HARRY POTTER (FILM COLLECTIONS) - Blu-ray review

My review of the Warner Bros. pricey and extravagant "Limited Edition Gift Set" of the first five years of the Harry Potter franchise is not going to look at the films themselves. John J. Puccio's excellent reviews of the HD-DVD releases are a great way to read up about the films contained in the box set. I will be posting my own Harry Potter reviews for the Blu-ray releases within the next week. Unfortunately, I did not receive the individual films for review, but I did manage to get my hands on this $150 box set and will base my Blu-ray reviews from the films contained in this box set. Therefore, the purpose o f this review is not to look at the movies themselves, but the contents contained on the discs, the packaging and the bonus materials. Part of the reason for this decision is entirely to fit this review into the length limits of a review. I've exceeded the maximum size in the past and feel very confident that by including words about the films would easily pass that upper bounds.

Thankfully, this will result in absolutely no spoilers and we can get right down to the real meat and potatoes of the set. I will look at the bonus features contained on each Blu-ray and DVD disc and list the technical specifications under the Video and Sound segments of this review. Those scores will be generalized based upon all elements of the box set and that includes the "Bonus DVD" and "Interactive Game" that comes equipped in this attractive package. The Entertainment Value score will be solely based upon my decision as to whether or not this monstrosity is worth your hard earned dollar. I personally enjoy the Harry Potter films and have purchased the first four on DVD, but decided against adding the fifth to my collection in order to facilitate this feature-laden box set. This review will be broken down into sections based upon the Packaging, the video, the sound, bonus materials and contents of each individual disc and my final closing comments. Enjoy!

The Packaging:

I'm very mixed on my feelings towards the packaging of "Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set." It is a rather attractive set and sets itself apart nicely from anything else on my entertainment center shelf. However, it is nearly as big as the entire series of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the "M*A*S*H: The Martinis and Medicine Collection." The box set arrives in the form of Harry Potter's suitcase that he uses each year when he attends Hogwarts. It is a durable cardboard stock and features exposed metal hinges and a latch. It is nicely build and attractive. However, instead of including the individual blue keepcases of the five films, the Gift Set includes cardboard CD style cases that are of two sizes. The first two films and the Bonus DVD come in CD sized casing, while the final three films and the interactive DVD are featured in cardboard cases the size of DVD cases. A plastic tray is contained inside the briefcase to keep them from sliding around, but this can be somewhat troublesome to remove and store the individual discs.

The limited edition set includes more than just the seven Blu-ray and DVD discs. The Harry Potter Bookmark Collection is contained within a cardboard box with a cardboard sleeve to help keep it snug in the suitcase, behind the discs. There are five high-quality metal bookmarks held in the box. A golden snitch is the least impressive of them. A Gryffindor seal, which doesn't fit too nicely into its designated spot looks rather nice. The third bookmark is Harry Potter's faithful owl carrying a letter. A very nicely done Slitheren crest with a marble globe is the fourth bookmark and the final bookmark is the broom sent to Harry by his godfather Sirius Black. I have listed them in the order in how nice they are, with the broom being the nicest. Fans will certainly enjoy them and the packaging lists that they should be only used by those ages thirteen and over. A collection of collectable cards is also included in a letter that appears to be from Harry Potter's mum. Each plastic wrapped package contains four cards detailing a character from the film and there are sixteen cards in total. This is more geared towards those who aren't old enough to play with the bookmarks and they are another nice touch to the Gift Set.

My personal feeling is that the packaging is a little too big for its contents and considering a third of the size is for the bookmarks and cards, it could have been build a little friendlier. I would have also liked to have seen the five full cases for each of the five films instead of the flimsy cardboard cases that do not even fold properly. It is big and takes a lot of room on a bookshelf and doesn't exactly fit snug with other Blu-ray or DVD titles. It is stealthy, however, and only an "HP" printed on the top hints those that spot it on a bookshelf that it has something to do with Harry Potter. There is no marking on the ‘spine' and you can choose to display either the closing latch or the hinges. Thankfully, the individual discs hold securely in their cases, so you could conceivably rid yourself of the plastic innards and make it a little friendlier to deal with. It looks nice, but it is large and doesn't use its size efficiently.

Video:

The films are presented in the following aspect ratios and with the following codecs:

Year One: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
Year Two: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
Year Three: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
Year Four: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
Year Five: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p

As you can see, the five feature films are each mastered identically and framed at the same aspect ratio. The films are generally of the same high quality. However, the first film looks a little muddied when compared to the others and this is a result of its age. The "Goblet of Fire" has a few murky sequences as well; such as when the underwater ship arrives. These darker scenes show some pixilation and color banding. The "Order of the Phoenix" is easily the best looking of the films and is nearly perfect. Averaging out the five films would result in a score of about 9/10.

The supplements for each of the five Blu-ray discs are all mastered in various incarnations of MPEG-2. Some of them are in 480i, while others are progressive scan. None of the supplements, with the exception of the final film, are mastered in high definition and each look their age. The high definition features contained on "Order of the Phoenix" are the best looking bonus materials of the entire set. The "Bonus DVD" contained in the box set is MPEG-2 mastered at 480i and 480p. Many of these EPK materials are pillarboxed and letterboxed, while some from the "Goblet of Fire" nicely fill the entire screen. The Harry Potter Interactive Game is essentially the same in visual splendor, but with its many animated menus, it looks quite sharp for a DVD release. The supplements are far from impressive looking and earn themselves a troublesome score of 4/10. When comparing these low resolution bonus materials to the high definition films, it is simply disappointing. I do admit that in putting the two DVDs in my Toshiba HD-A35 player, I was happier with the upconverting capabilities of that unit over that of the Samsung BD-1400.

Sound:

The films are presented with the following audio soundtrack selections:

Year One: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:
English PCM 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

Year Two: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:
English PCM 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1

Year Three: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
English PCM 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1; Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1

Year Four: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
English PCM 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1; Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1

Year Five: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 2.40:1 and mastered in VC-1 at 1080p
English PCM 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1; Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1

The final three films each include the same soundtracks as one another. The "Chamber of Secrets" isn't quite as impressive with its foreign language support, but still contains more audio tracks than one is accustomed too. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is a more typical disc. The number of subtitle tracks is also impressive for all but the first film. Harry Potter is definitely loved around the world and these discs are a testament to that fact. The quality of audio of the excellent sounding PCM tracks is similar in pattern as the VC-1 video transfers. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is the least impressive sounding Uncompressed PCM tracks, but is still a quality sounding experience. The next three films are pretty close in quality to one another and the latest and greatest film is definitely a sonic experience. The PCM mix is definitely the way to go with these five aggressive and enveloping films and the sound quality of the films themselves averages out to about a 9/10. The supplements are a muddled Dolby Digital 2.0 mess when compared to the Blu-ray soundtracks and would score about a 6/10.

Extras:

Year One: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The first Harry Potter disc contains a number of additional features. Some of the features will be familiar to those who own the original 2-Disc "Special Widescreen Edition" of the film on DVD. The interactive elements and PC DVD-ROM features have all been removed from this Blu-ray release. Of course, the features on the DVD tended to wear thin after visiting them once. However, some of the concept art that was part of "The Library" and other features found on the original DVD would have been nice additions on the DVD set with slightly better navigation. The Jellybean flavor selection wasn't found on the Blu-ray either and I couldn't find the tour of Hagrid's hut. Fortunately, the "Behind the Story" sections on the Blu-ray were culled from elements on the original DVD and the "Capturing the Stone" bit made it intact. The additional deleted scenes more than make of for the missing elements.

Under the "Behind the Story" heading, five featurettes delve into aspects on the making of the first film. Capturing the Stone (16:24) finds the film's producer, David Heyman and Director Chris Columbus discussing their efforts in transforming Harry Potter from the written word to the big screen. The short Ghosts of Hogwarts (:38) quickly names the ghost characters that appear in the film and doesn't get too much into any details about any of them. The Yearbook Character Clips is an interactive yearbook that shows short clips of each of the students and teachers of Hogwarts from the film. Sixteen characters are detailed and this is a nice way to help remember the names of all the various characters. Quidditch Story (:44) replays a clip from the story that details the rules of the game. I still think Quidditch is a broken game and only the Golden Snitch really matters. Whoever gets it always seems to win. The final "Behind the Story" clip is called Dragon Egg Lesson (:31) and features narration over clips from the film to educate the viewer about raising a young dragon.

The supplements improve slightly after the "Behind the Story" bits. Under "Fun and Games" exists the Around the World Multilanguage Clip (8:33). This extra finds one scene from the film featuring Rubeus Hagrid talking about his pet dog Fluffy with eight different languages. The first language is English and you can select from seven other languages or let them play together. Dubbing can be fun! The "Trailers" section contains the film's Teaser Trailer and the Theatrical Trailer. "Additional Footage" is a collection of seven Deleted Scenes (8:59). These excised nuggets of Potter are the nicest extras contained on the Year One Blu-ray disc. They can be played collectively or separately and the Blu-ray disc does a very nice job of providing a short synopsis for each of the seven scenes and I enjoyed the manner in which these scenes were provided. They were fun and worth checking out. The film was long enough without them, so I can understand why they were cut. I liked the owls. Warner Bros. touts their Online site as well.

Year Two: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The second year of Harry Potter found another similar treatment when compared to the original 2-Disc "Widescreen Edition" DVD. The animated puzzles, screensavers, animated timeline and other playful parts from the PC DVD-ROM functionality are now absent from the Blu-ray release. Whereas the first film contained added deleted scenes, the second film had the advertised 19 Additional/Extended Scenes (16:25) on the DVD and now on the Blu-ray release. This time around, the nineteen scenes were only numbered and with no short synopsis about their contents. A "Play All" is also provided. This is another case where the scenes are entertaining, but the film didn't need to be any longer than its already long length. The newly added Year One At Hogwarts (1:54) was a short reminder of the plot from the first film and feels very much like a long trailer, which the Theatrical Trailer for the second film is contained on the Blu-ray release. Only the interactive menu based materials from the second film seem to be missing from the Blu-ray such as the self-guided tours.

The difficult to read menu features a Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves (16:09) finds J.K. Rowling talking about her novel and how she and screenwriter Steve Kloves worked together to create the film adaptation of the second novel. They talk about changes made to deliver the story to the big screen and this was interesting to hear how things are altered from the book. The two are interviewed by a mediator and this is a nice little segment. The next segment, Lockhart's Classroom (1:28) is split into two pieces, Certificates and Required Reading. This is a short feature that looks at the certificates and books created for the film to help build the Professor Gilderoy Lockhart character and helped add to the notoriety of the supposedly famous magician. This piece was all fluff, but the books were funny sounding. The Behind Hogwarts: Building a Scene (17:20) looked at the creation of Dumbledore's office from beginning to end. This featured a number of talking heads interviews and I found this a nice little making of feature that showed a scene from script to film.

The "Interviews with Students, Professors and More" section is a slightly interactive section that allows the viewer to select questions and then hear characters from the film answer the question. The Students (8:13) found seven questions asked to the children who played the students of Hogwarts and the answers were given with short film clips and interviewed moments with the child actors. The best way to watch this supplement was to use the "Play All." The Professors and More (9:42) found twelve actors talking about their roles as mentors to the young magicians of Hogwarts. These vignettes too could be played collectively or separately, with my recommendation of using the "Play All" to enjoy them. These interview segments were a little easier to navigate the second time around on the Blu-ray than they were on the more convoluted menus of the DVD release.

Year Three: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

One wonders if the new Blu-ray releases were not geared more towards parents than children as the third film also finds its interactive elements removed from the Blu-ray port. The "Self-Guided Tours of Honeydukes and Professor Lupin's Classrooms" are missing, as well as the "3 Great Challenges" contained on the original DVD release. The DVD-ROM PC features for the "Hogwarts Timeline" and the "Magical Trading Cards" are also amiss. A preview for the game based upon the film is another short feature that didn't make the journey to the next generation format. At least the menu for this third disc was nowhere near as horrendous to read as the second disc and for that I am thankful.

The "Behind the Story" elements are the most plentiful for the third film. Crafting the Vision (11:45) finds J.K. Rowling talking with the film's director, Alfonso Cuaron and screenplay writer Steve Kloves talking about how they worked with Jo Rowling and brought the third novel of Harry Potter to the big screen by working directly with the author. The Head to Shrunken Head (43:04) interviews find the various characters of the film and the actors that portray them discussing their adventures on the third entry in the Harry Potter saga. An Introduction (:43) finds interviewer Johnny Vaughn and the Jamaican shrunken head debating on how to interview the actors. The interviews can then be viewed collectively or as seven separate short features. I enjoyed these interviews and felt they mixed humor nicely with actual making-of information on the film. Choir Practice (1:41) is a short video featuring a sing-a-long song from the film with clips from the movie. The Care of Magical Creatures (4:46) looked at the animal actors featured in the film and how they were used in the making of the film. This was a nice little bit. Conjuring a Scene (15:37) is an EPK-styled feature that looks at how Hollywood magic is used to create scenes from the film. Everything from Gary Oldman's makeup to Hagrid's Hypogriff is looked at in this nice featurette.

The "Additional Footage" and "Trailers" sections move away from the making of aspects of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Trelawney's Crystal Ball (4:48) contained five unfinished scenes from the film. Each can be played individually and contains a short synopsis on what the scene is about. These very short scenes are lacking many of the special effects and blue screen elements necessary to complete them. They are rough and brief, but fun to check out none-the-less. The poor little songbird that got killed by the old tree had a rougher flight than you know. The additional footage featured for the third film is nowhere near as nice as what was provided for the first two movies. Trailers are provided for this film and the first two Harry Potter films.

Year Four: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The fourth Harry Potter film is the last of the films I own on DVD and the final comparison I am able to provide between the original DVD format at the new Blu-ray release contained within the expansive Harry Potter box set. As was the case with the first three pictures, many of the supplements have been ported over to the Blu-ray format, but the interactive features were left behind. The fourth film contained an "EA Game Demo" and "Hogwarts Timeline" that could be played via a DVD-ROM PC drive. There were also three challenges based upon the three Triwizard Tournament events and a final challenge based upon the climatic graveyard squaring off between Harry Potter and "He Who Must Not Be Named." The majority of supplements did make it to Blu-ray and only the more interactive elements intended for younger children didn't make the cut.

Nearly everything is contained under "Behind the Story." The first three features detail the three tasks from the Triwizard Tournament. Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task (6:08) finds the actors and filmmakers talking about creating the scene and detailing the genesis of the first task in which Harry Potter had to face the meanest of the dragons. In Too Deep: The Second Task (9:48) is much of the same as the first featurette, but looks at the underwater challenge and what all went into the impressive action sequences. The Maze: The Third Task (6:48) looked at the scariest maze since Kubrick's "The Shining." These three EPK-styled features were interesting enough and not too promotional in composition. Meet the Champions (13:03) was an in-depth look at the three champions that competed with Harry Potter and the three actors that brought them to life. This featured many video-diary like segments mixed with interview moments.

Lord Voldemort is the next topic of discussion with He Who Must Not Be Named (11:09). This featurette looked at the creation of the big bad Harry Potter villain and how he was finally brought to life in the fourth film. This is an EPK style feature that looked at the entire genesis of the Voldemort character and I learned that Ralph Fiennes was the man behind the make-up. That was a surprise. Preparing for the Yule Ball (9:03) was a talking-heads behind-the-scenes look at the big Christmas Eve ball shown in the film and they talked about being dressed up and dancing. It was a unique experience for those involved with the Harry Potter films. Conversations with the Cast (30:36) is a lengthy featurette that finds host Richard Curtis sitting down and chatting with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. This was a matter-of-fact conversation with the young actors and a nice watch. Reflections on the Fourth Film (14:13) found members of the cast and crew talking about their experiences up to the fourth movie. This shows how much the characters have aged.

Once again, "Additional Footage" and a "Trailers" section appear on the Blu-ray disc. The Additional Scenes (10:08) finds a number of short scenes bunched together and unlike the first three films, the scenes are not separated. The scenes are again worth checking out. Some are extended moments of existing scenes and others are items that were left entirely on the cutting room floor. The film's Theatrical Trailer is included, as well as mention of the Online site created by Warner Bros. to tout their support of the Blu-ray format.

Year Five: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

With no comparison DVD of the fifth film, I am assuming the "Two-Disc Special Edition" DVD of the film contains some interactive features that are not contained on the Blu-ray release. This is completely an assumption and I will update this review accordingly if I come across a DVD copy of the movie. The Blu-ray of movie number five does contain something new called Focus Points (1:03:10) and these short vignettes introduced making-of information based upon certain scenes in the film. There are two options to the Focus Points. You have the ability to play the movie with them turned on. The movie will provide the ability to watch a focus point when you come across a scene with one attached to it. The other option is to simply watch them through the "Special Features" menu. You can watch one individually or collectively. There are twenty eight Focus Points contained on the disc. I will need to research the HD-DVD to see if there is a video commentary feature. This makes for a rather nice hour long documentary, but also adds a different element to the viewing process. I found these to be quite nice.

The more traditional features weren't as involved, but still worth a viewing. The Trailing Tonks (19:25) finds actress Natalia Tena giving a video tour of the sets and locations of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." It is promotionally slick in nature, but does provide an interesting look from her vantage. The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter (43:54) is a great primer for those who are not too familiar with the five film series. It spends a lot of time discussing the fifth film, but I found this little feature quite interesting and will have to watch it again before playing somebody in the Scene-It Harry Potter Edition. This is something to watch after viewing the fifth film. It does provide spoilers. The Additional Scenes (10:55) is a lump of scenes that were not fully finished and have not received all of their special effects or color timing. They look good for the most part, but some you can certainly tell are not fully finished. The scenes are fun. Finally, Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing (5:21) finds the director discussing the editing of a scene and allows the viewer a chance to play around with the editing of one scene from the film. Oddly, there is no theatrical trailer on this Blu-ray release.

Harry Potter: Bonus DVD

The "Harry Potter: Bonus DVD" is exactly what it claims to be. It is a DVD with additional bonus materials. It is not a Blu-ray disc. The provided supplements are separated based upon the film they belong to. Each of the films has a relatively short EPK style feature that promotes the film. The three latter pictures have a little more meat to their bones, while "The Goblet of Fire" has a very nice two-part documentary hosted by a man named Ben Shepherd. Most of the features are letterboxed and pillarboxed on a 16x9 television set and only the Ben Shepherd "Goblet of Fire" features fill up a widescreen television. Interestingly enough, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are provided for these promotional EPK making of features.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" features A Glimpse into the World of Harry Potter (9:15). This is an EPK style feature with director Chris Columbus and others providing an ‘exclusive look' at the film that was probably shown on various cable outlets to promote the movie. It's short and interested, but too polished and promotional for my personal liking. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" also contains only one additional featurette. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets… Revealed (13:01) is another EPK featurette that is polished and promotes the second film. It is nicely edited and finds Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and others talking about the movie and touting their own horns about how this film is better than the first. It isn't bad, but it is purely promotional in nature.

The third film gets a little more love than the first two films with three bonus materials pertaining just to it. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Something Wicked This Way Comes (13:01) is the EPK feature for the third film and similar in tone to the ones provided for the first three films. It is musical, nicely edited and slick, but another very promotional feature. The Making of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (10:01) is a short making-of-feature that is another promotional ‘exclusive sneak preview' where the three principle actors talk about their involvement in the film. With the three young actors sitting down together, this was far nicer than the other elements on this disc so far. The third bit, An Interview in Spanish with Alfonso Cuaron (8:14) is an interview with the Spanish speaking director. The questions asked to the director are provided on cards. It is subtitled to read along with what the director is discussing and is a unique feature for the box set.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" also features three additional supplements. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Behind the Magic (48:44) is a very lengthy feature that is the nicest supplement contained on the Bonus DVD. This is an EPK making-of feature that goes fairly deep in information and is the first feature to fully fill my 16x9 television. Hosted by Ben Shepherd, this promotional forty five minutes touches on a lot of aspects of the making of the film. I found this to be upbeat and interesting, with Ben Shepherd serving as a good host. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Some Animal Magic (23:24) is not as long as the first "Goblet of Fire" bonus feature, but quite long when what was provided up to this point. Ben Shepherd is back and this time around he deals more with the animals form the film. This was essentially the second part of the first feature and is worth checking out. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Dark Matters, New Masters (13:01) is the EPK feature that we've been accustomed to on this Bonus DVD. After watching the two Ben Shepherd hosted features, this is entirely forgettable.

The fifth and final film (up to this point) features two additional featurettes. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Rebellion Begins (23:10) is a longer than usual EPK feature. The principle stars and filmmakers talk about their experiences making this film and working on the franchise for five films. This is a decent enough promotional feature and gave a nice look at the making of the film. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Fulfilling a Prophecy (13:01) is the shorter of two promotional electronic press kit features provided for "The Order of the Phoenix" and not quite as good as the first one provided for this movie and was simply created from the longer feature.

Harry Potter: Interactive DVD Game: Hogwart's Challenge

Although the little interactive games and supplements from the first four films have been removed from their Blu-ray ports, this bonus DVD disc more than makes up for their absence. This expansive DVD remote game allows for up to four players to compete and there is even an ability to change the level of difficulty for a player. The disc itself is composed of fourteen individual games. However, the scoring is cumulative and handled collectively for the challenges. The goal is simply to win as many challenges as possible to allow the player to win for their respective ‘school.' I was pretty impressed with this interactive game. It has enough material to allow for more than one play through. You don't necessarily play each virtual room every time and it isn't the typical trivia questions that are easily memorized. You have to press buttons on the DVD remote to complete various tasks. This is certainly designed to entertain younger fans of Harry Potter-dom, but there were more than a few times when I was puzzled by the task at hand. At the highest difficulty, it can be quite demanding and any family of Harry Potter fans will find themselves enjoying this more than once; which is pretty good for these types of DVD based games.

Closing Comments:

The "Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set" is a fine box set. I'm not the most overjoyed by the design of the box set, but it is attractive and well-built. I would have preferred the five films to have their individual retail packaging inside of the case, but beggars can't be choosers. I found it to be somewhat vexing to get the discs back inside the suitcase after each viewing, but simply tossed the plastic interior piece that held the smaller packaged discs. They'll be safe and sound if I don't go bouncing the box set around. The additional bonus materials are the same for each of the three incarnations of the set and are presented on simple DVD platters. I would have loved to have had all of the supplements in glorious high definition, but this was not to be had. The bookmark collection is unique and nicely done and the trading cards are cute. The Interactive Game is worth a few hours of family fun and the Bonus DVD is worth watching at most once. The five films themselves are very good pictures and I do enjoy the Harry Potter franchise. I'll be looking forward to replacing this set in about four years with the complete Harry Potter Gift Set, but we still have two movies to go before that happens. At $150 the set is pricey, but actual street price is probably closer to $100. This is an attractive solution to buying the five films individually on Blu-ray and you get a few nice extras to boot. I've seen a number of Limited Edition box sets in my time and this one isn't perfect, but is still among the best of them.