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Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (Widescreen Edition)

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I thought this stuff was written for young people!
Review: Being one of the very few adults who have not read a single Harry Potter book, I was certainly not prepared for such an onslaught of scary situations and monsters as this movie put forth. I usually can take a lot of mysterious scarriness without being bothered, but some of this was so gross I wondered how on earth the people watching the movie as I did could sit there and put their little children through that horror. And whether these children would have nightmares for weeks (perhaps months) to come.
Some of the movie was enjoyable and entertaining. But I would never take my seven-yr. old grandson to see such violence.
The flying car was fun to watch, shades of Chitty Bang Bang and Stars Wars special effects crammed together.
This movie is definitely not for children of any age!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I¿m just wild about Harry!
Review: If we gave letter grades instead of stars, I'd give "The Chamber of Secrets" an A-. The film version of the second J.K. Rowling novel has been on everyone's "want to see" list, and director Chris Columbus does not disappoint.
Once again, the screenplay adaptation is true to the book, and little of significance has been left out. Although it may escape the youngest viewers, Harry's discomfort with the fact that he is a celebrity begins to show, and the class war between Wizards and those with partial "Muggle" blood is featured, foreshadowing class conflicts we have in the real world.

The film opens with the soaring "Harry Potter" music, and you first begin to realize how much you equate it with the films, kind of like the "Star Wars" theme. Harry's life at his "Muggle" home is featured, but it isn't long before visitors (our first glimpse of Dobby, the House Elf, magically created in computer graphics) and an action-packed appearance by the Weasley brothers, in a marvelous car, shake up Harry's world, and it's back to magic! The Weasley home, shown briefly, is a charming wonder. It's funny to see how the young actors have changed, with Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) now much taller than Harry...they were the same height in the first film.

This segment at Hogwarts is far darker and scarier than in the first movie. There is a threatening tone for Harry throughout, and the Hogwarts staff is frightened and mystified by attacks on staff and students. The bond between Harry, Ron and Hermione is very strong, and all the young actors are convincing in their roles. One of the great scenes occurs with the polyjuice potion, with Hermione very matter-of-fact about the ghost that haunts the girl's bathroom and amusing transformations for the three of them.

One of my favorites, Kenneth Branagh, steals scenes as the egotistical professor of the dark arts, Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart is comically inept at his magic, and very vain of his appearance - Branagh adds just the right touch. Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) is back, and his best scenes are when he is drolly putting down Lockhart. This will be Richard Harris' last turn as Dumbledore, and he is featured heavily, along with the incredible Fawkes, his computer generated pet Phoenix. Robbie Coltrane returns as Hagrid, and we learn more about him than in the first film. The ladies, too, are back, and a new favorite is Professor Sprout; you'll laugh at her gardening class! One role that was wonderfully cast was Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. He drips evil all over the film as his character sets out to destroy Dumbledore and all Wizards with Muggle blood.

Quidditch is even better than before, with many of the scenes exhilarating and scary. The monsters that Harry encounters on his way to the Chamber are mesmerizing, and beautifully filmed. Harry is less of a spectator in this film, and uses his own skills and magic to overcome the obstacles cast in his way.

One of the most charming elements of the film are the little jokes that escape you during the first viewing, that you hear when you finally get the DVD. Here's my favorite: after Ron bumbles a spell containing slugs, the friends take him to Hagrid to help him get through throwing up slugs. Hagrid sits him down and says he'll need "special equipment" to help him get through it....then hands him a wooden bucket! Priceless little jokes like this permeate the film, and for that reason, many choose to see it several times in the theater.

Why the "A-" rating? The film, at nearly 3 hours long, needed more editing. Perhaps a little less of Dobbie...? And, unfortunately, although I loved the special effects, the violence in several scenes makes this a movie to which I would not choose to take a preschool child. That said, neither of these drawbacks really affected the way I personally viewed the movie, and, I still am just wild about Harry !

Go, see and enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant, Intelligent, Engaging, and MAGICAL!!
Review: This is beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest movies released in a long time. Following the similarly wonderful 'Sorcerer's Stone', this film follows Harry and Co. through year 2 at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The cast is perfect, the story is brilliant, the set and special effects are breathtaking, and the movie is worth every cent you'll pay to see it. The film is smart and intelligent, and will keep adult audiences more entertained than children. There are many who call this franchise evil because of its magical element, but for an educated audience there is no substitute!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is "The" Review you Have to Follow
Review: This movie is excellent. The actors were suitible for the characters. The fitted the characters so well. I hope that Chris Columbus makes the other movies even more suspenseful and inspiring then the others. The director, producers, make-up artists and espiacally the visual effects artists make the movie look real and you actually feel like you know the characters. They did an excellent job of makeing it so much like the novel! I hope that the same actors stay as long as they do the Harry Potter series. Espeically...Dan Radcliffe...he's a cute guy...This is an awesome movie. So take my advice and see it over and over again because every time you see it, it gets better and better. Because as you see it over and over again you begin to look inbetween lines and see things that you didn't see the previous time you saw it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Phe...nominal...
Review: Just as phenominal as the first. Parts of it are very funny too; I cracked up at the flying car scene! Poor Ron was sooo embarrassed to get that howler from his mum! It was nice meeting the Weasleys; I liked Molly esp. Daniel's almost two years older than Harry here because Daniel's voice is now very soft and a little husky here, even a bit musical at times. It sounds really beautiful, like it's really on the way to becoming deep and soft, even though in the books, Harry doesn't hit puberty until the fourth book when he's fourteen. Good suspense here. Boy, poor Harry had quite a rocky Diagon Alley trip; first he chokes on the floo powder and winds up in dark Knockturn Alley! Then the conceited new DADA professor, Lockheart, embarrasses Harry red in the face by wheedling him up with him to get pictures taken. I get the feeling Lockheart was really showing off being seen with Harry and I could tell Harry was nervous and uncomfortable with all the attention. Of course, that obnoxious brat Draco Malfoy shows up to taunt Harry cruelly. Malfoy gets worse in this movie. And here Harry and his friends have the misfortune of meeting Lucious Malfoy, who even WORSE than his son! It was sooo good when Lucious got his come-uppance in the end for his dirty little games in the Ministry and esp. with the Hogwarts board. Good thing Harry's very smart, so he figured out who was REALLY behind a mysterious sinister diary he finds. The ending might be too scary for small kids under ten, but is good in that Harry battles the evil basilisk, but his fear is visible; he's not some all-confident "hero", and he gets help in an unexpected way from a phoenix. At one point, he dashes away from the basilik and trips and falls flat on his face with his glasses flying off; that scene was so real and human. Ginny's there and I liked how they kind of hug, but Harry's very shaken and is near tears as he says something that he's physically slow and even feels a bit guilty. I liked also that even though Ginny's in danger, she's not hysterical or clinging to Harry, but is calmer than even Harry when she wakes up. I just LOVED that ending when Hagrid returns and Harry just leaps up and hugs him in front of everyone, not caring if Malfoy and his cronies laugh at him! It's also great that he hugs Hermione in the end too; not many movies show pre-teen guys hug a girl openly without sexual innuendo. Harry is so loving and sweet! He's so funny in that he's so reserved, serious, quiet, and a rather closed person, yet has an openly loving heart. Looking forward to #3!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Movie, Better Book...
Review: Not to be a total stickler, but there were a number of key parts of the second book that were not included in this movie as well as bits of converstaions taken out of context. While it was a very well put together movie and I encourage everyone to go and see it, I was a little disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Very Decent Film
Review: This movie is a film worth seeing. The characters are as good as they were in the first film(Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) and theie maturity in influencing the movies structure. The graphics are very real looking although you are able to see that they are computer oriented. The plot is introduced very well and the new characters gildory Lockheart, Dobby, and Professor Sprout are a exellent bonus! I con gradulate Chris Columbous for another great Harry Potter film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not As Good
Review: I had heard many people say this movie was better than the first. I disagree. Although this one has some better technical aspects, I think the story is not as good. At 2h40m, it is long, especially considering theaters now have 20m of fluff (very few previews anymore) before that -- making for a long 3h for children. Still, it is not a waste. A compelling story, but with too much in-your-face movie pyrotechnics and sonic explosions. The movie could have done well enough without those and shaved 15m without hurting the plot one bit. I had heard that it was scarier than the first, but did not see real evidence of that. Some parts were scary, but most of them were not "truly" scary in the way that the first film was. The fact that our 8 year old had no nightmares is also somve (weak) evidence of that as well. Overall, certainly worth seeing, but not as good as the first.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Magic is Gone
Review: I was eternally disappointed in the second film in the harry potter series.
towards the beginning of the film, ron's wand snaps in half, and even though he tapes it together, the magic seeps out of it and out of this inadvertantly hysterical film.
director chris columbus seems to refer a lot to his earlier home alone films for the "comedy" bits of the film, which brought laughs from all the tiny children in the audience, who just love to see people fall down and do splits.
the rest of the film is raiders of the lost ark...with good acting and plenty of mindless action but no character development or depth.
in short, this film should appeal to children, or people with childish taste in film, but should repel more mature film critics.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love Daniel Radcliffe
Review: Daniel Radcliffe I know this is not really going to be sent to you I wish it would though but I am your biggest fan I have like so many posters and pictures of you!!! I think that you are the best actor I know!!but I only wish that you would recive this messege!!but I think you are so CUTE!!!


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