| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [Blu-ray] | ![Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516y-tVKNSL.jpg)
| Director: David Yates (ii)
Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Harry Melling, Richard Macklin
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $35.99
Buy New: $9.98
You Save: $26.01 (72%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $9.98
Avg. Customer Rating:   (638 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2459
Format: Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), German (Original Language), Italian (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Blu-ray
Running Time: 139 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: WARBR115694
UPC: 085391156949
EAN: 0085391156949
ASIN: B000W7GFG4
Release Date: December 11, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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!DVD Features:
Documentary
Featurette
Other
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 633 more reviews...
 One of the best-looking Blu-Rays; great adaptation of the book January 3, 2009
This is one of the best-looking Blu-Ray movies out there. The battle in the Ministry will wow you if you've got an HDTV and a Blu-Ray player.
The movie should have been longer, and they left out some important stuff, but I prefer the movie's version of the events that transpired in the Department of Mysteries and the battle.
A fantastic movie overall, and a Blu-Ray that should definitely be in your collection if you're looking for the 'wow factor'.
Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix December 18, 2008
I really enjoy ordering products from Amazon. I enjoyed this movie very much. It was delivered to me in about three days. I also like to be able to order products in advance before they are published.
 Sent back, but never replaced December 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I received an odd version of the DVD - it could not be played on either our Mac, or our PC. It wobbled in the Mac, and kept stopping in the PC. We've had no problems with DVD's since. When I called up to complain, the sender very respectfully offered to replace it.
However, I sent it back a few weeks ago and have received neither replacement nor explanation. Maybe there was an oversight, but whatever it was, I never got to watch the movie.
Harry Potter, The Order of the Phoenix December 12, 2008
I love Sci-Fi, Wizards, and Adventure stories like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Complex adventures like Indiana Jones and the Hunt for Red October (Tom Clancey). They take to places I have never been away from my dull existence. I can't wait to see the next Harry Potter, The Half-Blood Prince!
Product received in good condition within a week . Thanks!
Harry realizes how fear of evil's return acts as rot upon even the best of intentions December 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
That age-old method by which a viewer or reader dismisses an interpretative form of art--based upon the superiority of its alter-ego--has personally always mystified me, as comparing a book to a movie seems inherently illogical. The internal monologue character's have with themselves can never be adequately transmitted onto the silver screen without extending the movie to a running time of several days. Likewise, facial expressions and nuances of body language portrayed by actors can only be transferred to the page by the most gifted of authors. In other words, saying that "the book was better" seems a bit off, rationally-speaking.
Well, this time the book is not better. J.K Rowling's fifth book in the popular "Harry Potter" series was a bloated, rambling affair which entertained only if you were able to "buzz" through the chaff. Director David Yates cuts through the fluff, strengthens the plotline, and improves the focus of a story which desperately required such changes. Fans need not worry--although there are some noticeable changes, the movie remains true to the book.
The film opens with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his semi-relative Dudley again about to lock horns when the duo is attacked by Dementors, those demonic Azkaban guards capable of instilling everlasting ennui in the minds of their victims. Harry uses the Patronus charm to dispel the fiends, thus saving his own and Dudley's souls. Unfortunately, the usage of magic off the grounds of Hogwarts in the presence of Muggles is strictly forbidden for underage spellcasters, thus provoking Harry's immediate expulsion from school. Luckily, he is permitted an appeal before the Ministry of Magic, where he possesses as ace-in-the-hole the most influential wizard alive: Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). From there, the protagonist is thrust into a dazzling game of political brinksmanship, where the players are willing to evade facts to retain a feeling of security. However, the fate of the world remains unclear, ignored by those seeking to play their games and hide from one, terrible truth: Lord Voldemort has returned.
Defense Against the Dark Arts instructors are changed as rapidly as "Harry Potter" movie directors, and we find the same in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), an associate of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, has accepted the position, and quickly reveals herself to be short on instruction and long on malice. In the name of efficiency, she enacts as series of increasingly-stifling edicts, targets Harry for punishment whenever he professes that Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is gathering his forces, and attempts to undermine Professor Dumbledore's authority. The truly vile nature of this character does not come across as clearly in the movie as in the text, and that is probably a good thing--this creation from Rowling's imagination is a near-sociopath who inflicted many readers with a desire to reach through the pages to strangle her. The lengths to which she and Fudge go to suppress the truth conjure up the ghosts of Neville Chamberlain and Joe McCarthy in the mind of the viewer. That she believes she is a force of good in the struggle against the dark is a terrifyingly subtle commentary on the real nature of delusion. As an aside, if you would enjoy seeing a situation in which not one, but two characters like Umbridge do not get their comeuppance, may I gingerly suggest watching "Funny Games."
Of course, Harry is not without allies as he remains stalwart. His twin pillars of fortitude, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), provide much-needed reservoirs of strength to our hero as he confronts Umbridge, Voldemort, and a deadly new horror: first love. Heroism itself is examined thoroughly in the film, and is shown to contain several sharp edges us mundane citizens may never understand. He sees that his peers expect him to lead, to save others, to sacrifice his normal life, and to triumph against the forces of night. Indeed, he is coming closer to an ultimate epiphany: that his life is, figuratively and literally, not his own to live. His existence is irrevocably tied to his duty, and coming to gripes with this fact is something with which Harry struggles constantly. Unfortunately, his personal demons are sharing space with some real-world evil entities--one of which who may just be able to read Harry's thoughts.
"The Order of the Phoenix" is dark without being dreary. Harry's relationship with his fugitive uncle Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), his bittersweet attempt at romance, and the antics of the Weasley twins help balance the tone of the film. The set design is uniformly impressive, and the realism of the otherworldly creatures can easily suspend one's disbelief. There were a few sections from the book that I would have preferred included in the film; nevertheless, one's enjoyment is preserved throughout the entirety of the movie, despite the disappearance of a certain screaming portrait. The acting is quite good, with the exception of some of the actors portraying Aurors and Deatheaters. In summary, all of our favorite friends have returned to populate a realm which exists only in Rowling's mind, yet Yates makes them seem real enough to the rest of us Muggles. This is one of the better film translations thus far, and well-worth the time of any aficionado of mysteries from the magical world.
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