Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Despite some reservations, I enjoy the Harry Potter films enough to recommend them to interested viewers. With the fifth film opening in theaters, here’s a rundown on the installments available on DVD.

Taking no chances and no risks, Chris Columbus’ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone transposes as much of Rowling’s 300-plus page story as the filmmakers can fit into 2½ hours. However you feel about the book is a pretty reliable indicator of how you’ll feel about this unflaggingly faithful film adaptation. Quidditch, Severus Snape, Diagon Alley, Nearly Headless Nick, Wizard’s Chess, the invisibility cloak — it’s all here, more or less, very much as you probably imagined it. Purists will find some sins of omission but few of commission.

In the second outing, Columbus’ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the stakes are higher, the themes darker, the Malfoys nastier, the action grander, the monsters scarier, the gross-outs ickier, the climax stronger and the movie longer. Though workmanlike rather than inspired, it’s good workmanship, and like the source material remains entertaining. Highlights include Mr. Weasley’s flying car, Kenneth Branagh as preening new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart, and a quietly effective moment in which words written in a seemingly blank diary fade away and answering words flicker momentarily into sight.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has the makings of the best of the first three films. Where two-time director Columbus was content to reverently visualize his source material, incoming helmer Alfonso Cuarón successfully imagines it as a movie. The first two films were slack at times; here the story is taut and well-paced. The three leads inhabit their characters more comfortably and convincingly than ever. Unfortunately, important subplots and elements from the book have been excised, leaving important elements in the films no longer totally making sense, or having the necessary significance, in the absence of what the film doesn’t tell us.

With Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Kloves and incoming director Mike Newell have done the best job so far trimming the fat from the story. As Harry grows up, the series continues to grow darker. Previous installments have featured bad wizards as well as monsters; here for the first time we meet an evil wizard cult, the hooded Death-Eaters, secret disciples of the devilish Lord Voldemort.

Goblet of Fire offers some of the series’ most magical imagery. Harry’s battle with the dragon may include the best dragon sequence of any movie. As the series progresses, Harry slowly grows to be someone who is not just enviable for his power, but admirable for his choices.

Content advisory Some frightening scenes and menace; a few gross images; some crude and derogatory language; fantasy presentation of magic.