Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10023 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-11
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 154 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The world's most famous boy wizard dives straight into a darker and more thrilling magical adventure in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It's practically the same set-up--something evil's afoot at Hogwarts; Harry and his pals must put it right--but fans of the books won't be disappointed. Director Chris Columbus, whose artistic licence is necessarily limited by the demands of adapting JK Rowling's phenomenally popular novel, does a spectacular job rendering Rowling's imaginary world: the production design and costumes are fascinating in their own right; such is the impressive attention to detail.

Daniel Radcliffe gives a more assured performance here as Harry, though he's not quite strong enough to carry the film without the aid of an excellent ensemble cast of experienced adults, notably a twinkly-eyed Kenneth Branagh. Of course, most viewers will already know what's going to happen as far as the story is concerned, so for them the pleasure in watching The Chamber of Secrets lies in the visualisation of Rowling's magical creations and the verve brought to the action sequences. It's fantastic fun for kids and a good excuse to regress back to childhood for the rest of us. --Laura Bushell

On the DVD: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets's first disc offers the film in all its fine widescreen (2.35:1) and surround-sound glory--it's a shame they didn't think of adding a commentary.

The second disc's special features are sparse compared to last year's release, most notably the games, which are simpler and dull in comparison to The Philosopher's Stone. Gilderoy Lockhart's classroom offers nothing magical, and the interviews with teachers and students offer only snippets of the actors' thoughts on their characters. Don't get over excited about the "Build a Scene" feature as, unfortunately, this is not a miracle of modern DVD technology, but a simple featurette. The real gem on the disc is a 16-minute interview with JK Rowling and Steve Kloves about the transfer from book to screen. --Nikki Disney

Special Features
19 additional/extended scenes, including more Dobby mischief, more flying car adventures, a frightening encounter with the Malfoys in Borgin and Burkes and much more!
Crystal-clear, self-guided tours, which for the first time include background characters, let viewers have an up-close experience, allowing them to explore the details of the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore’s office and Diagon Alley – including places never shown in the film such as more Diagon Alley shops, the sitting room in Dumbledore’s office and more!
Interviews with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), Emma Watson (Hermione) and other cast members
An exclusive interview with author J.K. Rowling and screenwriter Steve Kloves letting us in on how the adventure was brought to the screen
Fun-filled activities such as allowing viewers to escape the Forbidden Forest and sneak into the Chamber of Secrets
Visit Lockhart’s class, and get a closer look at his photos and memorabilia through the use of still galleries

2.35:1 Widescreen
Dolby Digital 5.1

DVD-ROM features:
The One Voice DVD technology will allow users to navigate through the DVD-ROM features and access set top features using only their voices
An animated, interactive Hogwarts timeline provides important dates in Hogwart’s history with mini pop-up videos from the Harry Potter films
A slider puzzle challenge featuring motion video
Printable magic trading cards to collect and share with friends
Jigsaw puzzles, matching challenges, downloadable screensavers and much more!

Feature film available in English
Subtitles available in English and Arabic with hearing impaired available in English

Synopsis
Harry returns for his second year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with his best friends Hermione and Ron. He ignores warnings not to go back to Hogwarts by a mysterious house elf named Dobby. Soon into the school year strange things start happening. Students are found in a petrified state, messages written in blood appear on the walls and Harry starts to hear voices in his head. It becomes apparent that someone has opened The Chamber of Secrets... but who is responsible and can the dark forces that lurk there be stopped?

Customer Reviews

Another triumph
After accompanying my children to the cinema to see the first Harry Potter adaptation, I must admit that I was quite looking forward to spending 2.5 hours in the company of the Hogwarts hosts, and my enthusiasm wasn't un-rewarded. Once again the time flew by far too quickly and my kids were again awestruck by the sheer scale of the deception.

There were shocks and surprises along the way. The first shock was how much Daniel and Rupert have grown since the last film, in looks, height, and confidence. Daniel's lower voice took a few scenes to get used to as well. The biggest surprise was the brilliant portrayal of Gilderoy Lockheart by Kenneth Branagh, who stole every scene he appeared in and brought much of the humor of the books into the script.

Obviously keen to overcome some criticisms of the first film, director Chris Columbus tried to include as many parts of the storyline from the book as he reasonably could in the time and as a consequence the pace never lets up. Fortunately the plot isn't too complicated (unlike the next book) so kids won't have too much trouble keeping up.

Once again excellent performances from the adults and the 3 lead children, Emma Watson settling into the role of Hermione as if she was born to play her. Ruperts facial expressions of fear, whilst funny at first, did start to wear thin towards the end, and Tom Feltons portrayal of Draco was, to be honest, embarrassing, but cut thankfully short.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable film, better than the first, a little scarier (especially if you are afraid of spiders !) and a must have DVD for your collection when released.

A more focused and enjoyable film than the first one
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets struck me as a significantly better movie than the first Harry Potter film. The first movie was thrilling, giving us the first look with the naked eye of the setting already firmly lodged in the imaginative minds of Rowling's readers, but the fact that audiences are now quite familiar with both Hogwarts and the colorful characters who reside there allows for the plot to exert greater control over everything that happens. Surely, there are little sidetracks along the way, but the tension builds continually toward the almost inevitable conclusion of the film. I will admit that one can find a few weak spots if not holes in the plot, but this fact does little to diminish the overall effectiveness of the film. Just as Rowling's writing draws you in to Harry Potter's world, so does this movie. It's rather amazing to see just how much the heroic triumvirate of Harry, Ron, and Hermione have matured, but they are still the same friends we left behind at the end of Year One. The late Richard Harris is once again the perfect Dumbledore, Professor Snape is even more Snape-ish that before, and Draco Malfoy is somehow even more unbearable. Along with all of the beloved characters we already know and love (or hate), a new set of important personages now enters Harry's world. The conceited egomaniac Professor Lockhart is a fascinating, albeit increasingly annoying, wizard, while Dobby the house elf is a well-animated, exceedingly sympathetic little guy who never fails to liven up the action around him. No one looms larger, however, than Lucius Malfoy, whose dark and looming presence comes through immediately on first sight and lingers until the very end. Important storylines for both now and the future begin to emerge, helping to pave the way for successive films. The special effects are really well done indeed, the music works perfectly, and the movie succeeds admirably in following the storyline of the book on which it is based. I would imagine that young readers are particularly fond of this film, as its variety of special effects, from the flying car to the increasingly exciting action above the Quidditch field to the amazing effects of drinking Polyjuice Potion, offers a lot of delightfully memorable moments.

The DVD features are excellent, much better than those found on the DVD of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. You don't have to jump through hoops to see all of the deleted scenes, there is a fun and informative look at the making of the movie; the tour of Dumbledore's office comes off nicely, and a number of interviews with Rowling, Chris Columbus, the actors and actresses, as well as some of the individuals in charge of creating the incredible look and feel of the movie are quite interesting to watch. A number of other activities, particularly among the DVD-ROM features, offer both adults and children a fun and easy way to linger in Harry's world for some time rather than leave immediately upon viewing the movie.

I haven't gone into detail here about the film because there's really no need to. Quite simply, this is just a great film. No longer are we and Harry oohing and aahing around every corner of the school corridors; the days of innocence and play are over as Hogwarts faces the prospect of closing. The darkness that will continually work its way into the Harry Potter storyline, greatly increasing the depth of even the most familiar of characters, begins in the Chamber of Secrets.

Disappointing
Chamber of Secrets was a million times better than it's predecessor, Philosopher's Stone - however, in the great scheme of things, that's not actually saying much. It had its moments, of course, and the special effects were far superior (can anybody forget the awful centaur in Philosopher's Stone - which resembled something out of Jason and the Argonauts?). Jason Isaacs, Ken Branagh and Alan Rickman stole the show, and Dan Radcliffe proved he can do more than one facial expression. Watson as Hermione was annoying and used as a gratuitous plot foil - an insult to Rowling's original character. Grint's Ron stands out as one of the best things about the film. Maggie Smith barely figured, and Richard Harris was monumentally unimpressive as Dumbledore - it's a shame this was to be the last film he ever made.

The problem stems from not from the actors but from a director who has been proven to be terrible (anybody remember the dire Bicentennial Man?) and a writer who, clearly lacking confidence in Rowling's original vision, tried to better her humour and failed miserably. We can only hope Alfonso de Cuaron will bring out the best in the young cast for the third film, because Chamber was not impressive at all.

As for the extras ... Harry Potter has an established and thriving fan base that rivals Lord of the Rings in scope and diversity. Jackson gave us a four disc extended edition with commentaries, featurettes and interviews. Yet the DVD marketers clearly failed to anticipate demand and all we got here were some deleted scenes - some barely seconds long and frankly not worthy of the name, and the most patronising, downright irritating commentator ever.

Worth watching for its brave attempt at adapting Rowling's magical world to the big screen, but frankly, a disappointment.

I still maintain they should have let the BBC do it as a miniseries. And cast Judi Dench in it somewhere.