Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Screen Edition)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Screen Edition)
by Chris Columbus

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DVD Reviews of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Screen Edition)

DVD Review: Astounding: Even better than the last movie!
Summary: 5 Stars

The second installment in the movie series begins with Potter being locked up in his room at the house of his horrible Aunt Petunia Dursley, Uncle Vernon Dursley and his stupid and spoiled cousin Dudley Dursley in the London suburb of Surrey and thinks that his friends Ron and Hermione have forgotten him after not getting single reply from him Ron and his twin brothers bust him out of the Dursley's house. The movie brings the Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger trio into a much darker arena. The darkness of the dangers is first evident when an elf named Dobby comes to the awful Dursley's house and warns Potter not to return to Hogwarts this year. Potter though goes to Hogwarts in defiance of Dobby but runs into problems at platform 9 and ¾ but that's not the main danger and Harry, Ron, and Hermione face much more dangerous events that threaten Hogwarts as a secret underground chamber called the Chamber Of Secrets has been opened by none other than the 'heir of Slytherin'. They must find how who the heir of Salazar Slytherin is as he is the one who knows where the Chamber is. During that time, several questions arise in who opened the Chamber of Secrets when Harry finds a little diary from a Hogwarts student from 50 years ago named Tom Riddle and also find a monster responsible for the death of a Hogwarts student around the same time as well. It gets darker and more intense as the movie progresses.

We also meet new characters and including his archenemy Draco Malfoy's tyrannical father Lucius Malfoy played by Jason Isaacs. The rivalry between Harry and Draco also seems to grow bitterer as they get older especially with Malfoy's increasing bigotry against normal humans aka muggles and belief that 'purebloods' (born to magical parents) are superior to all half-bloods and muggleborns. I just hope that it doesn't reach to like a 'fight to the death' kind of rivalry though or Draco becoming the 'next Voldemort' but you never know. Still though, it's fun to watch Malfoy hit major speed bumps when trying to act out his rivalry against Potter but unfortunately winds up endure embarrassing accidents as a result. Severus Snape is once again the cold mean mysterious Head of Slytherin House Teacher. The main thing though in this movie that slightly disappointed me was that there wasn't enough of the mysterious character Severus Snape. He's one of my favorite characters and he should've been given a much larger role in COS. Oh Well.

There are three main unsettling scenes though for younger viewers or those who hate creepy-crawlies. There are lots of them in the movie and it will creep the living daylights out of those who have revulsion towards snakes. 'Snake Lovers' though like most people, will definitely enjoy this movie a lot. There are also quite a good number of spiders in the movie too. Scenes like these will scare the living daylights out of those who suffer from arachnophobia and fear them like the plague. Arachnophobics (Correct me if I'm wrong) might want to hold on tight on the seats when the spider scenes come during various parts of the movie. For me though, I'm not scared of either snakes or spiders so they don't bother me in this movie at all. In fact, these are among my favorite of the creepy-crawly animals so there you have it. I actually enjoy the spiders but let's not warp the subject of this review though. The third scene is the bloody writing on the walls of the dormitory hallways and it can frighten some skittish viewers. For me, none of the three things bother me at all. In fact, the creepier feel of this movie makes it even more entertaining than the previous Harry Potter movie. Just for a little extra, I've even had a pet snake many years ago. ;-)

The choreography is once again astonishing. The "Enchanted Car" flying through the air was eye-popping and was great to watch instead of being cheesy and silly. The Quidditch match was much more addicting and eye-popping to watch than the match in the last movie and that one was awesome too just so you know. I wouldn't be surprised of "Quidditch" winds up being added to the dictionary. I think that's one of the best made up words of all time. Overall, I have to say that "The Chamber Of Secrets" is a successful achievement and builds upon the success and greatness of "Sorcerer's Stone", resulting in a near-masterpiece if not an epic one. The movie is much longer than the last one, running at 2 hours and 40 minutes, scarier with occasional scenes that might be a little frightening for younger viewers, and much more suspenseful than the last one.

Despite the frightening and darker tone of "The Chamber Of Secrets" and the bumbling of Gilderoy Lockheart, it is a fascinating and astonishing achievement in adapting Rowling's second novel to the big screen and is destined to become another classic in the years to come. Now begins the wait and anticipation for the third installment "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban" due out in 2004. I give my hats off to Chris Columbus and company for creating another great Harry Potter movie.

Description of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Screen Edition)

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features:Over 15 animated puzzles, sliders, screensavers, matching challenges and magical trading cards.Keep track of events withthe Hogwarts official animated timeline
Deleted Scenes:19 additional/extented scenes
Interviews:Exclusive interviews with author J.K. Rowling and screenwriter Steve KlovesInterviews with actors who play Harry, Ron, Hermione and other students and professors
Other:Escape the Forbidden Forest, sneak into the Chamber, visit Lockhart's class.Crystal-clear self-guided tours of the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore's Office and Diagon Alley, including places never shown in the film.