FANTASTIC BEASTS: COG (BD/S) [Blu-ray] [2018]

If you’re a fan you’re a fan.

This series of films is a tour de force. I cannot fault them at all. This story is much darker than the previous films but so topical for todays political scene. Watching the extras shows just how much work goes into making these films and I find it staggering. The details and skill levels are quite outstandingly good but they are reflected in the end product. I will be watching this film again in the near future because it is impossible to see everything in just one session. First class film.

This is a review of the Bluray offering and less of a review of the film. You get two discs, the main disc is the theatrical release of the film. This is also the case with the digital copy. On redemption, it was pleasing to see that the UV option is gone, as UV cannot be viewed on my TV and on tablets keeps buffering on a steady 75mbps cable connection, so reliability was very poor for that service. For me, it is great that Google Play now provide the digital copy. Having a Sony TV with Android TV, the digital copy can be watched on the TV, as well as tablets and no buffering from that service. If Amazon redeemed these codes, it would be even better!It should be noted that the picture quality on the "download" (streaming) copy is not bad, but it does not equal that of the Bluray disc. Ardent fans of the series will need the disc, the digital version will just not do for the action scenes, particularly those set at night or otherwise in darkness.The second disc is the extended cut, with deleted scenes. This is just the extended cut, there are no other extras, albeit, there is a small intro by David Yates.The film itself is good, I enjoyed it. I am not going to discuss the plot, but there are those who felt let down and this needs some discussion. I have heard some say it is the weakest in terms of plot & pace from the Harry Potter universe - some have used the word boring. Whilst my family enjoyed the film, I cannot argue with those who did not enjoy it, as that is their experience. In my view, there is lot of story to tell here and this film does some heavy lifting in plot terms and has received some criticism as a result. My advice is see for yourself, watch it a couple of times, as you will clearly need to absorb the plot if you intend to watch any subsequent films in the series.The theatrical disc has several special features, the quality of which is of a standard you would expect and includes a documentary featurette (J K Rowling: A World Revealed), which is well worth a watch.In summary, a good Bluray offering and another welcome addition to my home collection of films from the world of Harry Potter.The Blurays were reviewed on a 4K Panasonic DMP-UB700 player and a Sony KD-49XE9005, the digital copy was viewed on the same TV, using the TV's Android TV.Update: I had my digital copy updated free from HD to 4K.

A must for Wizarding World fans!Fantastic use of cgi for the fantastic beasts, wonderful acting, amazing costumes!The use of the green screen effects and the way the cast interact with each other, matched that of HP, in the way they have a great bond, great chemistry together and it does feel like they are all family and amazing friends.Poor Newt, always being dragged into things the ministry can’t do, he executes the story very well and helps to try the ministry in his own way.The cast are just amazing, I can not picture anyone else being Newt, The role suits Eddie Redmayne 10000%!All the cast feel like they have been hand picked by JK Rowling for the roles they are playing, just exceptional acting.The story carries on from the first movie, greatly written series.Yes I would 100% recommend this series to any wizarding world fan!

Item received in good condition

As a fan of Harry Potter and all things Wizarding World I’m already biased and obviously loved this film for that alone. However, I will say that this should have been a book and as JK wrote the script you can tell that she is a novelist as she tries to cram in every piece of information and at times even the hardiest fan is a bit lost. If this was a 6+ film or even split in two then fine - that would work but for this length it feels exhausting at points and even after watching it 3 times I am still seeing things I missed or understanding things better. It is definitely a middle ‘filler’ film and I’m excited to see where she goes with this but honestly...this in book form would have been the absolute dream.

Not a fan myself but the wife is and the quality of the picture from this version is excellent.Nice it includes the extended version with extra scenes too which wasn't obvious from the listing or the picture.Overall, great value!

Have to say I chuckled when I saw that a longer cut with deleted scenes comes in the same box - this is precisely the sort of film that makes you start looking at your watch about 40 minutes before the end. It really is an unholy mess right from the start - characters that are supposed to be dead, suddenly are not dead - because they obviously couldn't think of anything else to drive a narrative- so Eddie Redmayne does exactly what he does in the first film, stumbles about abroad somewhere and looks a bit English and asexual. Despite being called 'The Crimes of Grindelwald' - we're not really illuminated as to what the crimes are, and if you hadn't read the HP books, you'd be forgiven for thinking what an all round nice chap he is, if a bit David Bowie meets the German exchange teacher from 'the League of Gentlemen'. The plot drags - even if there are some amazing CGI set pieces and most of the cast put in a good turn - it's hard not to come away thinking that at least a dozen writers worked on this- even if the chief selling point of these prequels is that J K Rowling penned them directly for the screen. They've clearly made a valiant effort to drill in a message about the seductive nature of fascism - even at the expense of destroying a very likeable pairing from the first film - but, to be honest, me and my wife and two primary-school age kids couldn't have cared less by the end. My eight year old said, "Where's the spell that makes me want to watch this boring film?". And there you go.