Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

ANOTHER HARRY POTTER WINNER

THE DVD IS GREAT. IT ARRIVED QUICKLY WITHOUT A SCRATCH. I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH PURCHASE. June 21, 2008

Good family fun

I find all of the Harry Potter films to be good family fun, and this film is no different. It is hardly a masterpiece, and it has nothing new to offer. It does't even break any ground in any aspect of film making. What it is good for is entertaining the grand kids, and for that it deserves three stars. March 24, 2008

The Best Movie of the Series

Good Camera work in this installment. The previous two by Chris Columbus were very good but they were laden with his trademark close-up shooting (as evident in the 'Home Alone' series). The pulled back camera shows our aspiring witches and wizards as part of larger world and adds the element of mystery for the viewer.

There are some very good special effects in this film and it was one of only three films nominated for an Oscar in 2004. 'Prisoner' is also the only Potter movie to make AFI's top 400 films of all time list.

The only failure of film is we don't have enough time to fall in love with or even have the movie 'flesh out' the characters. That seems to be the problem with all the films.

It seems that no one has made the connection that most successful Potter film was the first and co-incidently the longest. Brevity has had no effect on the success of the Potter films so I don't know why its enforced. I sure would have liked to linger longer in Cuaron's vision of Harry Potter's world...but I guess I have to be satisfied with what I can get. I would like another helping of Cuaron and Potter...but it doesn't seem to be in the cards.

This installment requires more thought by the viewer than the others...it probably won't be as well recieved by youngsters. I found it entertaining and sometimes unsettling, and yet very enjoyable none-the-less.

Cheers to the 'Best' and 'Most Artistic Potter Film' to date!

December 15, 2007

The best Harry Potter film yet!

I remember seeing the all of the Harry Potter films in theaters. The first one I saw twice in the theater, the fifth one I saw only once. The rest I saw three times, however, the third Harry Potter film is the only one that I saw in the IMAX theater. And not to say is that because I saw it in IMAX, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" remains my favorite of the Harry Potter series. And while at that, I thought the series has gotten better as the time goes along.

Harry Potter and all of his friends are on their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This time around, Harry Potter hears that a deadly prisoner escapee has escaped from Azkaban prison and Harry Potter is afraid that Sirius Black (that's the name of the escapee) wants to kill him. But as soon as Harry Potter meets Sirius Black, he actually turns out to be his godfather.

Sure, the story was short to explain, but on the other hand, I actually didn't mind that at all. However, be warned a lot of stuff gets left out of the book. What I would say is the worst change of all is that Harry Potter gets his broomstick at the very end. But for some reason, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" did manage to not follow-up from the book but made it in a way where it can be turned into a great movie.

Overall, I thought "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was the best Harry Potter film. But that's just my honest opinion. November 29, 2007

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