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• 1080p High Definition

• Featurettes and Production Diaries in HD

• Additional Scenes in HD

• The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter Featurette

• Set Tour in HD

• Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing Featurette

Special Feature Rating:

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are not small children anymore. They face their gravest challenge yet in the fifth episode in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". In the first few minutes of the film, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) returns and attacks Potter. The danger posed by Voldemort is exacerbated by wrangling at the Ministry of Magic. For political reasons, the ministry refuses to acknowledge the evil threat. Worse, the ministry compromises Hogwarts, the school for young wizards, by appointing Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) as the new professor against the dark arts. Umbridge polices and punishes students and refuses to teach them self defense. By the time the ministry acknowledges Voldemort's threat and removes Umbridge from her post, the damage is already done. Potter finds himself facing off against an enemy that mainlines through his subconscious and threatens to take over his identity. In the end, his feelings of resentment and solitude are mollified by Hermione, Ron and other friends, who assist him in his battle against evil.

Story Rating:

Presented in 2.40:1 with a VC-1 codec, the video quality of Order of the Phoenix is crisp and detailed. The overall dark, shadow-heavy picture, featuring excellent black level and contrast, still delivers warm skin tones and light effects--fireworks and magical flashing lights. In CGI-laden productions, the processing required for merging the artificially generated graphics with the film reduces the element of depth. But the effects in Order of the Phoenix are rendered very convincingly and some sacrifice in depth is worth it.

Picture Rating:

The audio is presented in 16-bit PCM 5.1 at a sampling rate of 48 kHz. With excellent use of surrounds and prodigious LFE content, the mix is produced with great attention to detail. It will give any system's tweeters and woofers a serious workout. One of the technical triumphs of the BD's audio content is the good definition of massed strings. Orchestral compositions by Nicholas Hooper figure prominently in the score. Making good use of the 5.1 sound staging, "Order of the Phoenix" carries these symphonic passages through the scenes dense with audio effects and dialogue.

Sound Rating:

Overall Rating:

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