Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3305 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-11-12
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: PAL, Dolby, Digital Sound, Widescreen, Surround Sound
• Original language: English, German
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
While many movie franchises slide as they reach their later instalments, the Harry Potter films just keep getting better. The latest, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is easily the darkest of the series to date, and it’s also one of the best. For while it could easily have been little more than a holding film to set up the big encounters to come in the last two instalments of the series, it’s to the credit of British director David Yates that the end result is really very good.

It finds Harry coming under suspicion from his wizarding colleagues, who don’t believe his claims that the evil Lord Voldermort has returned. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix thus finds its title character on the backfoot for much of its running time, with a select band who firmly believe his story, and very powerful figures who don’t.

Where the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix excels though is in its three trump cards. Number one is a far tighter script than we’re used to with Potter films, which, combined with trump card number two--the aforementioned David Yates behind the camera--cuts much of the slavish loyalty to the text away in favour of a film with real momentum. The third, and best, card though is the casting of Imelda Staunton as Professor Dolores Umbridge, who simply flies away with every scene she’s in. It’s a superb performance, and the film is poorer whenever she’s not on screen.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not a film without a few problems, certainly: it’s a fair criticism that not too much actually happens, and one or two bits feel superfluous. But it overrides its problems with ease, to emerge as a compelling, highly enjoyable family film, which will leave you salivating for the Christmas 2008 release of movie number six in the series. --Simon Brew

Synopsis
Young wizard-in-training Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts for his fifth year of studies, only to find that the magical community seems to be in a curious state of denial about his recent encounter with the sinister Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in the fifth instalment of the popular fantasy film series based on the best-selling books by author J.K. Rowling. Rumour has it that the dreaded Lord Voldemort has returned, but Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy) isn't so sure what to make of all the hearsay currently floating around the campus of Hogwarts. Suspecting that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) may be fuelling the rumours regarding Voldemort's return in order to undermine his authority and lay claim to his job, Fudge entrusts newly arrived Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) with the task of tracking Dumbledore and keeping a protective watch over the nervous student body. The young wizards of Hogwarts will need something much more effective than Umbridge's Ministry-approved course in defensive magic if they are to truly succeed in the extraordinary battle that lies ahead, however, and when the administration fails to provide the students with the tools that they will need to defend Hogwarts against the fearsome powers of the Dark Arts, Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Harry take it upon themselves to recruit a small group of students to form 'Dumbledore's Army' in preparation for the ultimate supernatural showdown.

Synopsis
Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community has been denied the truth about his recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort. Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort's return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students.
But Professor Dolores Umbridge's Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves "Dumbledore's Army," Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

Customer Reviews

DVD 2-Disc Special Features:
Rather than just add yet another review of the film (like we haven't had enuff of those already!), I thought I'd actually talk about this particular product, the DVD set itself!
So here's a list of the special features included in this 2-disc set that you can look forward to:

Additional Scenes - 17 minutes of never-before-seen footage.

Trailing Tonks - Spend a day with Actress Nat Tena and receive a very personal and often wacky tour of the Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix stages.

Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing - Director David Yates and Editor Mark Day show what a difference a good edit makes to allow the viewers to edit a scene.

A&E Documentary: The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter - Viewers take a thrilling look back at the past Harry Potter films in search of clues to the mysteries of the upcoming Harry Potter saga.

ROM - Includes a timeline, a link to sneaks of HP6, along with other materials.

Brilliant...but so much changed and missing
'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' is the fifth film in the series based on magical books by JK Rowling. Following straight on from the events at the end of The Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger begin their next year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Most of the wizarding community doesn't believe Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore's news that Lord Volemort has returned and has been restored to full power along with his army of Death Eaters. The news is seen as a lie due to The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge who doesn't want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. Fudge feeds false information about Harry and Dumbledore to the Daily Prophet, the main newspaper that is read by most wizarding folk, which makes them believe that Harry and Dumbledore are liars and their stories cannot be trusted.

Fudge also appoints a new Hogwarts Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Delores Umbridge, who steadily begins to take over Hogwarts through the support of the Ministry. Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately dislike Umbridge as she refuses to allow them to discuss the return of Lord Voldemort, and teaches them with no practical lessons. In rebellion of this, and for personal safety against Lord Voldermort and his Death Eaters, Harry begins his own, secret Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons with other Hogwarts students, calling themselves Dumbledore's Army.

The film is an extremely good attempt at capturing the story from the book...for the first half at least. Up until the point where the Room of Requirement is discovered nearly everything is spot-on to the book, then the scriptwriter has seemingly gone off on his own storylines, missing out important plot pieces and characters that are essential to the next book(s). There are way too many differences to list here.

If, like me, you are a big fan of the Harry Potter books and know the "real" storyline well, this film may come of a bit of a let-down and it will have you commenting "why did they cut that out?" and "why did they change that?" for pretty much the whole second half of the film. Don't get me wrong, this is a very, very good film, maybe the best in the series even and a fantastic addition to the movie saga with some top quality acting, action, sets, comedy and special effects but there is just way too many changes to be able to say it is as good as the book but still a very good attempt at fitting a massive book into two and a half hours. For anyone who has seen the other Harry Potter films and not read the books, this film will probably seem like the best yet.

Longest Book but Shortest Film
Longest Book but Shortest Film, or How To Turn a 766 page Phoenix into a 128 minute Turkey.

Yes, the film, including credits, actually runs 138 minutes. But the book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is 766 wonderful pages long, from perhaps the best, certainly the most popular writer to bridge the gap between children's writing and adult writing, J.K. Rowling,
A pity that the same cannot be said for the poor wretch Michael Goldenberg who took this wonderful book, cut out almost all the supporting characterisation, and turned in a script which concentrates exclusively on Harry Potter in the least satisfying of the films so far. Where was Steve Cloves, who did such a fine job with the first four screenplays? One wonders why J.K. Rowling let this script pass. Perhaps she gave up the right of script approval. Perhaps she no longer cares, now that the series of books is finished, and she is wealthier than the Queen.
Brilliant, flashing, but hokey special effects dazzle the viewer, but waste so much of the film's running time, that all the supporting characters get short shrift. Hagrid is almost absent. The little brat Malfoy has almost disappeared. Hogwarts itself doesn't look the same as it has in most previous films. Even the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix don't live up to the book: the screaming portrait is gone, and Kreatcher, the Black house elf gets so little screen time he might as well not be there. Tonks has about two lines.
The Ministry of Magic scenes which feature so prominently in the book are minimal in the film.
The whole film has also been printed so dark that one needs to turn up the brightness control to see any of the details of the sets. Maybe Warners couldn't afford to build sets with enough detail to be seen with proper lighting. Maybe Warners doesn't care any more, as long as the money keeps rolling in.
Director David Yates did the best he could with a sorry travesty of a screenplay, but even he couldn't pull this one out of a hat. One hopes for better results with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which he is directing for release later this year, 2008. Good news though, Steve Cloves has written the screenplay.
Too bad that Chris Columbus has bowed out of the production. Too bad that Director of Photography Roger Pratt, who so brilliantly photographed the second and fourth films didn't do this one.
The bottom line: rent this one, don't waste your money buying it. Read the book, if you haven't already.