Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 2

Day 2 was core and cardio in MBF, and the 15-minute cardio (modified again with a few different moves) from 645.

The MBF workout is interesting. You do three blocks of cardio (each block including two exercises) separated by four blocks of core work (each block including 2-3 exercises). Each exercise in the cardio blocks is done for three rounds, again with no rest between the moves. Each exercise in the core blocks is performed for two rounds, with no rest between the moves. And, there is no rest between the blocks (aside from the time it takes Megan to show the moves in the next block), so you essentially do three rounds of your two cardio moves, immediately transition to the core block, do two rounds of those moves, immediately transition to the second cardio block, etc.

At the end of all that, you do have a four-minute AMRAP block. AMRAP stands for "as many rounds as possible." In those four minutes, you do four reps of three of the cardio exercises and then 20 jump rope reps, which counts as one round. You rest a few seconds to catch your breath and then do another round. The goal, as it sounds, is to do as many rounds as you can in that four minutes.

The workout is good and goes by very quickly, but it is hard. Having zero rest time between exercises and very little rest between the blocks is tough. Throughout the workout, the various cast members (who all vary in their fitness level and ages) take unscheduled pauses here and there. Even if you are in fairly good shape it will be a challenging workout.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avatar (4-Disc Collector's Edition)

 

This is the second 4K release of 2009's Avatar. The other version (which is misleadingly labeled as the Ultimate Collector's Edition) is a three-disc set that just has the theatrical version of the movie on UHD and regular blu-ray and then a regular blu-ray disc with special features. This set (just labeled Collector's Edition) is a four-disc set that has the theatrical and the two extended editions of the movie on UHD and regular blu-ray and then has two regular blu-ray discs with special features. 

The movie itself is very good. The first extended edition (which adds about 8 additional minutes to the theatrical version) basically just extends a couple of the scenes a bit. The second extended edition (which runs 178 minutes, adding 18 minutes of additional footage) is the best version of the movie (in my opinion). That version adds the most substance and backstory to the theatrical version, which definitely helps flesh out the overall story. You can also watch the additional footage for each extended edition as separate deleted scenes accessible from the menu. Each version of the movie is visually stunning in UHD. The audio track on the theatrical edition is wonderful. The tracks on the two extended editions are not available on Dolby Atmos, so they do not sound as good.

Where this set blows the Ultimate Collector's Edition release away is the extras. It includes all of the extras that were released with that one (including the new extras on that set and a few new ones exclusive to this set) and all of the legacy content included with the 2010 blu-ray release. The only difference between this release and the original blu-ray release (excluding the brand-new content) is a new line of added dialogue from Giovanni Ribisi's character (which is added to each version of the movie).

I have two issues with this set. First, it was not released at the same time as the original 4k release. So, if you bought that one early, you would have to double-dip to get all of the bonus content. Second, the packaging, while great to look at, is awful. It has a wonderful hard slipcover that holds a cardboard book-style case that holds the discs in very tight pockets (If you have the House of Cards individual seasons on blu-ray, it is like those). The discs are very hard to get out of the pocket without ripping the pockets and/or smudging or scratching the discs. So, if you get this, you want to watch it right away in case you get damaged/unplayable discs. I ended up putting the discs in their own individual blu-ray cases (I get extra cases to replace damaged cases if the discs are in otherwise good condition) and did not put them back in the book-style case. 

If you love the movie and love watching the bonus content, this is the version to get. You get hours of bonus material (even more if you redeem the digital code on Movies Anywhere or Vudu). If you stop the movies before the end you can resume where you left off, but that is not the case if you are watching the bonus content. If you stop in the middle of one of the featurettes on discs 3 or 4 and then restart the disc, it will go back to the main menu, and you will have to figure out where you left off. That is a relatively minor point, but worth noting.  Overall, this is absolutely worth the pickup if you are a more than just a casual fan of the movie.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 1

This is the start of my new routine. As I said in the last post, I am going to do the 15-minute cardio routine from 645 (modified with moves swapped out) in the morning and then the muscle-burn-fat workout in the evening.

MBF is a three-week program that was filmed during the height of the pandemic. Megan Davies is the trainer in this workout. She leads the workout from one of the BeachBody sets, but the rest of the cast is working out at home via Zoom (or something like that). Basically, you see all the cast members in their own boxes that surround the main box, with Megan leading the exercises; then, throughout the workout, they go to a split screen showing Megan side-by-side with one of the cast members. One of the cast members does modify the moves, but it can get hard to keep track of her since the views keep shifting.

The Day 1 workout was lower-body burn. This workout has four blocks of exercises. In the first block, you do squats and reverse lunges. The twist, however, is that you are not holding weights by your side. You hold one weight up next to your head on one side, do the exercises, then switch to the other side. You do as many reps as you can for 30 seconds of squats and then immediately transition to 30 seconds of reverse lunges on the side you are holding the weight; then you do 4 combos in which you do two squats followed by a reverse lunge, then you do the entire thing on the other side. You do two rounds on each side. So, you have to think about how much weight you can hold on one side up by your head for about a minute and a half. 

In block 2, you do sumo squats followed by curtsey lunges (if you have done Chalean Extreme, they are the same as CE's bowler lunges). Again, you do each exercise back-to-back with no rest, and this time, you do three sets of each exercise.

In block 3, you do side lunges followed by what Megan calls RDL, which are a deadlift using one dumbell. Then you do a combo with the two exercises and then switch to the other side, much like block 1. Again, you do two rounds on each side.

The last block is front squats and calf raises. This block mirrors block 2, so you do each exercise for 30 seconds and do three sets without any rest. 

The MBF workout is very challenging. Between each of the blocks you use a weightless jump rope (basically jump rope handles with weighted foam balls on the ends) for 30 seconds of a cardio recovery and then go back to lifting. The lifting is higher volume (basically as many reps as you can do in 30 seconds) so it is a good idea to use much lighter weight than you would normally use, at least for the first round of each exercise.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 54

This was the final day of the Hybrid workout. I did Speed 1.0 from T25 in the morning and full body HIIT in Lift 4 in the evening. Both of the workouts were tough (the double cardio days tended to be the hardest), but I got through them. For my next workout combination, I am going to continue to do the modified 645 cardio workout in the mornings, and then in the evening, I am going to do the three-week Muscle Burns Fat workout. Over the weekend, I am just going to do the 645 cardio workout and possibly do some stretching, but I want to recover a bit before starting up the new workout on Monday. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 53

Day 53 was shoulders and arms in Lift 4 and Cardio 1.0 in T25. As was the case in week 7, the shoulders and arms workout is a circuit workout with two quad sets and a three-exercise burnout. You do all of the same exercises that you did in week 7 just with the order of the exercises switched up. The  T25 workout went well. I was again able to do more unmodified exercises for longer.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 52

Day 52 was the rest day in Lift 4, and for a cardio workout, I just did the modified version of the 645 15-minute workout (using some moves from Lift 4 and some moves from T25 in place of a few exercises they are doing in the video). I managed to make it a good workout with all standing exercises.  Because there is no warmup, I go a little easier in the first round, and then go all out in the second and third rounds until I get tired.

Book Review: Foreign Influence (Scot Harvath Series #9)

 

Foreign Influence, published in 2010, is the 9th book in the Scot Harvath series of thrillers written by Brad Thor. This book has two different plots that run in parallel through most of the book and then intersect at the end. The first plot is the one that Harvath is most involved in. It involves a bombing in Rome that points to Nicholas/The Troll being involved. The second involves a hit-and-run accident in Chicago that leads a couple of cops to an al Qaeda cell planning a series of attacks. The book also introduces a group of characters that will be prominent in the spin-off novel, The Athena Project.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 380 pages and reads like the other books in the series. Like the other books in the series, this one has a good blend of action and suspense. This book does not have as much of the political maneuvering that some of the other books have had (and definitely not as much as the Mitch Rapp series does). Thor definitely seems to be conservative and puts his stamp on the whole torture debate that was raging back around the time this was written. That is as political as he gets, however. Ultimately, if you are a fan of the action thriller/spy novel genre and/or have liked the prior novels in the series, this is worth the time to read.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Hitman

 

Hitman is a 2007 action movie based on the video game series of the same name directed by Xavier Gens and starring  Timothy Olyphant, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, and Dougray Scott. Olyphant plays 47, a professional hitman who is essentially a part of a secret society simply called "The Organization," which engineers assassins and tattoos a bar code on the back of their necks to identify them. After 47 is tasked with an assassination, he is told to eliminate a witness (played by Kurylenko). When he realizes that she has never seen him before, 47 ignores the order to kill her and becomes engaged in a political conspiracy that has him being chased by Interpol, the FSB, and other hitmen from The Organization.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good. The movie has a lot of stunning visuals that look great in HD, especially on a large screen. The extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, the theatrical trailer, and several featurettes, including making-of featurettes and a couple about the video game franchise and adapting the game to a live-action movie. So, if you enjoy watching the bonus content, there is a lot there for you. The movie is a good action film but was never going to be an Academy Award winner.  It is very good for a shoot-'em-up action thriller. Olyphant (before his breakout role on the series Justified) did a very good job as 47. He played him as no-nonsense and serious, but there were times when he let emotion through that really made the character more than just a nameless assassin. Olga Kurylenko was also very good in her role as the tag-along that he was initially hired to kill (and, of course, gorgeous). The other standout performance was by Dougray Scott, who is the Interpol agent who has been tracking 47 (and investigating The Organization) for years.

The plot is somewhat convoluted but not that hard to follow. There are some really good action and fight sequences in the movie but the writing was kind of bad in some parts. It is not perfect, but if you are looking for an entertaining action movie, it is worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Hitch

 

Hitch is a 2005 movie directed by Andy Tennant and starring Will Smith, Kevin James, Amber Valletta, and Eva Mendez. In the movie, Smith plays a "date doctor" named Alexander Hitchens, who coaches men on how to pick up women with the goal of dating them versus just hooking up. James plays Albert Brennaman, who works at an investment firm and hires Hitch to help him get one of the firm's celebrity clients (played by Valletta) on a date. In the meantime, Hitch starts to fall for Mendez's character, who is a workaholic gossip columnist.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is okay, but not outstanding. Given, however, that the film is not a special-effects-laden blockbuster, most people will be fine with the quality of the transfer. The blu-ray has a handful of extras, including a gag reel, a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and trailers for a few different movies. The movie is a fairly good, tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy. When the movie does not take itself too seriously and almost spoofs "typical" romantic comedies, it is very good. It is funny in a lot of parts, and the actors have (or seem to have) very good chemistry. Then, for some reason, it feels the need to become a "typical" romantic comedy and do almost the exact opposite of what it did for the first 3/4 of the movie. If they had stuck to its original formula, I think it would have been perfect. 

Kevin James was the total scene-stealer in the movie. He was never afraid of making a fool of himself, and you could tell that he and Will Smith were having a lot of fun working off each other. Eva Mendes plays bitter and jaded very well and she showed she has very good comedic chops and can do more than just be eye candy. Ultimately, it is a good date night movie that can get kind of schlocky at the end. While that does keep the movie from being as good as it could have been, it does not take away from the entire thing. It is definitely worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Hide and Seek (Minor Spoilers)

 

Hide and Seek is a 2005 movie directed by John Polson and starring Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, and Amy Irving. De Niro plays David Callaway, a psychologist who moves with his daughter Emily (played by Fanning) to upstate New York after his wife (Irving) commits suicide. Emily reveals that she has a friend named Charlie, whom David assumes is an imaginary friend, and starts to become more and more worried for his daughter as "Charlie" becomes violent. 

The DVD has several bonus features, including a commentary track with the director and screenwriter, several alternate endings, deleted scenes, rough scenes that are a mix of live-action and storyboards, and a making-of featurette.  You can also watch the movie with the alternate endings or just watch the alternate endings on their own. The movie is a good, but not great, thriller. I thought De Niro did a good job being crazy when he was let loose at the end of the film. But you could really see what was going to happen with his character a mile away. Dakota Fanning did an excellent job with her part and was really able to convey a range of emotions that someone her age usually cannot pull off. It is in part because of her great acting you can tell what happens with De Niro's character. Her reactions to him were perfect. The rest of the film, however, was pretty formulaic. From the potential love interest, the creepy next-door neighbor, and the mistrusting sheriff. I just think that there was not a ton of originality to the script. A lot of that got saved by the acting, but it could have been better. Even so, it is worth watching if you are looking for a thriller/suspense movie. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Haywire

 

Haywire is a 2011 action movie directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Gina Carano (who at this time was best known for her MMA career), Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, and Ewan McGregor. In it, Carano plays a black-ops agent named Mallory Kane, who is burned and targeted for assassination. She has to unravel a conspiracy in order to clear her name.

When it comes to athletes turned actors, I define the spectrum as The Rock at one end (very good, lots of charisma) and Hulk Hogan/Jesse Ventura at the other (can't act their way out of a wet paper bag). Carano falls somewhere in between. She definitely does not have the charisma of The Rock, and in this movie is very raw. She obviously has been in other movies and TV shows since this movie and has gotten somewhat better, but she was extremely green when this movie was made, and you can tell that the script was written with that in mind. Carano was absolutely not good at conveying a range of emotions (and still is not) or even conveying much emotion beyond being mad and/or irritated. Her performance here is best described as wooden. You could not tell the difference between any emotional state. She looked the same being serious, angry, horny, and scared. Part of that is also due to the character she is playing, a black-ops operative who keeps her emotions bottled up. But it seems like she is basically there to look pretty and fight, which she does well doing most, if not all, of her own stunts. The movie was also made well before her controversial social-media posts that got her fired from the Star Wars franchise.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray release is very good, and there are a couple of extras. The first and most extensive is a 16-minute feature on Carano that touches on her MMA background and her training for the movie. The second is a 5-minute feature on the men in the movie, featuring interviews with all the male cast members except Douglas. Ultimately, the movie is good but not great. It definitely helped that the movie had a good backing ensemble cast that you can tell was put in place to support the fact that Carano was green. Unfortunately, the script was such that even the A-list actors in the cast could not do much. All that said, if you are into action movies and can handle a so-so script and marginal acting ability from Carano, this can be enjoyable and is worth the time to watch. The movie does not take itself too seriously and does not drag on too long. If, however, you are a casual fan of action movies, you may not like this one.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Heartbreak Kid

 

The Heartbreak Kid is a 2007 comedy starring Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller, Rob Corddry, and Danny McBride. The movie was directed by the Farrelly brothers. The plot is pretty simple. A lifelong bachelor named Eddie (Ben Stiller) finally decides to get married, but only after knowing the bride, Lila (Akerman) for a few weeks. On the way to and during the honeymoon, he discovers she is totally crazy and, while on his honeymoon, starts to fall for Monaghan's character, Miranda.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is excellent. While there is not much (if any) in the way of special effects or CGI, the location shots look wonderful, and the video transfer looks especially good on a large screen. The extras include a commentary track by the Farrelly brothers, deleted scenes, a gag reel, the trailers, and a handful of behind-the-scenes featurettes. If you are expecting a traditional romantic comedy, this is not it. It is more like a spoof of a romantic comedy, with jokes that can get very vulgar. So if those kinds of comedies are not something you find entertaining, then stay away from this one. Malin Ackerman totally plays up the crazy role and runs with the totally over-the-top jokes. The part of the movie that is the more traditional romantic comedy is when Stiller's character meets Miranda and tries to woo her, but it is coupled with trying to keep her from learning about his wife. 

Ultimately, this is a good comedy that is definitely not family-friendly or for those who don't like the more vulgar kind of humor. There is a lot of swearing and sexual content (both nudity and sex jokes) in the movie. If you are offended by that kind of material, it is best to avoid this one, but if you do like that kind of humor, then it is worth checking out.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 51

Day 51 was Legs in Lift 4 and Speed 1.0 in T25. I did have to modify more of the exercises in T25 than I wanted to, but when I did the HIIT portion of Lift 4, I was able to modify less. So, it was a bit of a wash today. Overall, however, they both went fairly well.  

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 50

Day 50 was the start of week 8 in Lift 4 which was the chest and back workout and Cardio 1.0 from T25. 

Chest and Back was a circuit workout, with four exercises in each block and, of course, three sets of each exercise. Even without cardio, my heart rate was elevated for most of the workout, and I did break a sweat toward the end. The T25 workout went well, and I could again do more unmodified exercises throughout the workout.

Book Review: Star Wars: Escape from Valo

 

Escape from Valo is one of the Phase 3 High-Republic era Star Wars novels. This is a junior novel written by Daniel Older and Alyssa Wong and published in 2024. The Phase 3 novels bring the storyline back to the "present" time, which is about 230 years before the events of A New Hope. The events of the book are set on Valo, which was the planet that hosted the Galactic Fair that was attacked by the Nihil. The story is set about a year after the Nihil's destruction of the Starlight Beacon and the construction of their Stormwall, which keeps the Republic and the Jedi out of Nihil territory while trapping several Jedi and Republic worlds inside. In this book, Ram Jomaram, who was introduced in the junior novel Race to Crashpoint Tower, is making life difficult for the Nihil by launching raids pretending to be a Sith calling himself The Scarlet Skull. A group of Jedi younglings (and Nihil) track him down, and the book then becomes a cat-and-mouse chase with the Jedi trying to save one of their own and avoid one of the Nameless/Levelers.

The hardcover version of the book is moderately long (especially for a junior novel), at just under 370 pages. The book does advance the main storyline a bit, by showing that Levelers can be killed, but for the most part, the storyline is ancillary to the adult novels. Ultimately, I would say that the story is okay but the book is not one of the must-read books from the High-Republic era novels. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 49

For day 49. I just did the modified version of the 15-minute cardio workout from 645. It went well and I found that in the jumping pulse squats because of all the squats in Lift 4 and T45, I could do the 30 seconds in each of the three rounds without modifying.  

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 48

For Day 48, I just did the two recovery routines from Lift 4. They went exactly the same as they did on Wednesday. There was no increased flexibility or mobility, but neither had decreased either.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 47

Day 47 was speed 1.0 and Full-Body HIIT. Each of them was hard, and I did have to modify each of them a lot. Full-body HIIT has a lot of push-ups (there are push-ups in each of the three blocks), and you have to switch between getting up and down very quickly. After the three regular blocks are finished, you do each of the 6 exercises back-to-back for 30 seconds with no break. So, by the end most people will be toast. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 46

Day 46 was shoulders and arms from Lift 4 and Cardio 1.0 from T25. The shoulders and arms workout was a tough circuit workout that went fast and was hard to get through, even with moderate weight. Again, I could do more of the speed 1.0 workout unmodified, but I cannot get through the entire thing without modifying yet.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 45

Day 45 was the recovery day in Lift 4, meaning I did the two recovery workouts. Then, I did the 15-minute cardio workout from 645 but altered it a bit. I did not do any of the plank-based exercises or the kicktroughs. I swapped those three out for soccer sprints, speed skaters, and high-knee runs from Lift 4 since those get my heart rate up and don't work the chest.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 44

Day 44 was the legs workout in Lift 4, which was a 50/50 workout, and Speed 1.0 in T25.

Both of the workouts went well, and I was able to do more of the unmodified moves in each of them. My cardio stamina is not where I want it, but it is getting better.

Book Review: Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad

 

Manhunt is a book published in 2012 and written by Peter Bergen about the effort to find and eventually kill Osama Bin Laden. Bergen is one of the few Western journalists to interview Bin Laden back in the 1990s and was in the process of writing a book about Bin Laden when the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred. This book mostly focuses on the time after 9/11 and tracks (to the best extent possible) where Bin Laden went after fleeing the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan to the raid on the compound in Abbottabad where he was holed up. Bergen does detail a little bit of his history prior to 9/11, but the focus of the book was the time period from September 2001 to May 2011.

The hardcover version of the book is about 360 total pages (260 of which are substantive text, and the last 100 pages include a bibliography, end notes, and an index). The notes mainly cite sources but occasionally flesh out the material in the text. Along with highlighting Bin Laden's movements, the book provides a lot of detail on how the US government ultimately tracked him down. Bergen interviewed multiple government sources, including sources from the CIA (some of whom were referred to using pseudonyms). Bergen also had several in-the-room sources who discussed what was happening as President Obama and the national security team were watching the feed of the raid and military sources who discussed how the raid team got in and out of Pakistan. The book is very compelling, and while most of the details in the book have been declassified and available to the public for years, it is still worth the time to read. 

Book Review: Dune: House Corrino (Dune #9)

 

House Corrino, published in 2001, is the ninth book in the series of Dune novels (when read chronologically) and is the third book in the Prelude to Dune Trilogy, the third of the prequel trilogies leading to the events of the original novel. The book was again written by the combination of Frank Herbert's son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The events of this book are set about 15 years before the events of the original novel, with Paul's birth occurring at the end of the book, Chani being about eight months old, and Princess Irulan as a young girl. The book mostly involves those who are adults in the original novel and includes three main plotlines, each of which has ancillary plotlines. In the first, Shaddam is trying to perfect the synthetic spice and break the Harkonnen hold on the spice trade. In the second, Leto devises a daring attack on the planet Ix to restore Prince Rhombur to power. In the third, the Harkonnens plot to kill Lady Jessica and/or her unborn child. 

The hardcover version of the book is about 500 pages long. The book is a faster read than the prior novels since all of the main characters have been established. There are some new characters in the book, but their involvement is tangential to the storylines. The end of the book does not lead directly into the events of the original Dune, as there are another four novels that, by their titles, seem to be centered around Paul, Chani, Irulan, and Jessica just before the events of the original book. This book (and the trilogy of novels it is a part of) does, however, provide a lot of context for what is in the original novel. The book is mostly about political maneuvering between the Houses, but there is quite a bit of action in the last third. The book is absolutely worth reading, but definitely has to be read in sequence with the other books to follow its plotlines. 

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. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Ultimate Edition)

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the 2005 installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise. It brought back the entire main cast and again expanded the cast. The major additions to the cast in this movie were Evanna Lynch, Imelda Staunton, and Helena Bonham Carter. Some of the characters had smaller roles in this movie, while the roles of other characters were expanded. The movie was directed by David Yates, who would go on to direct the rest of the Harry Potter movies in the series and the three Fantastic Beasts movies. 

This time, the Ultimate Edition set is a two-disc set. One disc contains the movie and the other the bulk of the bonus content. Again, there is not an extended edition of the movie, but you can play the movie with a picture-in-picture in-movie experience that is hosted by Daniel Radcliff, and within that, there are focus points that provide an even deeper look at specific scenes or locations. On disc 2, the fifth part of the Creating Harry Potter documentary is included, as well as eleven minutes of deleted scenes, several more behind-the-scenes featurettes, and the trailers for the movie. And, there is another commemorative hardcover booklet included with this set. So, again, if you love the bonus content, this has a lot for you.

The movie is very good, and as has been the case throughout the series, the young actors continue to get better. Harry Potter is a series that (for the most part) got progressively better with each movie, not only because the child actors got better as they grew up, but the books got better as they transitioned from being "kid's books" to the darker more adult-themed books. This movie has a lot more violence and death than all the others up to this point and includes the first death of a major character. This movie also introduces the characters of Luna Lovegood and Delores Umbridge. Both parts are cast perfectly, and Imelda Staunton conveys the sense that Umbridge is borderline evil, definitely sadistic, and always up to no good. I liked the final battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore, but I think they could have made it longer. Given that this was the shortest of the films, they should have put as much as possible into that battle. Plus, they certainly could have added in some other elements from the books, like fleshing out the Snape and Lilly Potter storyline.

I feel that all the Ultimate Editions should have extended versions of the films offered as the first two did. Yes, the deleted scenes are included in the special features, but it would be nice to see them incorporated into the movie itself. The movie does set up a lot of the remaining storyline, but not as much as the book does so you have to look at the movies as their own thing, separate from the books. The Ultimate Edition is really only something that hardcore fans are going to be interested in since most casual fans are not likely to want to sit through hours of behind-the-scenes material. If you are a hardcore fan, however, this is worth the pickup even though there is not an extended edition of the movie included.