For those out of the loop, Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film in the franchise based on J.K. Rowling's immensely popular series of children's books. The story has escalated as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are now in their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the threat of evil is growing. While many are denying Lord Voldemort's return Harry and his band of students know better and decide to form Dumbledore's Army in an effort to learn how to defend themselves against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.

That is, of course, a rather brief summary of what happens in this 139 minute feature, but it is enough to give you an idea of what you are in store for, and this HD DVD offers up plenty for fans of the film, the franchise and just casual viewers in terms of special features.

Let me first say that while this is an HD DVD/DVD combo disc there is very little for DVD owners to get excited about as the DVD side carries only the feature film and this disc does not contain the downloadable digital copy that is said to be on the 2-disc DVD edition. I don't know how many of you have been purchasing HD DVD/DVD combo discs, but if you were looking for comparable features on both sides you aren't going to get it.

The HD DVD side however carries a lot for you to peruse. First off there is the HD DVD exclusive In-Movie Experience which features just about everyone Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and the rest of Dumbledore's Army as well as various pop-up cards with info on the actors and the production. Occasionally there will be an option to watch a separate feature, all of which can be accessed through the main window at the end of it all. The available extras include looks at how the Dementors were created, "The Kiss", more on Imelda Staunton as Professor Umbridge and her interesting little office and so forth... I think you get my drift. The extra sequences total 62 minutes in all and can be watched separately (which I recommend).

Next there is a 20 minute feature with Natalia Tena who plays Tonks in the film. She takes you around the entire production looking at the various places such as the art department, creature effects and you also get to go to Wand Training with her. Yup, they actually had someone on set training them how to use a wand; once you see it, it actually makes a little sense.

Next up is a feature called "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing". In this section you get a quick featurette from director David Yates and editor Mark Day explaining the value of good editing, using the proper shots and music in an effort to create the perfect scene. Once the featurette ends you get a chance to do a little editing yourself, even though it is rather restricted and limiting. You will piece together a quick scene featuring Harry teaching Nigel a bit of the ol' "Stupify". It is decent, but nothing overwhelming.

Finally there are the deleted scenes, in which the primary focus are two longer bits featuring Emma Thompson as Trelawney, but there are a few quick bits Potter fanatics are sure to appreciate. They total just over 10 minutes.

There are some web-enabled features, but unless buying ringtones, sharing your favorite scenes or hosting a community screening are your thing you won't be interested. The community screening thing is somewhat decent, but all it really means is that you are watching the movie at the same time as other people. Why not just call them?

Oddly, there is supposedly an A&E documentary called "Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter" on the Blu-ray release that is missing from the HD DVD release. I suppose this is because the Blu-ray doesn't have the preferred In-Movie Experience, but that is just an assumption.

For me, you aren't buying this disc for the features; you are buying it for the movie, which is spectacular. While the In-Movie Experience continues to be a fantastic feature and well ahead of just a regular ol' commentary, with this movie I only need the film. The high-definition picture and the inclusion of a Dolby TrueHD audio track make the HD DVD purchase all that much better, and as the prices on HD DVD players continue to drop I would be surprised if more people don't pick them up... After all, they also work as up-rezzing DVD players, which don't cost much less. With the release of Order of the Phoenix, as well as the new Harry Potter Gift Set I would say now is just about the right time to get started.