HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

Scifind.co.uk rating - 4 - out of 5.

Reviewed By: Paul Mount

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Cranagh, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Alan Rickman, Miriam Margoyles, Mark Williams, Jason Isaacs,

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Scifind has already raved about this superior Harry Potter sequel, released theatrically last Christmas. Now, almost indecently-quickly, here comes the two-disc DVD version. The film has lost little in its journey to the small screen. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS is as delightful on the TV as it was in the cinema; a much more relaxed and enjoyable experience than the rather turgid PHILOSOPHER'S STONE (or SORCESOR'S STONE if you're in the US) with better performances, more confident direction, far more impressive visuals and a much improved story. Freed from the requirements of setting up Harry's world - which bogged down much of the first movie - it's straight into this rattling second yarn as Harry (Radcliffe's getting better) ignores the portents of doom trying to keep him away from his second year at Hogwort's and teams up with his chums Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson) to combat mysterious forces at work beneath Hogwort's itself. Two hours plus fly by in a whirl of thrills and, for once, genuine chills. Arachnophobes will hate the wonderful giant spiders, the cornish pixies are a hoot, the mandrages are a scream - literally and there's a nice nod to the work of Ray Harryhausen in Harry's final battle with the snake-like Basilisk monster. It's a wild ride from the word go as Harry is rescued from his appalling step-parents by Ron in his flying car and the action really doesn't let up right throughout this exhilirating, energising superior kid's film. There are some scares for the little 'uns and enough clever wordplay and visual magic to keep us older muggles entertained too. Highlights? Dobbey the house elf is a marvellous CGI creation, the spiders are genuinely scarey stuff and the schoolboy in me revelled in Ron's backfiring 'eat-slugs' spell. Gross!

THE DISCS: After last year's lacklustre DVD offering, things have improved this time. It's still aimed squarely at kids with lots of interactive running around but there are some interesting features such as a too-brief moderated interview with Potter creator JK Rowling and scriptwriter Steve Kloves, some nice behind-the-scenes design stuff and interview soundbites with key cast and crew. I'm not particular fan of commentaries but a big release like this really would benefit from a track by Columbus; older viewers would love to know a bit more about the technicalities of making huge movies like the HARRY POTTER series. All in all, a highly-recommended set and the first important release of 2003.

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