![]() The Triwizard Tournament is taking place this year, and Hogwarts is competing against Durmstrang and Beauxbatons schools. He really should have paid attention to the ill omen though, as it isn’t long before the World Cup is marred by worrisome unrest from a menace thought long forgotten, and it soon becomes apparent that Harry Potter’s fourth year at Hogwarts is only going to get worse. ![]() Even if the nightmare was of the ominous figure of He Who Must Not Be Named committing murder, that’s no reason not to enjoy the Quidditch World Cup. Introduction: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Like most everyone else, Harry Potter doesn’t let a nightmare get in the way of a good time. Harry keeps attracting trouble though, and in between fending off his nemesis Malfoy and learning to fly a Hippogriff, he learns an uncomfortable truth about Sirius Black. Fortunately there is a new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and Professor Lupin is concerned for Harry`s welfare. What`s worse is that the Dementors of Azkaban have been unleashed to affect his recapture, and have taken up residence around Hogwarts, but also seem to take an uncommon and debilitating interest in Harry. Now that he has escaped, Harry is the target for his wrath. Black was a fervent supporter of Voldemort in the dark days, and Harry learns that Sirius holds him responsible for the dark lord`s demise. All becomes clear when he learns of the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban prison. He expects to be censured for breaking the law against underage wizardry, but is surprised to find that the Minister of Magic is inclined to be lenient. Introduction: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter`s third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry gets off to an inauspicious start before he even gets to school, when in a fit of rage, he inflates his obnoxious Aunt Marge. It also becomes apparent that nothing dates as quickly as CGI. There are some crushed wizards cloaks in this film. It also seems as if there’s been some contrast boosting applied, with whites appearing blown in some scenes, blue skies seen on the DVD are white on the Blu-ray, and dark detail levels vary from the excellent to the non-existent. But there is that foggy start, and indeed other such scenes in the film where the environments are dusty or smoky, the detail levels drop, and the image suddenly feels flat in comparison to the rest of the film. Generally The Philosopher’s Stone gets a decent transfer, with adequate detail levels, wonderfully rich colours, particularly in the magic world, and the organic feel of film, natural grain and even the rare fleck of dirt on the print. ![]() I was expecting to be hit with the usual instant Blu-ray upgrade sense of wonder as I usually get with Blu-rays, before starting to pick nits, but not this time, as the foggy start to The Philosopher’s Stone became indicative of one of the transfer’s weaknesses, and it wasn’t until daylight at the Dursleys that I saw the detail, colour definition, and pop that I was expecting. Picture: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Harry Potter gets a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer using the VC-1 codec. Oh well, I thought, I’d watch the rest of the films in cinema, and buy them all as a boxset when it was done and dusted, all around the same time I fell out of love with the cinema experience, the small screens, the idiotic prices, the other people. The first two movies came out in collectable digipack form, but then Warner Brothers went and released Prisoner of Azkaban in a standard Amaray, and suddenly the symmetry of my shelving was thwarted. I went to the cinema for the first three films, and eagerly pounced on the DVDs, and that’s when the experience went sour. I loved the way the books were written, growing up with their target audiences fantastic, colourful children’s stories for The Philosopher’s Stone, and full on angsty teen fiction by the time Deathly Hallows came around. Introduction I was into Harry Potter mania when the first film came out, prompted to go back and pick up the books that all the cool business-folk on the daily commute were reading, and then being there front and centre for when the final three books were released.
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