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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: 3 stars
Summary: Passable, But Not up to the Original
Review: Not as awe inspiring as the first film, the introduction to the Potter mythos, this film returns to that world decently. However, a distraction was the fact that the primary kid actors have aged quite a bit beyond their original roles. It's quite startling watching the second film then checking out the 'Hogwarts First Year' section and seeing them much younger. Too bad they couldn't do a Lord of the Rings and do as many films as possible quickly, heh. Still, the effects were a lot better. The basilisk was better CGI than the firsts three headed dog and ogre thing. Decent matinee fair, but nothing to seek out like the Two Towers and likely a disc I won't buy for my collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent movie
Review: This is a wonderful movie! Rich in colours and an excellent storyline. But its a bit rushed. The DVD comes (like the first one) loaded with excellent features! I strongly suggest you read the Harry potter Books before you watch the Harry potter Movies, though!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A darker feel than the first
Review: First of all I should probably admit that I've never read the Harry Potter books and I wasn't particularly a fan of the first movie. My first thoughts when watching the second instalment was that it was better, but nothing spectacular. The plot has Harry returning again from his horrible home life back to Hogwarts and a mystery concerning the Chamber of Secrets, forewarned to open up and release a hideous monster that can kill just by looking at you. When characters start turning up paralysed it's up to Harry and his friends to uncover what's going on.

Just as in the first movie, this seems more concerned with translating the book directly to the screen rather than transferring its spirit. This being the case it often comes across as a lot of set pieces, which are impressive as standalones but aren't linked together very well. Unfortunately though, most of the enjoyment to be found here (at least for adults) comes from incidentals rather than from the whole film - a marvellous horticulture lesson, a flying car and the all too brief cameo appearances from a host of well-known British faces. On a brighter note, Daniel Radcliffe isn't quite so wooden this time round (though it's hard to believe that he was hand-picked from thousands for much else than his resemblance to Harry). Emma Watson as Hermione is fantastic though, again stealing every scene she's in, and Kevin Kline makes a highly enjoyable appearance as a fraudster magician.

Perhaps what makes The Chamber Of Secrets really stand out from The Sorcerer's Stone though is the fact that it is distinctly darker, perhaps preparing the way for things to come as Harry matures. This darker tone is mostly evidenced by the darker finale, involving a giant snake that Harry must face alone, and some simplistic yet subtle references to racism against 'mud-bloods' (those not born pure-wizard). Plus, for anyone who's scared of spiders, you'd best avert your eyes before Harry and Ron enter the woods. Though the Harry Potter films are in fairness better done than many children's movies out there this still loses out to The Two Towers, although the fact that Y Tu Mama Tambien director Alfonso Cuaron is set to take the helm for The Prisoner Of Azkaban brings hope to any older viewers hoping for a more involving movie. I'm told that the books, as well as being much better than the movies, are also getting much darker, and this is surely the direction to take in order to make Harry Potter more intriguing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Unsubstantial...
Review: After that many adult friends recommended me to watch "Harry Potter" and considering all the scandal this movie has produced, I decided to see the movie (two years after its appearance)...
The special effects and the imaginative ground, I think, are great: great sound effects, moving images in pictures, talking letter, flying cars... However, I did not like the movie. The plot is not centered into something substantial; it does not make a strong ethical, humoristic or mysterious statement which makes it somewhat mild. For a kid I think that the movie is good; however, for an adult (many of my mid 20 friends are fans of Harry Potter) it could be not-so-interesting. The only part that of the movies that I liked lies in a idea about determination to do whatever we want: when Harry Potter and Professor Dubledore discuss that Harry should have been in another school instead of Gryffindorf, but that his determination rewarded what he really wanted.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great adventure film.
Review: This is pretty much the first time i decided to watch anything remotley to do with Harry Potter (apart from half of the 1st film) as i assumed i was too old for that sort of thing (despite the fact i own LOTR which is another classic) and i really dont think there is anything wrong with watching these films i mean personally JK Rowlings books are well written and create some good story lines, although i have not read a Harry Potter book you can tell from the films. As with chamber of secrets there are alot of speacial effects and it's the sort of film that appeals to your inner child if you have one you'll love it and to be perfectly honest it does appeal to adults aswell, depending on what type of adult you are as in whether you like fantasy or anything like sci-fi etc, the acting's improved in this installment aswell although it was ok on the philosophers stone, the child actors do seem more confident in there rolls aswell which improves the film, the prospect of another film is looming and it should be good.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: harry potter and the chamber of secrets
Review: i think that"harry potter and the chamber of secrets" anit as good as the philosopher's stone 'cause in this movie its just very scary and that hermione anit here to boss around anit that good.there anit no sad things there that might make people cry...so,i dont think its quite good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Adults will like Harry Potter movies, too.
Review: When I watched this Harry Potter movie for the first time, I was hesitant as a 47 yr old, because I thought it would turn out to be a kiddie show, but I could not have been more wrong. This is a movie for any age group over the age of 7 who enjoy magic and fantasy movies... even for the sci-fi fans but it is too complex for the young ones under 7 with short attention spans and they would get restless and disruptive. It is clean and wholesome. There is nothing about this movie that would be inappropriate. It has that same innocence we loved on Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. There is nothing boring about this movie. It will keep you entertained throughout and you will become an instant fan of the Harry Potter series.
Excellent movie, excellent script, the actors were natural and believable with a wonderful mixture of magic and engrossing adventure. In fact, the movie is much better than the book, but leaves out some of the details, so if you want all of the "behind the movie scenes" and Harry Potter stories not included in the movie, then you will want to watch the movies and read the books. The movie brings the book to life and gives the story and characters class and believability. Watching the movie may also give your children the incentive to start reading the books and anything that gets children to read is highly beneficial.
I would highly recommend this movie for adults, children and definitely a family movie, but you will want to watch it when you can devote 100% of your attention and are not distracted by noises, interruptions or other tasks, otherwise, you will miss the subtle details and twists and lose the feel and flavor of the movie which will cause you to find yourself lost and out of touch with the plot.
The deleted scenes, tours and challenge adventures included on the DVD's are also a lot of fun to try.
Both Harry Potter movies are excellent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT AWESOME MOVIE!!!
Review: This is the ultimate sequel. Alot Of sequels suck but this one was great! I loved the humour action, drama, and even horror. This is the main idea. Harrys back and better than ever in this great sequel. seriously see it, show it to your friends, save it for years, and passd it on to future genarations. The effects were awesome and the games were not bad either. So the best thing to do would be buy as soon as possible.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Fantastic Sequel
Review: Once again, we find Harry Potter stuck in his room on Privett Drive with his Aunt & Uncle. Hedwig is going stir crazy and Harry is rather upset that no one has sent him any letters all summer. Enter Dobby the House Elf. He comes to warn Harry not to go back to Hogworts for the new school year because bad things will happen.
This year at Hogwarts snakes talk and Harry communicates with them. From duelling clubs to rogue Bludgers, it's a year of adventure and danger when bloody writing on a wall announces: "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened". To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione's magical abilities and courage in this spellbinding sequel.
The first time I heard Ronald Weasley speak, I sort of chuckled and thought "somebody hit puberty". What a great movie!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What happened?
Review: Honestly, I have to ask this question. What happened to the quality of the movies? I am a huge fan of the books. I adore them. They explained a lot, and they met my expectations each time, getting steadily better and better than its predecessor. However, this is not the case with the movies. During the first one I thought at the end, "Okay...this is just what you expected, right?" Hardly any good book is transformed into a good movie, with the possible execption of Lord of the Rings. Take Flowers for Algernon, for example. An exciting book about a person recieving mental enhancment, but then IQ going back down at the end was a memorable book. You felt the sadness that Charlie felt, you feel the frustration, the hopelessness. However, when a movie was made, you couldn't feel anything. Not that the actors were bad though. I meant the whole point of the movie was being snuffed. Thinking this, I then went to the second movie with a feeling of the fact that it was going to be better.

Harry Potter 2, though, was even worse. I snorted, scoffed, and raised my eyebrows so frequently during the movie that they were in danger of disappearing completely. Let's start from the beginning. Dobby, a Gollum-like character, with jerky movements that clearly indicate that he was computer generated, shows up and starts talking like Jar Jar Binks. The Weasleys look like a normal family, no idication whatsoever of being poor. And when they start to fly the car, there are PEOPLE WALKING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM! And what was that bit about a character falling out of the car while flying and in danger of getting hit by a train?! Isn't that a little dramatic? Might I add that Hogwarts looks like a forbidding jail? Skipping ahead to the Herbology lesson, why is it that Professor Sprout talks with the earmuffs on? Wouldn't you hear the cries of the Mandrake too? And WHY did Draco Malfoy stick his finger in a Mandrake's mouth? Also, when Harry was reading Riddle's diary, why was there an elongated NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Now the scene with the basilisk. First of all, it looks like a dinosaur. Its gigantic, luminous yellow eyes were transformed into tiny, beady, red eyes. And what happened to speaking Parseltongue? Why is Riddle yelling at the snake in English? Plus, there were not that many tunnels in the Chamber of Secrets and Harry did NOT climb the statue and almost kill himself with his own idiocy. Enough with the storyline.

The characters were extremely two dimensional. They had no other feelings. Take Harry, for example. He has two faces, one with a toothy grin, the other a glaring scowl. Hermione is perpetually annoying, and Ron has no lines. (I thought the casting with Hermione was pretty bad too. I expected her to be funny looking and ugly) Draco tries too hard, but Lucius Malfoy was actually pretty good. What happened to the ghosts? Peeves and Professor Binns? *Maybe they were this way because of the director.

What about the music and the theme? Music: It was horrible and repetitive. I couldn't tell the difference, and for all I know, they're going to use the same music for the entire series! I suggest Brian Tyler, composer and director of the music in Chilren of Dune. He also won an award for the music he did in The Fast and the Furious. Theme: All I got was "Win!!!" and "Evil people are everywhere and usually are about as obvious having signs saying 'I'm evil'!" Where was the message about love saving you from evil?

Other things: They tried to make this funny. Why would they try to make it funny?!?! They have the characters saying extra lines that are not only cheesy but are also designed to make a five year old laugh, and only five year olds. And, this is crude humor. I tolerated some of the things, but honestly! During the scene with the Floo Powder, Harry clearly says "Diagon Alley!" and then the lines "What did he say?" "I don't know. Diagonally?" made it a little too much. An obvious indication that they were trying too hard. Rowling herself makes the books funnier in the future by adding wit...not crude humor. This was a series mistake.

Overall, I thought the movie was pretty bad. Maybe there is still hope with director Cuaron.


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