Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards
- 17 wins & 50 nominations total

Trivia
Helen McCrory was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange, but due to her pregnancy, she had to be replaced by Helena Bonham Carter (according to her, the insurance wouldn't cover "pregnant witches"). McCrory was later invited back and cast as Narcissa Malfoy, who is Bellatrix's sister, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).

Goofs
(at around 1h 21 mins) In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), when Harry is looking in the Pensieve, Igor Karkaroff accuses Barty Crouch Jr. of torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom. In The Order of The Phoenix, after a DA meeting, Neville tells Harry it was Bellatrix Lestrange. Both statements are in fact true, as according to the books Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured by a group of Death Eaters, which included both Barty Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Quotes
Harry Potter: This connection between me and Voldemort... what if the reason for it is that I am becoming more like him? I just feel so angry, all the time. What if after everything that I've been through, something's gone wrong inside me? What if I'm becoming bad?
Sirius Black: I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.

Crazy credits
The ending credits are presented in the same typeface as Professor Umbridge's numerous educational decrees.

Alternate versions
Some of the dubbed versions change the names of a few characters, to match their translated novel counterparts in each respective language. One good example is Hermione, who in the German version (of all the Potter films/books) is named Hermine.

Connections
Edited into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: T4 Movie Special (2007)

Soundtracks
Hedwig's Theme
Written by John Williams

Slow First Half Picks Up in Finale

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is brought back to school where he faces a possible expulsion after using magic in the real world. Dumbledore (Jim McManus) comes to his defense and soon the two of them are warning people of the return of Lord Voldemort.

As I've said in the reviews for the previous films, I haven't read any of the stories so I honestly can't compare the movie to the book. With that said, I did find the previous installment to be an extremely entertaining movie and certainly the best of the series to date. This fifth film is certainly a major step backwards and sadly there are way too many boring moments to make it a complete winner.

Again, perhaps I would have picked up on more things had I been familiar with the book but I personally found the majority of the first half to be quite boring without too many interesting things going on. I honestly thought there was very little character development and I thought too many of the scenes just kept dragging on with dialogue that just wasn't all that interesting or thrilling.

The film does finally pick up during its final act and this is where thing get really good. The final battles almost rival what we saw in the previous film and there's no question that they pack a lot of energy and excitement. They also benefit from some wonderful special effects that really put you in the middle of the action and blend perfectly well with the cast members. Speaking of the cast, a lot of talented actors keep getting added to the series and once again everyone is quite impressive. Regulars like Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman and others return to their roles quite nicely and people like Emma Thompson, Gary Oldman and David Thewlis are of great value.