...may not be as entertaining in story as the other films, but its sound and video are amazing.
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 sequences of any of the "Potter" movies thus far, not just emphasizing the power of friendship but the sheer power of love. 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.
Technical Review and Closing Comments by Dean Winkelspecht
Video:
Here we are. The fifth and currently final "Harry Potter" film available on Blu-ray disc. I have certainly saved the best for last and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is easily the best looking film of the series. The 2.40:1 transfer is masterfully transferred to the digital media with the VC-1 codec and I was amazed at how great this film looked in 1080p resolution. It was about the time I received the Harry Potter films to review that I updated my home theater setup with a new 1080p capable set and this was one of the first titles I used to enjoy the higher resolution than my previous 1080i set. "Order of the Phoenix" is simply a great looking title and one of the absolute best Blu-ray titles I currently own. Only a few digitally animated films I have in my collection best "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is true visual splendor. I have to agree with John J. Puccio and state that this is one of the best looking live-action releases.
Detail and coloring are both quite strong. I loved looking at the ground textures of the outdoor sets and the amazing detail provided by the film. "Order of the Phoenix" spent a little more time than previous Potter films in looking at the grounds of Hogwarts and this high definition transfer shows how beautiful the magical land is. Colors are also quite strong, although the stylistic choices taken sometimes provide fleshtones that are rather harsh. Remaining colors were exquisite. Green grass was lush. Very lush. The darker scenes held up rather nicely and the black levels held up extremely well. I enjoyed the look and feel of the dark sets of the Ministry of Mystery and detail help up well during the confrontation between Voldemort and Harry Potter. No matter how dark the scenery gets, detail holds up strongly and black levels are perfect. Source materials were pristine and I cannot recall a single instance of posterization or other familiar flaws to a Blu-ray transfer.
Audio:
The HD-DVD releases of the Potter films contain strong Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks, but the Blu-ray releases possess equally strong English 5.1 Uncompressed PCM soundtracks. In addition to the marquee PCM mix, the following other language tracks are provided: English Dolby Digital 5.1; Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1. This is similar to other Blu-ray releases and surprising at how much more love was thrown to Blu-ray when you consider that only two tracks exist on the HD-DVD releases.
As was the case with the visual presentation of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the audio portion is equal. This is the best sounding of the five Harry Potter films and provides an aggressive and enveloping experience that showcases what the Uncompressed PCM format is capable of. Sound can be heard from every channel. Rear surrounds are used throughout the film and creates a wonderful sounding experience. Bass is deep and present throughout the film. It adds to the splendor of the film and provides depth to the halls of Hogwarts. Dialogue is clean and the English accent is perfectly understood throughout the film. The other Harry Potter films all sounded pretty darn good, but "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" bests them all and is powerful, tight and convincing in Uncompressed PCM audio.
Extras:
With no comparison DVD of the fifth film, I am assuming the "Two-Disc Special Edition" DVD of the film contains some interactive features that are not contained on the Blu-ray release. This is completely an assumption and I will update this review accordingly if I come across a DVD copy of the movie. The Blu-ray of movie number five does contain something new called Focus Points (1:03:10) and these short vignettes introduced making-of information based upon certain scenes in the film. There are two options to the Focus Points. You have the ability to play the movie with them turned on. The movie will provide the ability to watch a focus point when you come across a scene with one attached to it. The other option is to simply watch them through the "Special Features" menu. You can watch one individually or collectively. There are twenty eight Focus Points contained on the disc and these are presented as "In Movie Experience" materials on the HD-DVD release. This makes for a rather nice hour long documentary, but also adds a different element to the viewing process. I found these to be quite nice.
The more traditional features weren´t as involved, but still worth a viewing. The Trailing Tonks (19:25) finds actress Natalia Tena giving a video tour of the sets and locations of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." It is promotionally slick in nature, but does provide an interesting look from her vantage. The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter (43:54) is a great primer for those who are not too familiar with the five film series. It spends a lot of time discussing the fifth film, but I found this little feature quite interesting and will have to watch it again before playing somebody in the Scene-It Harry Potter Edition. This is something to watch after viewing the fifth film. It does provide spoilers. The Additional Scenes (10:55) is a lump of scenes that were not fully finished and have not received all of their special effects or color timing. They look good for the most part, but some you can certainly tell are not fully finished. The scenes are fun. Finally, Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing (5:21) finds the director discussing the editing of a scene and allows the viewer a chance to play around with the editing of one scene from the film. Oddly, there is no theatrical trailer on this Blu-ray release and the Web-based features of the HD-DVD release are also absent.
Closing Comments:
I felt let down by the storyline of the fifth Harry Potter film and felt it was not nearly as entertaining as the rest of the series. I felt it was transitional and was pleased when I discovered than John felt the same way in his review. However, I was a smidgeon more pleased with the film and will give it a seven for "Film Value." I agree with his film review, but perhaps liked it a bit more. Regardless, the film seems like a set up to the final three films (it has been recently announced that the final book will be split into two films) and I eagerly anticipate the final adventures of Harry and company. The Blu-ray release is about as good as it gets in the sound and video departments. This is a technically stellar release in that regard. However, the extras are not quite as nice as what is found on the HD-DVD/DVD combo release. The In Movie Experience and Web Based content is missing. The remaining supplements are just fine, but Blu-ray is still not fully cooked and comparing this release to the HD-DVD release is further testament to that fact. Profile 2.0 cannot come soon enough. So, I will dock this film a point in the extras category and take that six John gave it in Film Value to dog the bonus materials. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" may not be as entertaining in story as the other films, but its sound and video are amazing.
Technical Review and Closing Comments by Dean Winkelspecht
Video:
Here we are. The fifth and currently final "Harry Potter" film available on Blu-ray disc. I have certainly saved the best for last and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is easily the best looking film of the series. The 2.40:1 transfer is masterfully transferred to the digital media with the VC-1 codec and I was amazed at how great this film looked in 1080p resolution. It was about the time I received the Harry Potter films to review that I updated my home theater setup with a new 1080p capable set and this was one of the first titles I used to enjoy the higher resolution than my previous 1080i set. "Order of the Phoenix" is simply a great looking title and one of the absolute best Blu-ray titles I currently own. Only a few digitally animated films I have in my collection best "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is true visual splendor. I have to agree with John J. Puccio and state that this is one of the best looking live-action releases.
Detail and coloring are both quite strong. I loved looking at the ground textures of the outdoor sets and the amazing detail provided by the film. "Order of the Phoenix" spent a little more time than previous Potter films in looking at the grounds of Hogwarts and this high definition transfer shows how beautiful the magical land is. Colors are also quite strong, although the stylistic choices taken sometimes provide fleshtones that are rather harsh. Remaining colors were exquisite. Green grass was lush. Very lush. The darker scenes held up rather nicely and the black levels held up extremely well. I enjoyed the look and feel of the dark sets of the Ministry of Mystery and detail help up well during the confrontation between Voldemort and Harry Potter. No matter how dark the scenery gets, detail holds up strongly and black levels are perfect. Source materials were pristine and I cannot recall a single instance of posterization or other familiar flaws to a Blu-ray transfer.
Audio:
The HD-DVD releases of the Potter films contain strong Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks, but the Blu-ray releases possess equally strong English 5.1 Uncompressed PCM soundtracks. In addition to the marquee PCM mix, the following other language tracks are provided: English Dolby Digital 5.1; Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1. This is similar to other Blu-ray releases and surprising at how much more love was thrown to Blu-ray when you consider that only two tracks exist on the HD-DVD releases.
As was the case with the visual presentation of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the audio portion is equal. This is the best sounding of the five Harry Potter films and provides an aggressive and enveloping experience that showcases what the Uncompressed PCM format is capable of. Sound can be heard from every channel. Rear surrounds are used throughout the film and creates a wonderful sounding experience. Bass is deep and present throughout the film. It adds to the splendor of the film and provides depth to the halls of Hogwarts. Dialogue is clean and the English accent is perfectly understood throughout the film. The other Harry Potter films all sounded pretty darn good, but "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" bests them all and is powerful, tight and convincing in Uncompressed PCM audio.
Extras:
With no comparison DVD of the fifth film, I am assuming the "Two-Disc Special Edition" DVD of the film contains some interactive features that are not contained on the Blu-ray release. This is completely an assumption and I will update this review accordingly if I come across a DVD copy of the movie. The Blu-ray of movie number five does contain something new called Focus Points (1:03:10) and these short vignettes introduced making-of information based upon certain scenes in the film. There are two options to the Focus Points. You have the ability to play the movie with them turned on. The movie will provide the ability to watch a focus point when you come across a scene with one attached to it. The other option is to simply watch them through the "Special Features" menu. You can watch one individually or collectively. There are twenty eight Focus Points contained on the disc and these are presented as "In Movie Experience" materials on the HD-DVD release. This makes for a rather nice hour long documentary, but also adds a different element to the viewing process. I found these to be quite nice.
The more traditional features weren´t as involved, but still worth a viewing. The Trailing Tonks (19:25) finds actress Natalia Tena giving a video tour of the sets and locations of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." It is promotionally slick in nature, but does provide an interesting look from her vantage. The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter (43:54) is a great primer for those who are not too familiar with the five film series. It spends a lot of time discussing the fifth film, but I found this little feature quite interesting and will have to watch it again before playing somebody in the Scene-It Harry Potter Edition. This is something to watch after viewing the fifth film. It does provide spoilers. The Additional Scenes (10:55) is a lump of scenes that were not fully finished and have not received all of their special effects or color timing. They look good for the most part, but some you can certainly tell are not fully finished. The scenes are fun. Finally, Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing (5:21) finds the director discussing the editing of a scene and allows the viewer a chance to play around with the editing of one scene from the film. Oddly, there is no theatrical trailer on this Blu-ray release and the Web-based features of the HD-DVD release are also absent.
Closing Comments:
I felt let down by the storyline of the fifth Harry Potter film and felt it was not nearly as entertaining as the rest of the series. I felt it was transitional and was pleased when I discovered than John felt the same way in his review. However, I was a smidgeon more pleased with the film and will give it a seven for "Film Value." I agree with his film review, but perhaps liked it a bit more. Regardless, the film seems like a set up to the final three films (it has been recently announced that the final book will be split into two films) and I eagerly anticipate the final adventures of Harry and company. The Blu-ray release is about as good as it gets in the sound and video departments. This is a technically stellar release in that regard. However, the extras are not quite as nice as what is found on the HD-DVD/DVD combo release. The In Movie Experience and Web Based content is missing. The remaining supplements are just fine, but Blu-ray is still not fully cooked and comparing this release to the HD-DVD release is further testament to that fact. Profile 2.0 cannot come soon enough. So, I will dock this film a point in the extras category and take that six John gave it in Film Value to dog the bonus materials. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" may not be as entertaining in story as the other films, but its sound and video are amazing.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]22124[/release]