Get Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix on DVD or Blu-Ray from Amazon.com

Well, my film reviews now move on to the most recent Harry Potter movie to be released on DVD/Blu-Ray, Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. Now, I haven’t read the novel of this one yet (though it’s entirely possible that I’ll have read it once this review goes up – I’m writing this on July 13th). So, anyway, I’m watching this in preparation for watching Half-Blood Prince when it comes out (and hopefully doing a round-table podcast with Bureau42, which will be up by the time this review goes out). So, it’s time to see what I think of this movie.

The Premise: Following the events of Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, and the revival of Voldemort and the death of Cedric Diggory, Harry has been traumatized to say the least, and returning to the Durstleys isn’t helping things, and neither is the smear campaign being done by the Ministry of Magic against Harry & Dumbledore, one that would impress even William Randoph Hurst. In the midst of all this, Dementors attack Harry & Dudley, forcing Harry to leave home for the safety of his family and hole up in the Black estate, the current base of the Order of the Phoenix, the group working to take down Voldemort once again. Further, when Harry goes to Hogwarts, he faces a new Defense Against The Dark Arts instructor, Dolores Umbridge, who is working to take control of Hogwarts – and then there are those disturbing dreams Harry’s got. Continue reading →