeks a secret prophecy hidden deep in the Ministry of Magic, a prophecy that only Harry can obtain. What it has to do with anything is something I could never decipher from the book; and in the movie, which compresses the idea further, it makes even less sense.
What's more, there are the forever unresolved questions: How is it that after all these years, Dudley (Harry Melling) is still too stupid to know that he shouldn't purposely provoke Harry? How is it that after years of trying to become human, Voldemort still can't produce a nose? And how is it that with all the magic in the world at his disposal, to say nothing of muggle contact lens or laser surgery, Harry still has to wear glasses?
Nevertheless, I quibble. The movie continues to offer much in the way of insight and character development, for Harry at least. After all, we get to see Harry's first kiss, and that ought to be worth something. Furthermore, the film has one of the sweetest, most-affecting closing scenes of any of the "Potter" movies thus far. And there are the delights of Hogwarts itself, with all its fascinating passageways and secret chambers. And there's the look of the movie's special effects, always first rate. And there's the motion picture's superb visual qualities--the sharpness of its details and the distinction of its colors--which one can enjoy on any level.
Video:
Warner Bros. have always lavished their best efforts on the picture and sound quality of the "Potter" series, and for "The Order of the Phoenix" they have outdone themselves. Not only does it look good, it looks almost as good as anything I've seen in a standard-definition, live-action DVD release.
The video engineers use a high-bit-rate, anamorphic transfer and obviously some careful attention to detail in getting reproduction so good. The widescreen, 2.40:1 ratio picture displays superb object delineation and fine, natural colors, bright and crisp and rich, without in any way losing their realism. Set against a clean screen, free of grain or noise, and with the deepest possible black levels, "The Order of the Phoenix" achieves an order of excellence matched by few other optical discs at this resolution.
Audio:
Matching the disc's superior video quality, the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio does everything one could expect of it within the confines of standard definition. From the very beginning of the movie, the clarity, the stereo spread, the dynamics, the impact, the surround information, and the bass make themselves manifestly apparent. When the massive stone doors open to the students' secret chamber at Hogwarts, you should feel the walls of your listening room rumble and shake in sympathy. Seldom do we find ourselves so totally immersed in the sound field as in this film. Although Rowling's story line did not particularly interest me this time out, its presentation both in the movie theater and now in the home impressed me greatly.
Extras:
Disc one of this "Two-Disc Special Edition" contains the feature film; thirty-two scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Disc two contains the bonus items, although there don't seem to be as many of them as usual. Here, you'll find, first, nine additional scenes totaling about ten minutes, all in anamorphic widescreen. Second, there is a nineteen-minute featurette called "Trailing Tonks," in which we follow Natalia Tena, who plays Tonks, through a typical day on the "Potter" set. Third, there is the major item, a forty-three-minute featurette titled "The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter," narrated by actor Jason Isaacs. We go behind the obvious in this and previous "Potter" films, as explained by the cast and filmmakers. Then, there is an interactive segment, "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing." After a five-minute introduction to film editing, you get to edit your own scene. You choose a camera angle, add music and sound effects to it, and watch it.
In addition, Warner Bros. provide a bonus digital copy of the film (PC required, Windows Media Player 10 or above), which allows you to copy the movie to your hard drive, providing you have enough room. You'll find the digital copy function in the "Languages" menu. The two discs come in a double keep case, further enclosed in a handsome cardboard slipcover.
Parting Thoughts:
OK, maybe I went into the film with a bias, not having liked the book very much. Guilty as charged. Yet it doesn't change my overall assessment that without a solid narrative, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is little more than a steppingstone in the context of the "Potter" series as a whole. Now that we've gotten it out of the way, we can get on to what should be a much-better installment in "The Half-Blood Prince."
Still, it's hard to see exactly what they need to overcome, since we never see what Voldemort is really up to. As in the book, the film simply tells us that the Dark Lord seeks a secret prophecy hidden deep in the Ministry of Magic, a prophecy that only Harry can obtain. What it has to do with anything is something I could never decipher from the book; and in the movie, which compresses the idea further, it makes even less sense.
What's more, there are the forever unresolved questions: How is it that after all these years, Dudley (Harry Melling) is still too stupid to know that he shouldn't purposely provoke Harry? How is it that after years of trying to become human, Voldemort still can't produce a nose? And how is it that with all the magic in the world at his disposal, to say nothing of muggle contact lens or laser surgery, Harry still has to wear glasses?
Nevertheless, I quibble. The movie continues to offer much in the way of insight and character development, for Harry at least. After all, we get to see Harry's first kiss, and that ought to be worth something. Furthermore, the film has one of the sweetest, most-affecting closing scenes of any of the "Potter" movies thus far. And there are the delights of Hogwarts itself, with all its fascinating passageways and secret chambers. And there's the look of the movie's special effects, always first rate. And there's the motion picture's superb visual qualities--the sharpness of its details and the distinction of its colors--which one can enjoy on any level.
Video:
Warner Bros. have always lavished their best efforts on the picture and sound quality of the "Potter" series, and for "The Order of the Phoenix" they have outdone themselves. Not only does it look good, it looks almost as good as anything I've seen in a standard-definition, live-action DVD release.
The video engineers use a high-bit-rate, anamorphic transfer and obviously some careful attention to detail in getting reproduction so good. The widescreen, 2.40:1 ratio picture displays superb object delineation and fine, natural colors, bright and crisp and rich, without in any way losing their realism. Set against a clean screen, free of grain or noise, and with the deepest possible black levels, "The Order of the Phoenix" achieves an order of excellence matched by few other optical discs at this resolution.
Audio:
Matching the disc's superior video quality, the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio does everything one could expect of it within the confines of standard definition. From the very beginning of the movie, the clarity, the stereo spread, the dynamics, the impact, the surround information, and the bass make themselves manifestly apparent. When the massive stone doors open to the students' secret chamber at Hogwarts, you should feel the walls of your listening room rumble and shake in sympathy. Seldom do we find ourselves so totally immersed in the sound field as in this film. Although Rowling's story line did not particularly interest me this time out, its presentation both in the movie theater and now in the home impressed me greatly.
Extras:
Disc one of this "Two-Disc Special Edition" contains the feature film; thirty-two scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Disc two contains the bonus items, although there don't seem to be as many of them as usual. Here, you'll find, first, nine additional scenes totaling about ten minutes, all in anamorphic widescreen. Second, there is a nineteen-minute featurette called "Trailing Tonks," in which we follow Natalia Tena, who plays Tonks, through a typical day on the "Potter" set. Third, there is the major item, a forty-three-minute featurette titled "The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter," narrated by actor Jason Isaacs. We go behind the obvious in this and previous "Potter" films, as explained by the cast and filmmakers. Then, there is an interactive segment, "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing." After a five-minute introduction to film editing, you get to edit your own scene. You choose a camera angle, add music and sound effects to it, and watch it.
In addition, Warner Bros. provide a bonus digital copy of the film (PC required, Windows Media Player 10 or above), which allows you to copy the movie to your hard drive, providing you have enough room. You'll find the digital copy function in the "Languages" menu. The two discs come in a double keep case, further enclosed in a handsome cardboard slipcover.
Parting Thoughts:
OK, maybe I went into the film with a bias, not having liked the book very much. Guilty as charged. Yet it doesn't change my overall assessment that without a solid narrative, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is little more than a steppingstone in the context of the "Potter" series as a whole. Now that we've gotten it out of the way, we can get on to what should be a much-better installment in "The Half-Blood Prince."
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[release]22134[/release]