Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD: Review By Brian

The whimsical wizards of Hogwart's are back and as spellbinding as ever. Many people have their gripes about the Harry Potter films because they follow the books to a 'T', but having never read any of the Potter books myself, I can safely say that the movies have intrigued me as they have millions of children and adults alike, worldwide.

Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets picks up a year after we left our hero in the first film as he makes his way back to the school for wizards. Of course along the way there are many twists and turns which turn out to be another wild adventure Harry and his friends embark on to save the school that they so adore.

All in all, Chamber Of Secrets is a great second chapter, but just as well a great film that would have no problem standing on it's own if you had never seen or heard of Harry Potter before watching this DVD. As the first Potter film started the ball rolling, this second adventure shows that Harry Potter IS the very definition of children's fantasy. And still, the film is done with such style that adults will have no problem sitting through this magical adventure.

DVD consumers are still angry about the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and it's lack of features. I personally still have not added that disc to my collection as I have heard rumors of yet another special edition disc that is supposidly going to hit store shelves in the future. This disc, and even recent news of the disc, has not surfaced, and we really don't know if it ever will, but the DVD producers are trying to make up for it this year with the DVD release of Chamber Of Secrets.

Cast & Crew listings

Nothing too special here. Looks like any other run of the mill cast & crew list.

Sorcerer's Stone Trailer

The trailer from the film...what more could you want?

Deleted Scenes

A ton of small deleted scenes grace the disc, most of them we could probably do without, but the die hard fans will love that there is this much deleted stuff on the disc, although none of it too spectacular. The scenes are very short in length but do manage to capture some of the magic represented in the film.

Lockhart's Castle

A small assortment of random Potter based media that will drive you deeper into the world of wizards.

Activities

Some games and whatnot found here. Mirrors the DVD ROM content.

Behind Hogwarts

Photos and featurettes that take us behind the scenes of what it takes to create a Harry Potter movie. This feature is probably the best part of the special features in that we actually get some content that deals with the movie, and not just the subject matter.

A lot of these same features are located in the DVD-ROM portion of the set.

Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, Chamber Of Secrets is very slick. High contrasts and a pretty sharp picture make for some great DVD action here. DVD enthusiasts won't see it as a sparkling gem in their higher standards collection, but it does rank in the sub-top level which so many films are hitting these days as they make their way into the digital realm.

A fairly good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX is presented on the disc. Though I wasn't cranking the sound during my viewing of this DVD, everything seemed to have a nice mix, but I felt it lacked a bit in the surround sound department being that my rear speakers were cranked, and the center was still really prominent.

It's a 2-Disc Harry Potter DVD. It's gonna sell like crazy, and even if the adult crowd won't be as pleased as they want to be from the presentation on the discs we have to stop and remember that this DVD set is for the kids and Potter lovers everywhere. The magic IS back.