The fifth Harry Potter film is unlikely anyone's favorite in the franchise, but it's also unlikely to be anyone's least favorite. It's the first Potter film that falls into the good-not-great category, but it's still stronger than the subpar Chris Columbus efforts on the first two films. Director David Yates and writer Michael Goldenberg took a HUGE novel by J.K. Rowling and boiled it down to the bare essentials. It's very well-made, but for the first time in the franchise, we really feel like we're watching a transitional film, one that's primary purpose is simply to link the first four films with the final two. Having said that, Order of the Phoenix is still an enjoyable experience, largely in part to something the previous films weren't exactly built upon - the performances of the ensemble. Look at that cast list above. It's an amazing group of actors, a fact that's sometimes overlooked because it's an installment in a billion-dollar franchise. The A-list British actors assembled continue to do great work and that's to be expected but Order of the Phoenix also features the best performances yet by the young actors, especially Daniel Radcliffe. It's a slight step down from Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire when it comes to the overall package but it's far from a significant enough step to cause concern in fans of the franchise. They could easily step right back up.

Interestingly, the DVD for Order of the Phoenix feels similarly good-not-great when compared to the previous Potter releases from Warner Brothers, which were some of the best of their individual years. The coolest new feature is the recognition by Warner Brothers that we're living in an increasingly digital world by including a digital copy of the entire film. So, yes, you could buy Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, download the free digital copy to your computer, and then sell your hard copy on Ebay. Pretty neat. Seriously, having a digital copy of the film will appeal greatly to technophiles and kids raised on Ipods. It's an idea that's likely to be repeated and eventually become the norm.

As for the film itself, Order of the Phoenix looks and sounds spectacular, as most new Warner Brothers DVDs do. The technical transfer is nearly flawless with some of the most crisp and clear standard-def colors yet seen in the format. The sound mix is equally impressive. When it comes to the technical specs, no one beats Warner Brothers and their best franchise to prove it has been the Harry Potter DVDs.

As for the special features, fans of heavily laden two-disc editions might be a little bit disappointed with only four real special features, but it's a case of quality over quantity. Most fans will flock to the deleted scenes but there's nothing of real substance there - they were all correctly excised. The real catch here is "The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter" and, no, there's no reference to the recent revelation that Dumbledore is gay. Instead, the actors all appear along with clips from all five movies to discuss their character arcs over the entire series and authors who have written books about the franchise discuss the major themes that run from first film to last. It runs 45 minutes and is a must-have for serious Potter fans. After that, there's an odd featurette called "Trailing Tonks," in which the actress who plays Tonks, Natalie Tena, guides us around the set for 20 minutes and then plays a Christmas blues song. Slightly more interesting is a too-brief featurette called "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing." For five minutes, you'll learn how important editing is to a film like Phoenix and then you'll be able to see for yourself as you're allowed to re-edit a scene, complete with different music and sound effects. The special features on Order of the Phoenix are certainly creative and, considering how many DVDs have already been released in this series, the team behind them definitely deserve credit for coming up with something new.

Overall, fans who snapped up the first four Harry Potter DVDs are unlikely to be put off by what they're given with the fifth one. Just like in the theater, it's not the best Potter, but it's not the worst, and it will do until we're given more.