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PG13,2hrs 19min Released: July 11, 2007 Director: Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Starring: DVD Review by Sean Axmaker, Special to MSN Movies
The fifth Harry Potter book is one of the most distinctive in the series, and first-time big-screen director David Yates, a TV veteran with excellent credits but no special-effects experience, makes it a distinctive adaptation. Magic-school student and haunted hero Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has to deal with the usual teenage angst with decidedly unusual pressure -- he's being smeared by the media to discredit his report that He Who Shall Not Be Named is back, ignored by the usually protective Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), and viciously harassed by the despot professor Dolores Umbridge (played by Imelda Staunton with a poisonous smile). This is a darker film, and not just because of the major death in it (which is beautifully and delicately handled): An ominous atmosphere and fear hang over all the students as dissent is silenced with an iron fist. The usual cast is back, and Evanna Lynch debuts as the goofy yet sincere Luna Lovegood. The disc features 17 minutes of deleted scenes and alternate takes (including a hilarious take on Umbridge's Hogwarts speech, where the camera never leaves Trelawney as she makes a disaster of her dinner), the 44-minute "The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter" (a retrospective documentary originally made for A&E), the 19-minute "Trailing Tonks" (a tour of the set and studio by actress Nat Tena), and "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing," an elementary introduction to film and sound editing that concludes on an interactive editing suite, where kids can play with your version of a scene from the film. Available in separate wide-screen and full-screen editions, and in HD DVD Combo and Blu-ray formats. DVD Detailed Information | ||||||||||||||||
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