# Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - 4K Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=94514[/img] 
*Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2* 

*Movie:* :4.5stars:
*Video:* :4stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars: 
*Extras:* :4.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*87




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=94522[/img]*Summary*
With “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” coming out on Blu-ray we were BOUND to get a few reissues of the Harry Potter franchise in 4K UHD as well. Interestingly enough there seems to be only the LAST 4 films (ironically also directed by David Yates) instead of releasing all 8, or at least starting in order. My SUSPICION (and this is just conjecture) is that the older masters for the first 4 may need some touch up work, as the masters for the final 4 were done rather recently. Not to mention the fact that Ultimate editions with extended cuts were made of the several as well, meaning something needs to be worked on to bring them to market. Still, I’ve very happy to bring some of the best of the Potter Universe to the giant 2160p arena and with some very sweet artwork as well. 

"The Deathly Hallows" were my two favorite films of the second half of the series, and easily the best of the films that David Yates has directed in the Potterverse. They both show a maturity and darkness that wasn't seen in the rest of the series, and showed off some of the better acting that Radcliffe and Watson were capable of pulling off once they had matured into young adults. 



[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=94554[/img]As with "The Deathly Hallows: Part 1", I’m not going to rehash the storyline as Dale had reviewed both the “Deathly Hallows” films back in the day, so for his opinions on the movie itself I will link to his words HERE.









*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images




*Video* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=94530[/img]I'm going to say the same thing as I said in "The Deathly Hallows: Part 1". Both "Part 1" and Part 2" have a VERY distinct visual style created by David Yates. He loves using darkness as a heavy cloth and it saturates the entire pair of movies. Much like "Part 2" we get lots and LOTS of dim shadows that lean toward grey blues and tones of sepia giving the film a very bleak and dry look. Colors can pop out of this bleak backdrop, ranging from the bursts of magical energy expended in the battle with Voldemort, to the hot whites in the "afterlife" where Dumbledore and Harry have their final pep talk at the end. The HDR doesn't do as much of making the colors more warm and vivid as I would have hoped, and textural upgrades are very nice, but not overly abundant. You can see the rough hewn wizard robes clearer, and up close facial shots show the most improvement. Long shots and battle sequences show the least upgrades as the CGI looks just a teensy bit fake against the older visual style (kind of the downside of 4K in my experience). Blacks are deep and inky, but there's still some crush that's crossed over from the Blu-ray release, but delineation is quite nice and the bleak visual style of Yates has never looked better. 







*Audio* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=94538[/img]Yup, like all the Potter UHD releases, the 5.1 mix gets an ample upgrade in the form of a DTS:X track (with a DTS-HD MA 7.1 Core for those without the proper equipment to benefit from the next gen audio), and the result are pretty stinking impressive. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" is a more visceral and action packed film than its predecessor, and thus it benefits greatly from having a varied listening stage with moments of soft introspection and quiet dialog, interspersed with heavy amounts of magical prowess being displayed on screen. The battle between the wizards and Voldemort's evil army is incredible, filling the soundstage with energy blasts and a full 360 degree field of immersion. LFE is powerful and throbbing, with deep low end blasts and thundering crashes from falling rubble. Again, I must reiterate that while we gave "Part 2" a 5/5 rating back in the day, advances in modern technology has kind of "reset the bar" so even though the DTS:X track is definitely a step up from the 5.1 mix, I'm rating it a 4.5/5 as there are more modern tracks that make more use of the overheads etc.






*Extras* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=94546[/img]
• Maximum Movie Mode 
• Focus Points 
• Aberforth Dumbledore
• Deathly Hallows costume changes
• Harry returns to Hogwarts
• The Hogwarts shield 
• The room of requirement set
• The fiery escape
• Neville’s stand
• Molly takes down Bellatrix 
• Final farewells from the cast/crew
• Behind the story 
• 8 deleted scenes
• Warner Bros. Studio Tour London 
• Pottermore 






*Overall:* :4.5stars:


It's interesting to go through the series once more and see how YOUNG everyone was back in the day! Harry Potter is a fan favorite and for a reason, and these 4K UHD releases are greatly appreciated. The tech specs are a nice upgrade from the 1080p Blu-ray, and the Blu-rays are the same two disc sets from the original releases with all the special features included (the extras are all on the Blu-rays, none on the 4K UHD disc itself). Whether you upgrade or not will depend solely on the audio and visual scores, both which are pretty impressive, especially the audio with a DTS:X encode (up from the 5.1 mix from 5 years ago). Definitely highly recommended



*Additional Information:*

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emily Watson, Rupert Grint
Directed by: David Yates
Written by: Steve Kloves (Screenplay), J.K. Rowling
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS:X (DTS-HD MA 7.1 Core), Spanish DD 5.1, French
Studio: Warner
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 130 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 28th 2017





*Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 On 4K Blu-ray at Amazon*



*Recommendation: Recommended​*








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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

I recently viewed DH Part 2 again on Blu-ray so it's fresh on my mind. Man, these are dark, dark, dark movies! Thematically and visually. The darkness really bodes well on my TV, though. I was worried though, so many movies raise the black levels, even if it's ever-so-slight, but that was hardly a problem for this film.

You mention that these are a nice upgrade from the SD Blu-rays, I'm wondering if this would be worth an upgrade for me.

I'm also leery of the upgrade for the first films, too. Going back and watching the first two with my kids, I can't believe how poor the transfers were. I don't think even the UHD upgrade would help make it much better. Although, I'm kind of hoping I'm wrong!


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

Jon Liu said:


> I recently viewed DH Part 2 again on Blu-ray so it's fresh on my mind. Man, these are dark, dark, dark movies! Thematically and visually. The darkness really bodes well on my TV, though. I was worried though, so many movies raise the black levels, even if it's ever-so-slight, but that was hardly a problem for this film.
> 
> You mention that these are a nice upgrade from the SD Blu-rays, I'm wondering if this would be worth an upgrade for me.
> 
> I'm also leery of the upgrade for the first films, too. Going back and watching the first two with my kids, I can't believe how poor the transfers were. I don't think even the UHD upgrade would help make it much better. Although, I'm kind of hoping I'm wrong!


it IS a solid upgrade that's for sure, but like I said, it's not as jaw dropping as some I've seen. Honestly, I was pleased for both Deathly hallows. OOTP and THBP are a bit weaker (getting those reviews up tomorrow or tonight) but not by a whole lot. all 4 are decent upgrades. However, the DTS:X tracks, those are WELL worth the upgrade.


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