Blu-ray Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Release Date: December 8th, 2009
Running Time: 153 minutes

The Film

I have never read any of the Harry Potter books, but the films offer an unparalleled level of fantasy and escapism. The franchise is right up there with the other great epics like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. There is simply so much to enjoy about Harry Potter: the special effects, the creativity in bringing the world to life, the humor—they truly are films that people of all ages can enjoy. Each film has had its own tone and feel, some better than others. I always go into a new entry in the franchise completely fresh with no idea of what to expect. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is largely the calm before the final storm, beginning a series of events that will forever change the course of Hogwarts history.

The film begins with Death Eaters attacking both the Muggle and Wizarding realms as Lord Voldemort grows stronger. Draco Malfoy is given a secret mission involving an old Vanishing Cabinet and Severus Snape makes a sacred vow to protect the boy. Meanwhile Harry is worried about returning to Hogwarts after his encounter with Voldemort, but decides to continue his education. Dumbledore also asks Harry to convince former potions professor Horace Slughorn to return to teaching.

School begins and we are treated to a slew of character moments. Harry and Ron take part in Slughorn’s class, and Harry finds a used copy of the text owned by the “Half-Blood Prince” that has notes allowing Harry to stand out in the class. Ron wins the position of Keeper on the Quidditch team, endearing him to obsessed Lavender Brown, crushing Hermione in the process. Harry also develops feelings for Ginny Weasley but dares not act on them. Christmas time arrives and Harry spends it with the Weasleys, but Death Eaters unleash a horrible attack, yet another sign of Voldemort’s growing power.

Draco continues to practice with the Vanishing Cabinet for his unspoken task. A number of attempts on Dumbledore’s life lead Harry to suspect that Draco may be behind it all. Harry also bonds with Slughorn under Dumbledore’s orders, saying Slughorn has an important memory to help them defeat Voldemort. Harry eventually witnesses the memory, learning a horrible truth about Voldemort’s apparent immortality. This sets Harry and Dumbledore off on a mission to put an end to Voldemort’s powers, but what ensues is worse than anyone could imagine.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may not be the most action-packed or interesting film in the franchise on the surface, but I believe it has more character, emotion, and real drama infused in every scene than any of the other films. The characters are all becoming adults, and the slow build of the story reflects that fact. You see Harry and everyone struggling to be regular teens while a sense of dread spreads among them. The film starts with some genuine, candid hormone-filled romantic moments before jettisoning the lighter tone. The darkness of the film, mirrored in Draco’s tragic descent into his role as Harry’s foil, is palpable and harrowing, leaving our characters in an agonizing state by the end of the film. But viewers have to remember that this film is only one piece of a larger story, and it is not meant to be fully stand on its own. As a character study and bridge to the final chapter of Harry’s tale, The Half-Blood Prince is a resounding success.

The Disc

The video is presented in a 2.40:1, 1080p High Definition transfer. The film features dark, bleak cinematography and design, stylistically accentuated by heavy grain. The colors are muted on purpose. Black levels are inky though shadow detail tends to get stylistically crushed. There are a few moments of bold color that look fantastic, but overall this is a dreary image mirroring the darker tone. Fine detail is solid in textures and faces but the grain and a few softer shots mean it’s not the most polished image out there. There are no serious compression artifact or video noise issues. This is a transfer that focuses more on the filmmaker’s visual style than trying to achieve complete, perfect clarity, and I think the film is better for it.

The audio is offered in an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound track and English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround with English/French/Spanish subtitles. This is definitely a reference quality mix. The pristine, layered sound design ensures that the heaps of subtle moments are just as active sonically. The action moments feature silky smooth pans and expertly placed directional effects. Bass is a thunderous presence throughout the entire film. Even with such a full, robust mix, the dialogue is always balanced and crisp. Overall this an enveloping mix that completely adds to the magic of the film.

The Extras

Potter fanatics will be psyched about this solid spread of special features.

The “Maximum Movie Mode” isn’t quite the revelation it was on Watchmen and Terminator: Salvation. It is a Picture-in-Picture track featuring interviews, artwork, effects exploration, scene comparisons, and more. You can also access Focus Points featurettes (38 minutes total) that delve deeper into a specific topic. These featurettes include: “The Millennium Bridge,” “Shooting on Location,” “Professor Slughorn,” “Building Relationships,” “Director David Yates Returns,” “Wool’s Orphanage,” “Ron and Lavender’s Kiss,” “The Burrow,” “Harry and Ginny’s Kiss,” “Aragog Returns,” “Creating the Cave,” “Designing the Virtual Cave Environment,” “The Inferi,” and “The Underwater Sequence.”

“Close-Up with the Cast of Harry Potter” (29 minutes total) is a collection of eight featurettes where the cast members each shed light on a different aspect of the production: Daniel Radcliffe covers editing; Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, and Matthew Lewis sit down with the FX supervisor; Jessie Cave chats up the owl trainer; Rupert Grint hangs with the stunt team; Evanna Lynch checks costume design; Bonnie Wright covers props and set design; James Phelps tries his hand at being an assistant director; and Emma Watson learns what it takes to be a makeup designer. Having the young cast act as a bridge between the audience and the crew members is a fantastic approach to educating viewers, especially younger ones, on all it takes to make a film.

“A Year in the Life of JK Rowling” (50 minutes) may be the best feature on the set. It is an in-depth, candid look at the author as she worked through the final book of the series. Be warned though, this contains heavy spoilers for the end of the franchise (I had to plug my ears for a lot of it!)

“One Minute Drills” (7 minutes) is a fun segment where the main actors each get a minute to talk about their character’s entire story up to this point.

“What’s On Your Mind” (7 minutes) has Tom Felton asking the cast random questions that they have to answer right away, almost like word association.

“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” is a 12-minute look at the upcoming Harry Potter attraction featured at the Universal Orlando Resort.

The “first footage” from the upcoming The Deathly Hallows film is a collection of trailer shots and a few moments of behind-the-scenes footage–just enough to whet your appetite for the conclusion.

The “Additional Footage” section (7 minutes) has 8 deleted/extended scenes. Many of them bookmark certain scenes, but the film was already long so these are good cuts. I wonder if the scenes will be integrated into the eventual Ultimate Edition.

Two Visual Effects Guides explode “The Death Eaters Destroy the Great Hall” and “The Bridge Attack.” These segments show the various CG layers used to achieve the final shot.

A “Making Of” is also offered for the video game alongside a trailer for a new game called “Harry Potter Spells.”

Daniel Radcliffe also gives an introduction to the “Ultimate Editions” which is actually not just a commercial as he does give solid reasons for fans to upgrade.

Both the standard definition DVD and a Digital Copy are included.

Lastly, the disc is BD-Live enabled.

Final Thoughts

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is grade-A filmmaking presented on a very respectable Blu-ray set. Even though an Ultimate Edition is probably inevitable, fans will still want to scoop this up in preparation for the final films.