DVD corner

“The Bourne Ultimatum” DVD, HD: One of summer’s best, smartest action movies. The film is a satisfying conclusion to a trilogy that began in 2002 with “The Bourne Identity” and carried forward in 2004 with “The Bourne Supremacy.” Each was a travelogue of espionage that took audiences around the globe as the amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) sought his true identity while efficiently taking down thugs and government agents along the way. “Ultimatum” follows suit, but since this is the final film in the series, more answers are at hand, with Damon again succeeding at being a terrific – and unlikely – action hero. In this movie, the actor is put through hell – the sort of hell no mere mortal could survive, such as falling off buildings and surviving horrific car crashes – and yet throughout, Damon remains mechanically cool and expressionless. Just as he should. Co-stars Joan Allen, David Strathairn and that dim bulb, Julia Stiles. Rated PG-13. Grade: B+

Note: With Tuesday’s release of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray, Warner has assembled for the first time ever all “Potter” films in the high-definition formats of HD DVD and Blu-ray. The movies look and sound just as good as you would imagine. Each is reviewed below in chronological order.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”: Chris Columbus’ first film in the franchise plunges audiences into a world so richly atmospheric, it captures the tone of J.K. Rowling’s novel and brings it to vivid life. Given the film’s lengthy running time, moments do feel a bit long in the wand. But considering the alternative – removing key scenes at the risk of disappointing the book’s millions of fans – Columbus wisely respects Rowling’s vision and lets them play out. From the start, Daniel Radcliffe proves he’s tailor-made for the role of the young wizard Harry, easily resembling the books’ illustrations and Rowling’s physical descriptions. But what’s more important is that Radcliffe captures the essence of what makes Harry Harry – his anxieties and fears, his sense of wonder and sadness, his courage, naivete, humility and heart. With then-newcomers Rupert Grint as Ron and Emma Watson as Hermione, these three make an entertaining trio as they go about their adventures and try to keep the Sorcerer’s Stone out of the wrong hands. Their bond is one of the movie’s best assets, certainly the soul of the story, and it’s to Columbus’ great credit that their friendship seems to grow out of something genuine. It doesn’t feel manufactured for the screen. Rated PG. Grade: B+

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”: An imaginative, often entertaining journey into self-realization that is well worth the trip. As the film opens, Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts to learn that evil is looming deep within Hogwarts’ Chamber of Secrets. Fortunately, “Secrets” allows director Columbus the opportunity to freshen the pot with several new characters, from Kenneth Branagh’s Gilderoy Lockhart to Jason Isaacs’ Lucius Malfoy to the bathroom-dwelling Moaning Myrtle (Julie Walters Henderson), a dead girl with a hot temper who steals each scene in which she appears. With Robbie Coltrane back as Hagrid, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape and Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, it’s Richard Harris’ posthumous performance as Professor Albus Dumbledore that gives the film its unexpected emotional weight. The actor, who died three weeks before the film’s theatrical release, effortlessly grounds the movie, balancing Columbus’ hysterical mood with the stalwart calm and reserve it needs. Rated PG. Grade: B+

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”: This time out, the childlike whimsy of the two previous Potters is dead, replaced by an encroaching loss of innocence and a foreboding sense of darkness. The result is a new punch of life to the series. Bleeding into every corner of this accomplished third installment is a greater presence of evil. That may make for less jaunty entertainment, but it also makes for greater measures of depth and intrigue. Unlike its predecessors, this Potter doesn’t feel pressed to satisfy audiences with kitschy thrills and wide-eyed wonderment. Director Alfonso Cuaron makes a clear statement that kiddie time is over. It’s time to get down to the real meat of the story and deal with the ugliness Harry must face as he, Ron and Hermione are vaulted deeper into Rowling’s uneasy mystery. Rated PG. Grade: A-

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”: The first film in the series to mark a turning point in terms of quality of direction and storytelling. The movie is little more than a bridge, connecting the three previous Potters to the final installments yet to come, with the core of the movie steeped in the Twiwizard Tournament, in which Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) mysteriously finds himself competing. Elements can be harrowing, but there’s no denying that too much of “Goblet” is just filler stringing us along to the all-important ending, when Harry faces in person the man responsible for murdering his parents and who has long been determined to kill him – the vicious Voldemort, who is played by an unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes with the sort of sauce and vigor that almost makes you forget that this overly long, episodic movie was, upon its release, the weakest yet of the series. Rated PG-13. Grade: B-

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”: The densest “Potter” yet, but then, on one level, it had to be, didn’t it? Its sourcebook is the largest of the lot – an 800-plus-page tome – all of which is condensed to 138 minutes of screen time. Since this is the briefest film in the series, you can imagine how much needed to be axed from the book in order to make it work, and how much needed to be squeezed into the script in order to tell the tale well. Sound like a tug of war? We’ve got one here, and the results are mixed. The film focuses on Harry’s expulsion from Hogwarts for using magic without approval. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is swift to his defense, which is enough to keep Harry at school, though what ensues for Harry is nevertheless unpleasant for a number of reasons, all best left for the viewer. Fine additions to the cast include Imelda Staunton’s Dolores Umbridge, the school’s new administrator who plans to crush the idea that Voldemort is lurking about and who decides the best way to get the kids back on track is by ruling them with an iron fist. Staunton plays Dolores with terrific menace, creating a mincing, closed-minded force who marches in with ideas that are meant to restrict the students, not to find ways that will allow them to bloom. Though the movie finds its entertaining moments, such as a beautifully conceived broomstick flight across the River Thames, there is no denying that it’s decidedly uneven. With so much unresolved exposition, “Phoenix” becomes that unusual film that feels at once too complex and, at least when it comes to offering a big, satisfying payoff, too narratively slight. Worse, Ron and Hermione barely register onscreen, with Coltrane’s Hagrid, Smith’s McGonagall and Emma Thompson’s Sybill Trelawney also seriously shortchanged. The good news? Isaacs’ Malfoy and Rickman’s Snape are at least allowed to glower convincingly. Rated PG-13. Grade: C+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.