Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (4 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

Adapted from JK Rowling's amazing magical novels, this DVD boxset features the first four films in the Harry Potter series.

Year 1 - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone:

Harry Potter learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses magical powers of his own.

Harry then begins his first year at Hogwarts and with the help of his new friends Ron and Hermoine, takes on Lord Voldemort for the first time to stop him from using the mysterious Philosopher's Stone.

Year 2 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:

Cars fly, trees fight back and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year of a danger that may threaten his life. The Chamber of Secrets reopens and the heir of Slitherin returns to Hogwarts.

Year 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

With the escaped criminal, Sirius Black on the loose and terrifying Dementors on guard everywhere, this begins Harry's darkest and most dangerous year at Hogwarts.

Year 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire:

When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools - the Triwizard Tournament.

The scripts stick very close to the books' storylines, with only a small few scenes missing in the first three films. Anyone who has read The Goblet of Fire though will find huge chunks of the story missing, such as the whole lead-up to the Quidditch World Cup and the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W) storyline. To be fair though, it is a massive book so I suppose some of the minor storylines had to be cut. I just dread to think what will be cut from the upcoming Order of the Phoenix film!

When I watched the first Harry Potter film I had already read the first four books and had created visions in my mind of what the characters and places all looked like and I could not believe how spot-on the cast and locations were, with only minor differences to the books.

The acting from the younger cast members does get progressively better as the films go on, mainly due to age and experience, although the three leads (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) do perform excellently from the start, providing fascinating entertainment. Older cast members include top well-known actors like Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Alan Rickman (Snape), Maggie Smith (McGonagall), Richard Harris (Dumbledore in years 1 & 2), Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in years 3 & 4) and Ralph Fiennes (Voldermort in year 4), to just name a few.

This boxset is one that every fan of Harry Potter should own and although the films are aimed more at children than the books are, they are still great fun to watch with lots of exciting action and are also full of laughs that the whole family can enjoy.

This is a good box set and should continue to fall in price as more of the series (after the fourth film) get their cinema release and beyond. Almost a must for any Harry Potter fans that don't already have two or more of these four films!

I like all the Harry Potter films in this set, and though I am not always in the mood for the second and third installment the others (especially the first of course!) are somewhat better. One might wish to wait for what will one day inevitably be the "Complete Boxset" or "Ultimate Edition". However, that is still several years away I bet, so I am quite happy to have this half of the series now and wait for the rest later. Although whether they will release a set for the rest of the series is unlikely. If you see this for £25 or less, then I say it's a bargain while they're still making the rest of the films.

Some of the teen angst in the "middle films" is of little interest to me, but considering the target audience of the first film I am objectively impressed with how the series is evolving.

In this boxset of "Wizard School films" I would say that my order of preference of the films is: 1, 4, 3, 2. Agree or no? :)

The Harry Potter films are all very good and having a nice box set of the first four films is great. It is a fantastic gift for anyone who enjoys the Harry Potter books. It is definitely value for money and I would recommend anyone to buy it!!