Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Revisited [Ultimate Edition] by Anjohan
Another banger by the maestro! The rebellion begins at Hogwarts in this exciting fifth instalment in Anjohan’s “Harry Potter: Revisited” series. As Order of the Phoenix is my #1 favourite Potter movie (Deathly Hallows being the second, Half-Blood Prince third), Andreas has succeeded in making it even better by giving it the tonal shift he desires!
Audio Editing: The additional SFX and foley help enhance the overall feel of the movie and elevate the dark, foreboding tone to heights the theatrical cut wasn’t quite able to reach (despite coming close, particularly towards the end!). Musical continuity is on point, as per usual. Nicholas Hooper’s score remains mostly intact in this new edition, interspersed with some classic John Williams and traces of upcoming themes from HBP and DH, and it really works! The music is a little loud at points, but nothing too distracting. As for Voldemort… holy shit. If you thought he was frightening in GoF:R, you haven’t seen anything yet. Once you see (and hear) the Dark Lord this time, you’ll never want to go back to your regular Blu-ray again. Prepare to feel a chill through your bones.
Visual Editing: The cuts and transitions are seamless as always. The custom-made establishing shots of Azkaban, for example, are just superb. I especially love the new aerial shots of the Hogwarts Express and London Bridge in the snow. And I have no idea how Andreas was able to expertly mimic Mark Day’s editing style with the second Occlumency sequence, but he did it! Like GoF, three key deleted scenes have been restored, and Anjohan has chosen them wisely. The last two have been placed in their proper order as per the screenplay, and also to match up with Harry’s facial wounds, so bonus points for maintaining visual continuity!
If there is one change I’m feeling a bit iffy on, it would be the removal of Grawp. I was surprised to see him gone on my first viewing. Not that I mind, of course, but the scene where the Centaurs kidnap Umbridge feels a tad choppy. It’s less obvious on my second viewing, so I’ll happily let it slide.
Another nitpick is the absence of a flashback to Neville’s parents being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Andreas shared a clip of that last year, which I really loved. He even expressed his lament last month at how quickly Neville’s parents’ deaths are glossed over in the theatrical cut, so it boggles me that it’s been left out of the version I saw. Right now, I can assume he’s had second thoughts about its inclusion.
Other than that, this edition is truly FANTASTIC! OotP is indeed the best edited Potter movie by far, and this will certainly be the lightest of the HP Revisited series. HBP and DH are for sure going to be extensively reworked, and for the better, and I absolutely cannot wait to see how they turn out, especially Deathly Hallows!
Rock on, bro! 🤘
9.5/10