In anticipation for the final two chapters of the Harry Potter saga, Warner Bros. is starting to release a series of “Ultimate Edition” DVDs and Blu-Ray of each Potter film loaded to the brim with special features.  Upcoming Ultimate Editions of the first two films, Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, both come with five disks and a special features list longer than War and Peace.

Some special features highlights, courtesy of MuggleNet:

Sorcerer’s Stone:
- Introduction by Daniel Radcliffe - An introduction to the many special features for the Harry Potter films [NEW]
- Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 1: The Magic Begins: discover the story of how one vision for the Harry Potter films came together out of limitless possibilities to create the visual world we have come to know and love [NEW]
- In-Movie Experience with Director Chris Columbus: an interactive viewer experience where the entire film is examined; includes PiP, storyboard comparisons, still galleries (BD exclusive)
- WB Maximum Movie Mode picture-in-picture programming, cast walk-ons, focus points, graphics and more (BD exclusive)

Chamber of Secrets:
- Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 2: Characters - Explore how the cast and creative team of directors and designers take the characters’ descriptions on the page to the actors’ performances on film. [NEW]
- Screen Tests of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson [NEW]
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Revealed - 2002 HBO First Look special

It’s a great idea to include chapters of the “Creating the World of Harry Potter” featurette series across all the movies — if they keep it going through the Ultimate Edition releases of all eight films, it could be a pretty formidable documentary altogether.

Here’s a trailer for the first two editions.  It’s got plenty of good stuff in and of itself, including a couple of bloopers and a look at one of the kids’ screen tests: