Product Description

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 Potter as their leader, these students (who call themselves "Dumbledore's Army") meet secretly in a hidden room 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: #19 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-12-11
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 138 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 Hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup have been replaced by woes like government corruption, distorted media spin, and the casualties of war.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

The longest Harry Potter book gets whittled down to the shortest Harry Potter film
I think that when you take the longest Harry Potter book and turn it into the shortest Harry Potter film, that a large number of complaints by fans as to what has been cut will be inevitable after they watch "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Not that this means that the legions of fans will be bitterly disappointed by the film version, but rather that there will be regrets over not getting to see favorite scenes on the screen. For example, Quidditch is completely out of the film, denying Ron of his best moments in the sun (start singing "Weasley is our king"). So do not be surprised when your mind keeps shifting to what has been cut and distracting you from time to time while watching this summer's latest blockbuster.

When last we left our hero, Harry fell victim to a trap to bring back Lord Voldermort, which cost Cedric Diggory his life. The Ministry of Magic wants things hushed up, but Dumbledore tells the students at Hogwarts that Diggory was murdered and Lord Voldermort murdered him. As this fifth film opens Harry and his wicked cousin Dudley are attacked by Dementors. Harry uses his wand to defend them and is summarily expelled from Hogwarts for using magic in front of a muggle. The good news is that Harry gets reinstated, but the bad news is that the Ministry of Magic uses the opportunity to appoint Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary at the Ministry, as the school's new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. However, Umbridge teaches only the theory and not the practice because she insists Harry is a liar and there is nothing the students need to learn to defend themselves from. Then things get progressively worse.

"The Order of the Phoenix" was the most maddening book to read, not because it was the longest, but because I detest Dolores Umbridge. As far as I am concerned she makes Voldermort look good, because he knows he is evil, wicked, bad, mean and nasty inside, while Umbridge thinks the ends justify the means. She is puritanical, sadistic and hypocritical. If there were not going to be children reading this review I would tell you what I really think of her. Suffice it to say, she makes me sick and I do not even take pleasure in loving to hate her, which is why my only requirement going into the film is that the Weasley Twins get their moment of glory when they become the disloyal opposition to the new order at Hogwarts.

Daniel Radcliffe continues to have the tote the heavy load in these films as Harry, with Rupert Grint's Ron Weasley being reduced more and more often to reaction shots while Emma Watson's Hermione Granger remains the Mistress of Exposition in these films. Alan Rickman as Snape remains pitch perfect casting and Gary Oldman as Sirius Black is also a joy to watch, but I discovered in this film that I really like Michael Gambon's performance as Dumbledore, mainly because he always plays up the character's intelligence and I find I prefer his interpretation to that of the late Richard Harris, forgive my heresy. Imelda Staunton does not look as much like a toad as Umbridge does in the book, but she captures the character's detestability from start to finish. We are always painfully aware how dangerous she is, whether she smiles or not. Also, Evanna Lynch steals more scenes as Luna Lovegood than Katie Leung does as Cho Chang, and it is certainly interesting to see Neville (Matthew Lewis) towering over everybody, with Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) in the silent but strong role for the pivotal sextet.

After seeing this film I raced home and got out my copy of the book and starting cataloguing things that had been cut. Such comparisons are, as I suggested up top, inevitable for anyone who has read the book. At this point what I missed the most were some of the conversations between Maggie Smith's Professor McGonagall and Umbridge where Minerva verbally flaws the Inquisitor. The omission that I am focusing on the most is the whole bit about why Neville's family was a target of Voldermort (I agree with Harry: always say his name and thereby reduce its power), since that suggests implications for what will happen in the final book, which gets released in just ten more days. I also would have liked to have seen an over reaction to Harry discovering his father bullied Snape at Hogwarts. My favorite part ends up being the impressive wizard's duel between Voldermort and Dumbledore. Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg does a good job of whittling down Rowling's book and director David Yates does a competent job, but fans will simply want more. Also, we know what happens in the next book and all of the bad things that happen in this film cannot help but seem inconsequential in comparison. Plus, fans will be distracted by mining this film for clues as to what will happen in the last book.

Cliff's Notes adaptation of the book


I love Harry Potter, OK? So before you freak out, let me get that out of the way. The book version "Order of the Phoenix" was oustanding. I also think that previous directors have done pretty good to great jobs of translating the books to film (though I must say things went a little downhill once Chris Columbus left.)

All that being said, here's the kicker:

The movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" played like a Cliff's Notes adaptation of the book.

It lopped off a lot of the charm and romance and heartfelt pathos of the book--- as well as a lot of the pure creative touches--- in order to get the main arc of the story down. On top of that, it made "adaptations" to the book in order to get the story moving along--- yet all these "compromises" were actually worse than what JK Rowling originally wrote!

Don't believe me? Here is only SOME of what is wrong with this movie:

--Poor devlopment of the Harry/Cho Chang arc (The kiss is about all you get. No real feeling behind it at all. No devlopement of Harry's crush. No final break up argument on Valentine's Day.)
--Making Cho into an evil snitch (which is why she and Harry broke up in the movie.) In the movie SHE is the one who betrays Harry. Stupid.
--No hospital scenes. No meeting of Neville's parents.
--Perfunctory explanation of Grimmaud Place
--Perfunctory development of Occlumency
--Harry gets to hear the prophecy while standing in the Department of Mysteries rather than later with Dumbledore. On top of this, he gets to hear the prophecy just by holding it in his hand. That makes no logical sense at all!
--The Department of Mysteries itself is compressed down into one room (the room with the prophecies.) All the cool rooms (with the blue lights, the 12 doors, the clocks, the brains, and so on) are all just ignored. Those were such tremendous inventions by JK Rowling--perhaps some of the most creative stuff in all the books-- that I can't believe they just cut them!
--The room with the arch is made into a really boring place.
--The battle scene is really short and rather stupid.
--Snape's memory of being tortured by James Potter and his argument with Lily Potter is compressed into literally a total of 4 seconds of film. That scence is so PIVOTAL to the rest of the book series that I can't believe they got away with not fully developing the scene.

On top of all these plot issues, the WORST part about this movie is that there was really no FEELING in it. The whole range of emotional arcs that are so well-developed in the book are done absolutely terribly in the movie. Yeah, Sirius dies. In the book, it is a devatating moment. In the movie, it's like "Oh, well." Harry, Ron and Hermione don't have many moments together. There is no laughing in the movie. We don't get to feel pathos for Neville because his parents are insane. We don't get to feel the gratefulness of the Weasleys when Harry saves Mr Weasley. There are no lighthearted moments. Almost every scene except one or two that could have developed the emotional attachment we feel to the characters has been summarily excluded.

Like one other reviewer said: The movie is too short, yet it feels too long.

That is, sorry to say, a perfect description of a hack job.

I am quite disappointed.

by far, THE best of the movies to date... but it could be better
It is Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry, and things are about to go from bad to worse. First, Harry and Dudley encounter a pair of dementors in Little Whinging, one of which almost manages to steal Dudley's soul. Harry happens to have his wand on him, however, and repels both dementors using the Patronus charm. That action causes him to get expelled from Hogwarts, but soon after, his expulsion is rescinded pending a trial hearing. Mad-Eye and the rest of the Order come to break Harry out, and they head to the headquarters of the Order, formerly Sirius' childhood home. From there, they speed onward to Hogwarts, where things are anything but how they've been.

For starters, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, is absolutely resolute in denying that Voldemort is back. Also, he uses the incident with Harry's Patronus to place more and more Ministry restrictions on Hogwarts, starting with the appointment of one of Fudge's own subordinates, Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, as the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Soon, under Umbridge's tutelage, DaDA becomes, not a place where magic is used, but a place where magic is taught, because, in the words of Umbridge, "Who do you think would want to use magic against you out there?" Not only that, but Umbridge (through Fudge) gets a whole load of Ministry Decrees passed, further tightening the Ministry's control over Hogwarts.

A main part of the Order of the Phoenix movie is Harry's formation of Dumbledore's Army (DA). Since Umbridge won't teach them defensive magic, Harry vows to do just that for anyone who is willing. The DA originally consists of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but soon a whole slew of other characters join, including Neville, who, up until this point, had been lacking in the magical abilities department. Also, Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape are included here, as is Voldemort's attempts to get into Harry's mind using Legilimency. Finally, the Battle at the Ministry, where Voldemort finally reveals himself to the Ministry and the remainder of the Order.

As my title says, Order of the Phoenix is the best movie out of the five that have been released, but I have a few big problems with how they handled the transition from book to movie, the main one being time. How can they justify taking the longest Harry Potter book yet and making into the shortest Harry Potter movie yet? Many crucial scenes were cut out, including (not really crucial, but certainly enjoyable) Ron's Quidditch tryouts (and Quidditch in general is cut completely out), Harry and the gang's meeting with Neville and his Crucio-ed mother in St. Mungo's during Christmas break, Dumbledore's conversation with Harry at the end was cut by about 3/4, Harry's excursion into Snape's memory changed (in the book, he found out about his father's torturing Snape through the Pensieve, but in the movie, it's when Harry Protegos Snape's Legilimens spell)... I realize time constraints are a factor, but cutting an 870-page book down to a mere 2 and 1/2 hour movie is beyond me.

In spite of the completely unsatisfactory length, I was very much satisfied with the actor choices for the new parts. Coming in for her first ever movie role is the beautiful Evanna Lynch, who plays the eccentric Luna Lovegood. Personally, Evanna is the best actor in the whole movie, not to mention my favorite actress; she really captures the personality of Luna very well. Gary Oldman returns for his second stab at the character of Sirius Black, and pulls off a very convincing performance. Michael Gambon is at his best this film, as he plays Dumbledore's character to a tee. Another actress making her first Harry Potter movie debut is Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the demented Bellatrix Lestrange; Imelda Staunton performs admirably as Professor Dolores Umbridge, the most hated character in the movie; and finally... returning for his fifth time is Alan Rickman, who once again shows the world that there can only be one true Severus Snape, and that is he.

Also, character development is a key part that OotP and director David Yates pull off spectacularly. We see Neville, who before couldn't do as much as a Disarming Spell, grow into quite the formidable wizard, even attempting to battle Bellatrix when they meet in the Ministry. We see Hermione... okay, so no real change occurs in Hermione; she's still the brave know-it-all, except this time around, she's more accepting of breaking the rules (leading to Ron's classic line "Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?"). And then there's Ron, who, unfortunately, is pretty much shunted to the back in favor of Hermione's more affable personality; his biggest scene (not including the battle scene) is his defending of Harry when Seamus rips him for believing that Voldemort is back. Finally, Luna really gets her time in the spotlight, being one of the first to master Harry's teaching the Patronus spell; also, her relationship with Harry deepens alot (does anyone else besides me think that Luna's got a HUGE crush on Harry?) and she starts making friends with Ron and Hermione a bit more, too.

To close... the innumerable omissions may irk many a die-hard Harry Potter fan, but don't let that discourage you from going to see Order of the Phoenix. It's still the best Harry Potter movie to date- it just could have been a little bit longer and, by extension, a little bit better.