Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Alfonso Cuarón
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Pam Ferris, Richard Griffiths, Rupert GrintDirector: Alfonso Cuarón
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Callum McDougall
Producer: Chris Carreras
Producer: Chris Columbus
Producer: David Heyman
Producer: Lorne Orleans
Writer: J.K. Rowling
Writer: Steve Kloves
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-23
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Movie Review: That's 3! 3 Awesome Movies! Ah-ah-ah-ah!
Summary: 5 Stars
*ahem* That was my Sesame Street Count impression. Anyways... my point is, here is a series that totally proves sequel haters wrong. Movie number 3, and still going strong! Let's hope the filmmakers can keep it up and don't change the cast along the way. After all, at this point it really would be silly. Fox and the WB use 30 year olds to play teens all the time. But I digress, on with the synopsis!
In "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," we rejoin Harry Potter, boy-wizard prodigy, in his 13th year of miserable life with the Dursleys, his less than loving relatives. Harry's situation has improved somewhat. He no longer lives in that cupboard under the stairs for example, though he still is expected to wait, hand and foot, on his wretched family. A little fear has made them manageable however, but that's not the case with Aunt Marge, who stops in one day for dinner. Unaware of Harry's magical powers, Marge mouths off one time too many about his parents during dinner, and Harry's magic gets the better of him. Starting with a forefinger in mid-wag, the already bloated old Marge begins to inflate. Soon, she is filled with so much magic gas that she begins to float out of the house and clear out of sight! Of course, Harry can't stick around after that. Sitting on a curb wondering what to do next, and puzzled by something watching him from the bushes across the street, the mysterious Knight Bus arrives just in time. "Transportation for the stranded witch or wizard," as it is described, and a welcome sight it is. After one wild ride through London, Harry finds himself at "The Leaky Cauldron" and face to face with the Minister of Magic, who welcomes him with a friendly greeting, a room for the night, a reunion with Hedwig the owl, and new school books for the coming year. Harry also receives an accidental warning about an escaped murderer; a sinister looking man named Sirius Black.
After a good night's sleep, Harry is thrilled to see his best friends again, noble misfit Ron Weasley and family, and increasingly lovely know-it-all Hermione Granger. The extended family is in good spirits for the new school year, though Mr. Weasley's mind is not completely at ease. Ever the great father figure for orphaned Harry, Mr. Weasley takes the boy aside to give him a much more informative warning about the Azkaban prison escapee, Sirius Black, and why Harry should be particularly wary of him. It seems that Black is believed to have been Lord Voldemort's right-hand man and was imprisoned for the murder of one Peter Pettigrew, a close friend of Harry's parents. Now that Black is out of prison, everyone suspects that Harry Potter is the first one he will come for, since it was he who thwarted Lord Voldemort's plans time and time again. With that bit of information weighing on his mind, Harry and his schoolmates board the train to Hogwarts, selecting a compartment already occupied by a sleeping Professor Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. There are mysterious doings on the Hogwarts Express, however, as we discover when Harry has his first encounter with the dark cloaked, faceless, floating figure of a Dementor. As the creature attempts to suck out Harry's soul in a most unpleasant display, the seemingly dead to the world Professor Lupin springs into action! With wand extended, Lupin casts a spell to blast the creature from sight. From Lupin, we learn that the Dementors, the guards of Azkaban prison, are on a nonstop search for their escaped prisoner. We also come to find that the creatures are overrunning the grounds of Hogwarts as well. Upon their first night back at school, all the students are given warning from Headmaster Dumbledore of the looming danger. Dumbledore also introduces Professor Lupin, and the announcement is made that Rubeus Hagrid has been added to the faculty as teacher of a class on the care of magical beasts.
As the days and weeks pass, the customary Hogwarts balance of fascinating classes and strange and mysterious incidents takes place. Professor Trelawney teaches about crystal balls, tea leaf reading, and other forms of divination. The class frustrates Hermione, as she can't get the knack, and holds bad omens for Harry when an unlucky black dog called "the Grim" is spotted in his tea. Hagrid's class seems to be going well as he introduces the students to a half eagle, half horse creature called a hippogriff, but when Draco Malfoy becomes jealous of Harry's high-flying ride on the creature's back, he fakes an injury and gets the gentle beast marked for death. The most interesting and mysterious class, however, must be Professor Lupin's "Defense Against the Dark Arts." The Professor begins by introducing the students to a mysterious, fear personifying creature called a boggart. He teaches them to alter the creature to a less frightening form with a "ridiculous" spell, which works quite well for a while, but when Harry's turn comes up, Lupin jumps in to defend the boy wizard. Before Lupin's eyes, the Boggart changes shape from that of a Dementor, to an image of the full moon! In the days that follow, there are field trips, holidays, Quidditch games, budding romance, run-ins with Snape and Malfoy, heart to hearts between Harry Potter and the endearing Professor Lupin, and secrets revealed about Peter Pettigrew and the looming Sirius Black, the latter due in no small part to a Marauder's Map and an invisibility cloak. But, as the plot thickens, dangers increase, and it's bound to only get more complicated before the reality of the circumstances is finally revealed!
Well, that's the basic story, without revealing too much. Don't be too surprised to also see a werewolf here and there, and an amazing little gadget called a time turner. Another fantastic Harry Potter movie, in my humble opinion. Though, I admit to only being a Harry Potter MOVIE fanatic. I have no experience with the books. I realize the fans of the books had mixed feelings about this one, but as a fan of the movies, I think this MIGHT be my favorite. It's a tough thing to say. The first film had a great, innocent quality, and definitely a much simpler plot. Everything was new and surprising, as is always the way with the first film in a series. The second was a bit more advanced, a bit creepier, a bit more complicated and mysterious. This third film followed that same course: darker, more grown-up than the first two, much more complicated and much more mysterious. The characters are growing up, and the films display this well without overdoing it. Relationships are growing beautifully, not just between the three main heroes, but between everyone. I get a really warm feeling from seeing the love Ron's family shows Harry, and the compassion with which Lupin trains and comforts the young wizard. The questions of this film were very intriguing, and it was amazing to see everything unfold. While I hope not every future Potter film will be this dark, I still say Director Alfonso Cuaron took the helm masterfully. The darkness is balanced with moments of humor and beauty, the effects are stunning, and the scenery is breathtaking. John Williams' music is always incomparable, and the casting of the entire Harry Potter series continues to be flawless. Fans of the books might have different opinions, but I can't imagine how any of the roles could be played better. Michael Gambon also did an excellent job of filling the late, great Richard Harris's shoes in the role of Albus Dumbledore.
On an added note(and beware of spoilers here), I have a huge personal interest in werewolves in general, and the werewolves of the Harry Potter world are something I've eagerly anticipated seeing since they were mentioned in the first film. Even though they were suggested as being very dangerous creatures, my hope was that they would not necessarily be evil or mindless killers. At the very least, I hoped that some would be good and some would be evil. Well, it didn't work out that way. They took the old route of a tormented werewolf character who is kind and remorseful by day, and a bloodthirsty monster during a full moon. I can live with that. I thought David Thewlis was excellent as the sympathetic Professor Remus Lupin. All in all, I loved the character. He was thoughtful, powerful, caring, and wise. What I didn't love was the creature he became, the werewolf. It was a tall, skinny, gray-skinned, short-haired, disgusting looking, computer-generated thing. One of the most disappointing werewolf designs I've ever seen. There was not a wolf quality about it. Frankly, I much preferred the look of Sirius Black's black dog form, and it looked much more like a proper werewolf than the transformed Lupin. Don't get me wrong, the creature looked scary and dangerous, but not at all werewolf-like. Ah, well, sickly Asthma-hound Chihuahuas aside, this film is excellent. One serious flaw in an otherwise AWESOME movie. For the human side alone, it's even a great werewolf film. Watch it. Enjoy it. I'm going to cherish this film for years to come, because it's an awesome ride! And, I'm going to eagerly await more installments in the Harry Potter series! And...I'm going to TRY to get around to reading the books too!
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," and the original film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," are all available on DVD and VHS. The DVD extras are numerous, if not outstanding, and the films themselves all make wonderful additions to any home video collection. For more fantastic fantasy in the same line as Harry Potter, check out Return to Oz (Fairuza Balk), The Worst Witch (Fairuza Balk/Tim Curry), The Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland), A Series of Unfortunate Events (Jim Carrey), Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Poppins, The Witches (Angelica Huston), The NeverEnding Story, Labyrinth, Dragonslayer, Willow, the Ewok Adventures, Legend, the Star Wars Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Pan (Jason Isaacs), and Hocus Pocus (Bette Midler). Happy viewing! See ya next time!
Summary of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Harry & his friends are forced to face escaped prisoner sirius black who poses a great threat to harry. Harry must overcome the soul-sucking dementors outsmart a dangerous werewolf & finally deal with the truth about sirius black & his relationship to harry & his parents. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/14/2006 Starring: Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Run time: 142 minutes Rating: PgSome movie-loving wizards must have cast a magic spell on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, because it's another grand slam for the Harry Potter franchise. Demonstrating remarkable versatility after the arthouse success of Y Tu Mamá También, director Alfonso Cuarón proves a perfect choice to guide Harry, Hermione, and Ron into treacherous puberty as the now 13-year-old students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry face a new and daunting challenge: Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from Azkaban prison, and for reasons yet unknown (unless, of course, you've read J.K. Rowling's book, considered by many to be the best in the series), he's after Harry in a bid for revenge. This dark and dangerous mystery drives the action while Harry (the fast-growing Daniel Radcliffe) and his third-year Hogwarts classmates discover the flying hippogriff Buckbeak (a marvelous CGI creature), the benevolent but enigmatic Professor Lupin (David Thewlis), horrifying black-robed Dementors, sneaky Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall), and the wonderful advantage of having a Time-Turner just when you need one. The familiar Hogwarts staff returns in fine form (including the delightful Michael Gambon, replacing the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and Emma Thompson as the goggle-eyed Sybil Trelawney), and even Julie Christie joins this prestigious production for a brief but welcome cameo. Technically dazzling, fast-paced, and chock-full of Rowling's boundless imagination (loyally adapted by ace screenwriter Steve Kloves), The Prisoner of Azkaban is a Potter-movie classic. --Jeff Shannon
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