7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
Harry returns for his second year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with his best friends Hermione and Ron. He ignores warnings not to go back to Hogwarts by a mysterious house elf named Dobby. Soon into the school year strange things start happening. Students are found in a petrified state, messages written in blood appear on the walls and Harry starts to hear voices in his head. It becomes apparent that someone has opened The Chamber of Secrets... but who is responsible and can the dark forces that lurk there be stopped?
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, John CleeseAdventure | 100% |
Fantasy | 79% |
Family | 63% |
Epic | 61% |
Mystery | 35% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS:X
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.0
Catalan: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish=Latin & Castillian; English DD=narrative descriptive
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
UV digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
(Revised on November 28, 2017, to reflect additional information from Warner Brothers.)
Warner Brothers has completed its migration of the Harry Potter saga to 4K UHD with the
addition of the first four films in the series, joining the back-end four released last March (and
reviewed here, here, here and here). Unlike the
previous Potter UHDs, which were upscaled
from 2K digital intermediates, these four derive from new 4K scans of the camera
negatives—and it shows. The first set of Potter UHDs was noteworthy primarily for changes in
the color grading ranging from subtle to overt, but these discs reveal new layers of detail and
intensity in the earlier films. All of them are replacing bit-starved VC-1 encodes prepared for
release on both Blu-ray and the now-obsolete HD-DVD format. Warner has been reissuing these
outdated presentations for years, and it's unfortunate that the studio has not seen fit to accompany
the new 4K discs with remastered standard Blu-rays derived from the same fresh scans—a
practice that is becoming distressingly common with Warner's catolog UHDs. But for Potter fans
with a 4K setup, these discs are a must-have. Their image blows the dust off the early adventures
of Harry and his friends.
(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review are 1080p captures from the standard Blu-ray.
Additional 1080p images can be found here.)
Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is
derived from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative, followed by extensive color
correction and HDR encoding. The result is an image of exceptional detail and clarity, with new
intensity in the many shadings of color in the environs in and around Hogwarts. The early entries
in Harry's series are set primarily in dormitories, halls, classrooms and grounds of the now-famous school of wizardry, where sedate English tradition
has been reimagined by M.C. Escher
and H.R. Giger. Perhaps the most noteworthy effect of the UHD's increased detail and enhanced
contrast is the visual balance in the many scenes of students and teachers bustling to and fro;
individuals remain distinct, even as eccentric details in Hogwarts' often dim halls are clearly
revealed. The long shots of the cavernous dining hall with its vast tables crowded with budding
wizards and witches are particularly impressive. Closeups pick up tiny variations in skin texture,
fabric details and individual strands of hair (check out Hagrid's unkempt mane). All of this fine
detail is presented discreetly, without overemphasis or digital harshness. Distant figures in
darkened halls remain visible for just as long, and to precisely the extent, as intended by director
Chris Columbus (Home Alone) and
cinematographer Roger Pratt (Tim Burton's Batman). Even
effects-heavy sequences like the many appearances of house-elf Dobby or Harry's flying battle
with Draco Malfoy benefit from the UHD's more vibrant colors and refined definition (although
some of the effects shots can't help but look dated compared to the more sophisticated efforts of
the series' later entries). Although they were shot by different cinematographers, both Chamber
of Secrets and Sorcerer's Stone share a common visual style as the brightest entries in the series,
before the darkness of Voldemort begins to spread. Even the underground passages leading to the
fearsome Chamber of Secrets are brightly lit, as is the Chamber itself.
Switching to the old Blu-ray after watching the UHD makes you realize just how badly dated it
is, with its soft image and murky textures. The 4K presentation of Chamber of Secrets instantly
supplants the Blu-ray as the definitive visual presentation of the film that confirmed the
franchise's continuing vitality.
[System calibrated for UHD using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter with a custom profile created with
a Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectraradiometer, powered by SpectraCal CalMAN 2016 5.7,
using the Samsung Reference 2016 UHD HDR Blu-ray test disc authored by Florian Friedrich
from AV Top in Munich, Germany. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]
The initial Blu-ray release of Chamber of Secrets featured a PCM 5.1 soundtrack, and the "Ultimate Edition" offered a 6.1 remix in DTS-HD MA that Ken Brown praised as "fantastic". But these prior audio presentations have been superseded by the new DTS:X track provided on the UHD. While DTS:X has been criticized in technical circles for failing to provide a true "object-based" sound format à la Dolby Atmos, there's no disputing the exceptional power and precision of the audio engineers' achievement with this track. The attack of Aragog and his huge family of deadly spiders surrounds the viewer with creepy-crawlers. A particularly impressive display of sonic dexterity occurs during the Quidditch match, as Harry pursues a Golden Snitch while under attack by both Draco Malfoy and a sabotaged Bludger. All four objects—Harry, Draco, Snitch and Bludger—whip past the wooden beams undergirding the stadium, and the DTS:X mix localizes the movements of each element in the scene. The boys on their broom sticks whoosh through the structure, while Snitch and Bludger charge around the room, each pursuing its own path. The previous DTS-HD MA track, though still impressive, sounds muddy by comparison. (It doesn't hurt that the DTS:X version has been mixed at a higher volume.) The track's bass extension is deep and sonorous; when Harry and Ron finally locate the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, its opening reverberates through the room, and the attack of the Basilisk is equally thunderous. In short, the UHD of Sorcerer's Stone provides a sonic upgrade worthy of its visual enhancements.
The UHD disc has no extras. The accompanying "Special Features" disc is a reprint of disc 2 from the "Ultimate Edition" with 2009 file dates. Ken's review itemizes its contents. Disc 3 of the Ultimate Edition, which was a DVD, is not included.
I have always regarded Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as the weakest film in the
Potter franchise, with a surfeit of subplots that results in a choppy pace, multiple endings and an
excessive running time. (Screenwriter Steve Kloves was reportedly concerned enough about
narrative bloat that he asked J.K. Rowling's permission to eliminate the entire Dobby story line, but
was warned that Dobby would become important later on.) Still, whatever its flaws, the film has
been given an effective makeover on UHD, because the creative team did it right: a new 4K scan
from negative, an effective but respectful HDR treatment and a BD-100 to ensure sufficient
bandwidth. The result is a gorgeous image that breathes new life into the second chapter of
Harry's journey, accompanied by an equally memorable soundtrack. The only negative is the
failure to remaster the standard Blu-ray, thereby abandoning those who haven't yet upgraded
their equipment to a wan and outdated image from the early days of the format. With these new
Potter discs joining first-class catalog 4K titles like Blade Runner and Unforgiven, Warner is
giving fans a meaningful incentive to invest in home video's latest format. Highly recommended.
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