Bonnie Wright Movie:

		List Price: $35.99		Label: Warner Home Video Salesrank: 9 Released: December 8, 2009
		Our Price: $14.00
		Used Price: $14.00
		MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Even as the decisive showdown looms, romance blossoms for Harry, Ron, Hermione and their classmates. Love is in the air, but danger lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same.

The Blu-ray disc of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will feature Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode, an interactive viewing experience that examines the entire film with such features as Focus Points, Picture-in-Picture, photo galleries and more. Maximum Movie Mode includes commentary from director David Yates, producers David Heyman and David Barron, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton.

The disc also includes Warner Bros. BD-LiveTM, which allows users with web-enabled Blu-ray players to access exciting additional content and connect and share with other BD-Live users via the My Commentary and Live Community Screening features. Another feature of the BD-Live interactivity is Facebook Connect, which allows users to interact with their friends from Facebook, update their Facebook status while in BD-Live and invite their Facebook friends to a Live Community Screening.

Description of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (+ BD-Live) [Blu-ray]:
The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series begins right where The Order of the Phoenix left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that "He Who Must Not Be Named" has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is "the Chosen One"--the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end. Dark forces loom around every corner, and now regularly attempt to penetrate the protected walls of Hogwarts School. This is no longer the fun and fascinating world of magic from the first few books—it's dark, dangerous, and scary.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to be a new Death Eater recruit on a special mission for the Dark Lord. In the meantime, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seems to have finally removed the shroud of secrecy from Harry about the dark path that lies ahead, and instead provides private lessons to get him prepared. It's in these intriguing scenes that the dark past of Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Voldemort) is finally revealed. The actors cast as the different young versions of Riddle (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane) do an eerily fantastic job of portraying the villain as a child. While the previous movies' many new characters could be slightly overwhelming, only one new key character is introduced this time: Professor Horace Slughorn (with a spot-on performance by Jim Broadbent). Within his mind he holds a key secret in the battle to defeat the Dark Lord, and Harry is tasked by Dumbledore to uncover a memory about Voldemort's darkest weapon--the Horcrux. Despite the long list of distractions, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) still try to focus on being teenagers, and audiences will enjoy the budding awkward romances. All of the actors have developed nicely, giving their most convincing performances to date.

More dramatic and significant things go down in this movie than any of its predecessors, and the stakes are higher than ever. The creators have been tasked with a practically impossible challenge, as fans of the beloved J.K. Rowling book series desperately want the movies to capture the magic of the books as closely as possible. Alas, the point at which one accepts that these two mediums are very different is the point at which one can truly enjoy these brilliant adaptations. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception: it may be the best film yet. For those who have not read the book, nail-biting entertainment is guaranteed. For those who have, the movie does it justice. The key dramatic scenes, including the cave and the shocking twist in the final chapter, are executed very well. It does a perfect job of setting up the two-part grand finale that is to follow. --Jordan Thompson

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (+ BD-Live) [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Very poor audio and picture
2009-12-18 - The audio is muffled, not clear @ all, I had to turn on the closed caption feature. The video quality resembles an old faded film, the color is off and faded. Efforts to adjust contrast, color, brightness, etc improve the film just enough to allow viewing with a little less eye strain. How disappointing!

LOVE HARRY POTTER BOOKS !
2009-12-18 - MY SON LOVE HARRY POTTER BOOKS,HERE IS ANOTHER GREAT BOOK ! Children's author Bernadine Feagins has created Hakim & Terrance Shadow Mystery. This well written book presents the story of two best friends and the mystery they find themselves in when Terrance's dog Shadow is missing. Join the adventure as they investigate, find clues and new friends along the way. Bernadine's book will be on tour at the following locations for the next 2 weeks. [...],this book depicts friendship, hope, devotion to a dog and the emotions of two boys and one young girl when she finds out that "finders" does not always mean "keepers." It is a delightful book and very well illustrated book. Hakim & Terrance Shadow Mystery !



Crucial missing parts but I enjoyed it anyways
2009-12-17 - One quick thing I love about it, the cover...I saw the DVD from the right side and I see Malfoy and Snape. Odd I thought, but cool. So I picked it up and from the left side, it looks like Harry and Dumbledore. I know it's trivial but its the little things I try to smile about.

If you've read the book you probably spent a good majority of the movie going "where did that scene go?" and yes there is a lot missing. The Half-Blood prince was simply too dense of a book to fit into a 2 hour movie. A lot of the book is building up to what happens and unfolds in the final book, I would have rather seen this film in two parts then leave out scenes (or add scenes like they did). I think for this movie to be fully enjoyed and understood, you would definitely need to read the book.

Spoilers Ahead (actually if you read the book these aren't spoilers, just things you might have noticed are missing): These are just some of the more important scenes that are left out: The final Hogwarts battle, Dumbledore's funeral, Sirius' property being stolen, Harry and Ginny's relationship and its ending, where are the older Weasley boys?. There are other parts that are gone, other reviewers have already touched on them.

I did give this movie four stars because I feel it did deserve it. One star because its a Harry Potter film, I enjoy the series. Another star for the chemistry between everyone. It was great, especially now since they are coming of age, hormones are running wild and love is blossoming, its a normal part of growing up. It also provided a great balance to the darkness that overtook the movie. Another star for the emotional conflict of Malfoy, it was excellent. He was able to get more screen time and we see his internal battle. And the last star for, the acting. I think everyone did a great job portraying the emotion or lack there of in the film. Except the ending, I felt more emotional reading the book than what came across on the screen. After a slight let down of this movie, now the wait begins for Nov 2010 for part 1 of the Deathly Hallows (or maybe not since it's the same director).

Weak Movie, Poor Quality DVD
2009-12-17 - The DVD publication is exceptionally poor with respect to image quality (I'm using an HDMI at 1080i connection with relatively new DVD player and LCD TV. No such problem with any other DVDs). It's much too dark and required setting TV brightness and backlight to maximum values; which tends to be a bit washed-out. If you don't, many parts of the movie are black. Several other sections are actually grainy in HD! Sound is mediocre. Theatrical release quality was obviously much compromised (maybe the Blu-ray is better?).

The movie attempts to combine multiple plot threads and coming-of-age for the teenagers. A very poor attempt that comes off with many loose fragments and distractions. Unlike the other movies in the series, plot coherency is all but lost. Harry Potter fans may be able to put things together from the book, but others will find this movie impossible to follow. The movie also assumes you've seen the previous movies so you know the characters and will likely buy the next so this one will actually finish.

Worst of the Harry Potter movies. Hopefully the next will improve.

Worst translation yet
2009-12-17 - I realize that movies will never be translated completely accurately and I have come to expect some liberties taken with the story. I enjoy the movie but it easily takes the cake as the worst translation yet. The excuses given by Mr. Yates as to why things we changed and added are gibberish. THe idea that we weren't aware that there was a deep friendship between the trio is laughable. The HBP is devoted to the discovery that Tom has used items to split his soul and that the mission is to destroy them. The book has detailed many trips into past memories to learn about Tom's progression to evil and insights into how he got there. I was shocked and disappointed to watch this be turned into a story that focuses on the obvious and leaves out so many details that made this book fantastic and creates the hurry and anxiety of the 7th book/movie. This could have been a fantastic movie but I believe that so many of the good reviewers are just in love with the story enough that it hurts them to rate the movie poorly, I know that my instinct tells me that I should give it 2 stars but I can't bring myself to do it. Mr. Yates and Heyman (SP) have taken a very wrong step in the story and I really hope that they can redeem themselves in the final book.