J.K. Rowling & The Birth Of Harry Potter
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Sound: D Main Program: C+
Why Harry Potter went over so well when many such
stories of magic, witches and sorcery existed in children’s literature since
the 1980s in particular is a mystery.
It just may be that Jo Ann (J.K.) Rowling had a knack for making it
click beyond the nouveau-glitz that was the 1980s. It may have seems more naturalistic by comparison, and therefore
more accessible. J.K. Rowling &
The Birth Of Harry Potter (2004) is a decent bio of the author that shows
more of the locations than most of the American media coverage has.
Of course, as amazing as the continued mega-sales of the
books is that the film series survives and the films are taking on a healthy
new cinematic life in their later installments. With that said, this hour-long show is still a fine, to the point
primer for those interested in the phenomenon and its roots. Rowling is a woman with great timing and
even says she’ll give Harry a rest after a certain point, even if it is hard to
keep a good wizard down.
The 1.33 X 1 image was shot on analog PAL video like in
all the cases of this series and looks fine for that, but a nice mix of film
footage surfaces from time to time. The
simple stereo sound is once again PCM 2.0 and Liam Dunn’s quasi-sarcastic tone
and his “obviously” attitude is great.
He’s always half the fun of watching any of the shows in this series,
which is good, because this disc has zero extras like those others. This is worth a look.
- Nicholas Sheffo
