Blu-ray

That’s it then. The Harry Potter saga has finally come to an end. And while it’s been an uneven ride, it’s hard to deny that this last film sends the franchise off in style in a way that, say, Police Academy VII never quite managed.

Having done the majority of the exposition in the first part of the ...Deathly Hallows, this second instalment can get straight down to business. Cue a daring raid on Gringotts, the Death Eaters waging war on the staff and students at Hogwarts, and Harry finally facing off in a fight-to-the-death with Lord Voldemort.

None of this will mean anything to people who haven’t been following the series to date. And even those who have seen them all, but don’t remember every last detail, are left to fend for themselves: which may leave you wondering just who some of the characters are, what they’re doing and why you should even care.

Picture: Sadly, Warner refused to make the 3D Blu-ray available for review. So the comments here only apply to the 2D edition. Visually, this film feels very much akin with its predecessor, if not marginally darker. This has the unfortunate side-effect of making some shots almost impenetrable, even on a calibrated screen set-up. Otherwise the AVC 2.40:1 1080p encode is just as strong as ever, drawing the best out of the desaturated palette and filling the picture with fine detail during close-ups (just check out the final shots of Voldemort in Chapter 26).
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: Potter’s final adventure sounds goes out with a bang, audio-wise. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix flexes its muscles with the raid on Gringotts (Chapters 5-6) and then barely stops to catch its breath as it rattles through the battle for Hogwarts (Chapters 14 and 16) and a fiery escape from Draco’s goons (Chapter 15). In fact, right through to the final showdown between the forces of good and evil, this is precise and powerful stuff.
Audio rating: 5/5

Extras: While early ...Potter films were (rightly) criticised for the quality of their extras, things have improved significantly across the past few releases. And this Blu-ray package continues that upward trend.

Alongside the 130-min film itself, Disc One also offers a brilliant Maximum Movie Mode (hosted by actor Matthew Lewis) that offers behind-the-scenes videos, links to eight Focus Point featurettes, deleted footage, interviews and some handy backstory info for some of the characters and magical objects. The Focus Points can also be viewed directly from the menu, as can a short cast and crew Final Farewell featurette.

Disc Two conjures up a fun 52-minute chat with author JK Rowling and star Daniel Radcliffe, a 48-min Making of... documentary, a pair of featurettes, eight deleted scenes and promos for the Warner Bros Studio Tour London and Pottermore website. A DVD and Digital Copy are also included.
Extras rating: 4/5

We say: Potter works his unique brand of magic on Blu-ray one last time

Warner Home Video, All-region BD/R2 DVD, £25 Approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 4/5