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

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Daniel Radcliffe)

(Amazon UK link)

We decided to continue with our weekly re-watching of the Harry Potter films yesterday evening. A week earlier we saw ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’, so last night we watched ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, which we had not seen since 2012. 

The book on which it’s based was my least favourite of the series when I first read it. However  it’s important in the sequence, and when I have re-read it, I liked it better. But it’s not for young children; Harry and friends are fourteen now, in their fourth year at Hogwarts. I find much of the book quite tense, and still really dislike the climactic scene. 

It’s also an extremely long book, so inevitably some sections had to be cut out entirely to fit the story into a two-and-a-half hour film. I understand why they cut out the early chapters with Harry at his appalling relatives’ home, although in the book it gives welcome light relief to the tension of the horrible dream Harry has at the beginning. 

The scenes at the Quidditch World Cup didn’t much interest me in the book, so I didn’t mind that they were somewhat cut short; but I was sorry that there were no house elves. One of the significant story-lines of the ‘Goblet of Fire’ book, and one of its best features, in my view, is Hermione’s passionate defence of the house elves, many of whom are enslaved by unpleasant families. But we don’t even see Dobby in the film, so his current career remains unknown to those who see the films but haven’t read the books. 

However I can see that it’s a side story. It is helpful in understanding Hermione's character butter, but it isn’t so necessary for the ongoing story. As a film in its own right, it's very well done. The main storyline involves the goblet of fire, and the tri-wizard tournament with visiting students from two other wizarding schools in Europe. Three exceptional older students and Harry have to undertake some dangerous tasks, and I found Harry’s encounter with a dragon very tense. I had to hide my eyes in places.

As the final task began, with the four tri-wizard competitors entering a maze filled with dangers, I knew I didn’t want to watch what happened, or the dark scene that follows, forming the climax of the book (and film). So I moved to another room until I could hear the closing, poignant and deeply moving scenes at the end. 

Of course this film is worth seeing as part of the series, if you don’t read the books. It’s well-made, with a rapid pace, and despite missing out so much of the book, it’s not difficult to follow the main story. The acting is superb (even if I still have a bit of cognitive dissonance when I see David Tennant as an evil supporter of Lord Voldemort). 

The graphics work brilliantly, the CGI scarily believable. But although it could stand alone, it’s not an enjoyable film, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who’s easily disturbed by visual violence or rapid chase scenes. It's rated 12, rather than PG (which was the rating for the first three films) and I think that's correct. While there's no more swearing, and only the faintest hints of teenage hormones, there is much more violence and gore in this film, and many more extremely tense scenes. 

Our edition of this has a second DVD which has some interesting extras: there are games which didn't appeal to us, but also some deleted scenes, and some extensive interviews with the three main characters.

Review copyright 2023 Sue's DVD Reviews