Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4) Reviews

5 Comments

1. Amanda Richards

   October 8, 2010 at 9:10 pm

   Review by Amanda Richards for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
   Rating:
   This one’s the best of all to date
   
   And still it ain’t enough
   
   They left out whole chunks of the book
   
   and all the Quidditch stuff

   Dursleys, Weasleys, house elves gone!
   
   The World Cup’s in one frame
   
   Rita Skeeter doesn’t morph
   
   Black’s just a head aflame

   No magic money from the sky
   
   No cash prize for the winner
   
   This movie is for HP fans
   
   And not for a beginner

   The goblet spews the fiery names
   
   Of the ones who will compete
   
   To represent the magic schools
   
   At the Triwizard treat

   For years it’s picked the chosen three
   
   But this time out comes four
   
   It’s quite a shock for all concerned
   
   Even for Dumbledore

   This Dumbledore’s a wimpy man
   
   His wardrobe’s really swishy
   
   Again he hires shady staff
   
   And can’t smell something’s fishy

   Three tasks are set, and all are tough
   
   With dragons, eggs and water
   
   The final takes them in a maze
   
   And leads them to the slaughter

   To understand about the tasks
   
   You’d need to read the book
   
   The movie leaves out far too much
   
   So please, read first – then look

   The dance was great, the settings lush
   
   This stuff never gets old
   
   The return of Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort
   
   Was something to behold

   They did their best within the time
   
   They couldn’t fit all in
   
   Next time we want a lot more Snape
   
   So let the fifth begin

   Amanda Richards, March 25, 2006
   

   Reply
2. Chet Fakir

   October 8, 2010 at 8:24 pm

   Review by Chet Fakir for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
   Rating:
   And if I measure the choices made by the director, screenwriter, actors and casting director I find their efforts to be lacking. The book itself is wonderful in many respects, packed with information, back stories and texture that makes for a very enjoyable read. Now I know it’s not easy to condense a 700+ page book into a working movie, but c’mon! This is a poor job and not just because of the large amount of material they left out from the book. For example: no Ludo Bagman, no Winky, no Dobby, no S.P.E.W., no Dursleys, no Bertha Jorkins without whom Voldemort wouldn’t have known about Barty Crouch Jr’s escape from Azkaban, no Quidditch World Cup (we see is the teams fly into the stadium and the next thing everybody is celebrating Ireland’s victory), no Rita Skeeter being an animangus, no gobblins, no betting, no Platform 9 3/4, no Barty Crouch Jr. receiving the dementor’s kiss, and no final scene with Cornelius Fudge where he denies Voldemort’s return. Instead we are treated to extra long and superfluous dragon fight/flight sequence a long and boring grindylow battle scene during the Triwizard Tournament’s second task, not to mention the maze being completely different from the book: no sphinx, no acromantula. It is certainly possible to make edits and a coherent movie. Unfortunately so many details are left out, awkwardly edited or portrayed that if you haven’t read the book you might not know what is going on. And if you had read the book you’re not going to like the changes, at least I didn’t. For example I didn’t like all the Beauxbatons students being all-female, nor the Durmstrang students being all male, and don’t get me started on the fake CGI looking merpeople, yuck.

   Missing details and editing are not the least of the problems. There’s also direction, acting and casting misteps gallore. The casting choices for the new characters are atrocious. Krum looks nothing like he is described in the book, nor does he behave like the Krum of Rowlings novel. His role in the movie too is sadly reduced. Madame Maxine was supposed to be an olive skinned, handsome women with a prominent Gaulic nose. What we get is a scarecrow with a bad French accent. Fleur Delacroix is supposed to be beautiful, part veela with white blond hair, magically delicious! In the movie she’s rather plain looking with light brown hair. None of her haughtiness is portrayed and might as well not have been there for all the impact she made. Karkaroff had white hair, wasn’t scruffy but rather well groomed, crafty or shifty rather than brutal. Barty Crouch Jr. was supposed to be blond and somewhat good looking, not some goggle eyed, sweaty, tongue flicking loony. In fact it was his “normal” appearance that made his slavish devotion to Voldemort so much more disturbing. He wasn’t a stock character bad guy. Shame on the director and shame on the actor for making him a sweaty nutjob. But the worst is Dumbledore. Richard Harris effectively portrayed the sensitivity, gravitas, intelligence and power written into the character by J. K. Rowling. The new Dumbledore is a grouchy, somewhat thick-headed man who projects all the presence and majesty of a minor bureaucrat with a bad attitude. After Harry’s name comes up from the Goblet Of Fire making him the fourth Triwizard champion, he screams Harry’s name. Then later grabs Harry by the shoulders, shoves him and yells in Harry’s face “Did you get an older student to put your name in the Goblet for you!?!?!” This is NOT the way Rowlings beloved Dumbledore would act, sorry. How’d this guy get the job? I can’t really fault Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint too much, they were servicable if not remarkable in their roles. Emma Watson as Hermione however is scenery chewingly off character. She’s either on the brink of tears, crying or on the brink of angry tears. Her performance is way over-the-top, falsely dramatic and untrue to the character. ACTING!!! with a capital A.

   The tone and tenor of Rowlings book is simply missing from this movie. The characters bear little resemblence to those in her book and not least because they run around in Muggle clothes for half the movie. Because of editing choices the movie has an awkward flow and might not be comprehensible to someone not familiar with the book. Now I know I’ve been emphasizing differences between the book and movie and to some people I’m being a nit picker. Well I could forgive radical changes if the movie wasn’t so and here’s that word again: awkward. The story simply doesn’t flow well, the rhythm feels rushed, the emphasis is on action rather than plot. I got bored about half way through. In fact it took me two viewings to get through it. I’d rent this one before buying it and then decide if you really need to own this thing.

   Reply
3. Rei

   October 8, 2010 at 7:39 pm

   Review by Rei for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
   Rating:
   In this forth instalment in the ever popular Harry Potter series based on the novel by JK Rolwling we see Harry mature in many ways, he must over come three deadly tasks, face a fully formed Lord Voldermort and possibly the most horrifying task of all for the 14 year old Harry, he must get himself a date for the Yule Ball!
   
   The performance of the trio in the Goblet of Fire is amazing, every scene seemed to be executed perfectly and the on screen chemistry between the young stars is evident. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) reaches new heights in this movie perfectly portraying the uncomfortable adolescent Harry has become; he faces the new emotional roles in the movie with confidence and enthusiasm, like wise for Radcliffe’s young co-stars Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) Once again we see terrific performances from the likes of Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall), Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) and Robbie Coltraine (Hagrid) as well as meeting some new faces amongst the students, including students from two other magical academies who join the students at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament! Another highlight of this marvellous movie is Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Lord Voldermort which can be rather alarming even to an adult!
   
   I believe this movie to be of an excellent standard not only due to the charismatic trio, but also thanks to the special effects of this movie. We see many fascinating creatures including a ferocious fire breathing dragon (which Harry must fight armed with nothing but his wand!) and while watching you can truly forget that these creatures were created using blue screen and you can honestly believe that you are in this world, that it truly exists just behind closed doors. This is very true to the novels making this a movie every Potter fan can enjoy and indeed fans of spectacular plots and mind-blowing special effects alike can appreciate this, making the Goblet of Fire a movie for all the family! Overall I would call this movie riveting and n absolute gem of the movie world. You do not want to miss this brilliant piece of film history, no DVD collection would be complete with out it! Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire amazing 5 stars!
   

   Reply
4. B. Schlein

   October 8, 2010 at 6:48 pm

   Review by B. Schlein for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
   Rating:
   Contrary to what others may tell you, all this copy has is the Film itself, nothing more, nothing less. If you truely want a good copy, get the two-disc special edition. It has far more materieal, including Deleated Scenes! So just spend a few dollars more and get more.

   Reply
5. J. Yabut

   October 8, 2010 at 6:30 pm

   Review by J. Yabut for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
   Rating:
   ****SPOILER ALERT****

   Okay…the GoF book is 734 pages, and the movie adaptation is a little over 2.5 hours. Of course a lot of stuff was going to be cut. Some of the cuts I was able to deal with (e.g., Hermione and S.P.E.W.). Unfortunately, many of the characters (especially the other Triwizard champions) were severely underdeveloped as a result.

   Giving Viktor Krum only two lines in the entire movie was inexcusable. So was cutting out the entire Quidditch World Cup match. The viewer isn’t given enough reason to care about Krum, or why he became a potential love interest for Hermione. He simply comes across as a dumb jock. The movie should have shown a couple minutes of the World Cup match to show off his prowess, and little scene here and there of him interacting with Hermione (I was actually quite peeved that the didn’t show her teaching Viktor how to pronounce her name).

   The other champions were likewise poorly developed. You learn practically nothing about Cedric or Fleur Delacour (who got the least screentime out of the four champions). Fleur was simply another pretty face; they even cut the part about her being a quarter-veela (which was why the boys were swooning over her in the book). And if I didn’t read the book, I probably wouldn’t have cared too much about Cedric’s death near the end of the movie.

   Even Ron and Hermione were mainly relegated to the background. They didn’t even use any kind of magic for the entire film! It would’ve been nice to show how exactly Hermione was helping Harry (like with the Accio spell), instead of just having her simper and worry. Ron seemed to be purely comic relief.

   My other quibble was that the first task was WAY too long. The dragon chasing Harry around Hogwarts was ridiculous. They could’ve easily shaved off a good five minutes, and instead use that time for the World Cup match they DIDN’T show (can you tell that I was mad about that being cut out?)

   Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoyed the movie; it did capture the spirit of the book pretty well. And I was VERY happy to see the ferret scene (YES!)

   Overall impression: Good entertainment, but read the book first. That’ll help fill in the blanks. Three out of five stars.

   3/16/06 UPDATE: I received the Special Edition DVD set last week. I liked the interview with the Golden Trio, but it would’ve been nice if they had other cast member interviews, like in the PoA DVD. The reflection of the fourth movie (which included sharing from other cast members) was a nice touch, but again, I wish they had more in-depth interviews with them. As for the deleted scenes, they weren’t worth it. I’m not giving away all of the deleted scenes, but I’ll just say that there was NO footage whatsoever of the Quidditch World Cup Match!

   I’m also slightly puzzled at why there was a *seperate* Special Edition DVD this time around. I’m sure that confused a few people.

   Reply