Synopsis
Emboldened by the return of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters are wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that new dangers may lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. He needs Harry to help him uncover a vital key to unlocking Voldemort’s defenses–critical information known only to Hogwarts’ former Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. With that in mind, Dumbledore manipulates his old colleague into returning to his previous post with promises of more money, a bigger office…and the chance to teach the famous Harry Potter.
Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry’s long friendship with Ginny Weasley is growing into something deeper, but standing in the way is Ginny’s boyfriend, Dean Thomas, not to mention her big brother Ron. But Ron’s got romantic entanglements of his own to worry about, with Lavender Brown lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings. And then a box of love potion-laced chocolates ends up in the wrong hands and changes everything.
As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof with far more important matters on his mind. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Much like how people felt about the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, I felt like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was merely a bridge for setting up the finale. There was no real value in it other than to gel everyone together and introduce ‘the way’ to take care of Voldemort. What I failed to realize after reading the book was that it had a lot more dimension to it than I previously thought. The movie helped to expose my faulty opinion and brought to life a more dynamic view of who Voldemort was, what he did to survive and what the trio of heroes must do to prepare for one of the more epic battles in film/book history. What J.K. Rowling did in the sixth book was to give everyone a clear view of what the heck was coming and what was at stake. Director David Yates took that same vision and translated it perfectly to film, if not just a bit better.
If viewers didn’t get a definitive feeling of innocence lost with the last film then they definitely would find it in this one. Yates created an uncertain world through dreary colors (mostly driven by yellow) and intense moments of silence. For example, when Hermione and Harry are consoling each other at their loneliest stages of the film you can see how separated and different their characters are forced to be. They can’t find comfort in their childhood, as they have to prepare themselves for the upcoming war. It’s brutal to see it and definitely sad, as a viewer, to see that they can’t avoid their fates. Yates does a great job with the grimness of the situation and puts an exclamation point on it all with Dumbledore’s demise at the end. By the end of the film everyone knows that Harry and company must win this war on their own and everyone around them is a potential future victim. Much like Rowling’s characters, the audience now understands that the once kiddy/fantasy film has turned into a dark war that can only be stopped through sacrifices of characters we have come to love.
Intense? Yes. Sad? Enormously. A good transition into the next two films? You could not have made a more perfect way of starting the beginning of the end.
Unlike previous films in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince depends on dialogue, fantastic acting and good storytelling. If any of those things weren’t strong than this movie fails and it might have created a tumble into the last two films. Regretfully, because of these three things the movie might not have been the favorite of the rabid fans. Reading such a combination of things is one thing, but translating it to film and making it intriguing is quite another. David Yates does some great work with this film and splices in a few pieces of humor to keep everyone in check. Ultimately, the film works really well, but I can certainly see why this might not be a favorable fit for most fans.
Like it or hate it, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fantastic film in my eyes and one that is certainly in my top three of the series (including part one of the latest release).
Now, with all this said, what does this so-called ‘ultimate edition’ include to make it worthy of your hard earned cash? Well, the Blu-ray transfer is damn good. While I certainly fell in love with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix release there is something just a bit better about the HD in this one. I’m not sure if the dark yellow or browns had anything to do with it, but the picture is just a bit sharper. There are absolutely no artifacts or signs of noise in the picture. The audio certainly suffers just a bit because of the lack of action, but it does have its moments. For example, in the scene where Dumbledore is fighting off the dead to save Harry’s life in their search for Voldemort’s third horcrux the audio is tremendous in both music and sound effects. The swooshing sound of the fire mixed in with the dramatic musical composition makes for a tremendous feeling of drama. It sounds spectacular in a mastered DTS-HD track.
On top of this, you also get a nice package in the ‘ultimate edition’, which includes a hardback book full of 48-pages of high-res images from years 1-7. You also get some neat character cards (that are included with all the sets). On top of this, you get a nice foldout Blu-ray sleeve that houses both the movie (disc one) and the features (disc two).
As for the special features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 6: Magical Effects
– Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Behind the Magic
– Additional Scenes in Hi-Def
– J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life: A Personal Look at the Journey in Creating and Launching the Final Book
– Close Up with the Cast of Harry Potter
– The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
– What’s on Your Mind?: Lightning-round Q/A with Cast/Crew
– One-Minute Drills
– Gallery of 5 Distinctive Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ABC Promo Spots
-Theatrical Trailers
While the other features are nice, the gold here are three features (sans the additional scenes). The magical effects featurette is enormous, as you go through how special effects in years 1-7 were created and designed. It’s pretty interesting and I’m happy they included this, as it will have you glued to the screen for about an hour. The specific feature on this particular film is nice as well. One of the more interesting featurettes was the J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life documentary. It’s about an hour long and gives a positively interesting point of view about the writer. You get to learn her happy moments, her sad moments and her tragic moments. It will tell you everything you probably need/can learn about the author without actually meeting and having dinner with her. It’s one of the most introspective looks into someone who should be reveling in her success, but surprisingly isn’t. I know my thoughts about her have changed dramatically after seeing this featurette.
I digress, overall the special features for this release are really quite strong as a whole.