I must say, first of all, that I ordered Harry Potter on HD DVD from Amazon.uk FIVE DAYS AGO and they came to me, to my utter shock, this morning in the mail. I was stunned!
That having been said, I ordered via Amazon.uk because I already owned # 4 for some time on HD DVD, and I didn't need the complete set, thus my order of 1,2,3, and 5. I wanted the HD DVD version of The Order of the Phoenix and all the special features in 1080p, so i went UK.
I have only watched The Prisoner of Azkaban (why that first? because it was first one I grabbed, :D, my fav. of the series ) so far, and I'm very pleased. The True HD track is wonderful (I'm bitstreaming the True HD track directly via a A35 to my Onkyo 705 receiver), and the video is close to the same in quality (samsung LNT4665). I thought in some respects even better than The Goblet of Fire in darker scenes, of which Azkaban has MANY! I'd give it 5/5 audio and 4.5 video. I'll post more when I go thru The philosopher's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. I figure there is no point in saying much about The Order of the Phoenix since so much is already posted about that one.

Took a good hard look at The Philosopher's Stone....the look overall is quite good, especially in daylight scenes. However, some of it visually bothered me at night, especially the grainy opening night scene. While this may have been director's intent, in general I think the look of this movie lacked the visual POP of The Prisoner of Azkaban. It may be due more slightly older age of the film. Still a clear improvement over the SD DVD. Audiowise surrounds weren't as obvious in use as Azkaban, and not as strong use of the sub. Good sound but not nearly as good as Azkaban. I'd give Video 3.5/5 Audio 4/5.

Hey Claw, Azkaban and Goblet were my favorite movies and books of the series, too.

I imported Goblet from the UK when it first came out, and it's been one of my reference titles to date. Great PQ/AQ and IME, and HD extras.

When the others street, I'll be picking up Azkaban, too. I don't think I'll replace Sorcerer's Stone since I have it on SD DVD and thought it was OK, and I really didn't care for Chamber at all. I'll rent Phoenix, as I've heard it looks and sounds amazing, but the story was very weak compared to others in the series. Let us know what you think of Phoenix when you get around to viewing it. I can imagine the fight near the end at the Ministry must have some thumpin' audio. :D

Hey Claw, Azkaban and Goblet were my favorite movies and books of the series, too.

I imported Goblet from the UK when it first came out, and it's been one of my reference titles to date. Great PQ/AQ and IME, and HD extras.

When the others street, I'll be picking up Azkaban, too. I don't think I'll replace Sorcerer's Stone since I have it on SD DVD and thought it was OK, and I really didn't care for Chamber at all. I'll rent Phoenix, as I've heard it looks and sounds amazing, but the story was very weak compared to others in the series. Let us know what you think of Phoenix when you get around to viewing it. I can imagine the fight near the end at the Ministry must have some thumpin' audio. :D

Will do! I did get a chance to go thru Chamber of Secrets (my least fav. movie also) and although I don't think much of it as a movie, way too long IMO, visually it is actually stunning. The only thing detracting from it is some specks of dirt / film defects (which I didn't notice in Azkaban), but the overall quality is excellent...as good as Azkaban and better than Philosopher's. Perhaps this is because all the Potter movies seem to look at their best in the daylight, and Chambers has the most daylight action of all the movies, as far as I can tell. Audio is not quite as good as Azkaban....but very worthwhile.
Video 4/5 Audio 4/5.

I must say, first of all, that I ordered Harry Potter on HD DVD from Amazon.uk FIVE DAYS AGO and they came to me, to my utter shock, this morning in the mail. I was stunned!
That having been said, I ordered via Amazon.uk because I already owned # 4 for some time on HD DVD, and I didn't need the complete set, thus my order of 1,2,3, and 5. I wanted the HD DVD version of The Order of the Phoenix and all the special features in 1080p, so i went UK.
I have only watched The Prisoner of Azkaban (why that first? because it was first one I grabbed, :D, my fav. of the series ) so far, and I'm very pleased. The True HD track is wonderful (I'm bitstreaming the True HD track directly via a A35 to my Onkyo 705 receiver), and the video is close to the same in quality (samsung LNT4665). I thought in some respects even better than The Goblet of Fire in darker scenes, of which Azkaban has MANY! I'd give it 5/5 audio and 4.5 video. I'll post more when I go thru The philosopher's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. I figure there is no point in saying much about The Order of the Phoenix since so much is already posted about that one.

Thanks for your post.:)

As a side note....all disks played flawlessly in my A3 and my A35, so no worries there :)

As a side note....all disks played flawlessly in my A3 and my A35, so no worries there :)

You just picked up 4 movies Today, and have watched them all on BOTH of your players already??:confused:

HEY..........Let go of my leg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

Okay, I watched all these movies earlier today, and I'm posting here as im able to (I don't know any time stop spells to watch 9 hours of movies in 45 minutes :D) because I don't like it when someone says they got a movie and then wait 8 days to say anything about the actual qualities....that being said...my last take, on The Order of the Phoenix.
Absolutely blew me away. Astonishing! Visually makes all the other Harry Potter HD DVD's look like crap, and that is saying alot! Amazing, colorful, brilliant. Night shots have zero grain and are as clear as day. No joke....this makes my previous fav. visually Azkaban not even look HD compared to this disk. Wow is all I can say about how it looks. And the sound? When there is action, it makes the use of the surrounds and the subs to full effect. The Final fight scene is a blast! Even if you hate Harry Potter as a HD reference disk buy this one!
Video 5+ (no joke) /5 Audio 5/5

You just picked up 4 movies Today, and have watched them all on BOTH of your players already??:confused:

HEY..........Let go of my leg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

:D...they all LOADED fine on both players, I played them on my A35 all the way thru

:D...they all LOADED fine on both players, I played them on my A35 all the way thru

Just givin' you a little crap!!:D

Glad they look great, can't wait to get mine. I ordered it through WHV though, so who knows when they will come?!?!

I hope soon!:)

Absolutely blew me away. Astonishing! Visually makes all the other Harry Potter HD DVD's look like crap, and that is saying alot! Amazing, colorful, brilliant. Night shots have zero grain and are as clear as day. No joke....this makes my previous fav. visually Azkaban not even look HD compared to this disk. Wow is all I can say about how it looks. And the sound? When there is action, it makes the use of the surrounds and the subs to full effect. The Final fight scene is a blast! Even if you hate Harry Potter as a HD reference disk buy this one!
Video 5+ (no joke) /5 Audio 5/5

I have the Order of the Phoenix UK import and I agree that this is a reference disc. It has a lot of dark scenes, but the blacks a very solid and almost no grain. There is a lot of 3D pop with this title, even in the night scenes. Excellent transfer.