Goblet of Fire Reviews: *Spoilers possible*

[DarkJedi]

I never got to put down my review for the Goblet of Fire film since I went late and the boards were down when I did see it.


Good movie too. Not like the book but then that always happens in the transfer from novel to Big Screen adaptation. :cool:

Columbus's first two movies were the closest to the novel version and yet my favorite two movies out of the series are the last two, most likely because of the faster pacing and the director's individual styles.

Since my favorite characters from the novels are Fred and George....and they had alot of screen time in GOF, I was definitely pleased with the finished product.

The Dragon sequence was very well done from ILM. I didn't like the Maze scene though....not in comparisons with what was in the novel. Novel had a Sphinx, upside down mist and a boggart.....whereas the movie was just vines and wind. Not very hard for wizards I would say.

The beginning and ending scenes with Fiennes was superb though and I think the main storyline was driven home well by the director even if minor details were skipped altogether( the World Cup match itself, Barty Crouch Jrs fate, Percy, Winky, Fred and George getting the 1000 galleons, the Dursleys and Molly being missing).


My Potter rankings for the movies as far as enjoyment and likes:

1. GOF
2. POA
3. SS
4. COS

Order of the Phoenix should be quite interesting. Can't wait to see Umbridge the evil toady witch. Also, can't wait for the Swamp scene and Fred/George flying away....that better happen though I don't see how they're going to pay for the WWW shop now....

[neglet]

Oh, I bet they have F&G refer to Harry giving them his winnings rather than having to show it in a scene. And they don't need to refer to it to include the Swamp scene--which should be a highlight of OoP!

I recently saw GoF for a second time, but this time on IMAX. Whoooo-eee! I like the dragon sequence much better on the huge screen (although I still thought, "poor dragon" at the end), and the underwater scene was fantastic. I'll admit to being similarly disappointed at the maze sequence in the movie. Granted, they didn't have time to show all the obstacles (they eliminated Hagrid's class and Blast-Ended Skrewts altogether), but it didn't look like a real magical challenge at all--more of a mental challenge.

That was more than made up for by the final confrontation with Voldemort. Ralph Fiennes was perfect, and Cedric's death appropriately cold, quick, and moving. I thought Daniel Radcliffe did a great job at the end of the film conveying Harry's fear, guilt, sadness, and anger.

I'd have to say I think GoF is one of the better Potter movies, although I still rank PoA at the top of my list. (The time travel bit is just so intricately woven and wonderfully played.) They did a good job of keeping in the key bits and focusing on the important story: the return of Voldemort.

We don't have a specific opening date for OoP, but it's sometime in June 2007. Maybe we need a news and speculation thread....

[DarkJedi]

Great idea for the movie news thread for OoP...that way, we can track of casting for the next movie. I was just elsewhere and I think it's confirmed that they have cast Umbridge?

Luna Lovegood casting too I believe.

I'd like Monica Belucci for Bellatrix....:D


Your Dragon comment made me smile, Miss Spanky.....I was thinking almost the exact thing when they showed the dragon falling. I know it sounds alittle too sappy there but hey, the dragon was just being a dragon. I guess we just assume it didn't bite the dust or it's keepers would never let that happen.

I also forgot to mention.....I really had my doubts about the second task and merpeople but I really think the director pulled it off. ILM could have done better with the special effects there in the underwater sequence but the scenes, the challenge itself, the musical background noise from the merpeople themselves...and the task made the scene very, very enjoyable. Definitely liked that part.

Draco didn't really have much of a part in this movie either....but he really didn't show much in the book GOF. Turning him into a ferret was very cool. Glad the director kept it in for the fans of the novels.

[KingVoyeur]

I'm kinda disappointed they didn't include more of the Rita Skeeter storyline. That was always one of my favorite bits from the book. Plus it woulda meant more Miranda Richardson!

[DarkJedi]

That's another one. They left out the Unregistered Animagus bit, didn't they?

[neglet]

Well, they didn't even go into the Unregistered Animagus issue in the PoA movie. We didn't learn that Mooney, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs, creators of the Marauders' Map, were actually James Potter and his gang. We were shown a brief definition of animagus (vs. werewolf) in DADA class, but I don't think they actually referred to Wormtail as an animagus--Sirius just said that Scabbers isn't really a rat, and didn't explain his own dog form at all. We were left to infer all that, and that was the major flaw in the PoA film for me. I thought I had read they (the filmmakers) would explain about the origin of the Marauders' Map later, but it didn't happen in GoF and I can't see how they'd work it into OoP.

Still, that's why we have the books, right? To enjoy all the extra little tidbits of information they can't fit into the films.

[kawaiidragonfoe821]

My fave of the movies will always be COS, GOF was my favorite of the books & I was very much looking foward to seeing certain parts & was sorely disappointed when they weren't in the movie.

& also, I don't know if it was just me, but the movie seemed a little... in a hurry to find its end, like the filmmakers were trying to cram 2 1/2hrs of information into 1hr & 45 minutes. After seeing The Lion the witch & the Wordrobe it made me wish that Disney had gotten the rights to HP instead of stupid WB:ohwell:

[Belledame]

As much as I enjoyed the movie there were a number of things that irked me. Not least was the fact that some outdoor scenes were done outdoors while others were clearly done on a soundstage. To have had the "Flesh, Blood and Bone" scene done outside would have amped the dread of that scene immeasurably. If it had been truly dark instead of that dark blue - like the inside of a planetarium before the show begins. It quite took me out of the moment on repeat viewings.

In the book, JKR takes care to describe the impact of death on Harry. By showing his perception of the event ("a moment that took an eternity"/ "it took him an age to fall") she shows us how abrupt death is. How one moment someone is alive and the next they aren't, and how stunning it is to be confronted by that by showing us Harry's momentary shock. We don't get that moment of...appreciation in the film. Cedric dies and Harry is hustled up against the gravestone. We need a close up of Harry's face there. A visual that establishes the impact of this on Harry.

Other than that, I just turn to the books to soothe my frustration.