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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [HD
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HD DVD
12 Nov. 2007 "Please retry" | — | 1 | £0.91 | — | £0.91 |
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Product description
Product Description
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) 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 (Ralph Fiennes, in an inspired bit of casting). Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), 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 (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), 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...
From Amazon.co.uk
While many movie franchises slide as they reach their later instalments, the Harry Potter films just keep getting better. The latest, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is easily the darkest of the series to date, and its also one of the best. For while it could easily have been little more than a holding film to set up the big encounters to come in the last two instalments of the series, its to the credit of British director David Yates that the end result is really very good.
It finds Harry coming under suspicion from his wizarding colleagues, who dont believe his claims that the evil Lord Voldermort has returned. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix thus finds its title character on the backfoot for much of its running time, with a select band who firmly believe his story, and very powerful figures who dont.
Where the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix excels though is in its three trump cards. Number one is a far tighter script than were used to with Potter films, which, combined with trump card number two--the aforementioned David Yates behind the camera--cuts much of the slavish loyalty to the text away in favour of a film with real momentum. The third, and best, card though is the casting of Imelda Staunton as Professor Dolores Umbridge, who simply flies away with every scene shes in. Its a superb performance, and the film is poorer whenever shes not on screen.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not a film without a few problems, certainly: its a fair criticism that not too much actually happens, and one or two bits feel superfluous. But it overrides its problems with ease, to emerge as a compelling, highly enjoyable family film, which will leave you salivating for the Christmas 2008 release of movie number six in the series. --Simon Brew
Product details
- Is discontinued by manufacturer : No
- Rated : Suitable for 12 years and over
- Language : English
- Package Dimensions : 17 x 13.6 x 1.6 cm; 40.82 Grams
- Media Format : DVD-Video
- Run time : 2 hours and 18 minutes
- Release date : 12 Nov. 2007
- Actors : Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes
- Studio : Warner Home Video
- ASIN : B000VS6O10
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: 115,481 in DVD & Blu-ray (See Top 100 in DVD & Blu-ray)
- 4,535 in Fantasy (DVD & Blu-ray)
- 8,868 in Children & Family (DVD & Blu-ray)
- Customer reviews:
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The reason I am so impressed with this film in particular was that it makes those changes so effectively. I love the books, and of course if you want the true Harry Potter experience then you should read those rather than watch the films, but I am realistic enough to understand that, with almost any book, there are changes and cuts that need to be made in order for it to work on screen, and I think that to a large extent this film succeeds.
The book upon which this is based is arguably the weakest of the series, it is by far the longest but does not have the clear and direct plot device that the first 4 books have, so the result is that, while it is still a great read, it is definitely a bit too sprawling, and could do with some pruning.
To this end, the filmmakers have taken the longest book of the series, and produced the shortest film of the series so far. To do so without really losing the important aspects of the story is quite an achievement.
David Yates, who came to my attention first as the director of the excellent TV series State of Play, shows a fine grasp of both the dramatic and humourous parts of Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort is back, but the Ministry of Magic is doing its very best to make life difficult for Harry and Dumbledore, because it would much rather live in blissful ignorance than confront the alarming truth. As such, the meat of the story is much darker than the previous ones, as this is no longer just a schoolboy adventure for Harry, but a very serious fight against both an oppresive authority, who try to isolate him from the rest of the wizarding world, and Lord Voldemort.
The Ministry of Magic set is beautifully realised, and the Spanish Inquisition-like robes of the court bring a suitably menacing air to Harry's trial at the start of the film, and sets the tone for the further struggles Harry will face in the film.
The two main plotlines of the film are the Ministry's interference at Hogwarts, and Harry's visions of what Voldemort is doing.
The former plotline involves Dolores Umbridge, of the Ministry, taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, and rapidly initiating a despotic regime, with Ministry approval, of oppression of those who dare to disagree with official policy. Imelda Staunton is quite well suited to the role, but there certainly isn't quite the same air of petty vindictiveness and malevolence about the character as their is in the films, which is perhaps a shame, but the message certainly gets across that she is a very nasty piece of work indeed - and representative of the digraceful attitude of those in power, who are too attached and in love with that power to acknowledge anything that might threaten it.
In an attempt to fight back, Harry, Ron and Hermione start a secret Defence group, where Harry teaches any students who would like to learn how to defend themselves better, as Umbridge refuses to teach them any defensive magic. I think the film captures the sense of rebellion about this group very well, and shows that there is always value in standing up for what is right, even if it may land you in further trouble.
Harry's visions of Voldemort, and his unwillingness to do anything to stop them, eventually lead to the exciting set-piece ending of the film, a magical battle of a scale never seen before in the films at the Ministry of Magic, and again I think the action is handled very well, we do get a sense of the speed and danger of the fight, capped with the tantalising duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, which again is pretty well done. The scene in which Harry is fighting being possessed is, in my opinion, very moving, and Daniel Radcliffe seems to have improved considerably as an actor for this film.
The acting in general is fine - as I said, I think Radcliffe has improved, Rupert Grint continues to do a good job with his natural comic ability as Ron, but Emma Watson is a bit too hammy as Hermione. Evanna Lynch is convincingly oddball as Luna Lovegood, and I think Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom also gives a creditable performance. The Phelps twins are much better in this one as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Weasley twins' chaotic exit from Hogwarts.
Of course, it isn't a perfect film - the problem with converting a series as rich as Harry Potter into films is that you will end up with important characters being reduced to little more than cameos, with no real chance to develop or shine. Dumbledore is probably the most significant character who suffers in this way, as his role and paternal bonding with Harry is no where near as strong in the films as in the books, and the role is underwritten, but it is not a major issue, and his important moments in this film are still handled pretty well.
All in all, this is probably my joint favourite (with Prisoner of Azkaban) film so far, and considering how much better the Prisoner of Azkaban book is to the Order of the Phoenix, that is very high praise. I feel that there are very serious 'adult' themes in this film - the fight for the truth, standing up for what is right, coping with isolation and loss, and that those themes are put across very well. An excellent film.
Would have got more stars if x rental wasn't plastered all over the cover. Couldn't remember it saying it was a x rental copy when ordering.
Good service arrived on time.
It follows Harry and his return to Hogwarts under a cloud of suspicion having been caught doing underage magic by the ministry. He was in fact just fighting off a pair of dementors who were attacking him and his cousin Dudley.
After the furore of this event, he returns to school to find one of those trying him has taken over as defence against the dark arts teacher. The sickly sweet, pink clad Delores Umbridge is the ministry's plant to ensure that no child from Hogwarts believes that Voldemort has returned.
She puts the children under a regime of tyranny to prevent them straying from the Ministry's rules. Soon Dumbeldore's Army is revived and those children who become members seek every opportunity to learn the defense against the dark arts magic that Ms. Umbridge prevents them learning in class.
Once she becomes head mistress when Dumbeldore is sent away disgraced, taking the blame for Dumbeldore's Army, her tyrranical rule worsens. The story goes a t avery fast pace from this point on to the point where is climaxes in a fantastic cloud of CGI that blew me away!
Imelda Staunton is classic as the sweet smiling but heartlessly cruel Ms. Umbridge. Her casting was a stroke of genius.
I loved the interpretation of the Thestrals - they matched my minds eye image perfectly. The story flowed effortlessly and each character was given a good input to the film as in the book, no one was left out.
I can't wait for the next one.
I recommend it to all! Even my 6 year old loved it!
As movie versions go, in this series to date, this has to be the best one yet and despite being a 2+ hour movie, they do indeed get a lot in from the story, not all its true, but as much as is possible with the allotted time and sufficient amount to get an overall picture of the book.
Its rare any movie can match the detail and intricacy of any book.
The director has given this movie the best treatment from his source and the best of the Potter movies to date.
The actors have clearly matured and given some of their best performances here. As to their actually aging, I find it ludicrous, the fears of them getting too old to play their roles. Many movies representing teenagers commonly use actors in their 20's where as the main trio are only a year or two older then the characters they play, and indeed the characters in the books aren't ageless, they grow up, that's kinda the point.
All that a side, its not perfect and where parts are missing or changed altogether it does appear either rushed or botched and lets down, what is an otherwise good translation of the book even changing plot lines or missing vital ones out altogether and this is where it does fall down at times.
As I stated in the title, it is the best one yet, but it could still be better.

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