Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Widescreen)

Like most people, I bought all the Harry Potter movies on DVD as they came out. When I heard they were making extended editions of the films, I figured it was worth it to repurchase and upgrade to bluray. Unlike the first two films, this one is NOT an extended version of the film. The bonus features do include the deleted scenes but they are not reincorporated back into the film. I purchased the first 4 of the Ultimate Editions only to discover that, very misleadingly, only the first two had extended versions. If you already own the series, it's not, in my opinion, worth it to upgrade to these ones. The new bonus content is not worth the extra money and it's the same version of the movie you already own.

Based on J. K. Rowling's book, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" covers the boy wizard's third year at Hogwarts and hit the big screen in 2004. The film opens at Privet Drive with the end of the summer holidays approaching. The previous summer, at the start of the Chamber of Secrets, Harry had been blamed by the Ministry of Magic for a spell performed by Dobby the House Elf in Dursley's house. This summer, Harry panics as he accidentally casts a spell on Uncle Vernon's thoroughly obnoxious sister. Knowing he's in trouble, he decides to go on the run - but, following a bumpy ride on the Knight Bus, the Minister for Magic corners him at Diagon Alley. Harry is somewhat surprised to be let off, given the trouble he got into the previous year - but relieved all he same.

The Magic Community seems to be much more concerned with a very dangerous criminal called Sirius Black, the first person to escape from Azkaban (the wizard prison). He had been sent there after being found guilty of murdering thirteen people - twelve of them muggles - with a single curse about twelve years earlier. Widely believed to have been a big supporter of Voldemort's, the rumour is he's hunting for Harry. As a result, some Azkaban guards (terrifying creatures, known as Dementors) have been posted at Hogwarts for the protection of the pupils and staff.

Harry is, once again, joined by Ron and Hermione at Hogwarts. There's a bit of trouble between Harry's two friends, however. Much of that is caused by Hermione's new pet Crookshanks - a crazy cat, who seems determined to kill Scabbers, Ron's rat, at every opportunity. This year's Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, is Professor Lupin who - like the Dementors, the three friends meet him for the first time on the Hogwarts Express. Despite the fact he dresses rather shabbily and gets strangely ill from time to time, Lupin actually seems to know what he's doing. He also proves to be highly popular with the majority of pupils, particularly Harry. There are a couple pf other new teachers introduced this year - one of them is Hagrid, who has taken over the Care of Magical Creatures class. Unfortunately, his first lesson leads to a bit of trouble with a Hippogriff. Another is Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher - who seems to be a bit of a crackpot. In their first lesson, she somehow picks out the Grim (a death omen) from Harry's tealeaves. Harry probably wouldn't have been too worried, only he'd already seen something of a death omen just as he was boarding the Knight Bus.

The movie is very enjoyable, though a good deal darker than I had imagined. Despite the criticism I've heard of their performances in the previous films, I thought Daniel Ratcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were very good in their roles. (Draco, Harry's arch nemesis, would've stolen the show had his role been any bigger : Tom Felton plays the part of a strutting, arrogant, little twerp superbly. One of the most enjoyable scenes came when Hermione puts him firmly in his place). Professor Trelawney was also an enjoyable addition, played by the barely recognisable Emma Thompson. (Her ex-husband, of course, was also once on the teaching staff at Hogwarts : Ken Brannagh played the part of Gilderoy Lockhart in "The Chamber of Secrets"). For fans of the Stone Roses, meanwhile, Ian Brown stops by the Leaky Cauldron for a quick drink. The film's effects are hugely impressive, especially the Dementors : their first appearance on the train was the best scene in the film for me. Parts of the book have been minimised or dropped - particularly the 'history' of the Marauder's Map, its authors and how Lupin knew how to use it. However, it's a very enjoyable movie and is highly recommended.

I put this review off for a long time because I wanted to re-read the book before offering final judgment on the movie. I have to admit that I cannot add my name to the supposed list of people hailing Alfonso Cuar'n as the perfect director for this pivotal film in the Harry Potter series. It is natural that a new director would make changes to redefine the world in his own image, but I think this movie makes far too many changes - I could forgive that, but some of the additions are just, well, silly and wholly unnecessary. J.K. Rowling herself might love the shrunken head on the Knight Bus, but I have no use for it - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is not a comedy, and it does not need the intellectual equivalent of a man doing a pratfall. At Hogwarts, you get ghost horsemen crashing through windows and thumping into the Great Hall. There are a number of similar additions I consider useless at best. Why throw these things in there? It's not like you are starting with a weak story and having to pad the film. Did Cuaron think he needed to add a few silly scenes in order to make the film appeal to children? As if there's a child in Western society who isn't already a rabid Harry Potter fan. And the clothing rubs me the wrong way - rarely do you see the kids in their Hogwarts uniforms in this movie. And speaking of Hogwarts, it looks nothing like it did in the first two films; I kept expecting Julie Andrews to come strolling over one of the hills singing The Sound of Music. All of these needless changes took away from my enjoyment of Rowling's story. The fact that the kids are outgrowing their characters didn't help either - Neville, Malfoy, and, to some degree, Ron hardly resemble themselves from the first two movies. I didn't like the fact that Dumbledore's attire was completely changed (and that little rubber band in the beard thing was - to me - horrible) - in my opinion, all of that added unneeded complications to the transition process from the late Richard Harris to Michael Gambon in this pivotal role.

I'm not saying Cuaron didn't do some things well, though. The guys and gals who designed Buckbeak (in both model and CGI form) went well beyond the call of duty and should be praised. Aunt Marge, Professor Trelawney, Professor Lupin, and Sirius Black were perfect embodiments of their literary selves. Hogsmeade was an unqualified visual success. The Dementors were brought to life very effectively. Definitely, in many ways this was a very impressive film. Notice I haven't mentioned the story yet.

Ah, yes, the plot. Obviously, I think the movie left out more than it should have to make room for a lot of unnecessary fluff. What we do have, though, feels somewhat disjointed to me - just a bunch of scenes thrown together. Obviously, I knew when the seasons changed as Cuaron went to the well too often with the soaring seasonal transitions, but I did not get the sense that a school year at Hogwarts had passed by the end of the film. Speaking of the ending, I will declare that it was well done indeed. It could have been confusing for younger viewers (assuming, of course, there might actually be one young viewer out there who hadn't actually read the book before seeing the film), so I was glad to see Cuaron really take the time to concentrate on bringing it off as seamlessly as possible.

The extras on the bonus DVD are something of a mixed bag. I think I speak for all of us when I thank the studio for not making us go through some kind of infernal maze just to find a deleted scene. The five deleted scenes included here, though, aren't much to talk about. The games and the tours of Honeydukes and Lupin's classroom will appeal to some, but the real meat of the extras comes in the form of the cast interviews (even though they do force us to endure more of that infernal shrunken head), the featurette on the extraordinary animals seen in the film, and the interviews with director Cuaron and author J.K. Rowling.

I know I've been critical of the film, but that doesn't mean I don't love it. I just think it could have been much better than it was. Many of us take our Harry Potter extremely seriously, and I just would have preferred stricter adherence to Rowling's original story (and, of course, less silly fluff).