"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" Movie Review

* Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, the protagonist. He has to battle with much of the Wizarding world's denial over Harry's encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort at the end of the previous year. He teaches his friends to defend themselves in duels.

* Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's best friends. He helps Harry found Dumbledore's Army and accompanies Harry to the Department of Mysteries in the climax of the film.

* Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends. She helps Harry found Dumbledore's Army and accompanies Harry to the Department of Mysteries in the climax of the film.

* Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, the antagonist, who lures Harry to the Ministry of Magic and nearly kills him.

* Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster. He upsets Harry by remaining distant from him throughout the year, but explains at the end of the film why he isolated himself. He also explains the meaning of the prophecy to Harry after duelling with Lord Voldemort in the climax of the film.

* Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's godfather who, during the battle at the Department of Mysteries, is murdered by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, causing Harry great emotional damage.

* Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a plant from the Ministry of Magic who prevents Harry and his friends from learning practical magic, and refuses to allow Harry to claim that Lord Voldemort has returned.

* Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions master. He helps teach Harry to block his mind's connection to Lord Voldemort's. He holds a grudge against Harry because he and Harry's father hated each other while they were at school together.

* Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Lord Voldemort's right-hand Death Eaters who leads the battle at the Department of Mysteries.

* Katie Leung as Cho Chang, a fellow member of the DA, with whom Harry shares his first kiss.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(Widescreen Edition)

While many movie franchises slide as they reach their later installments, the Harry Potter films just keep getting better. The latest, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is easily the darkest of the series to date, and it's also one of the best. For while it could easily have been little more than a holding film to set up the big encounters to come in the last two instalments of the series, it's to the credit of British director David Yates that the end result is really very good.

It finds Harry coming under suspicion from his wizarding colleagues, who don't believe his claims that the evil Lord Voldermort has returned. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix thus finds its title character on the backfoot for much of its running time, with a select band who firmly believe his story, and very powerful figures who don't.

Where the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix excels though is in its three trump cards. Number one is a far tighter script than we're used to with Potter films, which, combined with trump card number two--the aforementioned David Yates behind the camera--cuts much of the slavish loyalty to the text away in favour of a film with real momentum. The third, and best, card though is the casting of Imelda Staunton as Professor Dolores Umbridge, who simply flies away with every scene she's in. It's a superb performance, and the film is poorer whenever she's not on screen.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not a film without a few problems, certainly: it's a fair criticism that not too much actually happens, and one or two bits feel superfluous. But it overrides its problems with ease, to emerge as a compelling, highly enjoyable family film, which will leave you salivating for the Christmas 2008 release of movie number six in the series.

Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set

This is the Limited Edition Package includes:

Special Trunk Packaging
Two-Disc Editions of Harry Potter 1-5
Harry Potter Interactive DVD Game
5 Collectible Bookmarks
16 Collectible Trading Cards
plus 3 Hours of Special Content

Also available in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats