Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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Great Novie, 2008-12-03
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Thank you for the DVD. I did receive it on time but had a hard time getting to send a feed back. I like the movie and I would order from you again. Thank yuu again.

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Raises the Bar, 2008-12-02
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins on Privet Drive when Harry and his muggle cousin Dudley are attacked by a pair of dementors trying to eat their souls. Harry fends them off with a patronus charm, but is held on trial for illegal magic. This pretty much sets the tone for the movie, which means a pretty crappy year for Harry and his friends. He gets off and returns to Hogwarts, only to find that their new teacher, Dolores Umbridge, is a ministry toady, Hagrid is gone, and everybody outside his circle of friends thinks he's crazy. br / I found this movie to be the best of the series since Chris Columbus left the director's chair. Compared to the last two, there are especially few "WTF" moments. The new characters, Luna Lovegood and Prof. Umbridge, filled their roles excellently. The special effects and set design were implemented well. The little details really make the movie. The two disc special edition has a lot of fun extras, including a tour of the set with Natalia Tena (Tonks). br / Although I enjoyed the movie, I feel like it was squeezed down with the fewest possible essential plot points. The spotlight is on Harry for most of the movie, with other characters having their essential developing moments grossly simplified or cut all together. It even seems like Ron and Hermione get hardly any lines at all. My personal favorite part in the book, the battle at the Department of Mysteries, was probably abbreviated the worst. The scene changes from Hogwarts to the Hall of Prophecy before you can say "What happened to the Department of Mysteries?". br / I was torn on what score to give this movie. It's much better than the last two and probably almost as good as it could be, considering how long the book is. I enjoyed this movie, but I can see why some fans wouldn't. br /

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Blu-ray is by far the superior format for this title, 2008-12-01
I am a scientist (molecular biology), but by nature experiment in many areas of day to day life. In this experiment I took my older wide screen DVD of the order of the Phoenix and watched it on my Samsung player, with new surround sound bar. Next I took my just arrived Blu-ray of the same title and watched it. The results show The Blu-ray was far superior in both audio and Vidio. I chose this title for the experiment because you can watch it twice without falling asleep. The special effects are excellrnt. So I highly recommend this title in Blu-ray.

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a suprisingly good movie, 2008-11-30
"Harry Potter snd the Order of the Phoenix" is a suprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it, very much. This director managed to zero in on the important stuff and present it concisely and well. br / br /Of course, it does help if you have read the book. But, this movie is nearly of stand-alone quality. br / br /I recommend this movie. However, the ending has some darkness in it. So, perhaps those under 15 should not be allowed to see the movie until parents can judge the level of darkness for themselves.

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sensible, 2008-11-27
Confronted with the huge fifth episode of the Potter's series the authors did the only thing possible: they cut, mercilessly. br / br /I know, I know, most of Rowling's fans will hate me for saying this and I am not saying that they could not have cut differently, but there is no way the whole of the book could have come into the movie even if the movie had been an hour longer. Even in the first movie there were no menial cuts despite the first episode being short and straight forward. br / br /Personally speaking I disagree about the choice of making this fifth episode the classical, all American instance of the all American underdog, e.g. Harry who at the start of the movie is laughed at or condescended upon even by his protectors and then shows everybody how right he was. Some seeds of this are in the book itself but Ms Rowling was so much more interested (too interested unfortunately) in underlining his isolation, his solitude, his desperation. br / br /I disagree with the choice of making a complete fool of Sybil Cooman: she knows very well she is not a greet seeress, she is frustrated, not ridiculous. Ms Thompson of course is a superb actress, even in the questionable and questionably deleted scene of the dessert. br / br /I disagree with the decision of making a raving lunatic of Bellatrix: in the books she is obsessed and evil, not ranting. The capabilities of Ms Bonham Carter are wasted. br / br /The cuts to the insufferable love ramblings of the characters (the thing I hated in the book) are merciful as, for different reasons, are those to the character of Umbridge. Ms Staunton is a distinguished actress and because of this she perfectly conveys the repulsive character she is playing: more of it would have been too much to bear. br / br /All in all the movie was good but not breathtaking: it renders the gloom atmosphere allright but it has no cutting edge. When Fred and George leave the school the real sense of a school which, because of the ministry, has failed to educate two young men who are better off by themselves than in such a setting should be unbearably bitter. What do we have instead? Very nice special effects and a laughter or two. br / br /Only when Luna Lovegood is in the spotlight things change: she was the most exquisite character of the book and she is the main feature here: the authors managed to render her being an outsider and the actress is so good as to give her lines their full meaning. Only her permed hair does not make any sense. Of course... could Luna be played by a girl with wavy hair? I think not... ... LOL br / br /