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It sure does seem like Thanksgiving was last month. It's amazing how quickly this past half-year went. I remember anxiously waiting November to roll around, so that we could finally go see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the theater. And even though we only saw it once, I couldn't wait to see it again, on DVD. And now everyone can experience the live-action version of Harry Potter on VHS and DVD.

But what's the fun of watching VHS tapes these days, right? DVDs are where you can not only see the movie, but tons of extra goodies related to the film. The Harry Potter DVD and VHS both contain deleted scenes, but the DVD has much more to offer.

The Movie

I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I didn't get into the books when they were the craze, but once I read the first 50 pages, I didn't stop until I was through the fourth book. Needless to say, I was excited about the movie coming out. I was a bit hesitant with the whole "book is better than the movie" cliché, but when all of the trailers depicted Harry's world just like I had imagined it to be, I knew this movie would be something special.

Without going into a full review of the movie (which you can read here) I want to touch upon a few aspects of the film.

Every year more and more films are becoming effect-heavy (i.e. Star Wars, Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings, etc.) and such is the case with Harry Potter (it was said to have over 800 effects shots). I'm not opposed to using computer generated effects in movies, I just wish we were at the level to where everything looked real ... and we're not quite there yet. I understand that effects must be used to achieve some sequences, like the troll and the Quidditch match, but in other instances, like Norbert the Dragon and the menatar characters, computer-generated effects took the effects level downward.

On a positive note, all of the actors were directed well in their green-scene sequences, and the computer generated inserts flowed seamlessly. For example, when Oliver Wood is teaching Potter about Quidditch, and Potter is eyeing the Golden Snitch as it hovers around his head, it really looks as if the snitch is there. This is where using computer effects can be saved, human-effect interaction ... Peter Jackson and Chris Columbus have it, yet George Lucas hasn't quite grasped it completely yet.

Another qualm I have with the movie and its successors, which will be coming out in the next few years, was the book-to-movie ratio. When comparing the book content to the movie, you get a pretty fair rendition of Harry Potter's story. Yet, to fully grasp the entire book, you would almost need the four-hour director's cut. There's so much more in the book that we miss on film, yet the film is complete and I enjoyed it more the second time (now that I've forgotten the book). As the years progress in Rowling's books, so does the thickness. I have a bad feeling that once books three and four roll around into theaters, we'll be left with the shell of the book and not much meat to sink our teeth into.

The Special Features

Disc One was made solely for the Movie. It has the regular menu items such as Special Features (Teaser and Theatrical Trailers and the Cast & Crew list), Scene Selections, and Languages (both English and Spanish spoken and sub-titles), but as for super special features, there are none. I guess I shouldn't say there aren't any, because from the Watch Movie position, you can arrow right one and highlight Hedwig the Owl. By selecting Hedwig, you are instructed that you've been accepted to Hogwart's, and to continue you need to enter Disc Two.

Disc Two is where you'll find all the features you'd normally be looking for, except as in the Magical World of Harry Potter, all is not what it seems. Your menu selection is as follows (including a brief description of what you'll find inside):

• Diagon Alley — You'll need to start here in order to access most of the interactive portions on the DVD. First you'll have to remember the code to get into Diagon Alley (don't worry, just keep trying until you get it). From there you'll have three choices - Gringott's Bank, Olivander's Wand Shoppe, and the Owlery. In order to go to the wand shoppe and the owlery, you'll first have to get some money out of the bank ... but you'll need the key, (spoiler: it is on the Gringott's sign; just click on the key at the bottom of the sign).
  
  Inside the wand shoppe you'll search for your wand. I think the first two wands, no matter which ones you choose, aren't the right wands for you. The third one should be yours. From there you can go to the Owlery, but it just has small facts about owls, nothing more.



• Tour — This is one of the more interesting features on the DVD. It's a fisheye-lens tour of Hogwart's castle. You'll be guided through several of the elaborate Hogwart's sets while the tour guide (who sounds like James Bond) rambles on. This really feels like an amusement park; you're constantly looking at something else and just when you see something you want to look at, you're whisked around to something else ... well, it's not THAT bad.



• Sorting Hat — I was excited to see what house I'd be put in, but don't get your hopes up, it's just four little rhymes about each house.



• Interviews — This is a 15-20 minute edited conversation with Chris Columus, David Heyman (producer), and Steven Kloves (screenwriter). Its interesting to hear that they really wanted to be true to the book, and with all the attention to detail this movie has, I think they did a great job. They touch on the second film briefly, but not too much is revealed.



• Extra Credit — This is the DVD-ROM portion of the DVD. I couldn't test this since I don't have a DVD drive on my computer. Hint, hint.



• Hogwart's Grounds — There are two Quidditch features in here and another tour, this time of Hagrid's Hut. Again, the sets they created for this movie were unbelievable.



• Library — There are several features in this area: a book of concept art, Hogwart's student bio-clips, a small featurette on the ghosts, a secret clue about Fluffy, and other random movie facts.



• Classrooms — Here's where the DVD gets good, or confusing. There are four classes to chose from - Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Spells & Charms.



• Spells & Charms — This section contains a small bio-clip on Professor Flitwick and a really cool language-selection feature where you choose from eight different languages, and they play the same scene inserting your choice of dialect.
• Transfiguration — This class contains two bio-clips, one about Professor McGonagall and the other about Dumbledore.
• Defense Against the Dark Arts — After watching a bio-clip about Professor Quirrel, make sure you read a clue about potions.
• Potions — Here you can see a bio-clip about Professor Snape and attempt to correctly mix some potions together.

The neat thing about the classrooms section is that this is where you begin your search for the Deleted Scenes. There are two ways to start:

1. By correctly mixing the potions for Snape (spoiler: First combo is chemical 2 and 3, Second combo is chemical 1 and 3, Third combo is 1 and 4).
2. By highlighting Transfiguration and hitting down on your controller, which will take you to the owls. From there hit up to highlight the "H". This will bring you to a screen where Fluffy is guarding door. Now how are you going to get past her?

From there you'll have to choose the correct flying key to unlock the door (spoiler: after the explanation and the first key is highlighted, press up twice and right once — the key has a slightly bent wing — hit enter to continue). Now you'll have to select the right potion, but there are seven to choose from (spoiler: choose the gold one). Then you're there. All that work for seven deleted scenes ... didn't seem like it was worth it. The scenes are good, but shouldn't there be a lot more?

That's all I could find on the DVD, but I'm sure there are number codes somewhere that grant you access to other things. I didn't even think about trying Harry's or Hogwart's Bank Numbers, or 9-3-4 (for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters). So there's a whole slew of things to try out for yourselves.

The DVD was fun, but it's really geared towards the Harry Potter enthusiast and not the viewer who just wants to see what they missed out on. By doing it that way, I think they're creating a major disconnect for regular viewers. The effort and work put into the DVD was good, so they don't lose too many points in my book.

Now, if it were just Thanksgiving again.

Overall Rating: A- for the film, B- for the DVD.