The Order of the Phoenix picks up a few months after the events of The Goblet of Fire, where Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) witnessed the reincarnation of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Potter warns of the the dark lord's return, but the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, denies it, and becomes suspicious of Potter, Hogwart's Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and anyone who would be willing to believe Potter's story.
In order to watch Potter and Dumbledore during the new school year, Fudge installs his loyal crony Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) in Hogwarts as the new Defense of the Dark Arts professor. Instead of teaching kids to actually protect themselves, Umbridge only teaches defense theory. Harry, with the help of his friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), secretly teaches a more proactive DDA class, preparing them for the imminent battle against Voldemort. He envisions joining his godfather Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) and members of the anti-Voldemort group, The Order of the Phoenix, but Umbridge and the Ministry have other plans.
I would hate to be the person charged with putting together a special edition DVD for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The film is magnificent, the best Harry Potter yet, but there's only so much you can do with DVDs for this series, now five films long. In previous Harry Potter DVD releases, we've experienced interviews with J.K. Rowling, Hogwart's classroom tours, interviews with the principal actors, and featurette after featurette about the making of the individual films. It all comes down to What hasn't been covered? for the fifth disc in the series.
The obvious answer would have been a director commentary, which has never been featured on a Harry Potter disc. Instead of hearing what David Yates, a director of political dramas for the BBC and HBO, has to say about the underlying politics of the Ministry of Magic, we get a fun, but ultimately disposable studio tour from Natalia Tena. (She plays Tonks in the film.)
Article comments
1 - Ivy
I feel like I'm committed to the whole Harry Potter series. It is no question that all of the movies on the Harry Potter series are amazing. But I like Order of the Pheonix best. Director David Yates really did a nice job creating the dark tone and feel of the book, while still making a cinamatic experience. All of the actors portrayed their characters very well. This movie is trimmed well, it managed to stay faithful to the book while removing some content that isn't as important to the story. [Edited]