In association with

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban [2004]
from Warner Home Video
starring Daniel Radcliffe, Julie Christie, David Bradley, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton
directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Features:

• Anamorphic
• PAL

Editorial Review:

Adapted from JK Rowling's third novel, this installment of the family fantasy adventure story finds trainee wizard Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe) and his best friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), facing the dangerous convict Sirius Black (played by Gary Oldman). Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is on his way to Hogwarts, so the school calls in supernatural assistance in the form of Dementors -- but will they turn out to be a great help or a further threat?

The first of the Harry Potter films to be directed by acclaimed Mexican film director Alfonso Cuarón, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban is generally regarded as the most stylised and darkest entry in the series thus far. It stars the actors from the preceding films in the series, except for the role of Albus Dumbledore, which sees Michael Gambon take over from the late Richard Harris. Much of the original crew also returned, including screenwriter Steve Kloves.

The film broke several opening records around the world upon its release, including the top opening film in UK film history, and made approximately £20m in its first three days, totaling £90.3m in ten days.

In this adaptation of the third book in J.K. Rowling's best-selling series, Harry Potter (Danielle Radcliffe) and his best friends Hermoine (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), must face the dangerous convict Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who has ties with their enemy Lord Voldemort. The spectacular fantasy-adventure action of the earlier movies (SORCERER'S STONE and CHAMBER OF SECRETS) is once again presented here, as Alfonso Cuaron lends his unique directorial style to recreating Rowling's magical story on celluloid. A scarier, darker story than the first two, this one concerns the mystery behind why Sirius Black is tracking Harry Potter. Slowly Harry and his friends unravel the clues, and learn secrets about Harry's parents that had all along been hidden from him. Meanwhile, because the deranged Sirius poses a threat to all students at Hogwarts, the school enlists a group of daunting black ghosts called Dementors to stand guard. These flying ghouls have a powerful effect on Harry and frighten him to his core. Yet even these chilling obstacles don't dampen the spirits of the youthful wizards, who meet Buckbeak--a giant flying hawk-horse creature, welcome a new dark arts teacher (David Thewlis) and a new divination teacher (Emma Thompson), and are still determined to beat the rival Slytherin team in Quidditch. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN offers a visually stunning interpretation of the revered book, and will thrill viewers with its special effects, it's penetrating John Williams score, and its superb performances.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Another decent film in the franchise.
  Another Harry Potter film and just like the first 2 films this is an enjoyable film whilst being nothing special. In fact this is a little better than the its two prequels which is a reason I enjoyed it more. The story is getting darker, the young actors are getting better and this movie sucked me in more than the other two did. However, I have given it 3/5 just like I did for the other films although I was tempted to give it 4 instead. I have never read the books, so Im not one of these that bores people... more info

• Excellent
  The Philosopher's Stone was ok and The Chamber of Secrets bored me to tears....so I just have to say that this movie was excellent. I'm 31 and don't normally like stuff like this but The Prisoner of Azkaban is an exception to the rule. Entertaining, atmospheric and great cinematography. I will definately buy this one but not the rest.

• And here's where it all starts to go wrong...
  This was the start of the slippery slope for me when it came to the HP films. If I'm rating it as a stand alone film I would maybe stretch to four stars but it's not for younger children (despite me telling my mum not to let my then five year old watch it, she let him anyway and he had nightmares about the werewolf for weeks).
  If I'm to compare it to how well it's been adapted from book to screen - for me there are things that needed to be touched on; The house elves at Hogwarts for instance who show... more info

• The best of the first three movies
  This movie is the best of the first three movies. This book is the best of the first three books aswell and the movie is not even half as good as the book.
  The three main actors are still not great but they have improved. The script is still really bad and the charcters are completely intense.
  I reccomend this movie if you have not read the book but if you have you will almost definitely be dissapointed.

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