Blu-Ray Review:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 83% Fresh: 204 Rotten: 41
Dark, gleefully funny, and beautifully shot, this adaptation of J.K. Rowling's novel should please fans despite numerous changes to the 650-page source material. In this sixth film in the series, Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) inevitable confrontation with the dark wizard Voldemort grows closer, and Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) wants the young student to be prepared. He guides Harry through a memory of a young Voldemort, but an important moment is missing. Harry must extract this memory from the new Hogwarts teacher, Horace Slughorn (a perfectly slimy Jim Broadbent), who is as eager for fame as he is reluctant to revisit this painful moment. Meanwhile, romance rules the school of witches and wizards, with Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) refusing to admit their feelings for each other. Harry also harbors a secret love of his own: Ron's younger sister, Ginny (Bonnie Wright). But despite his crush, Harry keeps an eye on Snape (Alan Rickman) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), who may be responsible for attacks on the school. HALF-BLOOD PRINCE deftly balances the humor of Hogwarts heartbreak and the thrills of dark villains attacking the school. The cast is as talented as ever, and the youngest members--Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson--have developed their talent well. However, this film is most remarkable for its fine cinematography from AMELIE director of photography Bruno Delbonnel. Using a muted palette, Delbonnel makes Hogwarts look hauntingly beautiful in a way that fans have never seen. There's always plenty of fun and adventure in the series, but this entry boasts impressive visuals as well. (Rottentomatoes)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is another great movie in the Harry Potter franchise. Let me start out by saying that I am a huge HP fan. I own all of the books and have seen all the movies countless times. In this film the story grows darker! Dumbledore is trying to prepare Harry for what lies ahead. The best actor in this film is Jim Broadbent. He is absolutely perfect as Professor Slughorn! If you haven't seen any of the HP films you really need to start at the beginning to know what is going on. This movie is beautifully shot, and a lot of people are saying this is the best one in the series. I don't know if I would agree with that, as a reader of the books there was a lot that was taken out. In particular there is a big fight towards the end of the book that they cut out entirely. Now the person who has not read the book would not even notice this. I guess if they left this in it would have cost a lot and made the movie really long. Overall this is great movie in the series and if you're a fan of Harry Potter you will enjoy this movie!
7 out of 10
Video
Like I mentioned Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a really dark film and the transfer had to be up to snuff and luckily it is. Black levels are strong throughout which is a relief. Personally I think this is the best looking HP so far. One thing that I noticed right away was how good the detail was in this transfer. Textures are razor sharp, like the bricks on a wall or upholstery on Professor Slughorn's disguise at the beginning of the movie. Colour is almost absent for most of the picture. The scene where Harry and Dumbledore are in the cave looks fantastic. From the dark cavern to the fiery flames this transfer handles it with ease. Skin tones take on almost a grey look in some scenes but this is what they were going for and not a problem with the transfer. After watching this movie back again for this review I was surprised how dark the film was and the cinematography of Bruno Delbonnel is evident in every frame. Technically this transfer is superb and it's what the movie was meant to look like. Overall I think Warner has done an excellent job here and if you're a HP fan you should be pleased.
9 out of 10
Audio
For the audio we get a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless track. There is really nothing bad about it. The movie is a little bit more subdued than previous entries in the series, but when called upon the track rises to the occasion. In the beginning of the movie there is a collapsing bridge. This is an example of what I mean, when the bridge is twisting because of the death eaters, you hear every cable snap with authority. The surround channels are active throughout the film. There is a battle in a bathroom between Draco and Harry and this is a good example of how immersive this track can be. In that scene you can hear spells flying, glass breaking, water splashing etc! It's a great scene and it comes alive brilliantly. The dialogue comes across clear whether it be whispering or shouting. The LFE channel is also very active giving every spell or collapsing bridge the weight it needs. The audio track is in a word, brilliant and there is nothing bad I can say about it.
10 out of 10
Extras
Here is what is available in the way of extras:
Maximum Movie Mode
Focus Points
Close-Up with the Cast of Harry Potter
One-Minute Drills
First Footage from The Deathly Hallows
J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life
What's On Your Mind?
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Additional Footage
First up I should mention that calling a feature Maximum Movie Mode is a little misleading, because on other Blu-ray discs it has the director of the film standing in front of two virtual screens taking you through the movie. That is not the case here. This is more of a picture-in-picture track. This is not a bad thing but they should have named it differently. The picture-in-picture track is very in-depth, showing everything from production art, to animatics, to interviews with the cast. There are also focus points that you can go to that will give you more in-depth behind the scenes info. "Close-Up with the Cast of Harry Potter" is slightly cheesy but I enjoyed it though. Each cast member looks at a different trade, like editing, costume design and interviews the person who worked on that aspect in this film. ""What's On Your Mind?" are a series of questions asked to the cast by Tom Felton. They usually require a one-word answer but I found this to be interesting as well. I liked that they included footage from the Deathy Hallows. It's short clocking in at around 50 seconds but it was still a nice edition. The feature on JK Rowling was well done and goes into a lot of detail about her life and how she came up with the world of HP. It lasts around minutes in length. The meat and potatoes of behind the scenes info is going to be found in the Maximum Movie Mode. Overall I think there a lot of good extras here.
8 out of 10
Overall
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a great film and has received a well done Blu-ray as well. The video is great, the audio is flawless and they have included some decent extras this time around.
9 out of 10