Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Ultimate Edition)

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilerish material from the end of the movie but does not give away the ending+++

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth installment of the Harry Potter movie (and book) franchise. The movie was made in 2009 and again was directed by David Yates. The storyline is advanced a lot in this movie and it ultimately sets up the climax of the story. Most of the cast remained the same for this movie, with the biggest addition being Jim Broadbent, who plays the new potions teacher, Horace Slughorn. By this time in the series, if you stick with the movies, you know there are substantial portions of the books that are cut out and even some changes to the storyline. I can generally look at the two separately, but the one thing I dislike about this movie is how they change the reason that Harry does not intervene in the climactic scene. Although most people have likely seen the movie several times and know how it ends I don't want to give away too much just in case someone reading this does not know the ending. In the book, Harry is stunned and covered with his invisibility cloak. That makes a far better explanation of why he does not help than hiding in the shadows.

Like the Ultimate Edition release of the prior film, Order of the Phoenix, this is another two-disc set. The first disc includes the movie, and the second disc has most of the extras. The only extra on disc 1 is the ability to play the film in Maximum Movie Mode, which is a picture-in-picture track with a lot of behind-the-scenes material and interviews that play along with the movie. There are also focus points that can be played within the picture-in-picture track or separately from the main menu. On the second disc, you get Part 6 of the Creating the World of Harry Potter documentary, which focuses on the special effects, a Behind the Magic television special, deleted scenes, a documentary focused on J.K. Rowling, theatrical trailers, a sneak peek at The Deathly Hallows, and a few other small featurettes. So, again, you get a ton of bonus content if you like watching that (which is really the main reason to get this set). The set also comes with another hardcover booklet and collectible cards. Again, there is no extended edition of the movie. The deleted scenes are available in the special features, but they are not incorporated into the movie itself. For some people, that will be a deal killer. Certainly, if you have already purchased the theatrical editions, you have the same movie.

The movie is very good, and the A/V quality of the blu-ray is outstanding. There was a lot of material cut from the book, but the film (aside from what I mentioned above) does seem to follow it fairly well. I do like that Draco does get to do a lot more in this movie than just sneer at Harry. Tom Felton proved himself to be a very good actor, which is not something you would have really known from all the other movies because his job has been just to be a pain in the ass. The set is spectacular (other than the lack of an extended edition of the movie) and is a must for anyone who is a die-hard fan of the franchise.