130 of 137 people found the following review helpful:
The boy who lived brought to life
Adapted from JK Rowling's amazing magical novels, this DVD boxset features the first five 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...
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Dissapointed with inconsistencies
I saw the reduced price for the boxset and thought it would be an ideal present for my niece who loves anything Harry Potter related ( she got that from me ) and it was a birthday present.
However when I unwrapped it to check it was in order , some of the five DVD's said it had only English subtitles.Being a region 2 DVD ( checked that before I bought them )...
Adapted from JK Rowling's amazing magical novels, this DVD boxset features the first five 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.
Year 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:
Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community has been denied the truth about his recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort. Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort's return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge's Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves "Dumbledore's Army," Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.
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. The Order of the Phoenix is very similar to the book up to a point and then massive cuts and changes are made, which if you are a big fan of the books, will spoil the movie for you a little.
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 & 5) and Ralph Fiennes (Voldermort in years 4 and 5), 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. The new slim DVD cases also save a lot of room on your shelves!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Very good value set of the first 5 Harry Potter films. Please note that DVDs do NOT contain any 'extras' eg deleted scenes, interviews with the cast, behind the scenes or games like you get when you buy them individually.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Much cheaper than buying them individually and you get the same experience, except for the lack of special features. Personally I'm not fussed about that, its not something I'm prepared to pay more for, however if like all that behind the scenes stuff then perhaps this is not the product for you. Still excellent value for money, considering you're getting 5 blockbuster films for £14.68. Highly entertaining modern classics that people of all ages can enjoy, parents will sit down to watch it with their kids and find themselves getting sucked in! If you like the films you'll love the books.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
I saw the reduced price for the boxset and thought it would be an ideal present for my niece who loves anything Harry Potter related ( she got that from me ) and it was a birthday present.
However when I unwrapped it to check it was in order , some of the five DVD's said it had only English subtitles.Being a region 2 DVD ( checked that before I bought them ) I assumed that they would have at least some other subtitles.to break it down
Year 1 has English ( Hearing Impaired ) , English , Arabic <--- not so good.
Year 2 has English ( Hearing Impaired ) , English , Arabic , Greek , Icelandic ( I was surprised there!! )
Year 3 has English ( Hearing Impaired ) , English , Arabic <--- not so good either!!
Year 4 has English ( Hearing Impaired ) , English , Arabic , Greek , Icelandic ( surprised too )
Year 5 has English ( Hearing Impaired ) , English , German ( Hearing Impaired ) , German.
So there is no consistency , and I feel a bit dissappointed as I can view the DVD's , while they're for my niece who isn't too strong in English , and I'd like there was some consistency to that.Moreover being in the same boxset , I'd thought there would not be any inconsistencies , although there are.Haven't seen the movies yet.
the only plus I can think is that there are English Hearing impaired subtitles , as I am deaf and I really like them when I find them.
We both looked forward to a movie marathon together , and have fun ( she's 12 and crazy abt the movies ) and now I'm considering returning the item due to that oversight.You should always provide detailed reviews and always detail out all the subtitles / languages , that should have helped a lot at least me that I had considered getting a movie , but due to not explained explicitly , I do not risk it.I risked it and see what happened.it would be not so bad if they were consistent even if they wouldn't have Greek , however two of the movies contain these subtitles and I'm thinking what to do.
I will get a movie review when I see the movies.So far I'm giving it two stars for the inconsistence.and I'm being honest because I think that everyone has a right to know what he/she buying.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Well of course it's handy to have all the years in a box set but what i found really sucked was that the dvds don't have any special features with them but that's just me cause i LOVE special features. But it's all good as you'd expect.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Firstly, let me say that I love the books and the films, so why the low rating I hear you ask.. well, it's because there are so many scenes cut that in a lot of cases the movies lose so much of the plot as to be unwatchable. I'm waiting for the extended box set, then maybe we'll see the actual film.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Harry Potter is my favoroute film series of all time, and when I heard about the fith film coming out, I wasn't sure if it would be as good, but it scored high marks with great acting, great action, and definitly the best summer movie of the year.
The other four films that will be with the 5th film in this boxset I think are definitly brilliant, and if you buy this, watch them in order and you will see how much better they get each time. That is from my point of view so I don't know if you will agree.
When this comes out I do recommend you should buy it, because it is a great series to watch, and even if you don't know the story of the series, just buy this and watch all 5. You will know why I think this is such a good series.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
I ordered this boxset as I thought the price was a good one for 5 Harry Potter films. However, when I recieved them the quality of picture was poor, but more shockingly, the disc that was meant to be the film 'Prisoner of Azkaban' was actually 'The Polar Express' when played! Which makes you question the authenticity of the product. Needless to say the boxset was returned for a refund.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
A great value set of the first 5 Harry Potter films, none of the special features which are included if the films are bought separately but it was the films we were after.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
![Harry Potter Years 1-5 Box Set [DVD] [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51X7dW13J4L._SL160_SL90_.jpg)
Amazon Home
![Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix [DVD] [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00288A1Q0.01._SL160_PE38_OU02_SCLZZZZZZZ_SL90_V225701439_.jpg)
![Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince [DVD] [2009]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/B002CYIQYO.01._SL160_PE44_OU02_SCLZZZZZZZ_SL90_V230141634_.jpg)