Harry Potter DVD (merged thread) (1 Viewer)

[Neil Joseph]

I took the liberty of merging these two threads that basically deal with the Harry Potter DVD into one thread.

Cheers

 

[Bill Griffith]

thank you for your responses

 

[Michael Dueppen]

I also checked the R2 out today and I must say I'm not too happy with this release. Image and sound quality are good but neither great nor awesome.

The disc with the extra features was worse than I expected, though. The interviews are right on the first page and they're ok. It took me ages to get to the deleted scenes, though (scenes themselves are anamorphic and pretty much the same quality as the main feature).

I also tried the Hogwarts Tour and I became bored pretty much right away. I'm pretty confident that kids will love a lot of these extras and the way they're designed. But I really wish they had just put the deleted scenes on the main menu with the interviews for the adults.

It's really unfortunate they didn't release a seperate edition for adult fans. I'm sure the fan base would have allowed for that. Probably there will be another release down the road anyway...

 

[andrew markworthy]

I think one of the principal problems with the technical quality of the DVD lies with the movie, not the transfer. As I said earlier in this thread, the movie wasn't all that thrilling from a lighting or sound viewpoint (if that isn't a contradiction in terms). The DVD can't make a movie look better than its source material. However, before anyone gets the idea that idea that the disc is awful, it isn't. It's perfectly okay, but you're unlikely to be choosing it as your demonstration disc of choice.

My kids are still loving the extras, but I agree that an adult may not find them much fun. I'm waiting for the little ones to go to bed so I can watch my copy of Brass Eye which arrived this morning.

 

[Dan Brecher]

Don't leave Brass Eye in the player and have the little ones think it is disc2 of Potter, Andrew.
Dan

 

[Michael Dueppen]

I think one of the principal problems with the technical quality of the DVD lies with the movie, not the transfer.

I'm sure you're right. As always with newer Warner discs the compression seems to be pretty much flawless but the source is just not really pleasing. It's grainy oftentimes and I don't like the color scheme and contrast. But that's just my opinion, of course.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know what makes me laugh?

This Warner Brothers "embargo" that prevents

any website from posting any Region 1 reviews

of this DVD until Monday.

Just about every reviewer on the net has had

their review in the can for the past week or more.

Meanwhile, the forum gets flooded with Region 2

DVD reviews and we cannot comment on it.

This is absolutely the craziest thing I have

seen from Warner Home Video to date. Their embargo

has completely prevented any early information

from being posted -- and early reviewer information

is the reason screeners are given out.

 

[Michael Dueppen]

This Warner Brothers "embargo"

Ah. I read a review on DVD File a short time ago but they took it off the page. Now I understand why. Always wondered.

Ron, I'm looking forward to your review.

 

[Dan Brecher]

It is crazy, Ron. All reviews (worldwide) should have been allowed to go up say, this Monday just passed (the 6th). The specs and the menus...etc are the same worldwide. It's true, there should have been no embargo on region 1 reviews, especially not one set as late as May 13th.

Dan

 

[Ted Lee]

hi all -
are there any (known) future versions of this dvd coming out? if so, i'll wait...but if this is the only version then i'm standing in line!
ted

 

[Dan Brecher]

Ted,

There have been very vague hints at a future version, most recently from Chris Columbus in a recent BBC interview which I touch upon in one of my posts on the previous page. It's not worth expecting a future version to appear this side of Christmas I don't think.... anything is possible, and I can't help but think about Columbus' odd comments.

Still, I can't starve myself of the movie in the hope a possible SE appears sometime in the future. It's a good movie, the presentation of the movie on the DVD from what I can gather is pretty darn good, and if you go to the right place the disc can be ordered for the right price. I say don't hessitate in getting it.

Dan

 

[Malcolm R]

While a fan of the books, I really didn't think the "HP" movie held up beyond it's first viewing. I'll be very interested to see Ron's review which may sway me to buy. Likely, though, I'll just rent for now and hope for an SE in the future that offers more of value for an adult fan.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Well, it is an enjoyable film, but does it really merit a separate special edition for grown-ups?

Whilst on the subject of Harry Potter, after a couple of forced re-viewings courtesy of my HP-crazed kids, one thing which has occurred to me is that the Dursleys seem to be living in a rather more modern house than is implied in the books. I would guess most Brits reading the books have formed the impression that it's a 1930s mock-Tudor house, which would be just right for the 'genteel' background the Dursleys represent. Somehow a 1980/90s housing estate doesn't seem quite right. Also, I can't imagine Mr Dursley (a company director) driving a relatively inexpensive car (unless of course buying Dudley all his presents has caused them to make economies in other areas).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Whilst on the subject of Harry Potter, after a couple of forced re-viewings courtesy of my HP-crazed kids, one thing which has occurred to me is that the Dursleys seem to be living in a rather more modern house than is implied in the books.

I got the impression of an older house as well. Not exactly the type you were talking about, not coming from a British background, but almost like a 60's style home, you know, all the houses in a nice little row, square boxes with peaked roofs. I have a feeling she did as well, probably more like what you were picturing. I guess it's just a clash between the source and the production design they were trying to achieve. As is, it provides a wonderful clash between the modern mundane Muggle world and the timeless magical Wizardry world.

Also, doesn't anyone know why the North American releases are a couple weeks after the UK release? It's not really a big deal to me, but it seems strange since both versions have been done for so long.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I read somewhere that the earlier release date in the UK was meant to be a treat for Brit kids (who of course are he original fanbase for HP). However, I've no idea how true this might be.

For any non-Brit baffled by the term 'mock Tudor': it refers to a style of building popular in the 1930s (when there was something of a housing boom in parts of Britain, catering for the aspirational lower middle classes) in which various bits of the facade had timber boards stuck on as decoration, supposedly resembling the timber frame houses of tudor times. They didn't of course, and the whole style became synonymous with lower middle class snobbery and 'genteel' behaviour. Along with it went privet hedges (hence the name 'Privet Drive') and over-neat gardens. Of course, not everyone who lives in such a house is like this (some of my best friends, etc, etc), but 'mock tudor' still tends to be used as a mildly derisive term for conservative, unimaginitive middle England (of which the Dursleys are prototypical examples which Brits would recognise at once). I suspect there isn't an exact equivalent in other countries, but I think, Adam, that in America the sixties type housing estate you describe is probably the nearest equivalent.

Incidentally, the rooms in the Dursley's house in the movie are a *lot* bigger than you'd find in a house of that kind.

 

[Martin Fontaine]

This Warner Brothers "embargo" that prevents any website from posting any Region 1 reviews of this DVD until Monday.

Because people cancel their preorders when it's P&S Only! Even though they have 2 versions they are practicing their trick with letting people know as late as possible so that they don't have time to cancel their pre-orders or something!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I suspect there isn't an exact equivalent in other countries, but I think, Adam, that in America the sixties type housing estate you describe is probably the nearest equivalent.

Well, it's nice to see that I have a small bit of reading comprehension, anyway. You say that that style has become synonimous with "conservative, unimaginitive middle England." Well, the style I describe is fairly synonimous with post-War settled, stale Americana, so I guess it works either way as a personification of what the Dursleys represent. The movie's architecture is almost too interesting for the characters.

 

[Hartwig Hanser]

Well,

I also received my copy of Harry Potter on Friday and watched it over the weekend.

While the movie presentation is ok, I absolutely hate the second disc. You have to solve several puzzles to be able to see the deleted scenes. Then I thought, I just take down the title numbers for fast access next time. IT DOES NOT WORK! when I try direct title access, I get redirected to the very first menu page (Which asks for the language, since I have the German edition).

On another note, the deleted scenes are mostly essential for the story and should have been reinserted. They are just a few minutes long, so I do not see the point of them being taken out in the first place.

 

[Ted Lee]

thanks for the info dan!

 

[Patrick Larkin]

any comment on appropriateness for kids? too scary for a 4 year old?