Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Blu-ray Review

Magic, wizardry and witchcraft make for a spellbinding Blu-ray.

PACKAGE:  
Half-Blood Prince is a three-disc set, complete with a DVD version of the film and one disc exclusively to bonus features.

The first disc contains the “Maximum Movie Mode” with featurettes from Daniel Radcliffe, as well as BD Live functionality. The second disc contains several miniature featurettes with the cast talking about their characters, a sneak preview of the Harry Potter stuff they are putting in at Universal Orlando, and a sneak preview of Deathly Hallows. There is also a fifty minute long documentary on JK Rowling. Of course, there are deleted scenes.

I really like the movement in Blu-ray packaging to include a DVD copy of the film with the Blu-ray version. For me, that deserves three stars alone. Blu-ray obviously isn’t as widespread as DVD. Including a DVD version allows viewers who haven’t picked up the new technology to borrow the film and it allows you to view the film on a portable DVD player.

However, most of the special features on the second disc are pretty short featurettes and some are basically quick “get to know the cast” features that are pretty boring. The most interesting feature to me was the preview of Deathly Hallows, and it was basically a teaser trailer with an intro by David Heyman and a few behind the scenes shots from shooting.

That said, I haven’t really been impressed by the special features in the Potter series yet, so it’s nothing surprising.

BIAS:
I am a fan of the Harry Potter book series, with mixed reactions as a critic towards the Potter films.

The first two films, while solid, weren’t really groundbreaking. The third film was a breath of fresh air in terms of its directing style and cinematography. The fourth film disappointed me in its horrible storytelling to a film audience, and the fifth film was yet again a solid entry, but not too groundbreaking.

Half Blood Prince is probably my favorite in the film series so far due to the combination of expert cinematography, a yet-again solid acting performance by a great ensemble cast, and an overall good adaptation that brought laughs as well as several dark areas onto the screen.

Needless to say, this is a film that should satisfy book fans as well as film fans alike and should be a welcome addition to your Blu-ray library.

Verdict:  AVOID / CONSIDER / RENT / BUY / TREASURE

Editor’s Note: This is a review of a Region 1 release. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is also available for all Region 2 territories.

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9 Responses to “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Blu-ray Review”

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6. Music and Movie Treasures By Brenda says:

   July 13, 2010 at 4:09 pm

   I really enjoyed this movie. You are right, the cinematography was excellent & I appreciated the humour and teen angst. My teens, however, had more mixed feelings. They had a hard time getting past the fact that the movie wasn’t as good as the book.

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7. Venten says:

   August 6, 2010 at 7:39 am

   I love Emma Watson, I think she is really sexy!

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8. Bella Jo says:

   August 15, 2010 at 7:37 pm

   Aside from Avatar, the last installment of Harry Potter will probably be the last of the big screen movies I will watch this year. Less than 3 months to wait!!!

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