Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Daniel Radcliffe)

(Amazon UK link)

We recently re-watched the first four Harry Potter films, so it was evidently time for the fifth. We last saw our DVD of ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ in 2015. However, I have read the book four times, the last time being in 2019 so I was familiar with the storyline. 

The previous film (and book) are much darker than the earlier ones, more suitable for older children and teens than younger ones. It’s not surprising that the film rating is 12A rather than PG (like the previous ones), as there’s a lot of anger and violence in this. 

The book is the longest of the series, with over 700 pages, so it’s not surprising that the film is significantly abridged. I think it was done well, although inevitably there’s so much more in the books. It opens, not with Harry anxiously watching the news to find out whether Lord Voldemort is having an effect in the regular (‘muggle’) world, but with an encounter in a children’s playground with his cousin Dudley. 

A dementor attack in an alleyway forces Harry to use his ‘patronus’ charm to save his life, and that of his cousin. This is witnessed by a neighbour who - to Harry’s astonishment - recognises his wand, knows who he is, and saw the dementors. However it’s also noted by the Ministry of Magic, and Harry receives a letter telling him he has been expelled.

Several friends managed to rescue him although he has to undergo a stressful court hearing. He’s with his friends again, but they clearly have secrets and nobody will tell him what’s going on…

Harry does the teenage angst believably, more and more stressed by lack of understanding, worry about his godfather Sirius, and increasing dreams that are very realistic, evidently of Lord Voldemort trying to get inside Harry’s head. Indeed, all the actors are so good, realistic in their roles, that I was entirely caught up in the film, feeling some of Harry’s emotion, rooting for those who believe in him. 

It’s quite a stressful film to watch. The Ministry of Magic doesn’t believe that Voldemort has returned, and Hogwarts has a new, sadistic teacher called Dolores Umbridge, one of the nastiest of JK Rowling’s creations in my view. Her insistence that the students learn theory without doing any magic is, I’m sure, a dig at educational systems insisting on more and more theory without practice. But whereas, in the book, there is time for a bit of light relief in places, and amusing one-liners, the film is fast-paced and stark. 

However, the basic story is well covered with plenty of visual effects, and it’s certainly worth seeing. But for anyone wondering if there’s more to the story, or feeling they didn’t quite understand all the implications, I would highly recommend reading the book too. It’s also a good idea to have seen at least the fourth DVD (‘..the Goblet of Fire’) before this one; ideally all of them in sequence.

We have a single-DVD edition of this film, so there were no 'extras' for us to watch.

Review copyright 2023 Sue's DVD Reviews