Harry Potter and the Wizarding World

[Dacey]

This has been online for weeks, but only now could I finally bring myself to watch it. The last "Harry Potter" trailer...ever.

[Dan]

Here's the rundown:

- 31 discs, 18 of which dedicated to the movies (Blu Ray, DVD, and UltraViolet Digital Copies)
- Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets to include both theatrical and the extended editions that aired on ABC Family
- Both parts of Deathly Hallows to include 2D and 3D versions
- Special features include those carried over from previous releases of each titles as well as five hours worth of new material
- Includes collectable memorabilia such as a Map of Hogwarts (presumably the Marauders' Map), concept art, and more to be announced
- Comes in a box that unfolds into a desktop of sorts
- Scheduled release sometime in second-half of 2012
- Retail price... $500 (Amazon will be selling at $350)

Sources:
- http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/ ... Order/8916
- http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Collectio ... 123&sr=1-7

[Randall]

At that price, even if heavily discounted later... not that tempting.

[Ben]

...if you don't have any of the movies in any edition on any format.

Since day one a set like this was obviously forthcoming and so I've held off on every HP release so far, from the original DVDs, the two-disc sets, the multiple "Year --" updated boxes, the Ultimate Editions (so tempting!) and Blu-rays, and the 8-movie collection out now (which didn't include the extras, so no sale for me).

What I would have loved is just a collection of eight Ultimate Editions...that would have done me fine. But consider those would have been at least $50 list/at least $30 discounted and that's still around $250.

So, since I bit my lip and held off, watching the movies as they came around on TV, $350 over eight movies (just over $40 a film) or spreading it as an "annual" purchase over the ten-year cycle of the series, it just works out at $35 a movie, plus you get the packaging and trinkets.

Speaking of which, I'm not crazy about the box: I do actually like my discs to come either in a digipack or in individual cases in a box. What I'd really, basically, like is the UEs in a box, but this looks like the closest we get. Disappointing that no extended cuts for more than the first two movies, though good that all previous extras are carried over.

It's a ways off yet and by no means an automatic pickup, but this is kind of what I've been waiting for and expecting since the first movie's success meant we'd be in it for the long run.

[EricJ]

But it doesn't include the 3D versions of Deathly Hallows, does it?

[laughingoctopus]

- Both parts of Deathly Hallows to include 2D and 3D versions

Eric, yes it does.

[GeorgeC]

I just don't care anymore.

Harry Potter I was enough for me...
Read all the novels -- done with it! (Borrowed them from the library, so no money lost. Just the time investment...)

Potter is just one of those things that I either don't have to see or only have to experience once.

I would imagine people who are not huge Star Wars fans feel the same way, too.

[Dan]

Just a heads up for those who ended up not getting the massive complete collection set.

Those who have been waiting for an ultimate edition of Deathly Hallows are in luck. One is coming out in January and will include both movies (no 3D versions) along with the last two parts of the Creating the World of Harry Potter documentary that accompanies each film in the set.

But if you can't wait until January, venture over to Target as they have it out now as part of a store exclusive run for the remainder of the year. You actually have to go inside the store and search the movies section as it won't show up online.

[Ben]

With all the big releases (Bond, Universal Monsters, Hitchcock, Indy, etc) plus regular pick-ups, I went off the whole Potter collection thing. At that price, all I want are the BD movies and extras...no need for DVD copies and digital files.

So I've decided to wait for the final two UEs, when someone somewhere will probably offer an UE collection, which would do me fine.

[Dacey]

RIP Uncle Vernon.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/2 ... 78478.html

[laughingoctopus]

How sad. Just saw to the first two movies so far, he created a really memorable character. I'm not familiar with any of his other work, but his role in the Potter series won't be soon forgotten.

[Dan]

The first teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has launched.

[Ben]

Two things: I am quite disappointed Newt seems to be British when I thought he was American; its fairy obvious they would want to allude to the Harry Potter theme (listen to the logo at the end, it's in there) but why on earth did they use a synthetic orchestra!?

There's a slight cheapness to this trailer (no real VFX, mostly graphics, cheap music) that feels like they have thrown this together to get it out for Star Wars, rather than wait (or even have started earlier) and done a real proper job on it.

[Dacey]

If they want to sell this, they need to further emphasize that it's a Harry Potter prequel. The audience at my (second) Star Wars screening seemed confused by exactly what this was.

But really, my concern is David Yates, who never seemed to "get" Potter ever after directing four movies. And with his Tarzan also coming out next year, he's really going to have his work cut out for him in 2016.

[EricJ]

But really, my concern is David Yates, who never seemed to "get" Potter ever after directing four movies.

(Aw, c'mon, he made a good movie out of Book 5, which nobody thought was possible, and turned Book 6 into a narrative film by chopping off the side-story fat, despite stickler fans demanding it "had" to be there...That took some real focus to pull off successfully.)

If they want to sell this, they need to further emphasize that it's a Harry Potter prequel. The audience at my (second) Star Wars screening seemed confused by exactly what this was.

It's not a "prequel" in that Lily & James Potter figure in the story (do they?), it's a side-story, because that was the compromise apparently struck between Warner originally wanting to do further original sequels, and Rowling wanting to move on to other avenues and not see the studio corrupt her books.
Here, a spinoff story without the main characters and still based on her stuff, now everyone's happy.

And it's either the confusion or the "No Harry, why bother?" factor that's just not getting me excited for it.
Maybe it's that I'm still traumatized by the sheer pointlessness and charmlessness of X-Men:Wolverine, but I distinctly know the feeling of just not caring about spinoff stories if there's no direct relationship to the main protagonists or story canon I invested myself with in previous films.
And studio dreams of "Cross-film linked universes(tm)" aside, that especially applies to "Rogue One", any further Marvel movies after Infinity War, and any other side-spinoffs that aren't on the main highway of the sequel franchise, and just making detours...If the characters got a happy ending at the end of a long saga, Sometimes Dead Is Better.