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 | killing a monster | child protagonist | sequel | 

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Taglines:

The Chamber of Secrets has opened...

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel, Aragog is blind, as his eyes were milky white. In this movie, his eyes are black, implying he can see.

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Goofs

(at around 25 mins) As they fly over Hogwarts Express Ron yells, "Take my hand!" the corner rubber trim of the door frame is peeling up. When Ron grabs hold in the shot facing Ron, their hands are positioned differently than in the next close-up where it's visible that the frame of the door is fairly clean, there are two parcels behind the seat, etc. Yet when Ron grabs hold after Harry says, "...Your hand's all sweaty," the rubber trim is fitted into place, the frame of the door is filthy and there are different parcels behind the seat, etc.

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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

The character "Mr Borgin" is listed in the end credits although he does not appear in the movie. He appears in two additional scenes on the DVD.

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Alternate Versions

German theatrical version was cut (the Willow tree bashes the car three times less, Ron being attacked by a spider in the car, close up of a bone in the dungeons, Harry being pursued by the Basilisk, Harry uses the tooth only once to kill Voldemort, the death of Voldemort, the death of the Basilisk) to secure a "Not under 6" rating. Additionally some dialogue was changed (when Harry hears the Basilisk at the beginning, it says "I will get you" instead of "I will kill you"). This version was released on DVD & VHS in Germany and Austria but not in Switzerland where the uncut version was released (resulting in high exports to the two other countries). The uncut version of the movie was rated "Not under 12" and was shown on TV and released on Blu-ray.

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Connections

Referenced in Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Pimemento (2020)

User Reviews

A great sequel!

If you liked the first one then you're going to love this! There's a darker atmosphere this time around and more characters are introduced including Gilderoy Lockhart (hilariously played by Kenneth Branagh), Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius (a great performance by Jason Isaacs, exactly how I imagined the character from the books!), Ron's father, Arthur, and the mysterious Dobby the house elf (fortunately he isn't anywhere near as annoying as other CG characters in other movies, but I won't name any names... *cough*JarJarBinks*cough*)

The movie sticks closely to the novel, but as in the last movie we miss some of those scenes where we start to learn a little more about the characters, especially the hate-hate relationship between Harry and Professor Snape (who was seriously underused in this movie!)

All in all it's definitely worth checking out, the running time of 160 minutes may seem a little long but it doesn't seem that long when you're watching it. By the way, whatever you do DO NOT leave until the credits have ended, otherwise you'll miss a little extra treat...

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:

London, 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:

$879,601,270

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