Warner Home Video have announced the US Blu-ray Disc and
HD DVD release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on 11th December 2007. Lord Voldemort has returned, but few want to believe it. In fact, the Ministry of Magic is doing everything it can to keep the wizarding world from knowing the truth - including appointing Ministry official Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. When Professor Umbridge refuses to train her students in practical defensive magic, a select group of students decides to learn on their own. With Harry Potter as their leader, these students (who call themselves "Dumbledore's Army") meet secretly in a hidden room at Hogwarts to hone their wizarding skills in preparation for battle with the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.
The film version of the fifth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series arrives day-and-date on both Blu-ray Disc and
HD DVD with exclusive bonus content. Retail is $35.99 SRP each.
Extras carried over from the DVD release and included on both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD include:
Additional Scenes: 17 minutes of never-before-seen footage (HD on Blu-ray Disc)
Trailing Tonks - Spend a day with Actress Nat Tena and receive a very personal and often wacky tour of the Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix stages. (HD on Blu-ray Disc)
Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing - Director David Yates and Editor Mark Day show what a difference a good edit makes to allow the viewers to edit a scene.
Tech specs and extras exclusive to HD DVD are as follows:
1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
English Dolby True HD 5.1 Surround (Lossless)
English, French (Dubbed in Quebec) and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
English, French and Spanish subtitles
In Movie Experience - Join the cast from Dumbledore's Army as they come together to share memorable moments.
Web-Enabled Features:
Pick Your Favourite Scene - Assemble favourite clips from the movie to create a montage.
Live Community Screening - Viewers can create, organize, and invite their buddies to their very own screening.
Mobile Downloads - Viewers can scan and select cool images and ringtones to send to their mobile phones.
As you can see both High Definition releases have their own perks, with the Blu-ray Disc version offering PCM Uncompressed audio, the A&E Documentary which is carried over from the DVD release, selected extras presented in HD and the Focus Featurettes. You also get the choice of multiple languages, suggesting this is the disc they'll be using for release in Europe as well.
The HD DVD release offers Lossless audio and several exclusive interactive extras but loses out on the HD presentation of selected extras and the A&E documentary. It is also a Combo release featuring the Widescreen DVD presentation of the main feature on Side B, so it's nice to see Warner keeping the SRP the same this time between both versions.
Also set for release the same day is the Harry Potter Limited Edition Giftset, which includes Harry Potters Years 1-5 in a specially packaged giftset. The first four films included in the set will offer the same bonus features as the two-disc DVD releases, with potential for exclusive content on each title TBC (at the very least Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on HD DVD is expected to match the UK HD DVD release as reviewed by Michael Mackenzie here).
Although it's not entirely clear, it looks as though the High Definition giftsets will also include the two additional discs found in the DVD version. These are a new Hogwarts Challenge interactive game DVD and a second bonus disc which includes more than 3 hours of all-new to DVD extra content from all five films. We suspect that - if they are indeed included - they will most likely be in DVD format.
Also included with the limited edition giftset are collectible premiums -- the Harry Potter Bookmark Collection, with five unique souvenir metal bookmarks, and 4 different packs of Harry Potter trading cards, from each of the first 4 films. Retail on the set is $149.99 SRP.
Extras found on the Giftset’s exclusive bonus disc follow…
2001 International TV Special: A Glimpse Into the World of Harry Potter
2002 HBO First Look Special: Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets Revealed
2004 HBO First Look Special: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban: Something Wicked This Way Comes
2004 ABC Special: The Making of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
Interview with Alfonso Cuaron (in Spanish, subtitled)
2005 ITV/Granada Special: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire: Behind the Magic
2005 ITV/Granada Special: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire: Some Animal Magic
2005 HBO First Look Special: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire: Dark Matters, New Masters
2007 International TV Special: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix: The Rebellion Begins
2007 HBO First Look Special: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix: Fulfilling a Prophecy
And finally films 1-4 will also be released separately on both formats priced at $29.99 SRP each. For a limited time only each film will contain a set of four trading cards specific to the title purchased.
Redigerat av Audio Code 3, 20 september 2007 - 04:40.