Review by Richard Lee

Warner Bros. Pictures / 2004 / 145 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: November 23, 2004

Specifications:
-DVD-Video
-DVD-9
-Region 1

Aspect Ratio:
-2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio: 
-English 5.1 Surround
-Espanol 5.1 Surround

Subtitles:
-English
-Espanol
-Francais
-Off

Main Menu:
-Play Movie
-Scene Selection
-Special Features
-Languages

Special Features are scant on Disc 1 apart from a rehash of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and the theatrical trailer. The bulk of the supplemental material can be found on Disc 2 which will be covered at the end of this review.

The third cinematic adaptation of the extremely popular series of books by J.K. Rowling centering on wizards-in-training Harry Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, find the trio swept up in ever darker and grimmer adventures. From the start, we become aware that this Harry Potter is much different from the previous two in terms of tone and color schemes. Whereas the first two installments were helmed by Chris "Home Alone" Columbus, "Prisoner of Azkaban" was directed by Alfonso Cuaron, a Mexican director whose prior film was the sexy road picture "Y Tu Mama Tambien". As that was a sort of coming-of-age picture, Cuaron allows the young actors in this film to come alive as they are all thirteen years of age and are experiencing those issues teenagers will experience. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint all display improvements in their acting abilities especially Watson whose character Hermione once again proves to be the smartest and most resourceful of the trio. 

The Prisoner of Azkaban referred to in the title is Sirius Black, played by Gary Oldman, a murderer with ties to Harry's arch-nemesis Valdemort and is now supposedly after Harry. Harry must also contend with the prison guards of Azkaban, known as Dementers. Resembling grim reapers or the Wraiths from "Lord of the Rings", they prove a formidable opponent to Harry's wizarding abilities. Besides Gary Oldman, new to the cast are David Thewlis as Professor Lupin, a wizard of the dark arts with a secret of his own; Emma Thomson as Professor Trelawney, a fortune teller with coke bottle glasses; and Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore, who replaces the late Richard Harris. The first Harry Potter movie served as an introduction to the characters and had a Willy Wonka type of fun and awe connected to it. The second movie attempted to make Harry Potter the Indiana Jones heir-apparent by making the climax straight out of "Temple of Doom". This third, and best so far, of the series shows that both the characters and story-telling are maturing nicely. Most importantly, the producers of these films are aware that the target audience is growing up along with the characters and need to maintain their interest by pitting them against darker and grittier forces. Rowling has promised 7 books in this series and although they are all separated by one year in the life of Harry, the movies unfortunately will take at least twice that long to complete. The 6th book has yet to be released. That means if they keep the present cast, they will be in their late twenties when the characters they are portraying are supposed to be at age seventeen. It's possible really since Hollywood has never been truly accurate with the age issue. I sincerely hope the producers try to keep this cast intact because we have really come to identify these actors with these characters. 

Picture Quality:

As I stated earlier, right from the start, this picture has a different look from the previous two Potter films. This is due entirely to the director Alfonso Cuaron. His use of bleak and washed out colors, particularly the different shades of the color green, translates very well in the telling of this movie. I am reminded of his same use of this "green scheme" in his previous efforts, "Great Expectations" and "A Little Princess"; and it is put to good use here in depicting the lush greenery of the exterior shots surrounding Hogwarts.

Sound Quality:

The 5.1 mix is constantly active which is expected for a special effects film of this type. Highlights for demonstration purposes can be found at: 35:50 - Harry's ride on Bugby the Hippogriff; 54:00 - The Quidditch match during a raging storm; and 1:28:00 - Harry and Hermione contend with a temperamental tree. 

Special Features:

Disc two of this DVD is laid out like the Marauders Map from the movie. The first stop is Madame Trelawney's Divination Class where you will find the deleted/unfinished scenes. These include more of Harry's wild ride on a double decker bus, a bird bothering Hagrid, and conversations among our heroic trio. Also to be found here are the featurettes "Creating the Vision" and "Head to Shrunken Head" which include interviews with the cast and filmmakers. Next stop is The Great Hall which contains interactive games and a sing along for the kids. Third stop is Defense Against the Dark Arts which contains another game and an interactive tour of Professor Lupin's class. Fourth stop is Tour Honeydukes which is yet another interactive tour of Honeydukes candy store. Last stop is Hogwarts Grounds which contains featurettes dealing with the magical creatures of Hogwarts and Conjuring a Scene, an explanation of the DVD-ROM features and a preview of the EA video game.