Harry Potter

Harry Potter Wand with light and sound
$9.99
This is a reasonably cute toy for the money. I didn't have any problems with it shorting out, although that's probably because I bought it as an accessory for my Halloween costume and haven't subjected it to the use a child would. However, a little boy at the Halloween party I attended relieved me of my wand and cast spells on everyone for several hours without breaking it -- the wand was definitely a big hit with him! I do think the sound effects are more Star Wars than Harry Potter (and boy, do they get annoying fast!), but that's a minor quibble and I don't regret this purchase.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition)
$19.96
As stated before, from the longest novel comes the shortest film. And I've no complaints. Again, the director cuts out most, if not all of the sub-plots, and just gives us a straight forward story with the main characters. Somethings have been altered as well, such as Cho Chang betraying Harry and the others from Cho's friend. Which in my opinion is the better dramatic angle as Cho's friend would've only been in this one movie and it wouldn't have had as much emotional impact on the characters. The main cast continues to improve and the older actors are still wonderful. Two of my new favorite characters, who practically stole the show for me when I saw this two years ago, are Helena Bonham Carter (who gets very good billing in this for being in it for a whole five minutes) as Bellatrix Lestrange and Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. Carter is wonderfully deranged as Bellatrix as the actress seems to be having a lot of fun being deliciously evil. Lynch is charmingly quirky and, despite this being her first film (I think), is excellent and I only hope that she continues to act several more films after the Potter series has wrapped. Imelda Staunton is very good as Umbridge but there's only so much I can take of the color pink and tedious crooked politician/sadistic teacher angle. I know that's how she is in the book but I find the character rather plain and not as interesting as some of the other plot-twist characters they've had before. Action wise, this is the one with the most of it, climaxing with a wizard's battle which is executed brilliantly (and one can only hope that the climatic battle in the final film will be just as exhilirating). Nicholas Hopper provides an excellent score, using Williams' themes to a minimum, utilizing some brilliant pieces of his own (the wizard battle being one of them).

Harry Potter Years 1-5 (Widescreen Edition)
$49.98
Since getting the collection of HP years 1-5, I've been able to watch each movie and understand the saga a bit easier. Occassionaly on tv a particular channel would be having a HP weekend special, but I wasen't always able to watch. Now that I have the DVD's I can view and review however often I desire.

Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7)
$86.93
I was pleasantly surprised at both the quality of the product and the speed with which it was delivered. Being an international postal delivery it was expected to take up to six weeks and it actually arrived, delivered to my home, in under 14 days.

thank you.