I guess you could say that I am a relative newcomer to the world of Harry Potter at least in regards as the books are concerned. My wife loved the books and had read them before the movies started to arrive but I did not. I went into each of the early films without any knowledge of the plots other than that Harry was a wizard. That was about it. The films were well done and were easy to get into even without any prior knowledge from the books. Perhaps that was even better as I had no clue what was coming next.
That all changed with the Half-Blood Prince book which I picked up on a trip to the UK and read well before the film appeared in theaters. It was interesting to compare my recollection of the book with what was transpiring on screen and to my surprise, the film held up very well in comparison with the book. Well, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is being released next week on home video and I was anxious to check it out on Blu-ray. All and all, I was very pleased with the Blu-ray, both in terms of the audio and video reproductions.
Film
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in the seven book series. The seventh and final (?) book is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which was so dense in terms of plot that is is being broken up into two films being released in late 2010 and mid 2011. The same could have been done with the Half-Blood Price as a ton of stuff in the book was omitted from the film.
The film picks up a few weeks after the end of the Order of the Phoenix film, with the Death Eaters wrecking havoc in both the wizard and muggle (non wizards for all you non fans)worlds with many wizards disappearing without a trace. Not surprisingly, the wizard world has been turned upside down with many fearing for their lives.
Where the film differs from the book is that it is centered more on the live of Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort, and his early days before and during his education at Hogwarts and less on Harry. The film also is packed with more humor that the last film as it deals with teenage issues such as love and raging hormones, which is a nice counterpoint to the darker more sinister portions of the film. While the rest of the students are dealing with their hormones, Harry teams with Dumbledore to learn a secret held by Professor Slughorn that will aid them in finally defeating Voldemort.
This is a film that will surely appeal to fans of the book and non fans alike although I didn’t find it to be as good a film as The Order of the Phoenix. Recommended.
Video
After reading some of the comments on some of the internet boards, I was expecting a terrible looking film. I am pleased to report that this is a fine looking encode and that most of the issues people are having with the look of the film on Blu-ray have more to do with how the film was shot and the artistic intent of the director than the encode. I say this as the film on Blu-ray looks just like it did to me in the theater. Quite simply, this is a drab and dark film, with washed out and muted colors. The scenes in the cave near the end of the film are so muted as to almost be black and white. Most of the film is imbued with sepia tones so that in addition to looking drab, the dominate color scheme on screen are varying shades of brown. As a result, the image lacks the pop that many people associate and expect from high definition in general and Blu-ray specifically.
However, I view this as an excellent encode using the VC-1 codec in the it captures the look of the film perfectly without any visible edge enhancement or digital noise reduction. Clarity and detail varies from scene to scene. Some scenes have excellent clarity (check out the nearly 3D effect in the opening credits where the Harry Potter lettering almost looks like it is coming out of the screen right at you) and detail while some of the scenes are a bit softer. Even in the softer scenes, facial detail is still plainly visible so that I can’t say that the lesser detail is due to digital noise reduction. It is more than likely due to the type of film and lenses used. Being that most of the film takes place either in the dark or dimly lit areas, it is important that shadow detail be top notch and I am pleased to report that it is here.
I was also not able to detect any digital noise in the darker sequences. While this is far from an eye popping visual experience, I can say that this is an excellent encode that is fully resulting in a 4.5 rating, even if the overall image on an artistic scale would come in no better than a 4. Bringing the same image we enjoy in theaters into the home is the whole goal of the Blu-ray experience. All we can expect is that the Blu-ray of a given film deliver the same visual experience at home that we saw in the theater and in this respect, the Blu-ray of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince really delivers.
Audio
While some may have quibbles with the video quality here as noted above, I can’t image anyone having any quibbles with the audio presentation which is simply outstanding. This is one smooth sounding film, with exceptional overall fidelity. Bass response is excellent, providing a solid foundation for the entire sound field. The dialogue track is beautifully recorded and rendered here, capturing the sound of real voices in real space with all of the subtle echoes and reflections in the space preserved. The surround speakers are used during the entire film and rather aggressively, creating a very immersive sound field. The various sound effects are well placed in the sound field with exceptional panning effects. This a great sounding film which this Blu-ray release recreates perfectly in your home.
Special Features
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is presented in a three disc set. The first disc is the film itself presented on a 50GB disc along a maximum movie mode, where star Daniel Radcliffe discusses the film while the film plays via a picture-in-picture insert. Disc two contains the rest of the extras with disc three being a DVD version of the film. A digital copy in hard media is not provided. However, a digital copy of the film is made available via the internet using the code supplied with the disc.
The extras on disc two are quite good. They include a featurette on the making of the film featuring the cast and crew entitled “Close-up with the Cast and Crew of Harry Potter (imagine that!). The best of the extras is the short documentary film “J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life” which follows her as she finishes her final draft of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in a hotel room in Edinburgh, Scotland, until the release of the book.. The film contains many poignant and moving moments, with J.K. Rowling discussing her family life as a child and the death of her mother, to her visit to the flat where the wrote the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (renamed Sorcerer’s stone in the US). If you only check out one of the extras, then this is the one you should see.
Also included is the featurette “One Minute Drill” where the cast has 60 seconds to describe their character’s personality, history and relationships. Also included is the featurette “What’s On Your Mind” hosted by Tom Felton (who portrays Draco Malfoy in the film) who puts various cast members on the spot asking them a series of questions about their various likes and dislikes.
We also get various deleted scenes or more properly more expanded scenes than those that appeared in the film along with a sneak peek at the two upcoming films (rather disappointing sneak peeks at that) and a look at the Harry Potter based theme park being planned at the Universal Orlando theme park.
Final Thoughts
While I am sure that some will be disappointed by the overall look of the film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a faithful recreation of the film as it appeared in theaters. The release also features a great audio track that was a real joy to experience at home. Recommended.
