Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Working in reverse, Warner Brothers has finally completed the Harry Potter transition over to 4K with the first 4 films as well as a complete 4K UHD boxset of the entire 8 film franchise a few weeks back. Thankfully Warner Brothers has seen fit to allow us to review all 4 of them and answer the question of WHY the reverse release. While the last 4 films were upscales from a previous 2K master, #’s 1-4 have been given full on 4K masters as well as extensive color correction and HDR encoding to make them the very best they can be for the UHD format. All of them replace some very weary VC-1 mastered Blu-rays that definitely could have used the facelift, and with that new comes these shiny new releases. The only caveat being that they are theatrical only editions, and left off the extended editions from the Ultimate releases a few years back (although the Blu-ray discs included in all 8 films are the Ultimate Edition cuts).

Once again Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is back for another year of teaching at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with his friends Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint) and other school members, but this time things aren’t exactly as easy as before. While Dobby the house elf had given a warning to Harry last year about stirrings, this year the entire school is on red alert. The famed magical criminal, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is on his way to Hogwarts to kill young Harry Potter, thus leading to a full lockdown of the magical academy, along with the inclusion of magical beings known as dementors, who are used to guard the school from the powers of black and his associates.

At the same time, Harry now has a new teacher of the dark arts, a mysterious man who seems to have a bit more of a tie to Harry and Sirius than previously thought, as well as constant source of information which acts as a catalyst for Harry to become stronger than he has ever been before. While this is happening, Hermione’s cat familiar is terrorizing Ron’s rat familiar, causing a rift between the trio of friends and leading up to one of the most thrilling conclusions of the Potter franchise.

Off the bat, I have to say that The Prisoner of Azkaban is easily the best film of the franchise, edging out The Deathly Hallows conclusion (which was one of the best in the series in my opinion) with Alfonso Cuaron’s trademark style of whimsy and incredibly artistic, building on the films that Chris Columbus so lovingly crafted, and benefiting from the fact that Columbus’s films already laid the backstory and groundwork fort the Potter films to really take off into the main story. His sense of aesthetics and use of the camera also really makes him stand head and shoulders above all the rest, with David Yates coming in a close second for wonderful imagery.

Azkaban allows for a much more personal connection with Harry Potter, and also amps up the intensity of the upcoming battle between himself and Voldemort that we ALL know is coming. Looking back I am enthralled with how well the films use of subtle cues was, using the new professor to build up his powers closer to his full potentional, all the while leaving Sirius’s true intentions, while tying together Professor Lupin’s goals with that of Sirius’s. On that note, David Thewlis knocked it out of the park with Lupin, and its this “familiarity” that feeds some of the more tragic points in the next film as well.

While I really love The Deathly Hallows part 2, and The Goblet of Fire, The Prisoner of Azkaban has to be my favorite of the series, and for good reason. It was one of the better books (although the best book still has to be The Goblet of Fire, but Alfonso Cuaron’s impeccable use of storytelling and cameras made for one of the most viscerally exicting action packed entries into the franchise. Harry is much more mature at this point, and the series has not really delved into the utter despair that is the last three films once the ministry of Magic gets involved, but still carries the emotional high of Harry’s burgeoning powers, coupled with stellar action to keep it flying high.





Rating:

Rated PG for some scary moments and mild language




Video:

With Alfonso Cuaron taking over the Potter films for this entry, the style and color shifts just a little bit. The golden overtones are taken out (for the most part) and the cool blues that Cuaron loves so much take over the film’s imagery (although not as heavy on the gray, as David Yates would use in the last several films of the franchise). Once again, the 4K remastering of the first 4 films yields some very impressive results that showcase the 4K UHD format, with some very intricate use of HDR and some color timing to blend it seamlessly into the film. One of the biggest noticeable advances of the HDR comes from the characters in the foreground “popping” in front of the viewer, as you can see every line and every color of their clothes, from the scarves down to the darkened robes of the academy. The original VC-1 encoded Blu-ray has always been a bit sapped of color, but the 4K UHD fixes that, giving it a very rich and vibrant look that sets it apart from the Blu-ray by a very large margin. Personally I feel that the detail levels dropped by the SLIGHTEST bits from the first two (or at least the difference between the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD is not AS large by just a hair), but it is so slight to be barely noticeable to the most nit picky of people (ahem, me).






Audio:

I’m going into “broken record mode” here, but this is one stellar audio mix. In fact, I would have to say that it is the best the series has shown so far, as The Prisoner of Azkaban happens to be one of the most action packed of the franchise. The demontors fly overhead and make use of the top speakers, while the sizzle and pop of a patronus rocks the surround speakers with incredible force. The surrounds and overheads are in near constant use, with the wide ranging action sequences taking up a goodly portion of their ability. The LFE is deep and punishing, adding weight to the spells, as well as the simple creaks and groans of wooden floorboards in a creaking dungeon. Even the score is ominous and deep, and the LFE channel is utilized extensively in the music. In fact, I’d have to say this is the best audio mix the Potter films have seen to date, both in Blu-ray and 4K.





Extras:

• Behind The Story
- Creating The World of Harry Potter Part 3: Creatures
- Inside The Creature Shop
- The Magic Touch Of Harry Potter
- Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban: Something Wicked This Way Comes
- The Making of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- An Interview in Spanish With Alfonso Cuaran
• Trelawney’s Crystal Ball Deleted Scenes
• Trailers

Final Score: ​

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is probably the zenith of Harry Potter film making. The entire film follows a bell curve, with the 1st film being the weakest, and gradually getting better and better till it peaked here, and then tapered off and started a slow decline to the finish. The introduction of Gary Oldman and the rise of Voldemort’s true plan was epic, and some of the film’s special effects were considered top notch in 2004 (thanks mainly to Alfonso Cuaron and his amazing use of imagery in his films). Like the first two films, these 4K remasters are amazing, and showcase some awesome use of HDR with the cool blues that Cuaron employs, along with a stellar DTS:X track to boot. Extras are (like normal for these 4K discs that Warner is putting out) just the ones housed on the first 2 discs of the Ultimate Edition Blu-rays that are included in the combo pack (the 3rd disc of special features that was on DVD have been excluded). However, the audio and video are good to GREAT upgrades over the bit starved VC-1 encodings from over a decade ago, and are well worth the purchase in my humble opinion.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emily Watson, Rupert Grint
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Written by: Steve Kloves (Screenplay), J.K. Rowling
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS:X (DTS-HD MA 7.1 Core), English DVS, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Warner
Rated: PG
Runtime: 142 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Own all eight Harry Potter films on Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 7th!

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Great movie.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Agreed. Great review! I’m very curious to see these films in 4K. Sounds like they were given the proper amount of attention!