Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

An ancient prophecy seems to be coming true when a mysterious presence begins stalking the corridors of a school of magic and leaving its victims paralyzed.

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writers:

J.K. Rowling (novel), Steve Kloves (screenplay)

Stars:

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 13 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Radcliffe	...	Harry Potter
Rupert Grint	...	Ron Weasley
Emma Watson	...	Hermione Granger
Richard Griffiths	...	Uncle Vernon
Fiona Shaw	...	Aunt Petunia
Harry Melling	...	Dudley Dursley
Toby Jones	...	Dobby (voice)
Jim Norton	...	Mr Mason
Veronica Clifford	...	Mrs Mason
James Phelps	...	Fred Weasley
Oliver Phelps	...	George Weasley
Julie Walters	...	Mrs. Weasley
Bonnie Wright	...	Ginny Weasley
Mark Williams	...	Mr. Weasley
Chris Rankin	...	Percy Weasley

Storyline

Forced to spend his summer holidays with his muggle relations, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby (Toby Jones) the house-elf, who warns Harry against returning to Hogwarts, for terrible things are going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and continues with his pre-arranged schedule. But at Hogwarts, strange and terrible things are indeed happening. Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, muggle-born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on his or her guard, "The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware".

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Plot Keywords:

invisibility cloak | basilisk | magical book | killing a monster | child protagonist | 

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Taglines:

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for scary moments, some creature violence and mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros.

Country:

UK USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Filming Locations:

Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$88,357,488, 17 November 2002

Gross USA:

$262,450,136

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$879,465,594

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Heyday Films, 1492 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

161 min 174 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS (8 channels) IMAX 6-Track 12-Track Digital Sound DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many Harry Potter fans went to see Scooby-Doo (2002) just to see a trailer for this movie.

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Goofs

The green puppet used to represent Dobby during the shoot is reflected in Harry's glasses.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Hedwig wants to be let out of her cage]
Harry: I can't let you out, Hedwig! I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school. Besides, if Uncle Vernon...
Uncle Vernon: [yells] Harry Potter!
Harry: Now you've done it.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits we see what happened to the amnesia-suffering Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. He has written a book titled "Who Am I?". His moving image on the book's cover wears a straitjacket, and hums the movie's theme tune.

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Alternate Versions

To retain a vital anagram in different languages, the full name of Tom M. Riddle has been changed in most non-English versions, sometimes even quite drastically. In German, for instance, his name is Tom Vorlost Riddle (surprisingly close to the original, considering the vastly different language), in Swedish it's Tom Gus Mervolo Dolder, and in Icelandic it's Trevor Delgome(!), which sacrifice the "riddle" wordplay altogether. (Source: DVD translations and subtitles)

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Connections

Spin-off Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (2010)

User Reviews

Entertaining, And Ranks Somewhere In The Middle Of The HP Films

I thought this was better than the first Harry Potter movie because it didn't overdo the action scenes as the first film did, and the special-effects were better. It's not "Lord Of The Rings," of course, but it's still decent entertainment, even for us older folks. It got even better with the third installment, which has been my personal favorite of the four I've seen now.

I don't buy into all the occult baloney and black magic stuff, just enjoying the special-effects that go with it with these stories. It also was interesting to see how the three young stars - Daniel Radcliff ("Harry"), Emma Watson ("Hermione") and Rupert Grint ("Ron") have physically matured since the first movie. All of a sudden, the boys have reached puberty and their voices are changing. "Ron" squeaks half the time he talks!

As with many modern-day, big-budget films, the visuals, the special-effects and the surround sound are all astounding. Definitely entertaining for all ages with no worries about language.