Product Details

• Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Jim Broadbent, Elarica Gallacher
• Directors: David Yates
• Writers: J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves
• Producers: David Barron, David Heyman, Lionel Wigram, Tim Lewis
• Format: Color, Special Edition, Widescreen, Dubbed, Subtitled
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 8, 2009
• Run Time: 135 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,043 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000ZELISO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,813 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #99 in Movies & TV > Blu-ray > Kids & Family
• Learn more about "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [Blu-ray / DVD]" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series begins right where The Order of the Phoenix left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that "He Who Must Not Be Named" has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is "the Chosen One"--the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end. Dark forces loom around every corner, and now regularly attempt to penetrate the protected walls of Hogwarts School. This is no longer the fun and fascinating world of magic from the first few books—it's dark, dangerous, and scary.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to be a new Death Eater recruit on a special mission for the Dark Lord. In the meantime, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seems to have finally removed the shroud of secrecy from Harry about the dark path that lies ahead, and instead provides private lessons to get him prepared. It's in these intriguing scenes that the dark past of Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Voldemort) is finally revealed. The actors cast as the different young versions of Riddle (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane) do an eerily fantastic job of portraying the villain as a child. While the previous movies' many new characters could be slightly overwhelming, only one new key character is introduced this time: Professor Horace Slughorn (with a spot-on performance by Jim Broadbent). Within his mind he holds a key secret in the battle to defeat the Dark Lord, and Harry is tasked by Dumbledore to uncover a memory about Voldemort's darkest weapon--the Horcrux. Despite the long list of distractions, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) still try to focus on being teenagers, and audiences will enjoy the budding awkward romances. All of the actors have developed nicely, giving their most convincing performances to date.

More dramatic and significant things go down in this movie than any of its predecessors, and the stakes are higher than ever. The creators have been tasked with a practically impossible challenge, as fans of the beloved J.K. Rowling book series desperately want the movies to capture the magic of the books as closely as possible. Alas, the point at which one accepts that these two mediums are very different is the point at which one can truly enjoy these brilliant adaptations. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception: it may be the best film yet. For those who have not read the book, nail-biting entertainment is guaranteed. For those who have, the movie does it justice. The key dramatic scenes, including the cave and the shocking twist in the final chapter, are executed very well. It does a perfect job of setting up the two-part grand finale that is to follow. --Jordan Thompson

Product Description

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Even as the decisive showdown looms, romance blossoms for Harry, Ron, Hermione and their classmates. Love is in the air, but danger lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same.

The Blu-ray disc of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will feature Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode, an interactive viewing experience that examines the entire film with such features as Focus Points, Picture-in-Picture, photo galleries and more. Maximum Movie Mode includes commentary from director David Yates, producers David Heyman and David Barron, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton.

The disc also includes Warner Bros. BD-LiveTM, which allows users with web-enabled Blu-ray players to access exciting additional content and connect and share with other BD-Live users via the My Commentary and Live Community Screening features. Another feature of the BD-Live interactivity is Facebook Connect, which allows users to interact with their friends from Facebook, update their Facebook status while in BD-Live and invite their Facebook friends to a Live Community Screening.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

718 of 803 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars dvd details November 26, 2009

By M. Potter

Format:DVD

Since I had to look elsewhere for DVD details (to decide whether to buy the 2-disc or one-disc film), I thought I'd post here:

1-Disc Wide screen and Full Screen DVD

*Includes both a wide screen and full screen version of the film.
*No special features
*RRP $28.98
2-Disc Digital Copy Special Edition DVD

*Widescreen version only
*Additional scenes (6:31)
*Close-Up with the Cast and Crew of Harry Potter special. Matthew Lewis ("Neville Longbottom") and Alfred Enoch ("Dean Thomas") lead us on an entertaining look at the cast of Harry Potter as they explore their interests away from acting and spend a day on set with the production team (28:30)
*J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life: A fascinating and intimate look into the life of J.K. Rowling over the last year of writing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." (49:32)
*One Minute Drills: The cast has 60 seconds to describe their character's personality, history, relationships and other traits before time runs out (6:43)
*What's On Your Mind: Hosted by Tom Felton, the cast is put on the spot when asked a series of rapid-fire questions on their likes and dislikes. (6:41)
*Universal's "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" Sneak Peek: Get an "inside look" at the amazing world of magic and excitement being created at Universal Orlando® Resort in Florida (11:38)
*Digital Copy of the theatrical film (2nd disc)
*RRP $34.99

I can't believe the negative reviews. I read the book and thought the filmmakers did a fantastic job with it. Anyone who wants a film to be an exact replica of any book should do themselves a favor and just read the book again. Am looking forward to enjoying it again (and again) on DVD.

642 of 848 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars So sad, so... very... sad. October 29, 2009

By Geoff

Amazon Verified Purchase

First. please let me say that I adore (nay, worship) the Harry Potter stories. So, being a gen-you-wine "Potter-Head" I was first in line to see Half-Blood Prince.

It was an interesting movie. Nice special effects.
Disjointed enough however that one MUST have seen all the previous movies and/or read the books to follow the plot.

...Most importantly, it bears little resemblance to the Harry Potter books!!!

Really. I can forgive replacing the actions of one character with another character, to save time, I can even forgive eliminating whole chapters for the sake of brevity, but to change scenes, edit whole parts, and invent whole chapters???

Beware, below, there be SPOILERS! Don't read if you haven't watched!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some examples of lost scenes:

-Dumbledore confronting the Dursley's? Gone.
-The invention of a fight at the burrow, including the destruction of the whole house? Really? Where's Bill & Fleur going to get married next movie? (Oh that's right, in the movies, they AREN'T! Heck, they aren't even in -this- movie!)
-The "Meeting of the Ministers" scene? Gone. Heck there's absolutely NO sign of Scrimgeour -anywhere- in the whole movie!
-Tonks rescuing Harry from the train? Nope, now it's Luna, looking for Wrackspurts, and removing Harry's invisibility cloak with her wand. (As A Deathly Hallow, it should be immune to summoning and/or levitation charms.)
-The slow build up leading to the Quiddich victory kiss? Gone. Now just a "close your eyes" peck in the Room of Requirement, and this was done horribly!!
-The two months of Harry & Ginny dating? Gone.
-Harry breaking up with Ginny to protect her? Gone!...
-Harry's ownership of Grimmauld Place and Kreacher? (Key for the next movie) Gone.
-The Gaunt house flash-backs? Both gone. And with them any mention of Merope, Voldemort's mother. Gone too the mention of her locket by Caractacus Burke.
-The memories of Hokey the house elf, and of Dumbledore's job interview with Voldemort? (Key for the next movie) Gone. In fact, all references to the valuable heirlooms such as Hufflepuff's cup are gone.
-Crabb & Goyle polyjuiceing into girls to stand watch? (would have been funny, but...) Gone.
-Snapes "Defense Against the Dark Arts" lessons? Gone.
-Apparition lessons and test? Gone.
-Hermione & Ron's Prefect status? (Well, since it wasn't mentioned LAST film, why mention it now?)
-Harry's appointment as Quiddich captain? (Not mentioned, only implied during the tryouts)
-Mundungus stealing Sirius' property? (KEY for the next movie) Gone.
-Snap's betrayal of Trelawney's prophecy to Voldemort? (HUGE!) Gone!!!
-Harry petrified by Dumbledoor to protect him? GONE!
-The Hogwarts battle between Death Eaters and Order members? (and Bill's disfigurement?) GONE!!
-Dumbledore's funeral? GONE!!!!

...oh sure, we'll probably get to see a few of the minor bits I've mentioned in the "deleted scenes" portion of the "Deluxe" version of the DVD, but for this screen version, We get such useless add-on scenes as:
-All the trees around the burrow (HP 2/the flying car shot) have been cut down and replaced by a marsh?
-Harry wandering the underground, and chatting up a waitress??
-The aforementioned Burrow fight and subsequent burning??

Not to mention, Harry NOT petrified, but willingly hiding and watching Dumbledore's assassination? (Does anyone besides me see how that fundamentally would change Harry's view of himself?) Yeash!

And WHAT the heck was up with Jessie Cave/Lavender Brown? Worst acting since Brother Sun/Sister Moon! They tested 7000 girls, and they picked a 2nd rate ham? In fact, they tested using the hospital scene, which was single-handedly the worst scene she did in the film!

Ok, ok, on the positive side, the Quidditch tryouts and match were well done, and Dumbledore and Harry's apparition is depicted quite well.

All in all, I am happy they are making Harry Potter movies, but they are -nothing- compared to the books, and THIS one should be prefaced with "Loosely based on the novel by J. K. Rowling"!! Read more ›

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars As the books get more complex the movies get worse.... July 18, 2009

By M. Mcilvoy

I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series and I think they have done a great job with the movies so far, however I always think the book version is better than any movie version. I went to see this with two people who had not read the book so I was interested to see how well were able to understand what was going on without the background. I also re-read the book a couple of weeks ago to refresh my own memory.

A few observations:

- I was disappointed that they started the movie off with a scene that never happened in the book; Harry in a cafe.
- I had been waiting to see how they handled the meeting and conversation between the Muggle prime minister and the minister of Magic but they skipped that part completely.
- the movie Harry never really mentioned Dumbledore's hand and neither did anyone else for that matter. In the book it was a matter of gossip among all of the students.
- they skipped the first memory that explained Tom Riddle's witch mother and muggle father, how poor and proud they were and the significance of the both the ring and the locket.
- they skipped later memories that explained how Tom Riddle ended up with the ring and the locket.
- Bill and Fleur were both completely missing
- Dobby and Kreacher were both completely missing
- The battle at Hogwarts when the Death Eaters came in was missing
- they left out the whole funeral scene where everyone came to see Dumbledore off; even the mermaid people showed their respect.
- I have no idea why they stuck in the scene where Harry and Ginny were running through the cornfield and Bella burned the Burrows. That did not happen in the book; in fact the Burrows was well protected.

To me these are some of the important scenes that were left out.... My friends had a hard time understanding what was going on. I am glad I re read the book recently or I might have had a bit of trouble following it since they seemed to leave so much out.

On the other hand the special effects were great and I have to give credit, coming up with all of the creative things that JK Rowling comes up with for the books has got to be a challenge.

I think the actors all did a pretty good job. The actor playing Malfoy did a fine job of showing his angst about the job he had to do however the whole story about the two vanishing cabinets being connected was fuzzy. They did a great job on the scene where Harry finally got the memory from Slughorn but then they followed it pretty closely from the book. I loved how positive and upbeat Harry was after he had drank the liquid luck.

I gave this three stars because they left so much that was vital out and added a couple of things that were completely unnecessary. There was much to like however. I think this movie would have been better if they had made it in two parts as they are planning to do with the last one. Books 5, 6 & 7 just have so much information that one 2 hour+ movie simply cannot do them justice. Read more ›