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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) is the third in the Harry Potter film series and was directed by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars the actors from the preceding films in the series, except for the role of Albus Dumbledore, which saw Michael Gambon taking over from the late Richard Harris. Much of the original crew also returned, including screenwriter Steve Kloves.

Taglines:

• Something Wicked This Way Comes.
• Have you seen this wizard? Approach with extreme caution! Do not attempt to use magic against this man!
• Everything will change.
• The time has come.
• Cast Your Spell In IMAX.
• Mysteries will unfold.
• Character will be tested.
• Darkness will descend.

Synopsis

A mysterious convict, Sirius Black, escapes from Azkaban and sets his sights on Hogwarts, where dementors are stationed to protect Harry and his peers.

Cast

Soundtrack

Locations

Some of the sets for the film were built in Glen Coe, Scotland, near to the Clachaig Inn. The indoor sets, including sets built for the previous two films, are mainly in Leavesden Film Studios. The Hogwarts lake was filmed from Loch Shiel in the Highlands of Scotland. Incidentally, the train bridge which was also featured in the Chamber of Secrets movie is opposite Loch Shiel and was used to film the sequences when the Dementor arrived on the train. A small section of the triple-decker bus scene, where it weaves in between many different cars, was filmed in Palmers Green in North London. Some parts were also filmed in and around Borough Market in London.

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Reactions

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban got generally positive reviews. At Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 88%; on the Internet Movie Database, it currently has a 7.8, tied with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the highest IMDB rating. Richard Harris, who played Albus Dumbledore in the first two films, had died, and was replaced by Michael Gambon. While Gambon's portrayal in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was bashed, it was acclaimed in Prisoner of Azkaban. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter improved as well, though some went as far to say that his anger scenes were horrible. Though she acted well, Emma Watson's Hermione was not as in-character as in the first films, but her "embellished" character was generally accepted. Some say that Rupert Grint has nailed his portrayal of Ron Weasley, even though crucial lines were taken away from him, such as, "If you're going to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too," and instead given to Hermione. Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane were described as flawless, while Maggie Smith had less than ample screen time.

Trivia

• The film was released on June 4th, 2004 in the United States and Canada.

• Musician Ian Brown makes a cameo appearance as a wizard in The Leaky Cauldron reading A Brief History of Time.
• The score was composed and conducted by John Williams and released on CD on May 25, 2004.
• The costumes were changed slightly for this installment, specifically the house ties and scarves have a different pattern than in the first two films.
• The set of Honeydukes seen in this film is a redress of the set of Flourish and Blotts seen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which, in turn, was a redress of the set of Ollivander's from the first film. This means the same set was used in all three films, but it was used as a different location in each.
• The film broke several opening records around the world upon its release, including the top grossing film in UK film history, and made approximately £20m in its first 3 days, totalling £90.3m British pounds in ten days. As of September 28, 2005, the film had grossed $US 789m worldwide.
• The film was the highest grossing film of 2004 at the non-American box office making $US 540 million, but was only the sixth highest grossing film in the USA making $US 249 million. Overall the film was the second highest grossing film of the year worldwide behind only Shrek 2.
• In the Netherlands the film was given a special rating of 9.
• The Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia) initially rated the film M for "horror elements" (recommended for mature audiences), but the rating was lowered to PG on appeal to "some fantasy scenes may frighten young children".
• David Thewlis, who plays Professor Lupin, originally tried out for the part of Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
• J. K. Rowling said she "got goosebumps" from seeing this film because it contained things that inadvertently foreshadowed information to be revealed in coming books. This comment has created speculation among fans as to what these things might be.
• The dementors were inspired by nightmares J.K. Rowling had as a teenager.
• The Runic symbols on the sign that Sirius Black holds in the wanted posters spell "PR," so the whole thing says "PR390" or "Prisoner 390."
• Director Alfonso Cuaron originally wanted to move away from CGI toward puppetry, and worked with master puppeteer Basil Twist, particularly on the depiction of the Dementors. Once it became apparent that puppetry would be too expensive and unable to portray the specific elements of the dementors, Cuaron turned to CGI; however, he and his team did use footage of dementor puppets underwater as a basis for the flowy movements of the computer-generated dementors.
• During the Care for Magical Creatures Class,when Hagrid introduces Buckbeak to Harry,notice that Buckbeak defecates as Harry approaches him.
• At the beginning of the movie, Harry performs a lumos maxima spell in his bedroom at the Dursleys' home. However, according to the books, he is not allowed to perform any magic outside school, and that would, of course, include exercising spells from books. After all, he gets into trouble when, without intending to do so, he inflates Aunt Marge.

• This was the first Harry Potter movie (and later Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) to be filmed in 2.40.1 Widescreen. The First two were filmed in 2.35.1 Widescreen.

Alterations from the book

Comparison to preceding films in the Harry Potter series

The third film departed from several conventions set in the first two movies, and had several stylistic changes. This is mostly due to the introduction of a new director to the series, but may also be explained by the fact that the third book of the series was significantly longer than the previous two books, and the director was given more freedom to adapt the book in the interest of screening time. Overall, this film is about ten minutes shorter than the previous films.

Darker tone

The Prisoner of Azkaban introduces a tone that is darker than the previous Harry Potter films. This change is attributed to both Alfonso Cuarón and the source material. There is also a greater degree of physical darkness in the third film than in the first two.

All the Harry Potter books contain scenes relating to the mystery/adventure aspect of the stories along with emotional scenes designed to explore the characters. The first two films had a tendency to focus mainly on the mystery/adventure aspect, leaving out most of the emotional scenes, which inevitably bred criticisms of a lack of character development and related issues.

In the third film, the paradigm was reversed with more emphasis on Harry's angst than on the plot mechanics and literal faithfulness to the narrative. Some felt that this created a murky plotline (see "murky" plotting below), but most film critics and many fans were more than pleased with these changes, believing it made the film stronger and the characters more interesting and believable than the two previous.

Continued changes to Hogwarts Castle and surrounding landscape

Some fans felt upset with minor continuity issues between the two previous, including the landscaping and layout of Hogwarts. Despite the fact the Harry Potter films are not considered canon, some fans found the lack of continuity irksome. These contradictions include:

• Hogwarts Castle continues to change design and landscape. In this film, the "Dark Tower" and the "Clock Tower" were added to the castle.
• In the first two films, Hagrid's hut is a short distance from the castle across a meadow, but in the third film it is much farther away and surrounded by hills.
• In the first two films there are no mountains surrounding Hogwarts, but in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Hogwarts is featured in an enclosed mountainous valley, which is closer to the actual description in the books.
• In the first two films, the Fat Lady's portrait was at the end of a long hallway, but in the third film it's moved to the room with the moving stairs.
• Hagrid's hut is larger than in the first two films. However, this is consistent with the original description in the book.
• In the second film, the Whomping Willow is right next to the castle, whereas in the third film it is now farther away from the castle, and is on a hilltop.
• The hospital wing is moved to the top of a clock tower, with a view of the clock's face just beyond the doors. In the first two films, only a blank wall is visible beyond the doors.
• There is a large wooden bridge that didn't appear in any of the previous movies.
• The Trio's wands have changed from the previous first two movies and it seems as they are going to stay the same throughout the film franchise. Ron had to have a new wand which is 14 inches in length. Hermione's wand is now vinewood with vine carvings throughout the wand and is 15 inches in Length (J.K Rowling has confirmed that hermione's wand is Vinewood). Harry's now 14 inch wand is the most changed, the handle appears to be made from a tree branch with bark while the shaft appears to be either redwood or rosewood and is not polished but rather rough.
• The Fat Lady is a different actress portrayed in the previous movies and is given a touch of personality.

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DVD Format Changes

The third film is packaged in a plastic case, unlike the first two films released in cardboard cases.

"Murky" plotting

Detractors say that, in contrast to the smooth and detailed rendition of the book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban features a hasty and fragmented succession of often unconnected events, creating a plotline Roger Ebert described as "a little murky" in his largely positive print review. Entire patches of the original plot have been either left out or significantly altered. This is mainly due to the necessity of reducing a vast and ever-growing quantity of facts in a relatively short length of time. Obviously, the worry is that viewers who had not read the book would be at a loss to understand what is going on.

DVD

• File:HP and the prisoner of azkaban dvd.jpg

External links

• Official site
• UK official site
• Official trailer
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at IMDb
• Mistakes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Film Sculptor Special Effects

• 2004 films
• Adventure films
• Family films
• Fantasy films
• British films
• Films based on fantasy books
• Films directed by Alfonso Cuarón
• Harry Potter films
• Sequel films
• Time travel films
• Warner Bros. films
• Werewolves in film and television
• Films shot in Super 35