DVD Reviews

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 10, 2011, 23:40 GMT

In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here. ...more

All good things must end and the end has come to Harry Potter or at least his movie series.

If you haven’t seen Part 1, you may not want to read this description as some things will be spoilt for you. Why anyone who hasn’t seen it would want to watch part two would be beyond me anyway, but you’re been warned.

When we last left Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), things looked bleak. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is dead, Harry’s nemesis Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is the stern new headmaster, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has stolen Dumbledore’s wand from his grave, and Harry and company were basically on the run trying to find hidden objects that would destroy the seemingly undefeatable Voldemort and his hoard of evil followers.

As the trio tries to uncover those items, Voldemort’s army is converging on Hogwarts and it looks like the ancient school may fall in the conflagration.

That’s the Cliff’s Notes version of the plot since there’s so much going on. During our screening, my daughter looked over at me and said that she was very confused as to what was going on. I’ll have to admit that it took me a bit to catch up, but I’d highly recommend watching the first part before delving into the second. It may not matter much if you’re devoted to the books anyway since you may know all the minutia of them.

The film is basically an extended finale so remembrance of part one is certainly recommended. After all the entire film series has been building up to this showdown. Radcliffe and his co-stars have certainly grown up and into their roles and play them magnificently. Fiennes makes a fine villain and the final confrontation between he and the “boy who lived” is what fans have been waiting for.

There’s still some story confusion (Radcliffe talks about trying to figure out whose wand is whose on the disc two interview) but you get caught up in the melee enough to stop caring. It’s full of good character moments (good to see Maggie Smith kick ass, but not enough of it) and fantastic special effects.

Odd is WB’s decision to put the series in the vault before year’s end, but it sounds like they’ll not be locked up for long. It’s a fantastic finale to the tale of the boy wizard. So much so that you may want to start watching them all over again.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is presented in 1080p high definition (2.40:1). Special features, all in high definition, on disc one include a picture-in-picture “Maximum Movie Mode,” 30 minute of “Focus Points” featurettes from the mode are also accessible separately, and the 3 minute “Final Farewells” has the cast and crew bidding us adieu.

Disc two has 7 minutes of deleted scenes, the 53 minute “Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe” (who is not as subdued as Harry in real life), the 23 minute “Women of Harry Potter” focusing on the ladies of the film’s world, the 11 minutes “Goblins of Gringotts” which shows the makeup and production of that scene, the 2 minute “Warner Brothers Studio Tour London,” and Rowling teasing for 1 minute about the interactive website Pottermore. Disc three is a DVD/digital copy.

Harry’s journey is at an end, but it’s been such a fun and inspiring run.
You may just want to watch parts one and two as one long film, certainly may cut some confusion if it’s been a while since you’ve seen part one. The extra features are a delight, especially the near-hour-long chat with Rowling and Radcliffe. It’s been a fun ride and especially touching to see our heroes for one last go round.