At different degrees, we are all so familiar with Harry Potter's stories and the wonderful magical adventure that went on to become one of the most successful novel and cinematic franchises of all time. Still, it's hard to believe that it's 20 years since the first film came out, and most of the original fans of the series are now in their 30s and 40s. After the success of reunion specials that have aired recently, like the epic fantasy series Game Of Thrones or the 90s sitcom Friends, HBO has brought us another heartwarming special with Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts, the highly anticipated retrospective special that is now streaming exclusively on HBO GO.
First things first, Return To Hogwarts isn't a quickly made reunion programme by any means as the thing runs to an hour and 45 minutes. The presentation of the show is quite interesting -- a quasi-short film/documentary/reunion of sorts. It's a beautifully shot and well-scripted magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises. This special reunites Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson who played the three iconic roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, as well as many other cast members and fan favourites including Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, producer David Heyman and filmmaker Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and David Yates. For whatever the reason might be, the author of the Harry Potter novels J.K. Rowling is not in this. Although the show does use interview footage of her from 2019 sprinkled throughout and a lot of the actors and filmmakers do reference her books. So it's not like they pretended Rowling doesn't exist. Her name is absolutely a part of the celebration.
The presentation goes through all the milestones of each movie with Radcliffe acting as the host, meeting and talking with his co-stars from different eras and sharing their memories and experiences of working on the films together. The show is broken into chapters and we see a ton of characters and actors who worked together at different times over a decade. There's also a great tribute to some of the deceased actors, such as Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley), Alan Rickman (Professor Snape), Richard Harris (Professor Dumbledore) and John Hurt (Mr Ollivander). Fans will revel in all that and in the pure nostalgia brought on by the many clips from the films, backstage scenes and original audition tapes. In other words, Return To Hogwarts is definitely a pure nostalgia show. So please be warned that this might not be the most exciting thing to watch if you're a kid or new to the franchise. If you watch this with a young child, they might not appreciate it the way you do.
There are both light and rather surprising moments featured throughout the show, like how Grint and Watson discuss Ron and Hermione's romantic relationship, and their awkward kissing scene. It's funny to see their reactions and talk about how they struggled to film the scene as they had grown up together -- they were almost like brother and sister. Or the real on-set romance between Watson and Tom Felton. It's no secret because she's talked about it a lot over the years. But here we get the inside scoop from both Watson and Felton themselves.
Seeing Radcliffe and Oldman, who plays Sirius Black, reunite is the show's other highlight. Because if you've watched any of the behind the scenes documentaries for the Prisoner Of Azkaban or the Order Of The Phoenix, you know that the young Radcliffe looked up to the veteran actor a great deal, which he also talks about in this special. I'm also glad they brought back all of the directors from every movie, like Chris Columbus from the first two films, Alfonso Cuarón from the third, and David Yates from the later ones, getting their insights and understanding their mindset.
One of the most shocking revelations was that Watson almost left this series after the fourth film wrapped. She admitted that she was lonely at times, especially dealing with all the fame she had garnered. To my knowledge, this had never been disclosed until now.
Return To Hogwarts features rare and never seen footage, one of which is the young Radcliffe, Grint and Watson on their first day together on the set in early 2000. They then transitioned to their final day on set in 2010, which was quite an emotional comparison. They go over their final take, which was jumping onto a mat, which in itself was a beautiful metaphor for jumping onto the next part of their lives and being done with a decade-long franchise.
Overall, if you are a fan of the franchise then don't miss the celebration. Return To Hogwarts is a great experience and once again, a phenomenal reminder of just why we love Harry Potter in the first place. It's a timeless fantasy story where you can escape into a completely different world and the memory stays with you forever.
- Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts
- Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes
- Directed by Casey Patterson
- Now streaming on HBO GO
