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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: 1 stars
Summary: I've Seen Better Film on Teeth
Review: When I snuggle onto the couch with a tub of warm, buttery popcorn and a bag of Ring Dings, the last thing I want is some boring documentary on witchcraft. This movie's one fault is its desire to be realistic, which it most certainly is. Other then that though, what does it have going for it? Special effects
WRONG...the snake looked fake, fake snake= dull movie. Not even Maggie Smith can redeem this crud, even though she is quite a babe. The only good scene in this waste of time and money is when she goes swimming with Harry, winking at him that it is "Extra Credit." The old gal's still got it!

Two thumbs, ahem Wands, down.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why Emma Watson will someday dominate the world!
Review: This is the great all-seeing, all-knowing UltraLord reviewing the true greatness of Emma Watson (b. 15/4/1990) and her marvelous portayal of Hermione Granger in "Jimmy Neutron and Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" (words and music by Dan Radcliffe and Rupert Grint). Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats....

Round One-Voldemort comes out swinging! He lands a left, a right, and another left, and almost kills the Boy Who Lived. "I know it's up for me", says Harry, "if you steal my sunshine!"

Round Two-As Dylan sings "I Want You" and Cindy Vortex limbos under the jungle gym, Emma Watson comes to the defense of Harry Potter's evil twin, Mary-Kate Olsen (TM). She reveals that the Olsen Twins (TM) are robots, sent by Lord Moldyshorts to enslave the children of the world. Alan Rickman swoons with delight. Dakota Fanning looks on in envy, munching a taco.

Round Three-As SpongeBob SquareDylan sings "Knockin' On Squidward's Door", Emma becomes a hero by falling on the grenade of a film that this effort has become, reciting the entire Beatles' canon to a backing of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly. All is well, as Lord Frank DeVoldemort is defeated by My Three Sons. I throughly enjoyed this DVD and its accompanying special features!

UltraLord has spoken!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If you're a true HP fan, don't see it!!!
Review: When I went to watch this movie, my expectations weren't too much high (still rememebering the first one). Still, the second Harry Potter movie succeeded to shock me anew with its complete stupidity. The acting is one of the worst ones I've ever seen, the story was damn boring and never succeeded to create the dark and gothic atmosphere of the book. Harry was shown like some sweety pie angelic boy when in the novel its clearly seen that he is a kind of tough guy that despite the enmity to Voldemort has got his dark sides, Ron looks like some completely idiot that has just left the asylium for mentally damaged people and the less would be said aboud Hermione the better. Why this movie is so dumb sentimental? Why Snape looks like some old woman (my wish to see Christopher Lee as Snape was never fullfilled)?
Why the beggining looks like some goddamn TV comedy (aka "Friends")? No idea. One last thing to say: this movie sets the record of the worst movie ever.
P.S. The one star in the rating is for the soundtrack, the thing that was worth something in this "movie". Otherwise it would have recieved no stars at all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Chamber of Secrets Really Is Magic
Review: All too often, Hollywood makes a successful film, and in the hype of the sudden success, they rush out to produce a sequel that pales in comparison to their original effort. Happily, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets does not fall into this sterotype.

The Chamber of Secrets reunites the original cast from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It is year two for the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there is something afoot at the school. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermoine Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are brought together again and must discover who has opened the Chamber of Secrets. This film, which is somewhat darker than the first, also features much of the supporting cast.

The story, which opens with Harry receiving a visit from Dobby, the House Elf, warning that Harry must not return to Hogwarts. Despite Dobby's warnings, Harry returns, to find that there are strange happenings at the school. The paralyzed bodies of students around the campus are uncovered, and in each case, Harry is found with them. To clear his name and uncover the secret behind the many strage goings-on around the campus, Harry begins a quest that will take him into the heart of the Chamber of Secrets, and face to face with a monster that has long been dormant in the bowels of the school.

This film, like its predecessor, was under the direction of Chris Columbus. Where the first film worked on developing the characters and the relationships between the characters, this film bypasses most of this exposition, save for the introduction of Gilderoy Lockhart (delightfully brought to life by veteran actor Kenneth Branagh), a bumbling, arrogant and incompetent wizard and new teacher of the dark arts into the strong supporting cast.

As mentioned earlier, this film is darker than the first. For younger viewers, there are several scenes which might be frightening; most specifically, moments such as when the boys confront a cave of spiders, the final moments when Harry confronts a giant serpent in the Chamber of Secrets, and when the various bodies are discovered paralyzed.

Still, this is a delightful, fun film, full of beautiful imagery and lavish special effects. For anyone who is new to the world of Harry Potter, the Chamber of Secrets stands alone as a film, and though viewing of the earlier film might allow the viewer to better understand the characters, it is not necessary to understand this film.

The DVD also contains many extras, including scenes removed from the original film, multiple interviews, various interactive games, and much more. For anyone looking for a fun movie to be enjoyed by the whole family, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a delightful film full of magic, friendship and an adventure that will keep audiences coming back for more!

Scott Kolecki

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: gets old. very old .
Review: It's a good movie but, once you own it you get tired of it. unless you're a harry potter fanatic or some sort of collecter I`d just rent it. Well if your shaking your head right now admit it. Once you know every word that comes out of harry`s mouth or memerized all the spells said dosnt it seem minutely boring to you? My advice is read the book over and over. That way you might improve your vocbulary. All an all-- BUY THE BOOK!!!!!!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Why did I ever see this movie!!?
Review: Ugg!This movie bordered on the worst movie I have ever seen. If you haven't read the book you might be able to put up with the tacky comuter animated effects; aweful acting on Harry, Hermione, Ron and most of the other charactors parts; terrible script; horrid kiddy jokes and a sickening twist on the origanal story line. The movie was only slightly improved by the acting abilities of the teachers, but this was overshadowed by the Harry's complete lack of expresion, stage presence, and in general, talent! This was not helped by the cloudy climax that most couldn't understand. The script does not explain what is going on very well and is difficult to follow for anyone, especially little kids. The charactors were not upheld. Ron is suposed to be a tall boy, generally annoyed about some thing, acording to Rowling's book. the movie protrayed him as short, nerdy and scared of pretty much everything. The most irritating change I thought was of Harry's change from a short, courageous, green-eyed, almost normall boy with a temper, to a tall, wimpy, blue-eyed, quiet, expresionless angel boy. This movie has totally changed my views on the book in a negitive way. I now cannot read the book with out imagining little annoying kids in my head! Do not see this if you have any intention of ever reading the book!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Why do they make them this long? Boring....
Review: The Harry Potter films are both of them at least two and a half hours long, and the sad part is that they are boring, very boring. The directing is pretty bad (credit to Chris "Home Alone" Columbus) and the script is mediocre at best. Nothing interesting happens in any of the two films in the first hour and a half, and when the action starts, it does not deliver.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Movie... but not as good as the books
Review: I was actually quite disappointed in the Harry Potter Movies. Each glosses over the best bits of the books and each time I think about the poor souls who only saw the movie I almost start to cry (not really, but I get depressed... haha) I'm a huge fan of the books, have read them multiple times each, and can basically recite them from cover to cover. The movies don't have anywhere near the charm of the books... for example, where are Lee Jordan's commentaries in the movies? Quidditch seems to be added only because the director knew fans of the books would come to his door with a loaded gun if he didn't include it. There is barley a mention of quidditch before or after the match. No mention on the Quidditch Cup at all. Also, The Weasleys were horribly represented in the movie (with the exception of Ron) You learn nothing about Fred and George or even Percy. The Twins add so much to the books, and they would've done so in the movies.
But that being said, they couldn't have cast any better for Harry, Ron, or Hermionie. These three are perfect on screen together. So, yes the movie is watchable, I've seen it more then once. but please, if you haven't already, just read the books!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Much Better than the 1st.
Review: Real Great follow up not only tops the first movie in spades but blows away any sequel that has been out in a couple of years. Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the gang deliver great performances and the special effects are far and beyond the first movie. I hope the next movie can live up to this.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good film, but a bit scary for family viewing
Review: I enjoyed this installment in the HP series better than the first. I found the characters and the plot more developed. It succeeds where many sequels fail. It doesn't try to re-capture something that "worked" in the first film. Instead this film builds on the first. Of course, it helps that there is a road-map of books to follow. It will be interesting to see how the future installments are condensed.

One major flaw in this treatment of the book -- where is Ginny Weasley? One of my friends who was watching the movie with me had to ask when the Chamber of Secrets is opened and we see Ginny inside, "Who's that?" Now, he hadn't read the books, but it was clear to me that while Ginny was a fairly important supporting role in the book, adding many clues and preparing us for what is coming, in the movie she is pushed aside by special fx and less important plot elements.

Finally I found some of the heightened suspense and dark elements of the film a bit too scary for kids. They almost seemed over-played. There are plenty of dark turns taken in the future books. It feels a bit early to be getting so serious and menacing in just the second film.


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