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| Eddie Redmayne is Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. |
J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
takes us back to Harry Potter’s magical world of Faerie, only this time to
the streets of 1920s New York city. The story follows the adventures
of magizoologist Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them, one of Harry Potter’s textbooks at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Newt is a stranger in a strange land who arrives
in America only to find himself in a foreign wizarding community existing in
secret, living in fear of discovery by a hostile non-magical society. As if
that wasn’t enough, the international wizarding world is on high alert because murderous
dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is at large.
Fans of the Harry Potter films were on pins and needles,
wondering if Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them would be able to live up to their beloved fairy tale saga. After
all, unlike the Potter movies, there was no beloved book series on which to
base this new film series, plus, J.K.
Rowling had never written a screenplay before. Well, Rowling and the rest
of the production team outdid themselves. Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them is the best wizarding movie since the
enchanting Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
stone, the film that started it all. And Fantastic Beasts is the first Harry Potter movie to win an Academy
Award.
After 35 years in the business, and previous Oscars, costume
designer Colleen Atwood proved she’s not sitting on her laurels with her exquisite
costume designs. Attwood elevates her art, and the actor’s performances with
her visionary creations, garnering her a 4th Academy Award for Best
Achievement in Costume Design. Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter himself,
expressed his envy of Newt Scamander’s great coat. The costumes for each
character from the leads down to the extras are spot on, helping to create the
spell of this fairy story.
This production contains lots of magic, as well as talent,
hard work, knowledge, creativity, and loving care. It’s so rare to see this
kind of attention to each and every detail of a movie, even a big budget one
like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them. The writing, directing, acting, production design, sound,
cinematography, special effects, and CGI are all artistic triumphs. James
Newton Howard’s musical score is pure magic, the best since John William’s
brilliant score for Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban.
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| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is out now on Blu-ray combo pack. |
The Blu-ray combo pack comes with a Blu-ray disc, a DVD, and
a digital HD copy. The quality of the picture and sound are excellent. The
difference in the dreary non-magical world vs. the rich, vivid colors of the
wizarding world show up as beautifully on this home video edition. The sound is
exceptional as well. That’s not easy to do in a movie with so many layers of
sound. This is a top quality product that immerses the viewer in J.K. Rowling’s
world of wizards and beasts of Faerie.
Verdict: Fairytastic! Buy it. 5 out of 5 stars. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
is available online and in stores now. Click here for my review of the movie.
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