Blu-Ray Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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Published on Tuesday, 28 March 2017 14:09

Last Updated on 28 March 2017

Monica Costa

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has finally arrived onto 4K Ultra HD, 3D, Blu-ray™, DVD and VOD. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is a brilliant opportunity to watch it over and over again. The bonus material in the Blu-Ray version is absolutely amazing with exclusive interviews with JK Rowling and the filmmakers. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes us to a new era of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, decades before Harry Potter and half a world away. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl) stars in the central role of Magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four “Harry Potter” blockbusters.

 

The story

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut and is an all-new adventure starring Eddie Redmayne (Oscar winner for The Theory of Everything) as magizoologist Newt Scamander who arrives in New York in 1926 after completing a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures.

Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

The verdict

The cast is extraordinary and expected to be so for such a popular franchise. The film reunites a number of people from the Harry Potter features, including producers David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them also stars Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Carmen Ejogo, Jenn Murray, Faith Wood-Blagrove, and Colin Farrell under the direction of David Yates (the last four Harry Potter features). Johnny Depp has a cameo in the film… go and watch it to figure it out. I cannot tell you the exact nature of his role without spoiling the whole film. He is unsurprisingly brilliant and his appearance leaves an opening for him to have an important part in future films of this franchise. I say no more!

The special effects are incredible! I read the original Comic Relief book Fantastic beasts where Newt (the main character) describes all fantastic creatures in great detail and I was totally impressed to see them so well visualised in the film. I dare say that the movie is better than the book. 

For those who have never read Harry Potter books or watched previous films, it is difficult to follow the story at the beginning. But then the story develops its own plot and becomes interesting even to non Harry Potter fans (are there any at all out there?). In fact the new movie could attract new fans altogether. The new series of movies will certainly boost what is already an incredibly popular series.

The character who creates most humorous scenes is wannabe baker chubby Joseph (played by Dan Fogler) who is truly hilarious. My son Diego said that he was his favourite fantastic creature in the film as humans are also described as the worst kind of ‘beasts’.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is rated PG-13 (Parents are strongly alerted) for magical evil and all that it suggests. A few scenes are quite brutal especially when one of the children becomes evil (literally) and reminds me of a scene from The Exorcist which was not exactly a film suitable for children.

The trailers and featurettes

London Mums’ Star Rating

London Mums who are Harry Potter’s fans: 10/10

London Mums who are not Harry Potter’s fans: 8/10

The film is so good that it has a great appeal even to those who haven’t got a clue of the world’s most famous wizard. It is pure escapism.

Here is 13 year old Chiara‘s brilliant review of the film:

Harry Potter fans will love to also read these features:

J.K. Rowling revelations on the return of #HarryPotter & Fantastic Beasts

What to expect from the Harry Potter Studio Tour at Warner Bros Studios

 

BLU-RAY™ AND DVD ELEMENTS

The Blu-ray™ features the film in hi-definition and the DVD features the film in standard definition. All versions include a digital version of the movie in Digital Download with UltraViolet.

The Blu-ray™ discs of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will feature a Dolby Atmos® soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theatre environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 4K Ultra HD, 3D and Blu-ray™ contains the following special features:

• Before Harry Potter: A New Era of Magic Begins!
  • Join J.K. Rowling as she, David Yates and David Heyman return to Leavesden Studios to build a new and exciting corner of the wizarding universe. This is my favourite bonus material!
• Characters – Super fans will love to find out more about the weird and wonderful characters.
  • The Magizoologist
  • The Goldstein Sisters
  • The New Salemers
  • The No-Maj Baker
  • The President and the Auror
• Creatures
  • Meet the Fantastic Beasts
  • Bowtruckle
  • Demiguise
  • Erumpent
  • Niffler
  • Occamy
  • Thunderbird
• Design
  • Shaping the World of Fantastic Beasts (360°)
  • New York City (360°)
  • MACUSA (360°)
  • Newt’s Magical Case (360°)
  • The Shaw Banquet
  • The Blind Pig (360°)
• Deleted Scenes (11 scenes) – their are like bloopers. We enjoyed these scenes!

 

Rating: Rated 12

https://www.facebook.com/FantasticBeastsUK

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