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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Widescreen Edition)
- Color
- Closed-captioned
- Widescreen
- Dolby
Avg. Customer Review: 
 A magical fun-ride
The third Harry Potter book was bound to be more difficult to bring to the screen, simply because there is so much more in it than the first two books. Give Alfonso Cuaron credit for a very good film adaptation. With a few glaring omissions, he's kept almost everything of substance. The film, like the book, starts off with Harry blowing up his obnoxious Aunt Marge and lamming it out of there to hole up in Diagon Alley for the remainder of his summer vacation. This time, instead of a monster in a hidden chamber, Harry has to contend with the Dementors, vicious entities so evil they suck out one's very soul. The Dementors are guarding Hogwarts because a supposed mass murderer named Sirius Black has escaped from the wizard prison at Azkaban. Just who Sirius turns out to be, everybody and his great grand-uncle knows by this time, but the movies stays pretty faithful to the book.The kids are growing up; they're not children any more, they're teenagers, and pretty cool at that. We can see a relationship growing between Ron and Hermione, and she's a pretty tough little lady for all her goody-goody attitude, not averse to punching Malfoy's lights out when he needs it. Malfoy, in fact, is one of the bigger disappointments in this film; he's a one-note character with a perpetual sneer on his face and nothing else to do. He was much better in the second film. One of the most egregious omissions in this movie is the quidditch final; even if it had added another ten minutes to the film, it should have stayed in. And the ending, with Harry zooming off on his brand-new Firebolt, is something of a cop-out; we know Harry received his new broomstick in the middle of the term, in time to win the quidditch final, so why did Cuaron see fit to change it? But the new faces give an added dimension to the movie. Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and David Thewlis as Professor Lupin are both excellent, and Emma Thompson as the ditzy Divination teacher Sibyl Trelawney is a hoot. A major disappointment for this reviewer was Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, replacing the late Richard Harris; whereas Harris conveyed Dumbledore's wisdom and authority, Gambon plays him as a slightly nutty professor with dirty fingernails. He doesn't make Dumbldore seem nearly as compelling a presence as he was in the first two films. And the werewolf figure that Lupin turns into looked more like a cartoon than anything remotely scary. Paging Steven Spielberg. Of the three films so far, I'd give the second film an A-plus, the first a B-plus, and this one an A-minus. It's very good indeed; it could have been better.
Absolutely Brilliant!!!!
Using our previous knowledge of the Harry Potter universe to his advantage, Alfonso Cuaron has created the first sophisticated film foray into the world of wizards, witches, werewolves and hippogriffs. Cuaron benefits from the experience his lead actors have in performing these roles in two prior films. Dan Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione, and Rupert Grint as Ron have all become these characters before our eyes, and it is wonderful to watch. Michael Gambon does a fine job replacing Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore, and Emma Thompson hams it up as the spaced-out Divination teacher, Professor Trelawny. Gary Oldman is good as escaped-prisoner Sirius Black. He doesn't have much to do, but what he does works well. I look forward to seeing more of him as the series continues. Of all the adult actors, my highest praise must go to David Thewlis as Professor Lupin. Thewlis was assigned the task of bringing to life one of the best-loved characters of the Rowling books, and has done so magnificently. This review wouldn't be complete without mention of the overall tone of the film. This of course is due to the amazing direction of Alfonso Cuaron. Everything about this film is in stark contrast to the first two offerings by Chris Columbus. By no means does this belittle Columbus' two Potter films. I enjoyed them very much. However, I must say that this third chapter was the most satisfying of the three. I believe it's because, as strange as this may sound, everything felt more "real." There wasn't this sense of wonderment that was ever-present during the first two films. In "Azkaban," everything in the wizarding world is just matter-of-fact, and that in itself is magical. Also of note is the fine special effects in the film. Buckbeak, the hippogriff, looked absolutely amazing - like a real animal. Those horrifying guards of Azkaban, the Dementors, were just the right touch of scary. It's tough to keep them from looking like the Black Riders from Lord Of The Rings, but their mouths are all their own and are truly frightening! In all, an absolutely fantastic film, and one that I am sure to see several times over.
Well Done!
I am an avid Harry Potter fan and I have read all the books at least four times each. I think that the "Prisoner" movie was done much better than the first two. To start, it shows how the magic world is changing for Harry and how it will continue to change as the story unfolds throughout the future novels. It's important to point out that the new director has been known in the past to put a dark spin on his interpretations in movies. But I thought that this dark point of view is what is needed at this point in order to show that Harry and co. are no longer children and are entering into more dangerous territory. Although the director did edit some parts of the book that I would have like to see, I think the movie overall does a great job in showcasing the future of the series. I think the actors are really starting to come into their own and showing more depth in their interpretations of the characters. I love to see how comfortable they are with each other in this film and to see how they are growing with these characters. Overall, I think this movie is great and I can't wait to see "Goblet". Although I do agree that "Goblet" should be longer or made into a two part movie because to edit book four too much will ruin the movie and movie goers that don't read the books will be completely lost then.
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