Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Click to Buy	Ratings Summary (Scored out of a maximum of five)
	Audio		Video
	Goodies		Interface
	Value

The Movie

As most of you are probably aware, Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets is the second installment of J. K. Rowling’s tremendously
popular Harry Potter book series. Faithfully transferred from book to
film under the watchful eye of Rowling, this movie picks up during the
summer after Harry, Ron Weasly, and Hermione Granger’s first year of adventures
at Hogwarts.

This time around, the gang encounters a variety of amazing and magical
surprises, including a mysterious house elf, a giant talking spider, a
flying car, a rash of student petrifications, a very spooky basilisk,
and a host of others. The movie is spread over about two and a half hours,
and it makes for quite an adventure for the family. However, heed the
PG rating, as it is definitely not one for the toddlers or the easily
frightened.

© 2003 Warner Home Video. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R.
HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of
and © Warner Bros

Although this story is darker and scarier than the first book and movie,
it still retains much of the feel of the first movie. It has the same
look and settings, thanks to Director Chris Columbus, who provides another
visually stunning and magical world for the story to take place. The original
cast returns, with the young stars providing stronger, more confident
acting.

The main characters develop nicely, as expected, and the story provides
a nice platform to get a better feeling for how Harry, Ron, and Hermione
are maturing as individuals and as a group of friends working together.
The story, acting, and setting all combine to make for a more compelling
movie than the first, and it bodes well for the next movie in the series.
To top it all off, one of my favorite contemporary composers, John Williams,
provides another memorable yet mostly reminiscent score to this magical
escapade.

I must admit, I was not much of a Harry Potter fan before the first movie
was released. But after some gentle prodding (thank you Adrienne and Tony),
I read the first book, saw the movie, and was hooked. After reading the
second book, I was as concerned as many other fans that the Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets movie adaptation was going to be a let
down. But, like the first, the essence of the story is there. While some
of the relatively minor details present in the book get left out, the
careful crafting of the movie keeps the pacing, twists, turns, and surprises
right in line with expectations. I only hope the production team and cast
can meet the level of expectation they have set for themselves with the
last two movies.

The Goodies

While I would not say that this two-disc set was chock full of fascinating
background or behind-the-scenes production material, there is definitely
enough stuff to keep you interested and immersed for a while. Disc 1 primarily
contains the movie, but it does contain a cast and crew listing, a video
trailer for Sorcerer’s Stone, and the Chamber of Secrets
theatrical trailer.

© 2003 Warner Home Video. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R.
HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of
and © Warner Bros

You will find the rest of the goodies on the second disc. The biggest
advantage this set has over Sorcerer’s Stone is that you do not
need to solve a convoluted puzzle to get to some of the bonus material.
Thankfully, everything on Disc 2 is readily available to peruse.

The part everybody seems to be interested in are the 19 deleted or extended
scenes totaling about 17 minutes. Many of them are not critical to the
plot, and for the most part, it is clear why they were cut. This disc
also features self-guided tours of Diagon Alley and Dumbledore’s office,
and while somewhat interesting, the tedium of punching arrows to move
around and simply looking at everything grew old quickly. The lack of
additional information during the tour also made the tour a bit boring.

There are a few other minor goodies on disc 2, like a visit to Lockhart’s
class to look at his memorabilia and books (worth about five minutes),
“The Chamber Challenge,” “The Forbidden Forest Challenge,”
the “Colin’s Darkroom” activity, and the “Spellcaster Knowledge”
game. All are worth a quick look, but the pay-offs after completing the
games and challenges are weak.

There is also a nice image gallery with what seems to be at least 100
or more still images ranging from character sketches to setting drawings.
The gallery interface is also nicely done like the hallways in Hogwarts,
with moving staircases and paintings on the walls. Rounding out the minor
stuff is a video game preview and the DVD-ROM section.

For the folks interested in the behind-the-scenes information, the “Behind
Hogwarts” section is where you want to start. It falls a bit short
on covering the entire production in the depth that I was hoping, but
there is enough material to give you a flavor for how the film was put
together.

The short interviews with the cast were entertaining and interesting,
moreso than I had expected, and they total about 10 minutes. Those tie
in well with the 16-minute interview with author J.K. Rowling and screenwriter
Steve Kloves. This will be particularly interesting to fans, as you have
an opportunity to hear Rowling discuss the process of rendering her books
onto the big screen and all the effort that goes into making the movie
stay true to her vision.

Finally, there is a “Build a Scene” in the “Dumbledore’s
Office” section, which is a concise 17-minute featurette that focuses
on everything from the set design and construction of Dumbledore’s office,
to the editing and scoring of a final scene in the office. Even though
it is a short featurette, there are plenty of interviews and behind-the-scenes
video clips. It is a nice snapshot of a small part of the film, but I
would have traded some of the other goodies for a more in-depth version
of this mini-documentary. Given the grand scope and budget of this production,
they could have easily put together a rock solid documentary.

Overall, the depth of the bonus material is not quite up to my expectations
for a full-blown collector’s edition, but what you get is still pretty
good. There is definitely enough to keep a Potter fan happy, but if you
are looking for a commentary, multiple production featurettes, computer
models, and so on, you are simply out of luck.

The Video, Audio and Interface

I reviewed the widescreen edition, and I assume the quality of the full-screen
edition is similar, just minus a serious chunk of the picture. This movie
was shot with a very widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, so the full screen
edition crops a lot of theatrical screen area off. As for the anamorphic
widescreen transfer, it looks a bit better than the first DVD transfer,
but I think for most people you would have to play them back to back to
notice any difference. The cinematography in Chamber is equally,
if not more, dark than the first, but this transfer is less grainy and
more detailed. The colors, when present, are vibrant, and the subtle shadows
are solid. I did not notice any major visual distractions, like source
deterioration (scratches, dust, and so on.) or digital artifacts, and
it was just a pleasure to watch.

© 2003 Warner Home Video. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R.
HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of
and © Warner Bros

Equally pleasing was the audio transfer. Quite simply, the dialog is
clear and nicely staged, and the soundtrack features plenty of surround
effects and an enveloping musical score. There is just not much more to
ask for.

The menus are wonderfully designed, with plenty of on-screen animation,
music, sound effects, and transition effects. From the start, you definitely
get dropped right into the world of Harry Potter, and the menus feel like
an extension of the movie, which is how it should be.

The Final Evaluation

If you are a fan of the movie or the book series, this set is well worth
picking up and adding to your collection. This movie is darker and scarier
than the first, but it is far more developed and interesting to watch.
The DVD simply looks and sounds great, and the goodies are enough to keep
you interested for a little while. The only down side is that it is probably
too scary for preschoolers and the elementary school crowd, but for older
children this set makes a good companion for the books. Even though they
are “children’s literature,” they are a fun and light read for
parents, who should take the time to read them, and then settle in with
the rest of the family for this fun adventure movie and see how close
the production crew came to your imagination.