Product Description

Warner Brothers Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (Blu-ray)
Lord Voldemort has returned, but few want to believe it. In fact, the Ministry of Magic is doing everything it can to keep the wizarding world from knowing the truth - including appointing Ministry official Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. When Professor Umbridge refuses to train her students in practical defensive magic, a select group of students decides to learn on their own. With Harry Potteras their leader, these students (who call themselves "Dumbledore's Army") meet secretly in a hiddenroom at Hogwarts to hone their wizarding skills in preparation for battle with the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters...New adventure - more dangerous, more thrilling than ever - is yours in this enthralling film version of the fifth novel in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. A terrifying showdown between good and evil awaits. Prepare for battle!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1485 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-12-11
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Format: Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 139 minutes

Amazon.com
Alas! The fifth Harry Potter film has arrived. The time is long past that this can be considered a simple "children's" series--though children and adults alike will enjoy it immensely. Starting off from the dark and tragic ending of the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins in a somber and angst-filled tone that carries through the entire 138 minutes (the shortest of any HP movie despite being adapted from the longest book). Hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup have been replaced by woes like government corruption, distorted media spin, and the casualties of war. As the themes have matured, so have the primary characters' acting abilities. Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and especially Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) are more convincing than ever--in roles that are more demanding.

Harry is deeply traumatized from having witnessed Cedric Diggory's murder, but he will soon find that this was just another chapter in the continuing loss he will endure. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned and, in an attempt to conceal this catastrophe from the wizarding public, the Ministry of Magic has teamed up with the wizard newspaper The Daily Prophet to smear young Potter and wise Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)--seemingly the only two people in the public eye who believe the Dark Lord has returned. With no one else to stand against the wicked Death Eaters, the Hogwarts headmaster is forced to revive his secret anti-Voldemort society, the Order of the Phoenix. This welcomes back characters like Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), kind Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), fatherly Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and insidious Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), and introduces a short list of intriguing new faces. In the meantime, a semi-psychotic bureaucrat from the Ministry (brilliantly portrayed by Imelda Staunton) has seized power at Hogwarts, and Harry is forced to form a secret society of his own--lest the other young wizards at his school be left ill-equipped to defend themselves in the looming war between good and evil. In addition, Harry is filled with an inexplicable rage that only his Godfather Sirius seems to be able to understand.

This film, though not as frightening as its predecessor, earns its PG-13 rating mostly because of the ever-darkening tone. As always, the loyal fans of J.K. Rowling's books will suffer huge cuts from the original plot and character developments, but make no mistake: this is a good movie. --Jordan Thompson

Customer Reviews

highly disappointing adaptation
"Order of the Phoenix", as a novel, is mostly about character development. This is the novel where Harry and his friends truly begin to grow up. For this reason, the cut the movie producers decided upon hurt, mostly because they made many poor decisions in what to cut. Cuts are necessary, but must be done intelligently. However, the cuts are not the fatal flaw of the film. No, that's the climatic battle with the Deatheaters. Here is where we are supposed to truly glimpse the mortal danger Harry and his friends are in. Instead, we get a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Watching it, I came away with an overwhelming sense the Deatheaters were going easy on the kids, because they were kids. You never feel they are actually in any real danger. Completely kills the movie. Overall, I've liked the film adaptations. This one was botched though. Read the book, avoid the film.

My favorite movie of the 5
Some people may say they took too much out from the book. That may be true, but I loved what they did put in! Disc 2 has some good special features too.

The Book is Better
Unfortunately, they now have to take more shortcuts with the movies. The 1st 3 movies were very close to the books but now the series is getting much to complicated for the cinema to depict properly. They did a very good job with the movie but once again the book is better.