Lord Voldemort has returned, but few want to believe it. In fact, the Ministry of Magic is doing everything it can to keep the wizarding world from knowing the truth - including appointing Ministry official Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. When Professor Umbridge refuses to train her students in practical defensive magic, a select group of students decides to learn on their own. With Harry Potter as their leader, these students (who call themselves "Dumbledore's Army") meet secretly in a hidden room at Hogwarts to hone their wizarding skills in preparation for battle with the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. . New adventure - more dangerous , more thrilling than ever - is yours in this enthralling film version of the fifth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. A terrifying showdown between good and evil awaits. Prepare for battle!
Alas! The fifth Harry Potter film has arrived. The time is long past that this can be considered a simple "children's" series--though children and adults alike will enjoy it immensely. Starting off from the dark and tragic ending of the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins in a somber and angst-filled tone that carries through the entire 138 minutes (the shortest of any HP movie despite being adapted from the longest book). Hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup have been replaced by woes like government corruption, distorted media spin, and the casualties of war. As the themes have matured, so have the primary characters' acting abilities. Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and especially Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) are more convincing than ever--in roles that are more demanding.
Harry is deeply traumatized from having witnessed Cedric Diggory's murder, but he will soon find that this was just another chapter in the continuing loss he will endure. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned and, in an attempt to conceal this catastrophe from the wizarding public, the Ministry of Magic has teamed up with the wizard newspaper The Daily Prophet to smear young Potter and wise Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)--seemingly the only two people in the public eye who believe the Dark Lord has returned. With no one else to stand against the wicked Death Eaters, the Hogwarts headmaster is forced to revive his secret anti-Voldemort society, the Order of the Phoenix. This welcomes back characters like Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), kind Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), fatherly Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and insidious Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), and introduces a short list of intriguing new faces. In the meantime, a semi-psychotic bureaucrat from the Ministry (brilliantly portrayed by Imelda Staunton) has seized power at Hogwarts, and Harry is forced to form a secret society of his own--lest the other young wizards at his school be left ill-equipped to defend themselves in the looming war between good and evil. In addition, Harry is filled with an inexplicable rage that only his Godfather Sirius seems to be able to understand.
This film, though not as frightening as its predecessor, earns its PG-13 rating mostly because of the ever-darkening tone. As always, the loyal fans of J.K. Rowling's books will suffer huge cuts from the original plot and character developments, but make no mistake: this is a good movie. --Jordan Thompson
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Blu-ray is by far the superior format for this title:
I am a scientist (molecular biology), but by nature experiment in many areas of day to day life. In this experiment I took my older wide screen DVD of the order of the Phoenix and watched it on my Samsung player, with new surround sound bar. Next I took my just arrived Blu-ray of the same title and watched it. The results show The Blu-ray was far superior in both audio and Vidio. I chose this title for the experiment because you can watch it twice without falling asleep. The special effects are excellrnt.... more info
a suprisingly good movie:
"Harry Potter snd the Order of the Phoenix" is a suprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it, very much. This director managed to zero in on the important stuff and present it concisely and well. Of course, it does help if you have read the book. But, this movie is nearly of stand-alone quality. I recommend this movie. However, the ending has some darkness in it. So, perhaps those under 15 should not be allowed to see the movie until parents can judge the level of darkness for themselves.
sensible:
Confronted with the huge fifth episode of the Potter's series the authors did the only thing possible: they cut, mercilessly. I know, I know, most of Rowling's fans will hate me for saying this and I am not saying that they could not have cut differently, but there is no way the whole of the book could have come into the movie even if the movie had been an hour longer. Even in the first movie there were no menial cuts despite the first episode being short and straight forward. Personally speaking... more info
I am afraid to watch the last two brought to film after this one:
First off i adore the books. I've watched all the harry potter films because as bad as they are, i want to see what they did to it and i wasnt disappointed. This movie has so much fodder people were tripping over it in the theater aisles. Knowing that this was the longest book in the series some things were bound to be omitted. But the screenwriters keep making the same mistake. They cut out parts of the book that lead one to the other. This movie was extremely short but it doesnt feel like it. I kept... more info
