EXCLUSIVE Deathly Hallows: Part One DVD Review (5/5)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One was one of my favourite films released in 2010, taking the series to dark new places and featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson performing at the best standard we've seen them do so far (a high accolade, even if I can't help but think that things are set to go one step further in July), and watching the flick again I still stand by the 5/5 rating I awarded it. In case you missed it-where were you?- the premise revolves around Harry, Ron and Hermionie searching for the remaining Horcruxes that form Voldemort's last barrier of defense before he can be killed, reuniting with Dobby along the way and discovering the existence of three objects (the titular Hallows) that the Dark Lord is hunting for which may give him the advantage. Every element of the motion picture is so finely tuned it's unthinkable, from the chases through the Ministry of Magic and closer to home Swinley Forest to the final confrontation between the trio and Bellatrix Lestrange that resulted in a tragic demise and provided the lead-in to an utterly terrifying cliffhanger where Voldemort acquired one of said Hallows and made the entire world aware of it...I won't spoil too much for newcomers, but sufficed to say that despite being based on the 'less eventful' half of the final book, nothing should stop you watching this before Part Two. My only slight problem that arose in the second viewing was that as a whole the flick was probably a bit too long, actually providing evidence that Part Two being shorter will be a positive change for the series. Onto the extras, as seems to be the trend with DVDs currently, we do draw the shorter end of the stick even with two discs, getting outtakes, deleted scenes and a couple of short documentaries in comparison to the Maximum Movie Mode on the Blu-Ray allowing full behind-the-scenes access to enhance viewings of the movie, but on the whole there's definitely enough to warrant shelling out a tenner for the penultimate Harry Potter release- it's just sad to think there's only one left to go!