"Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" Talkback (spoilers!)

[Colin]

Dark and Dangerous Times Lie Ahead
http://www.toonzone.net/colin/images/gofposter2_highres.jpg
Everything is about to change


Release Date: November 18, 2005
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Mike Newell
Starring: Daniell Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Robert Pattinson, Stanislav Ianevski, Clémence Poésy, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, Miranda Richardson

Summary: In his fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry faces his greatest challenges and dangers yet. When he is selected under mysterious circumstances as a contestant in the Triwizard Tournament, Harry must compete against the best young wizards from schools all over Europe. But as he prepares, signs begin to point to the return of Lord Voldemort. Before long, Harry is playing not just for the Cup, but for his life.

Visit the official movie site here (http://www.harrypotter.com)!

[Lord Dalek]

You can feel the excitement.

[Malex]

OMG!!!!1 HP@gO4! eye LiEk it SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO mucchh!11 Harry isteh r uxxxersONE!1!111one

Yeah it's that cool.

Oh and CEDRIC DIES! (This is a REAL spoiler!)

[TnAdct1]

Oh and CEDRIC DIES! (This is a REAL spoiler!) NOO!!!!! You (censored)! You (censored)! :D

[Lord Dalek]

Oh for crying out loud, WE ALL KNOW WHO DIES ALREADY!!!!

BTW - 89% Fresh, we'll see if it sticks.

[Divv]

Saw it at midnight last night. Was very impressed. From what I could remember it seemed to be very faithful to the book. Well apart from the fact that the first half of the book takes up about the first quarter of the film but I kinda expected that. Far better than Azkaban and for me the best of the movies so far. Roll on 2007...

[Malex]

Oh for crying out loud, WE ALL KNOW WHO DIES ALREADY!!!!
You can be surprised at how many don't know the truth, but most people do know.

[Hades]

I never read the books, so I didn't know who dies. Heck, I don't even know who that character is.

Anyway, how does the movie compare to Prisoner? I hope it is a vast improvement.

[David Lucas]

Wow, they actually slapped the PG-13 on this one.

Interesting.

Good......good.......

(the monster from Family Guy is sitting next to me)

[peacebyanymeans]

It desirves a PG-13 rating. It has 3 deaths, dismemberment (slice!), and torture.

... oh. And mild cussing ("Piss off") and LOTS of sexual tension. (Such as, Ron stairing at girl's asses, or Murtle getting all kinky :p)

[Phantasm]

I need to see this.

[Lord Dalek]

I never read the books, so I didn't know who dies. Heck, I don't even know who that character is. He's of no real importance in this book but his passing leads to one of the klunkier arcs in Order of the Phoenix.

Anyway, how does the movie compare to Prisoner? I hope it is a vast improvement. It's a tad bit better than Prisoner (which in turn was better than the combined train wreck of mediocrity that is Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets). However it is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE improvement over the book and may be the first Harry Potter film to surpass the source material in quality.

On annother note: I just got a kick out of seeing Mad-eye Moody regenerate into Doctor Who. :p

[Hatter]

Ehh, to be honest, I wasn't very impressed. Now I'll admit that I'm not the biggest HP fan... never read the books, but I do enjoy the films. But even without having read the source material, the movie still felt very truncated. You could tell they cut quite a lot out. So, then, I'm not sure whether I should blame the edits, directing, or source material itself.
It's a shame Alfonso Cuaron didn't return... he really took the last film above and beyond the previous ones, cinematically at least. This one was very unengaging. All the actors seemed rather bored... many lines seemed mis-read. The other tournament champions were quite underdeveloped - Krum and Fleur had, what, two lines each? Cedric having marginally more than that. Again, I'm not sure how it has handled in the novel, but I found they made the two foreign schools a little cartoony. At least Hogwarts feels something like a real boarding school, but the others were just caricatures.
And for a series that features his name, Harry's role was rather underdeveloped. We didn't focus on him as much as I would've liked.

Maybe it's just a problem with the source material, but having all of the action set pieces be part of a regulated tournament just sapped them of any tension whatsoever. And the part with Voldemort being reincarnated came, literally, out of nowhere. There was very little buildup to it throughout the film. For one of the biggest events of the series, Harry meeting his arch-nemesis, it felt very tacked-on. Particularly their wand duel. Shame.

And it didn't really give a sense of the passage of time. At the end, I couldn't believe that the Tournament had taken an entire school year - it seemed more like the course of a couple of weeks. The first film communicated the passage of time very well.

The best parts of the film, I found, was just watching the interaction of the main characters. It's great to see them grow up in every subsequent film, and the humourous and dramatic scenes between them worked quite well, despite being rather fanfiction-esque. It's too bad they went back to the original HP FX team instead of the great one from Azkaban, but they did a fairly good job, especially with the dragon. The rest was acceptable.

Hopefully, the next film will be an improvement.

[Humble]

The movie was okay, but not great. Like Azkaban, the story felt rushed with little payoff. It felt like a fan was trying to tell me the abridged plot of the novel just so I know what happens. :shrug:

The movie continues the pattern of weak characterization and flamboyant magic. The champions failed to invoke who they are in the book. Cedric was the most disappointing of the three. His death felt as relevant as the death of Frank Bryce. Also, how the characters are portrayed will cause complications as more of the story is filmed. Snape should never be as aloof and lovable as he appears to be in the movie.

Other than these problems the movie was fine, but forgetable.

-Humble

[Hades]

It's a tad bit better than Prisoner (which in turn was better than the combined train wreck of mediocrity that is Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets). [/spoiler]
I have to disagree there as Sorceror's was okay, while Chamber was very enjoyable, but Prisoner was just downright garbage.

Oh well, I keep hearing mixed reviews, so I guess the only way to know for sure is to see it.

[Ishtar]

I'm seeing it tommorow with my Harry Potter club from my high school. Can't waite to see it.

[peacebyanymeans]

I think I like the 3rd and 4th movies better than the first two, because they aren't EXACTLY the same, they make it somewhat new and more like a movie. I don't go to the movies to see exactly what I read, where's the originality? Where's the magic (pun unintentional)?

BTW, I am a mad HP fan, read all the books, own the movies, went to the GOF midnight showing, in a different city 'bout 20 minutes away, and when to the OOTP & HBP midnight party things at a Barnes & Nobles in a different city, about 40 minutes away from where I live.

So, don't think I'm one of those people, who haven't read the book and are like 3 and 4 movies are more like movie than 1 & 2, BLARG!

...what was I talking about again?

[Mike Spartz]

http://www.mugglenet.com/gallery/data/media/43/dumbledore_pensieve.jpg

"A Level In Maturity"
A fan review of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by Mike Spartz (11.18.2005)

If Chris Columbus introduced Harry Potter to the world of the film, and Alfonso Cuaron gave him life beyond the pages of the books, then Mike Newell has made him a bonafide movie star. Make no mistake about it; the latest film about the boy wizard, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is definitely the best of the series thus far. Not only does it include the action and adventure of the first two, and the humor of the third, but it also thrills us with new, uncharted concepts of love and destiny that both excite and dismay our cast of characters. In short ladies and gentlemen, Goblet begins Harry’s journey to manhood, one death and one kiss at a time.

Harry Potter is fourteen now and we re-join him as he accompanies his friends Hermione Granger and the Weasley’s on a trip to witness the famous Quidditch World Cup. All is not smile and games for Harry though as his scar has been bothering him a lot. He doesn’t know what’s wrong but there’s something else that’s been troubling him as well. Lately, he’s been getting strange dreams, visions of a plot by his arch nemesis Lord Voldemort to destroy him. Unsettled, Harry writes to his godfather Sirius Black for help but he soon finds himself faced with another problem. This year Hogwarts is hosting a legendary Tri-Wizard Tournament where three students from different schools will compete through three dangerous tasks for a chance at eternal glory. Amazingly, and to the jealously of his classmates, Harry finds himself among the three school champions. Now, at only fourteen, he must battle for survival over fire-breathing dragons, mysterious mermaids, a booby-trapped maze, and, amusingly enough, the opposite sex. Whatsmore, he is being chased by an unseen enemy, one who has nothing but evil intentions upon his soul.

The film is excellent in every way possible. All the tasks are spectacular especially the first one were Harry has to out-maneuver an angry dragon to retrieve a golden egg. The second task is an underwater adventure involving mermaids and strange and deadly creatures called grindlows. The final task is a never-ending maze that happens to drive some of the champions mad with fright. The special effects department needs a real pat on the back for their wonderful job in this film. Every aspect of J.K Rowling’s world looks and moves as if was as real as flesh and blood. The Horntail is absolutely frightening and upon the arrival of the rival schools, we are treated to several beautiful shots of a flying horse carriage and a ship that rises from beneath the sea. Well done gentlemen!

In addition to effects, the film excels in the casting department as well. A number of new characters are introduced for the first time this year, including the mysterious and somewhat loony Mad-Eye Moody. Moody is an ex-Auror or dark wizard catcher who’s been assigned the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position by Dumbledore. We also have the champions of the opposing schools, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. Krum is a Bulgarian Quidditch seeker and the object of desire for many girls at Hogwarts, and Delacour is a beautiful young lady whom Ron fancies. There are a whole host of other characters like Cedric Diggory (the other Hogwarts champion) and Cho Chang (the object of affection for Harry), as well as minister official Barty Crouch, noisy Daily Prophet news reporter Rita Seeker, and Madam Maxine, a headmistress and Hagrid’s ten foot tall girlfriend. Overall, I’m pleased to say that although most of them only have minor roles, all of them perform their parts very well. Especially Brandon Gleeson who makes sure that Mad-Eye Moody remains as paranoid of other people as he does of his surroundings.

Bearing a few minor changes, most of the regular cast has returned as well. All our older favorites are back including Headmaster Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and of course Hagrid. Several characters from the second movie, Chamber of Secrets, also return, among them the sinister Lucius Malfoy who is just as nasty as when we last saw him. But no one shines brighter from the supporting cast then Matt Lewis a.k.a Neville Longbottom. Matt is really coming together as an actor and his character Neville has several key scenes in this film including a hilarious sequence where he is teaching himself to dance. Ginny gets a bigger part in Goblet of Fire too. Unlike the previous film, she is a lot more visible in this one and she actually has a couple of lines to say! Another treat are the Phelps twins who play Fred and George Weasley. They are absolutely hysterical in every scene that they’re in! One in particular is when they try to fool the Goblet by drinking an aging potion. The end result is something that’s decidedly not to their liking.

Of course, no one from the large cast shines more brightly than our heroic trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson have definitely grown into their parts by now and it shows. Each of them understands their roles down to the tee and plays them accordingly. But of the three, I believe Grint gave the best performance this time around. He just seems to be more natural at playing his character then his co-stars are. Dan and Emma aren’t bad, and Dan in particular has improved tremendously from his wooden performance in the first two films, but they’re just not as good as Rupert. Grint’s comic timing is impeccable and it’s amazing that he’s developed such a knack for it at his young age. Dan gives a decent performance but he still seems a little bit wooden in some of his scenes and that’s due in part of his weak facial expressions. It seems like he can’t express anything beyond a smile, a frown, and a look of shock. If he really wants to make us believe that he is Harry, then he needs to work on his face a bit more with an acting coach. Watson is pushed mainly to the background in this one and that’s surprising because Steve Kloves wrote the script and the rumor is that he loves Hermione. Needless to say, Hermione appears to be much more composed this year and much less of a supergirl which is a relief for fans of the books like me. Her entrance into the Yule Ball dance is tastefully done and we are left with a very touching shot of her crying on the steps right before the segment ends. It’s obvious to me after watching Goblet that regardless of whatever chemistry Dan and Emma share on screen, the producers are following the books lead and moving the romance toward a Ron and Hermione pairing.

But all cannot be fair in the wizarding world and we are soon reminded of that when Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory are mysteriously transported at the conclusion of the tournament to a deserted graveyard. It is there that Cedric is killed and Harry witnesses in horror the re-birth of his mortal enemy Voldemort. This is a bone-chilling scene and it’s worth every penny. Ralph Fiennes plays a deliciously evil Dark Lord and Tim Spall is not less vile as the disgusting Wormtail. I highly recommend you parents out there to exercise some caution when you take your kids to see this movie because some parts will scary the hell out of them, I’m not joking.

But in a way, that is one of the many joys of this film because it’s got a little bit of everything for everyone. There’s humor, action, adventure, romance, and even some spine-tingling suspense. There are a lot of great one-liners that make us laugh, but just enough edginess and mystery to keep us on the edge of our seats. The film deserves its PG-13 rating as it is the darkest entry yet and you really get a sense of urgency and foreboding when you’re watching it, as if the wizarding world that Harry has come to love is slowly crumbing under the weight of the gathering darkness. And as I’ve already mentioned, for anyone who hasn’t read the book, the ending will shock you, and for anyone who has, it’ll make you proud to be a Potter fan.

Sadly however, like any film, there are bound to be some problems with it and Goblet of Fire is no exception. I admit that most of these “problems” are more like nitpicks but they did bother me a little so I’ll spell them out. For one thing, there’s no mention of how Barty Crouch Jr. escaped from Azkaban or how he managed to capture Mad-Eye Moody in the first place. I suppose that in the context of the film, this information is not important but it certainly left a bit of a gap for me that I wish was filled. I was also a little put off by the films extremely quick pace during the first half hour. I understand that the book needed to be cut down in order to suit the film, but I wish that they’d included a little bit more footage of the Quidditch World Cup, that way we could get a better understanding of why Ron worshiped Krum so much as a seeker. Finally and here’s the big one, the secret identity of Mad-Eye is very poorly concealed. So poorly in fact that I’m sure half the theatre found out who he was halfway through the movie. Of course I knew because I’ve read the books beforehand, but the so called mystery contained so many obvious clues that the excitement was lost when the truth was finally revealed to us. A shame really because if it had been done properly, the film might’ve had a larger impact on the audience.

Nevertheless, I’m not going to complain about the end result because for the most part Goblet of Fire was fantastic! It had just the right mixture of drama, suspense, and adventure to give it a truly epic feel. I am extremely grateful to Mike Newell and the entire cast and crew for dishing out yet another sensational product that is not only entertaining but very emotional as well. Hooray and bring on Order of the Pheonix!

[Lord Dalek]

I think I like the 3rd and 4th movies better than the first two, because they aren't EXACTLY the same, they make it somewhat new and more like a movie. I don't go to the movies to see exactly what I read, where's the originality? Where's the magic (pun unintentional)?
Exactly! The reason why I don't get all this backlash against Azkaban is that the detractors just wont except that it did everything right where Stone and Chamber did everything wrong. The actors (Radcliffe and Grint in particular) are more focused, the cinematography more inspired, the writing is much much tighter, and most importantly: IT FEELS LIKE A MOVIE NOT A FILMED REENACTMENT OF THE BOOK!

[purplehairedwonder]

I liked each of the first three for different reasons. The first one sort of needed to be quiet loyal to the source material in order to be able to develop an identity with fans. Chamber was much darker and the acting had definitely improved (I hadn't even liked the book much before the movie). Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite of the books thus far, so as an adaptation I was really disappointed, mostly due to the cutting out of so much of the history that made the book so interesting in the first place. But where it was a poor (at worst) adaptation, it was an excellent movie. And that's what these are, movies. They're not meant to be exactly like the books - though a little more history could do well to be included, as it becomes important for future plotlines - but they are meant to have their own identities, and these do that job quite well.

As for Goblet of Fire, all I can say is... wow. It was excellent. 700+ pages condensed into a 2.5 hour movie was quite well done, though there was several smaller plotlines that were merely glossed over that the book truly got into. My main gripe was the shortage of Sirius - biased as I am, considering he's my favorite behind Harry. He played a much larger part in the book, but only had a small bit of screen time, then was completely forgotten for the rest of the time. I wish they had included the "Parting of the Ways" portion of the book, because that was a scene I especially liked, and it set up the transition into Order of the Phoenix.

But overall, it was excellent, definitely the best of all four thus far, in both adaptation and pure film. It definitely deserved the PG-13 rating, and I'm betting a lot of those small kids that were in the theater will be having nightmares from Voldemort. Hell, I might be. Voldemort wasn't quite what I expected, but as he progressed, I grew to like how he turned out more and more. I especially noticed it when he faced Lucius down (I was so excited to see Lucius back, as Jason Isaacs makes a wonderfully evil Malfoy) and, even though he was shorter than him in stature, really did seem to tower over him in presence. It was well done. The entire graveyard scene was really well done, actually. It was definitely my favorite part of the movie. The grim reaper thing on Riddle's grave was definitely creepy, and a nice touch to keep Harry stuck instead of tying him with ropes, like in the book.

I cried at the end when the death took place and once Harry returned with the body and the father was crying. And the parting speech about him was well done as well. The message of the Ministry not wanting Dumbledore to reveal that Voldemort was back might have meant more with the inclusion of the "Parting of the Ways" chapter from the book, but it was still well done.

The acting was excellent this time around. I really liked Neville's scenes in this one. Mad Eye was fantastic, though I did have my doubts going in, having seen the images of him. But the more I saw him, the more I appreciated how it turned out. Daniel Randcliffe shone in this one, with lots of heart... and angst abounds. Rupert Grint was excellent as Ron, really bringing everything that he was in the book out and maybe even more. Emma Watson was excellent as Hermione, and the scenes at her entrance to the ball and when she was left crying on the stairs were especially well done. Miranda Richardson was fabulous as Rita Skeeter. And just all around everything felt strong.

Overall, I thought it was excellent and now I can't wait to see how Order of the Phoenix turns out. I know there will be more Sirius in that one at least.

[Wounded_Dragon]

First impression: I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but the ending was still too chipper. Not as bad as PoA's, but still more happy than it should've been. I *really* hope they break this trend with OotP or I'll scream bloody murder. Some inconsistences with the magic but that's more JKR's fault as she's not very clear in the novels anyway.


This is one scene I'm steamed about being removed (well, more, but this one in particular).

GoF Novel spoiler

There's a scene where Hermione gets between Draco and Harry throwing curses and she gets her two front teeth elongated like tusks. Snape interrupts, takes points from Gryffindor, lets Draco get off scot free, and says he sees no difference in Miss Granger's teeth, tacitly approving of Slytherins cursing other students.

I suppose I should've expected it being removed with how they're softpedaling his Greasiness in the movies, but this is what cemented my eternal hatred of the man and to have it not be in the movies is going to make discussing it with movie only fans frustrating.


Oh, and I found it kinda funny how they tried to stick Ginny in as many scenes as they could. :sweat:

[bigddan11]

While I found the movie to be enjoyable, I must complain about them focusing solely on the tasks. You never see the actual Quiditch match. You never see the Blast Ended Skrewts. The remove the cunningness of Rita Sketter so you have no idea she's a beetle. I understand they have to delete some of the side stories, but would it have been that hard to make it just 30 minutes longer and get some of them in? They succeeded with The Lord of the Rings that way, so you know they could with Harry Potter if they really wanted to. On a 10 point scale I'd give the movie a 6, but I might be tempted to raise it to a 7. The books a 10, but too many deleted scenes lower the movies rank once more.

[Mike Spartz]

While I found the movie to be enjoyable, I must complain about them focusing solely on the tasks.While I agree that much of the movie was about the tasks, I'd like to point out that Voldemort's return was another major focal point as was Harry and Ron's inability to communicate with girls.

You never see the actual Quiditch match. You never see the Blast Ended Skrewts.No offense Dan, you know I love you, but the Quidditch match wasn't important to the story. It only served as a introduction to Krum which I thought the movie did decently (even though a little more Quidditch wouldn't have hurt). And the Skrewts, while interesting to look at, probably wasn't important enough to make the final cut.

They remove the cunningness of Rita Sketter so you have no idea she's a beetle.I thought they did a great job with Rita. No she wasn't shown as a beetle but she was nosy and sneaky just like in the book.

On a 10 point scale I'd give the movie a 6, but I might be tempted to raise it to a 7. The books a 10, but too many deleted scenes lower the movies rank once more.This isn't a shot at you, but I try to disregard the books as much as possible when I watch the movies. To me, books and movies are completely different and as such I don't compare them together. But you're entitled to your opinion and I respect it.

[Matt A]

It seems that my thoughts are the same as most other people's. It was a very good film, I've got no doubts about that, but it definitely could have done with an extra half-hour or so. It communicated the amount of information it needed to, but the beginning and ending could have done with being fleshed out a lot more. In particular, we should have had a few scenes in Hogwarts before the Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang crews turned up - if you didn't already know what the film was about, their arrival would have felt too sudden - and the stuff with Priori Incantatem and Crouch's death needed more explanation than what they recieved (in Barty's case, none at all). But to everyone's credit, the "something's really not right here" aspect to the Tournament was built on even more than it was in the book...though the extent of Voldemort's involvement is also criminally under-explained. Whilst we were told enough to get a good handle on events, more background throughout the entire film wouldn't have been unwelcome.

But on the plus side, this was the first film in the series to feel particularly cinematic. Whilst Alfonso Cuaron is without doubt one of the best editors I've ever seen, Mike Newell far outstrips both him and Chris Columbus in terms of having an "eye" for shots. The arrival of the Durmstrang ship was, in terms of the pure mechanics of it, one of the coolest shots in recent years, and the three Tournament trials successfully proved just why action sequences are best left to movies. Whilst they did feel a tad flat in the book, in the film the trials were highly exhiliarating, tense and, in the case of the maze, surprisingly creepy: thanks to cinema, they had the pace, flow and atmosphere that is damn near impossible to capture on the page.

Outside of the more "actiony" moments, Newell did just as good a job. Cuaron is arguably a better actors' director, but Newell is still very good at that side of things. The main - ie, teenage - cast handled both the emotional and comedic moments with aplomb - in particular, they've seemed to have mastered the more farcical comedy elements, scenes that couldn't help but remind me of Recky Gervais' work...though that's no bad thing - and for once weren't overshadowed by the adult supporting actors. Though Brendan Gleesson did manage to steal damn near every scene he was in, for which he should still be given all due credit. And the same goes for the guys who played the Weasley twins (can't remember the actors' names at the moment, to my eternal shame): I see a future skit as the double-act from heaven for those two.

So, whilst this was a good film, and the first of the series to feel like a film more than an adaptation, Newell should have had the courage to extend the running time. Should have been a 5-star film, but is now a 4-star because of it.

-Matt A-

[bigddan11]

I thought they did a great job with Rita. No she wasn't shown as a beetle but she was nosy and sneaky just like in the book.
The movie featured one scene with her sneakiness, and that was when she locked Harry in the cupboard with her. It doesn't touch on any of the other 4 stories she wrote in the book, including the revelation of Hagrid as a 1/2 giant (which I felt should have been included as it is a major plot for the remaining books so far), so they could have done more with her. As it was, they showed her interview, and they showed her watching the first task and ambushing Harry and Hermoine.

This isn't a shot at you, but I try to disregard the books as much as possible when I watch the movies. To me, books and movies are completely different and as such I don't compare them together. But you're entitled to your opinion and I respect it.
I know that books and movies aren't identical, but there are still some key points that need to be included. They never touched on Barty Crouch being under Voldemort's control. They made it seem like Crouch Jr. was just sent back to Azkaban. They never touched on Kakrot running away at the end. They only had one scene with Sirius despite him playing a major part in the book. Like I said, it was a good movie, but I'd have rather seen them make it 1/2 hour longer and touch on some of the side stories which allow the other books to move.

Also didn't they say Nearly Headless Nick would be back in this one? I don't recall seeing him.

[MR.MXYZPTLK]

it was the best yet but that isn't saying much. I still thought it was rushed and at times relied on cgi. Some of the charachters didn't have nearly enough screen time. The special effects were top notch but.. thats not enough

[Wounded_Dragon]

The movie featured one scene with her sneakiness, and that was when she locked Harry in the cupboard with her. It doesn't touch on any of the other 4 stories she wrote in the book, including the revelation of Hagrid as a 1/2 giant (which I felt should have been included as it is a major plot for the remaining books so far), so they could have done more with her. As it was, they showed her interview, and they showed her watching the first task and ambushing Harry and Hermoine.
Perhaps they're dropping the mixed blood and creatures/beings rights plotlines?

HBP observation

Especially since the novels seem to have dropped SPEW completely

[DR.MID-NITE]

I wish the HP movies would take a page out of the Lord of the Rings movies. Release the 2 1/2 hour theatrical version. Then come out with an extended version on dvd with 30-45 minutes of more footage to include other things.

And some questions for those who read the book:

1-Was Cedric Diggory ever mentioned in the first 3 books? He almost seemed like the Oliver Wood character from the other movies.

2-At the end when Harry returns from the graveyard. How come he doesn't mention that Lucious Malfoy and Crabbe & Goyle's fathers were helping Voldemort?? Did he tell in the book??

[Mike Spartz]

1-Was Cedric Diggory ever mentioned in the first 3 books? He almost seemed like the Oliver Wood character from the other movies.He had a brief role in POA as the captian of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. So Cedric made his offical book appearance in POA.

At the end when Harry returns from the graveyard. How come he doesn't mention that Lucious Malfoy and Crabbe & Goyle's fathers were helping Voldemort?? Did he tell in the book??Although it's been a while since I've read GOF, I believe he did in the "parting of ways" chapter or maybe sometime before that.

[Wounded_Dragon]

I wish the HP movies would take a page out of the Lord of the Rings movies. Release the 2 1/2 hour theatrical version. Then come out with an extended version on dvd with 30-45 minutes of more footage to include other things.

And some questions for those who read the book:

1-Was Cedric Diggory ever mentioned in the first 3 books? He almost seemed like the Oliver Wood character from the other movies.

2-At the end when Harry returns from the graveyard. How come he doesn't mention that Lucious Malfoy and Crabbe & Goyle's fathers were helping Voldemort?? Did he tell in the book??Re:1- Cedric first appeared in the Prisoner of Azkaban novel

Re:2- GoF novel spoiler
The ending of GoF was the most heavily gutted. Minister Fudge's confrontation with Harry in the Medical Wing, where Harry rattles off the names of the Deatheaters, including Lucious, was removed from the movie, as well as Barty Crouch Jr being killed by a Dementor on Fudge's order. This is supposed to set up the Ministry Persecution that's a large part of OotP


EDIT: argh, beaten due to crash.

[bigddan11]

Although it's been a while since I've read GOF, I believe he did in the "parting of ways" chapter or maybe sometime before that. I think it's just before or in parting of the ways. It's when Harry is in the hospital wing that Fudge comes in and basically thinks Harry has gone crazy thanks to Rita Sketter's article about his scar hurting in divination. This is another scene that basically was completly deleted in the movie.

Of course Mrs. Weasly not appearing in the movie and Ron's other older brothers not appearing are big mistakes to me. Remember Percy is Crouch's assistant in the book and judges two of the events because Crouch is under Voldemort's control, but he doesn't appear at all, and you have Ludo Bagman who's part of the ministry and the 5th judge who should at least have a cameo, yet he doesn't appear in the movie at all.

[silverwings]

and you have Ludo Bagman who's part of the ministry and the 5th judge who should at least have a cameo, yet he doesn't appear in the movie at all.
wait, seriously? I thought they had that role cast and everything? :eek:

[Lord Dalek]

wait, seriously? I thought they had that role cast and everything? :eek:They sorta merged his role with Barty Crouch's. Which is ok since Ludo Bagman had very little to do.

[bigddan11]

wait, seriously? I thought they had that role cast and everything? :eek:
If he does, he has no speaking lines. Crouch does all the lines that would be Bagman's from the book, and Dumbledore does the announcing.

[Malex]

I saw the movie yesterday and I was blown away.

Granted, there were a few things that I liked to have had in the movie like the World Cup, but some things had to go. However, some characters were just too important to have not been introduced. Bill Weasley comes to mind. I just wonder how they will plan out to introduce him in the movies before certain events that are played later in the series are brought to film. I completely agreed with cutting the SPEW arc from the movie. Not only was it annoying, it made Hermoine irksome throughout the book. Cutting the Dursleys in this movie was another blow. I really loved the Weasleys' floo network fiasco so much.

Anyways, the movie was just wonderful even with the cuts. Somehow adding Barty Crouch in the beginning seemed like an improvement. The shroud of mystery on the spellcaster of the Dark Mark was eliminated partly by this, but it worked.

I have to say that the first half hour was really rushed. It seemed like from the World Cup to the intro of the Triwizard Tournament was played on fast-forward. There wasn't anything significant removed that was not already removed because of removed characters except for the Quidditch match.

The Triwizard Tournament was just brillant. The schools' entrances were great. The Beaxbatons Girls were...enchanting with their...ablilities.:D The Durmstrang Guys were just cool with the fancy stick-work and the pryomania. People say that Fleur and Krum were not really developed in the film, but I believe that they were just as fleshed out as they were in the book. Cedric was same as he was in the book, so ha! The dragon was great even though the task was a little long. It seemed like Harry's summoning spell was a little weak. He just said "Accio Firebolt" and pointed his wand for a second. Oh well, but the aerial action was phenomenal. The second task was good, but those mermaids were just ugly and the grindylows really vicious on Harry. The third task was good, but the lack of monsters was disapointing. However, the whole losing humanity angle was good and the monsterous scrubbery was good enough. Harry's statement about Krum's bewitchment was noted somewhere (not exactly Toon Zone) as random. I don't know about you, but white iris don't look normal.

The graveyard scene was almost perfect. I was relieved that the Voldemort in the trailers and promo was the Rudimentary not the newly revived villian. I can never forget that hiss of a voice said, "Kill the spare." The bone, flesh, and blood scene was deliciously horrific just like the massacre scene in Revenge of the Sith. The risen Lord Voldemort is perfect. He had human appearance with the snake nostril slits like anyone could imagine him to be. The only thing that the scene felt off was the duel. The way Voldie introduced the idea was almost foolish. After that, the duel was what one could expect.

The ending lacked the seeds of what will come in the next few years in the magical world. I'll hope that the Order of the Phoenix will work on these forgotten points so there won't be any confusions.

The acting was just superb. Brennan Gleeson and the guys who play the Weasley Twins OWNED every scene they were in. Nothing is better than two bearded 16-year-old beating the crud out of each other. Michael Gambon really showed the imperfect human side of Dumbledore. I really can't wait to see him in the Half Blood Prince. The wonder trio has really grew up. Dan has become a better actor and a teen hearthrob. Adolescent girls were screaming in the theater during that bath scene making me wonder whose more high on the hormones: Myrtle or them? Emma Watson has become an actress that I would love to see in more films. Rupert Grint is funny as the quirky sidekick type, but he did get a few good scenes. He will grow to become something great as the movies continue.

I was right about this movie. The Goblet of Fire was my HP favorite book and is now my HP movie. Here's to June 2007 for hoping that the Order will be done well like this movie.

***** is too little of a rating for this movie.

Hey, I noticed something. Mad-Eye mentioned something about a student getting lost in the Department of Mysteries. Doesn't that sound bit interesting?

[MR.MXYZPTLK]

Hey, I noticed something. Mad-Eye mentioned something about a student getting lost in the Department of Mysteries. Doesn't that sound bit interesting?
That was on my mind for the rest of the movie I don't remeber him saying that in the books :shrug:

[Malex]

It never was in the book. I just liked to note that line for those who follow the series to notice it.

[purplehairedwonder]

Hey, I noticed something. Mad-Eye mentioned something about a student getting lost in the Department of Mysteries. Doesn't that sound bit interesting?Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Interesting, as that definitely was not in the book...

[Wounded_Dragon]

Cutting the Dursleys in this movie was another blow. I really loved the Weasleys' floo network fiasco so much.

The ending lacked the seeds of what will come in the next few years in the magical world. I'll hope that the Order of the Phoenix will work on these forgotten points so there won't be any confusions.

The wonder trio has really grew up. Dan has become a better actor and a teen hearthrob. Adolescent girls were screaming in the theater during that bath scene making me wonder whose more high on the hormones: Myrtle or them?

I agree with cutting the Floo scene. That had no real importance other than being funny.

I hope the OotP picks up the seeds, as movie-wise I'm unsure of Voldemort and the Deatheaters' reasons for doing what they do. Has it been mentioned?

Just adolescent girls? I couldn't tell during the movie from way in the back (packed viewing, at 10:20pm no less) but a crowd of females that screamed during that scene included 20+ year old mothers...

[DR.MID-NITE]

What part did the Dursley's play in the Goblet book? I assumed Harry moved out and was living with the Weasley's.

ps-Just think..OoTP begins filming in January.

[Ishtar]

Just saw the movie today at 7:45-10:20 and I loved it. It was much better than I thought it would be and it was defaintly an improvement over the other 3, especially Azkaban. I personally liked the new score and I think they did a very good job with the sadness at the end. There were a few differences between the book and movie though and of course some side stories had to be cut for time. The revelation that Hagrid was a Half Giant was sorta explained when Hagrid was talking to Madame Maxime. I found Snape hitting Harry and Ron on the heads during the Study Hall scene Hilarious, and so was the ferret scene. I could see why they decided to add all these funny bits during the movie when the ending is very sad. I can't waite to see it again and I also can't waite for the DVD, which will probably be released during the Spring like the SS and COS DVDs were. I wonder what deleted scenes will be included in the DVD? This beats Revenge Of The Sith and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory as my favorite movie of the year.

[Wounded_Dragon]

What part did the Dursley's play in the Goblet book? I assumed Harry moved out and was living with the Weasley's.

ps-Just think..OoTP begins filming in January.
No, Harry's still living with the Durselys. They should have to be in the next movie, as that one scene with Dudley is kinda important. I really can't tell what they'll cut any more though so who knows.

That was NOT a sad ending. There was a hint of sadness but it was almost immediately overshadowed by Dumbledore's impassioned speech and the "everything will be ok" feeling the last few minutes had. I suppose slightly melancholy or maybe sadly wistful.

[purplehairedwonder]

That was NOT a sad ending. There was a hint of sadness but it was almost immediately overshadowed by Dumbledore's impassioned speech and the "everything will be ok" feeling the last few minutes had. I suppose slightly melancholy or maybe sadly wistful.That was definitely not the impression I got from Dumbledore. "Dark and difficult times lie ahead Harry. Soon we must all face the choice of what is right and what is easy." That doesn't sound much like he's saying it's all going to be okay. Sounds more like he's saying everything is going to get worse, but the bonds with those around him is what will keep him strong through it all, and the ending of the three having their little moment as the other students left seemed to solidify that idea that Harry's bond with his friends will be something like his anchor through all the obvious hardships about to approach.

Perhaps I'm reading a little too deep into it, but that's what I got from it.

[Wounded_Dragon]

That was definitely not the impression I got from Dumbledore. "Dark and difficult times lie ahead Harry. Soon we must all face the choice of what is right and what is easy." That doesn't sound much like he's saying it's all going to be okay. Sounds more like he's saying everything is going to get worse, but the bonds with those around him is what will keep him strong through it all, and the ending of the three having their little moment as the other students left seemed to solidify that idea that Harry's bond with his friends will be something like his anchor through all the obvious hardships about to approach.

Perhaps I'm reading a little too deep into it, but that's what I got from it.
You misread me. Dumbledore's speech wasn't a "everything will be ok," it was a rousing "call to arms!" The scene with Harry and his friends running around, acting all chipper despite everything, THAT'S where the "everything will be ok" vibe came from.

I've seen sadder reactions when people walked in from the rain than what Hogwarts was like.

Again, this is because they cut some of the desperation that the book had in its ending, with the frantic running around and getting people into place to deal with Voldemort. There's none of that, barely anything to suggest that Voldemort's a serious threat.

[Mike Spartz]

You misread me. Dumbledore's speech wasn't a "everything will be ok," it was a rousing "call to arms!" The scene with Harry and his friends running around, acting all chipper despite everything, THAT'S where the "everything will be ok" vibe came from.I understand where you're coming from but I think the ending was meant to show how strong the trio has become. When one of them, in this case Hermione, is worried, the other two stand by her and cheer her up. i do agree that Harry should've been more agitated in that scene but maybe he was calmed by Dumbledore who told him that he'd always have friends at Hogwarts. I don't know about you, but when Harry put his arm on Hermione and told her firmly that things were going to change I thought that was very canon-ish behavior. Harry is the leader and he's trying to comfort his friends even in the face of incoming danger. Keep in mind that canon Harry isn't the type of person to show his emotions in public. He likes to keep alot of his pain hidden and that might explain why he wasn't "sad" for Cedric for very long after his funeral.

[Quarter-Dragon]

I enjoyed and loved everything single scene in this movie. In my belief, the acting of almost every single actor was amazing and perfectly cast for the movie. The camerawork was astounding, the sets and props were breathtaking on both the small and large scale, and the SFX, as usual, were spectacular.

On the whole, I was horribly disappointed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Now you may ask me why I would go tooting my horn about and wonderful and breathtaking and awe-inspiring a movie is only to say in the end that I hated it.

The reason is that despite the actors, the cinematics, the sets, the props and the special effects being magnificent, there was very little connecting each scene to each other. An effect that produced something likening to creating a human being without any (Or at the most very weak) bones or skeleton at all; just piling on the slabs of muscle and veins and layers of skin and popping in all the features that will make it look human. Sure it looked pretty, but if it wanted to try and move it would most likely either collapse or just sit there, like a bowl of jelly that had been poured into a beautiful mold. (OK, so I'm no good at making analogies, but you get the picture)

Obviously this is just my opinion, but I honestly felt like I was watching a series of sketches, a parade of scenes which would entertain me in some way or another, only to be forgotten as the next one came rolling by. In fact, I had the feeling that if, hypothetically, I had never read the book in the first place, I would have no idea whatsoever about why everything was so important nor would I care (I will concede the point that Mr. Newell did do what he could to fill in the plotholes that were created when he took out parts of the book, but I still feel that even these were either forced or unexplored). Another thing is that, with so many missing scenes and nothing connecting the important points of the plot, there is no build up, no real rising tension that can be be seen preparing you for the big climax i.e. old Voldie coming back, or even the smaller ones, like the absent mystery of the Tri-Wizard Tournament happening at Hogwarts.

As a whole I, again, loved every scene of the movie, but I personally couldn't care less about the movie itself. And when you apply that sort of enthusiasm to a (supposedly) world-wide phenomena, and the fact that I waited for more than a year for this movie only to recieve something that does nothing for me as a whole is, disappointing, to say the least.

I of course feel that I could blame the director or the scriptwriter for this, but everything else was brilliant and what can I say? I guess I have to take the good with the bad. Looking back I also realize HPGoF is such a plot driven book that with time restraints it would be impossible to fit enough of its plot into a film to make it understandable and well done, without the movie being 3-4 hours long.

I also have personal doubts about how well Michael Gambon fits as Dumbledore, but all leave those for another post.

So overall I have to give it 2-2.5 stars, I only hope that most of what was cut somehow ends up in the "super extremely long" extended edition.

EDIT: Looking back at other posts I'm surprised that someone mentioned how much s/he enjoyed the score, personally I felt that the whole soundtrack was rather lacking throughout the entire film, although maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention to that one part.

[bigddan11]

ps-Just think..OoTP begins filming in January.
Actually they begin filming in February (according to a TV show called Entertainment Tonight).

[Fone Bone]

Contains movie and future book spoilers




I was very surprised at how faithful this movie was to the book considering how short it was. They kept The Riddle House which is my favorite Harry Potter chapter ever so I was happy with that. I thought they managed to keep enough of the important things from the book and trim a lot of the clutter (Ludo Bagman, S.P.E.W.) to keep me happy at least.

One of the things I liked best about the movie is that unlike the first three films the character interactions seemed more important than the actual story which the other movies (especially the first two) were so slavish to the books that we often got short changed with our favorite characters. Fred and George had a HUGE role in the movie as did Neville, (who is unfortunately turning into quite a gangly looking teenager). Heck even Ginny got more than one scene!

I do think however that unlike The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets and to a lesser extent The Prisoner of Azkaban this movie will probably be incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't read the book. In an effort to keep as much stuff as possible things move forward so quickly that if you miss a word at the Quidditch World Cup, The Riddle House, or the scene of the Death Eaters you will probably be lost for the rest of the entire movie not counting the character stuff. I think a more leisurely pace would have helped the movie greatly.

Alan Rickman was as usual a blast as Snape. I REALLY dug him smacking Harry and Ron during class which really strikes me as something he would do in the books but never has. Despite all of the theories surrounding Snape's role in Book Seven I have to wonder if Alan Rickman will play Snape any differently in Order of the Pheonix considering what happened in The Half-Blood Prince. I hope not as I think his performance has been perfect in all four films and also because I believe the end of book six was a huge mislead.

I loved Micheal Gambon as Dumbledore in Prisoner of Azkaban but honestly, in this movie he was a little too gruff in places. (Him shoving Harry up against the wall is a prime example in my mind). Outbursts of anger are supposed to be rare for Dumbledore and the first time Harry is supposed to see how powerful he can be is his scene with the fake Moody at the end but he got a little too mad in places. That said I do enjoy his Dumbledore much more than Richard Harris' as Mr Harris seemed too frail for the role considering how lively Dumbledore is. Sadly, that may have been due to the fact that he was nearing the end of his life. Harris is a great actor but they should have gotten a spry old guy from the beginning (although I'm pretty sure Ian McKellan may have been busy).

Danial Radcliffe's performance as Harry keeps improving with each film. I'm dying to see if he can actually pull of making Harry likable in Order of the Pheonix which is a huge task the book was not up too. The scene of him holding Cedric's body is central to the book's ending and he pulled it off brilliantly.

Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are improving as well. Grint's conflict with Harry gave him EXACTLY the kind of character development he was lacking in Prisoner of Azkaban. Emma Watson is still adorable as Hermione and considering that S.P.E.W. was eliminated is fortunately much less nagging and shrewish than she is in the books.

The guy who played Moody was great too. At first I was leery of Moody's eye being attached by a eye patch but it worked fine here.

I read a review that claimed that in the books each task is more exciting and bigger than the last one and in the movie after they blow their wad on the rampaging dragon each task becomes less interesting. I can actually agree with this but I honestly have thought of the tasks as similar to Quidditch in the sense that they are exciting and fun to read about but are not really essential to the story and are more of a plot device to move the story forward. The REAL meat and potatoes of The Goblet of Fire is the graveyard scene.

This is actually the most crucial scene in the movie and the one people were most worried about a PG-13 movie botching. While it is definately not as disturbing as the book, it is pretty dang faithful all things considered. In fact, Voldemort is almost scarier in the movie because of the way he glides across the ground which reminded me of the Gentlemen from Buffy. Ralph Feinnes gives a pretty good performance, considering how trapped under make-up he was. Good stuff.

Now because I am anal I am going to list the things from the book that were changed or dropped which I was really hoping they would have included. Some of the stuff would have taken only thirty seconds or so so I will be extra snippy. Some of the stuff that was cut is as unforgivable as the omission of the origins of the Marauder's Map in the last film.

1. Sirius's role was cut to only the fireplace scene which is disgraceful. While I CAN understand them cutting the scene in the cave he NEEDED to be there at the end. His and Snape's handshake is one of the defining moments of the saga.

2. Speaking of the end Cornelius Fudge's and Dumbledore's confrontation NEEDED to be in the movie. Perhaps it would have been considered one epilogue too many for movie audiences but his disbelief that Voldemort is back is the driving force behind The Order of the Pheonix and without that scene people may wonder why the kindly Fudge is now trying to make Harry's life miserable in book five. I think this scene could have easily replaced Harry, Ron, and Hermione's too long goodbye at the end which seemed to actually be too happy of an ending for the book. If the next two movies manage to have upbeat endings after considering how depressing the end of the books are I will be unhappy.

3. Hagrid's confession to Madame Maxine. Yes, they ALMOST went there but there are two reasons it should have been included. First, at the end of the book it is the reason Hagrid becomes an Emissary to the Giants which explains his absense at the beginning of the fifth book and also will make Grawp quite unnessescary in the next movie. Maybe that's the plan anyways but Hagrid's continuing conflict about family was one of the most touching things from the Order of the Pheonix.

4. Barty Crouch being the one to have tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom instead of Bellatrix Lestrange and Harry learning about Neville's parents. Firstly, Harry learning about Neville's parents would have taken all but thirty seconds of explaining from Dumbledore and would have explained Neville's behavior in Mad-Eye Moody's class. Secondly Bellatrix is the person who kills Sirius in Order of Pheonix and becomes quite a personal villian for Harry because of that and should have been established here. It also gives Harry an unspoken kinship with Neville as they have both suffered losses at her hands.

Well, outside of those missing scenes the movie was just about perfect. The Weasley's twins big role gives me hope that in the next movie they will include the scene where they fly out of Hogwarts on their brooms triumphantly and tell Peeves to give Dolores Umbridge hell. Seriously Peeves needs to be in the movie just for that one scene which like The Riddle House is the best scene in the book. A great movie. Score: ****1/2.

[DR.MID-NITE]

Actually they begin filming in February (according to a TV show called Entertainment Tonight).
Your right. I just got back from the Big Apple Con. I was talking with the Potter actors who played Finnegan and Longbottom. They said they start in Feb.

[mr jinx]

I loved Richard Harris as Dumbledore in Prisoner of Azkaban
i found it to be a bit grave...

i cant wait to see this movie, but i need to get a baby sitter. i dont think a baby would enjoy this one too much.

[zmanjz]

any chance of a 5 hour long extended edition DVD? (With stuff like the World Cup, the others performing their tasks, Dobby, etc?)

[Mike Spartz]

any chance of a 5 hour long extended edition DVD? (With stuff like the World Cup, the others performing their tasks, Dobby, etc?)No way in hell that's ever happening. To do that the actors would have to return to the set and film some additional scenes to fill up the time.

[Mike Spartz]

4. Barty Crouch being the one to have tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom instead of Bellatrix LestrangeIf you listen carefully, Kararoff says that Crouch Jr participated in the torturing, he never named an specific person as being solely responsible. I agree though that Harry should've learned about Neville's background in this movie.

[mr jinx]

any acknowledgement of who the marauders were in this one?

[Mike Spartz]

any acknowledgement of who the marauders were in this one?No. Read POA.

[mr jinx]

No. Read POA. i have. i wasnt asking for my own enlightenment. i just think it is ridiculous that they havent divluged such an important tidbit since it would only take about 30 seconds to do so.

[Mike Spartz]

i have. i wasnt asking for my own enlightenment. i just think it is ridiculous that they havent divluged such an important tidbit since it would only take about 30 seconds to do so.I think it would take for than half a minute to do it justice, but I see your point and I agree. I also wish there was more Sirius in this movie. He was in one scene but they really should've had him around at the end - at least as Padfoot.

[Casey Mack]

i might see this one sometime this week, but i am eagerly awaiting the next installment called "Harry Potter and the Ghostbusters", and then "Harry Potter and the dinner for two":p

[Ishtar]

No. Read POA.Actually in this movie Peter Pettigrew is mentioned as Wormtail by Voldemort, Harry and Sirius and that was Pettigrew's Marauder name. The other 3 Sirius (Padfoot),Lupin(Moony) and James(Prongs) still haven't been revealed that they were Marauders or their Marauder Names.

[purplehairedwonder]

Actually in this movie Peter Pettigrew is mentioned as Wormtail by Voldemort, Harry and Sirius and that was Pettigrew's Marauder name. The other 3 Sirius (Padfoot),Lupin(Moony) and James(Prongs) still haven't been revealed that they were Marauders or their Marauder Names.You have a point there. Movie facts and book facts really get muddled around in my head. Sometimes I can hardly remember what was not said in an earlier film as it was said in the books, so it makes sense. But the lack of the explanation of the Marauder's identities bugs me - that was my favorite scene in PoA, which was my favorite book.

My biggest problem with the movie was the lack of the "Parting of the Ways" chapter. Not only did Sirius need to be there at the end, we needed to see Dumbledore and Fudge arguing as well as Sirius and Snape shaking hands before going off on their separate tasks. At this point in the movies, all we know about Snape being a Death Eater was from the flashback, so we don't know that he's going to *spy* at this point. Also, Bill Weasely is going to need to be introduced at some point considering his role in HBP.

As good as the movies are, there is going to need to be some major explanations of backstory in OotP to keep things flowing smoothly.

[Quarter-Dragon]

Well, I'm rather...irritated...by this, but from what I've heard apparently the DVD will only have an extra 15 MINUTES of deleated scenes! Discuss at your leisure...lousy cheapskates (Not referring to you but to the director and all the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor).

It'll be released in March for those who want to know.

[Hades]

It wasn't that great of a movie, but more like a rush job than anything. Very disappointing, however, it was a vast improvement over Prisoner, but no where near as good as Chamber. It's a shame that Chris Columbus seems to be the only guy in the world who could actually make good HP movies. WB, do everyone a favor and bring him back for the remaining 7!!

The editing was piss poor, and the scene changes came out of nowhere. Not to mention there were a lot of characters that were quite pointless, like that reporter lady (Lita???). Why bother with her? She did nothing for the plot. The only new characters needed were the two teams' and Moody. Oh, and what was the point of the Quidditch Tournament? THey get you all interest in it, and then it goes to the after party when the old guy throws the ball. The ending felt very unsatisfying, and I did not even care about the guy who died. Speaking of dying, whose body did Harry find in the forest? The scene cut off too quick to even see the face.

Over all, I'm giving Goblet a 3/5, but that is because of the scenes with the Death Eaters, despite how quick they were. Oh, and because of Moody, for he was very interesting.

[Ishtar]

Well, I'm rather...irritated...by this, but from what I've heard apparently the DVD will only have an extra 15 MINUTES of deleated scenes! Discuss at your leisure...lousy cheapskates (Not referring to you but to the director and all the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor).

It'll be released in March for those who want to know.That's a slight improvement over Azkaban's worth of deleted scenes. Azkaban's deleted scenes were very short and some were very pointless like one was another Knight Bus gag and one was just a slight extended version of the bird getting hit by the willow scene. The Sir Cadogan deleted scenes were the only ones that were worth watching. Why can't we get a simmilar amount of deleted footage that was included in the Chamber Of Secrets DVD?

[DR.MID-NITE]

Well, I'm rather...irritated...by this, but from what I've heard apparently the DVD will only have an extra 15 MINUTES of deleated scenes! Discuss at your leisure...lousy cheapskates (Not referring to you but to the director and all the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor).

It'll be released in March for those who want to know.

Like I said before. HP should take a note from the Lord of the Rings movies. Release a theatrical version. Then do an extended dvd version with 30-45 minutes of extra footage. It will definitely make its money back.

[Lord Dalek]

Lemme rephrase this. The reason why Goblet feels so rushed is it was stripped to the core plot. And there wasn't a whole lot of that in the book.

[David Lucas]

Well said Dalek.

The book, honestly, was like 60% filler. Nothing of any importance happened for so much of the movie, it was pretty much just Hermoine complaining about elves and Rita being the most irritating person to come into the series since Gilderoy.

I was absolutely enthralled by this last chapter. It was so suspenseful that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, even though I knew what was going to happen.

Cedric's death wasn't that sad, naturally, it was when Harry brought him back to everyone clapping then the atmosphere turning to horror.

But man, Voldemort sucked, I'm sorry. I love Fiennes, but he was way too, I dunno, bouncy. I wouldn't think a dark lord of all death and evil in the magic world would prance around like someone in a high school play. If he had been more calm and collected, he would have been leaps and bounds creepier.

Still, that's literally my ONLY complaint. The portkey transportation, the penseive, everything was envisioned amazingly.

I can't wait for Snape to get some more screen time though, Alan Rickman is the greatest. I wanted him to slap them in the head a few more times just for my own personal amusement.

[purplehairedwonder]

But man, Voldemort sucked, I'm sorry. I love Fiennes, but he was way too, I dunno, bouncy. I wouldn't think a dark lord of all death and evil in the magic world would prance around like someone in a high school play. If he had been more calm and collected, he would have been leaps and bounds creepier.I've got to disagree. I didn't really see him as prancing. Besides, he had just come back into a body for the first time in 13 years. If I were just getting back into a body after that long, my actions would probably be a bit exaggerated as well.

Despite all of the theories surrounding Snape's role in Book Seven I have to wonder if Alan Rickman will play Snape any differently in Order of the Pheonix considering what happened in The Half-Blood Prince. I hope not as I think his performance has been perfect in all four films and also because I believe the end of book six was a huge mislead.I caught a little interview with Dan Radcliffe today where he said that the only actor who knows more about his character is Alan Rickman. In other words, Alan Rickman knows the truth about Snape so that is obviously going to affect how he plays the character. Heh, that's probably why he knows the truth about Snape in the first place.

[DR.MID-NITE]

I posted these pics in another section of the forum. But, figured I would post them here for any fans. I went to the Big Apple Con this weekend. Devan Murray(Seamus), Matthew Lewis(Neville) and Jamie Waylett(Crabbe). Scary how much Matthew Lewis has grown since the first movie...

http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/1186/jamiewaylettpic4ma.jpg

http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/5451/murraylewispic3wx.jpg

[Mike Spartz]

I posted these pics in another section of the forum. But, figured I would post them here for any fans. I went to the Big Apple Con this weekend. Devan Murray(Seamus), Matthew Lewis(Neville) and Jamie Waylett(Crabbe). Scary how much Matthew Lewis has grown since the first movie...

http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/1186/jamiewaylettpic4ma.jpg

http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/5451/murraylewispic3wx.jpgI envy you. :p :evil:

[DR.MID-NITE]

I envy you. :p :evil:
Thanks. What was the best is that they were all very nice. This was my daughter's first show. And was afraid if the celebs were rude or seemed annoyed to be there....that she would be turned off to these things. She was a little freaked at first. She said its weird to see someone you see in the movies in real life. But, after the "wow" factor subsided...She got the nerve to talk to them.

[Bladesong26]

I saw Goblet on Saturday and just rewatched the third movie tonight to compare the two... and I think Azkaban is still the better film. In very small, artistic ways. :)
But at any rate, Goblet is a solid piece of work. I really enjoyed the darker tone and the action thriller structure. The only omission that actually really bothered me was the fate of Crouch Jr. I was surprised that they didn't at least mention that he gets the Dementor's Kiss and is now useless as a witness for Voldemort's return, leading to all the accusations against Harry in OotP. Ah well.
So, if I was going to play Amateur Screenwriter for the 5th movie, here's what I'd do:
- Going to have to have the Dursleys in this one, because of the Dementor attack. Great way to open too.
-Do the whole bit with the Advance Guard, get us to 12 Grimmauld Place, establish Sirius as a major presence in order for his death to have any impact, streamline the rest, Woes of Mrs. Weasley will probably get axed.
-Harry's Trial, introduce Umbridge
-Get us to Hogwarts and from here on out, I think we'll see the most cutting: we have to get Luna Lovegood in, Umbridge's tyranny and the DA and Cho Chang, I suppose.
-Attack on Arthur Weasley and the Christmas on the Closed Ward, nice opportunity to have Kenneth Branaugh make a cameo and definitely the scene with Neville's parents
-Ootp has a huge buildup, climax and worse a very exposition-heavy denouement. I do not envy the guy who has to figure how to cut and then pace the flow of that. I think the whole sequence in the Dept. of Mysteries will be streamlined.

Whew. They may want to make that one a three hour movie.

[Conekiller]

Could we please keep spoilers involving future "movies" (ie, info that has been revealed int he books, but not yet in the movies) out of this thread. Not all of us have read the books >_< (Fone Bone, Purplehairedwonder and Bladesong26, I'm talking to you)

[Malex]

No! I'm gonna spoil everything since I waited 10 hours at midnight parties, spent $40 on both books, and read for a total of four days. I now have the RIGHT to ruin it for all of your freeloaders! [/Fanboy]

[Fone Bone]

Could we please keep spoilers involving future "movies" (ie, info that has been revealed int he books, but not yet in the movies) out of this thread. Not all of us have read the books >_< (Fone Bone, Purplehairedwonder and Bladesong26, I'm talking to you)Fixed but DANG you should read the books. You are going to have a helluva hard time finding any talkbacks for the movies that don't involve discussion of future plot points because it is BECAUSE of those future plot points that we can have a fair idea of how well the movie was put together. Plus, the books are like ten times better than the movies.

I hate spoilers too, but I had honestly thought that people who had seen the movie would have already bothered reading the book. Sorry, but I honestly don't see how you are going to be able to talk about the movie without some people spoiling the future books for you.

[IamBatman]

I saw Goblet of Fire twice on Friday, once in IMAX (amazing) and a second time in lesser theatre. To my surprise the IMAX, being one of the first screenings at that theatre was only about half fulll, though it was a 12 noon showtime. BUT to my extremem pleaseure the 9:45pm showing i saw later that day, was packed to the rafters. For the first time in any film ive seen the audience was literallly on their feet clapping at the end. Its always puzzled me who they are cllapping too, but i joined in nonetheless.

Having read the books i can appreciate that much of the side stories and characters were cut off in extreme ways. I will admit i last read GOF just after its initial release as a book and haven't touched it since. Though i would have to say that i don't feel any overly important storylines were truly eliminated for the following reasons.
1) after reading Order of the Phenix, and Half Blood Prince, i can still follow the storyline basing my recollections now on the film. .. and most importantly
2) JO is watching these movies like a hawk. Steve Kloves has said on several occasions how she has added little tidbits about where the movies should go, to match their yet to be written cousins. If there were any glaring ommisions i should like to think she would ensure to cover both warners and herself from an uncomfortable leap of logic down the road.

though it can be said i guess that JO is making hideous amounts of money and could potentially care less, she has led us, and myself being a believer, that she has much more moral integrity regarding her works.

I agree with several people who feel some characterisations did feel out of place, and the plot was rushed, but i felt that it gives the viewer a sense of anticipation. Everyone (i assume) knows there are stilll 1 last book, and 3 more movies to be released, and that this chapter isn't the end yet. This film ending on a happy note did not strike me as out of place, and there was heavy underscoring of things to come, and the general sense of foreboding.

What i feel we need to look forward to is the potential of the next film, not to say anything negative about this film, as i don't have any words of that kind. We have several storylines which need to be handled very delicately, and if my memory serves me, we know how two screenwriters working on this movie, I fail to remmeber the first fellows name, but i believe he's gotten a start, and Kloves has returned to help once more.

Either way, my opinion was that this was a wonderful piece of cinema, and escaped the clubfooted pace of a direct adaptation. People must realize these are artisitic interpretations of a literarry work, not a celluloid translation. To compare these movies to the source material is inevitable, but one shouldn't compare the movie GOF to the book GOF. They should comparte the movie GOF to the book HBP. do that, and see where your story goes off track, if you find a problem, then thats where i'd endorse criticism.

In the mean i feel we should all have confidence in Warner Bros, the continuing stream of excellent Directors and most of all JK Rowling. She has given us the excellent source of inspiration, and the watchful eye of a hawk over the movies.

criticism is welcome against my person, but please have some reasoning behind it :p

[DR.MID-NITE]

We know filming starts in February for OotP. Who is directing? Newell?

[Ishtar]

We know filming starts in February for OotP. Who is directing? Newell?
Nope, David Yates is directing OOTP( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0946734/).
Also. Steve Kloves will not be the screenwriter for OOTP. Michael Goldenberg will be the screenwriter for OOTP (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0325533/), but Kloves is comin back for HBP.

[DR.MID-NITE]

Nope, David Yates is directing OOTP( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0946734/).
Also. Steve Kloves will not be the screenwriter for OOTP. Michael Goldenberg will be the screenwriter for OOTP (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0325533/), but Kloves is comin back for HBP.I have never heard of Yates and Goldenberg. Are they any good?

[Conekiller]

Fixed but DANG you should read the books. You are going to have a helluva hard time finding any talkbacks for the movies that don't involve discussion of future plot points because it is BECAUSE of those future plot points that we can have a fair idea of how well the movie was put together. Plus, the books are like ten times better than the movies.

I hate spoilers too, but I had honestly thought that people who had seen the movie would have already bothered reading the book. Sorry, but I honestly don't see how you are going to be able to talk about the movie without some people spoiling the future books for you.
I appreciate it. I'm just not much of a book reader, is all. I tried reading the first book and barely got past the first chapter. And while later plot points may be hinted at earlier than expected in the movie (something I'd appreciate the director/writer for doing, had I read the books) i don't see why people simply can't place them in spoiler boxes like in every other thread. This is a talkback with spoilers for the Goblet of Fire MOVIE, not the Halfblood Prince BOOK. I'm just asking for a bit of....understanding :sweat:

[Wounded_Dragon]

Well, the discussion started out that considerate Cone. But like Fone said, it is hard to discuss why scenes should've been cut without discussing future plot points, which would've led to several posts that would've been entirely spoiler boxed.

It's been a little under a week and my reaction to GoF is still that it's a little above average. I'd like to see it again but the holiday crowding wouldn't help.


I still wonder if JKR is using the movies as her revision. Certain differences in the movies explain certain comments of hers about the characters.

[Mike Spartz]

I still wonder if JKR is using the movies as her revision. Certain differences in the movies explain certain comments of hers about the characters.Could you explain in further detail, I find this statement intriguing.

[Wounded_Dragon]

Could you explain in further detail, I find this statement intriguing.
In general, novels leave a bit of the character up to the reader's imagination. There's room for different interpretations. Movie portrayals cut down on that room.

If you want specifics, to me, Ron is a well-meaning but rude idiot in the novels. The movies cut back on the rude to me. This is in regards to certain relationship comments from her.

As for Snape...in general novel-wise he comes off to me as an angry little man who's mean for the sake of being mean. Practically a 13-year-old with a grudge. The movies have cut back on that by cutting a lot of the scenes where he was so mean. Frankly, the movies are the only canon where it makes sense to me that Snape might be a good guy. This is in regards to JKR "he could be either a good or bad guy" stance.

Btw, random observation, HBP spoiler ahoy

If GoF had little happen in it, how short do you think the HBP movie is going to be?

[Lord Dalek]

Nope, David Yates is directing OOTP( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0946734/).
Also. Steve Kloves will not be the screenwriter for OOTP. Michael Goldenberg will be the screenwriter for OOTP (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0325533/), but Kloves is comin back for HBP.David Yates has only worked on television. Goldenberg did an ok job with Contact, I guess.

[Conekiller]

Well, the discussion started out that considerate Cone. But like Fone said, it is hard to discuss why scenes should've been cut without discussing future plot points, which would've led to several posts that would've been entirely spoiler boxed.

I understand (I really hope I'm not coming off as a whiny brat here, i'm just trying to maintain fairness) Also, diferences between the book version and movie version shouldn't have to be spoler'd, jsut info pertaining to Order of the Phoenix and Halfblood Prince

anyway I have a few questions for you book-readers out there to clarify for me.

- The representative students from the French and Bulgarian schools, did the students attend Hogwarts classes, or were they merely on a year long vacation? Or did they come and go as they were needed over the year?

-Who was it that Ron asked to the ball that he got so petrified about?

-What led Snape to thinking that Harry was the one stealing the potion.

- Hermione acted weird during the whole "Illegal curses" bit, I felt like it would be something that would come up later (like her bizarre actions in Azkaban being linked to her time travelling). What was the deal?

-Why did Dumbledore leave harry with those vicious little black critters?

-What was Cho doing in the owl tower when Harry was heading up there, I also got a weird vibe from this scene.

[Mike Spartz]

- The representative students from the French and Bulgarian schools, did the students attend Hogwarts classes, or were they merely on a year long vacation? Or did they come and go as they were needed over the year?They stayed the whole year, I'm pretty sure they didn't attend the Hogwarts classes though.

-Who was it that Ron asked to the ball that he got so petrified about?Fleur, she was smoking hot in the book and all the guys wanted her.

-What led Snape to thinking that Harry was the one stealing the potion.I believe in the book he was caught near the dungeon with the map. Don't forget that he, Hermione, and Ron made Polyjuice Potion back in their second year so Snape might've known about that and suspected them of stealing from him again.

-What was Cho doing in the owl tower when Harry was heading up there, I also got a weird vibe from this scene.Sending a post, in the book Harry was there to send another letter to Sirius.

-Why did Dumbledore leave harry with those vicious little black critters? That was something that was added into the movie version, it had nothing to do with the book.

[Fone Bone]

-What led Snape to thinking that Harry was the one stealing the potion. Also in the book, the gillyweed for the second task was stolen by Dobby the Houseelf for Harry. I surmise in the movie (I believe Snape mentioned it) it must have been stolen by Neville which doesn't make a whole heckuva lot of sense considering how much Snape terrifies him.
- Hermione acted weird during the whole "Illegal curses" bit, I felt like it would be something that would come up later (like her bizarre actions in Azkaban being linked to her time travelling). What was the deal? She saw how terrified they were making Neville. In the book it is explained because the Crucias Curse was used on his parents and they were tortured until they went insane. They currently reside in St. Mungo's hospital for Magical Maladies and ailments. Minir OotP spoiler:
It also leads to an awesome confrontation between him and Malfoy in the fifth book which will almost certainly be cut in the next film. See why we have to discuss the future books?;)

-Why did Dumbledore leave harry with those vicious little black critters?
I forget that part. Do you mean in his office? Because he has a whole lot of crap in there that any sensible person wouldn't touch. Harry is of course, not a sensible person.

Edit: Mike Spartz beat me to it. No wonder I didn't remember it since it wasn't in the book!




As for Snape...in general novel-wise he comes off to me as an angry little man who's mean for the sake of being mean. Practically a 13-year-old with a grudge. The movies have cut back on that by cutting a lot of the scenes where he was so mean. Frankly, the movies are the only canon where it makes sense to me that Snape might be a good guy. This is in regards to JKR "he could be either a good or bad guy" stance.I agree. It makes sense that Alan Rickman may play him that way in the movies because he is one of the few people who know what the deal with the character is. One of the other things about Book-Snape that the movie lacks is the fact that he is REALLY crafty and smart. By exorcising a lot of his mean scenes they have cut out a lot of his really smart scenes too.



Btw, random observation, HBP spoiler ahoy


If GoF had little happen in it, how short do you think the HBP movie is going to be?



The book is a hundred or so pages shorter so I don't think they will have TOO much of a problem. However it is MUCH less filler (even more so than Order of the Pheonix). I imagine they will probably make OotP between 2 1/2 to 3 hours and HBP will be a little shorter than that.

[peacebyanymeans]

Here's a clip of Voldemort explaining about Lily Potter and how he couldn't touch Harry, from GOF. (http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/harrypotter/clip/clip1_hi.mov)

[Mike Spartz]

The book is a hundred or so pages shorter so I don't think they will have TOO much of a problem. However it is MUCH less filler (even more so than Order of the Pheonix). I imagine they will probably make OotP between 2 1/2 to 3 hours and HBP will be a little shorter than that. Personally, I think they're going to release the fifth film at around 2.5 hours. A lot of stuff from the book will be cut to shorten the time. Then the sixth and seventh books will be filmed back to back ala LOTR and The Matrix. HBP will probably be around 2-2.5 hrs and the final book/movie will be around 3 hrs long.

[Fan of Sponge]

This is the best book of the entire series and the movie is a great turnaround from "The Prisoner of Azkaban" which disappointed me. The movie was well flowing. They got rid of anything that didn't flow to the main plot. The Yule Ball scene was wonderful especially with Ron's problem with the dress robes. The movie had some romantic, comedy, and some dark scenes. The movie definantly earned a PG-13 rating with some scenes could give some children nightmares. The movie felt as though it ran for over three hours, but how can they all put the main plot all in two and half hours? This director really amazed me and it was worth all seven dollars.

[DR.MID-NITE]

In the graveyard scene. I could have sworn I heard Voldemort say that Harry's mother was a muggle. Yet, in the Sorcerer's Stone when Hagrid first comes to meet Harry in the lighthouse. His aunt makes a snide comment about how her parents were so happy when she(Harry's mom) got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. So did he say muggle or mudblood(which would make more sense).

A question and an observation.....

In any of the books. Do they ever talk about wizards from America? And during the Quidich Cup. It is amazing how many wizards there are in the world.

[The Falcon]

In the graveyard scene. I could have sworn I heard Voldemort say that Harry's mother was a muggle. Yet, in the Sorcerer's Stone when Hagrid first comes to meet Harry in the lighthouse. His aunt makes a snide comment about how her parents were so happy when she(Harry's mom) got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. So did he say muggle or mudblood(which would make more sense).

A question and an observation.....

In any of the books. Do they ever talk about wizards from America? And during the Quidich Cup. It is amazing how many wizards there are in the world.haven't seen the movie yet but i'm guessing he said "mudblood". harry's mom was indeed a witch but she came from muggle parents which would cause her not to be a "pure" blood. as for the second question, i can't quite recall, but i'm pretty sure only witches and wizards from england and the two competing teams were mentioned

[Fone Bone]

In the graveyard scene. I could have sworn I heard Voldemort say that Harry's mother was a muggle. Yet, in the Sorcerer's Stone when Hagrid first comes to meet Harry in the lighthouse. His aunt makes a snide comment about how her parents were so happy when she(Harry's mom) got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. So did he say muggle or mudblood(which would make more sense). I'm almost positive he called her Muggle-born which means that although she was a witch her parents and the rest of her family are muggles (see Aunt Petunia). Ironically like Harry, Voldemort is a half-blood on his father Tom Riddle's side.



A question and an observation.....

In any of the books. Do they ever talk about wizards from America? And during the Quidich Cup. It is amazing how many wizards there are in the world.In Goblet of Fire there are American witches from Salem camped out at the World Cup. In Quidditch throughout the Ages American Wizards and their fondness for an alternative game to Quidditch is discussed.

[Malex]

In the graveyard scene. I could have sworn I heard Voldemort say that Harry's mother was a muggle. Yet, in the Sorcerer's Stone when Hagrid first comes to meet Harry in the lighthouse. His aunt makes a snide comment about how her parents were so happy when she(Harry's mom) got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. So did he say muggle or mudblood(which would make more sense).
After seeing the movie twice, I can definitely say that Voldemort said muggle. In the books, they keep on calling Harry a half-blood even though his mother is a witch. I guessing in JK Rowling's world muggle-born wizards are still muggles.

[Mike Spartz]

I guessing in JK Rowling's world muggle-born wizards are still muggles.Correction. Muggle-born wizards are wizards will muggle blood in them, therefore the child of a muggle-blood and a pure-blood is a half-blood.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I was severely disappointed with this movie. I felt like it was a horrendous adaption of the book. Its not just that they left stuff out, but they added stuff in when they could have been dealing with stuff from the books, which makes little sense.

Looking at it from the parts of the story:
Begining: Including Crouch Jr. at the Riddle house and having Harry see him at the World Cup was dumb in my mind. I wish they had created more suspense, rather then having the non-book reading audience realize he was going to play a role. The exclusion of Winky was disappointing to me, and not getting Ludo Bagman was a letdown. The biggest problem was the exclusion of Bill and Charlie Weasley, who are more important later on.

Through the 1st Task: Decent adaption, although a couple issues. First of all, I didn't see Karkaroff at the scene where Harry and Maxime see the Dragons. Unless I had looked away or something, they should have made it more obvious. I also felt the Horntail scene went on way too long, it should have been a lot shorter.

Yule Ball/Second Task: I don't get why they were able to add a completely pointless dance lesson, but couldn't have Bill, Charlie and Percy in the film, or deal more with Barty Crouch being somewhat mad, or give a minor role to Ludo Bagman. But no, we need a pointless dance scene. Hermione seemed a lot pettier in the movies, especially the way she belittled Krum after the dance, which made no sense, and portrayed Krum as an idiot, which he definitely is not.

This section of the movie was handled the best however, as the second task was very good, and I enjoyed the ball, although the lack of Dumbledore mentioning a certain room, and Hagrid's Half-giant revelation, which is important in the future books, was sorely lacking.

Through the 3rd task:
I thought they should have had Harry seeing "Crouch" in Snape's office on the map, but I guess with the other revelations about Crouch, Jr, that would make things to obvious, which is why they shouldn't have had those. I hated that they didn't have the mention of Neville's parents from Dumbledore, we just hear their names in the Pensieve. They also left off Karkaroff running away, which was a really bad choice. The 3rd task itself was a little weak, I wish they had stuck closer to the book.

Through the finale:
Only two complaints about the Graveyard scene:
1. Cedric's death should have been more emotional. Better music, better reaction from Harry, etc was needed.
2. They shouldn't have left out the "6 missing, 3 in Azkaban, 1 who has chosen to run..." speach. It comes into importance later, and is just plain cool.

After that is when things get funny. There is a lack of a lot of things, including Crouch Jr's fate, Fudge and Dumbledore's disagreement, and quite a few other missing details. They really need a lot more time at the end.

Character Portrayal:
Harry: I really don't like Daniel's portrayal, and probably never will. Its just so bland in my opinion, and it seems like there could have been tons of better choices. I never really felt like he pulled Harry off quite right, and Harry himself just didn't connect in the film.

Ron: Rupert's the best of the maiin 3, but that doesn't say a whole lot. He's the closest to an accurate portrayal, and I enjoyed him in this film.

Hermione: I don't even know where to begin. Emma is not very good from what I've seen of her, and she's directed even worse. Hermione really felt like a 'you know what' with a lot of her actions and comments. SPEW may have been annoying, but it at least portrayed a more positive aspect of her personality, a more compassionate side, as opposed to how she acts in the movies.

Cedric: Should have been introduced in the PoA movie. We lost the whole way that the Twins and Ron disliked him, but overall he was handled pretty well, but the movie didn't really show Harry's jealousy of him going with Cho so much, since we can't really get in Harry's head.

Viktor: Kloves tied Viktor Krum up and violated him in every way possible. The implication that Viktor was an emotionless idiot, the near removal of his feelings for Hermione, and the fact that we didn't get a conversation between him and Harry at the end. He did have a couple of moments, like when he got made at Rita Skeeter. Not enough of his personality made it through, but I guess when it comes between an awkward dance lesson or giving insight to an interesting character, Kloves chose the dancing.

Fleur: Handled better then Viktor. We didn't see too much of her, and I felt like they could have developed her better and shown her more 3-dimensional characteristics, hopefully her future appearances won't be cut out of the movies.

Moody: Too much comedy, way too much comedy. He didn't seem like a paranoid auror. We never heard constant vigilence, he laughed way, way too much, and in general was handled very poorly.

Dumbledore: Extremely disappointed. Dumbledore was too angry and violent. Yelling at Harry, pushinig him up against a wall, it was so out of character. His portrayal needs to be a lot better in the Order movie.

Barty Crouch: They needed to emphasize him slowly going insane, which we didn't even see in the movie. Percy's role also would have emphasized this, but he was cut out.

Neville: What was up with that? Nevill was so bizzare in this film I don't know what they were even thinking. Here's hoping he's handled much better in Order, where he's much more important.

Sirius: No excuse for giving him such a minor role here. His final scene definitely should have been kept.

Fred and George: We got more of them, but it was pretty much all filler excep the aging potion and asking out Angelina. I wish we had gotten the Joke shop stuff, and Harry giving them the money at the end.

Snape: Almost invisible, his scenes at the end should have been expanded upon greatly.

Fudge: We didn't see him and Dumbledore coming to blows, and the fact that he thinks Harry is delusional, which becomes important. Nor did we see him do in Barty Jr.

Overall, not impressed at all. It was a better adaption then SS and PoA, but in the sense that 10 punches in the face are better then 11. CoS remains the best adaption so far, but it was still not good.

Should have been two movies, for sure.

[Drachentöter]

I thought it was the best Harry Potter movie yet. The one that's come closest to this quality was Chamber of Secrets. Sorcerer's Stone was a tad too wishy-washy, though still produced with quality. I'm in the group that disliked Cuaron's take with Prisoner of Azkaban. He did a lot of things well, but the general mish-mash of the adaptation and dumb attempts to develop already rich characters which fell flat let me down.

The only omission I really minded was the World Cup game. All we got to see were some dumb reaction shots from Potter, Hermione, and the Weaslys. Lack of Percy was also disappointing in retrospect.

And its biggest flaw was the music. GoF sorely needed John Williams back instead of Patrick Doyle. Doyle pretty much kept the same underscore going the whole movie and it really let down at the graveyard scene. The graveyeard scene needed to be more...grave. It could've done with an ominous choir, some strong brass and strings. But it was really a generalized adventure score. It'll suck if Williams never comes back to compose for the films.

But overall, it was extremely enjoyable and worth a rewatching or two.

[peacebyanymeans]

I thought this was the best movie yet!

I thought the begining was rushed, but for turning an 700 page book in to a 2 1/2 hour book, it was great. Not going to be the best adaptation, of course, but I don't go to movie to see what I read, I'd rather they just keep the basic storyline and actually make a good MOVIE. Which is why I disliked SS and CS SO MUCH!

[Mynd Hed]

Well, I for one thought this was the best HP movie yet. The comic relief was funnier, the emotions were more emotional, the action was more action-packed, and if they cut a lot of stuff from the book, that only meant that what was left was a tightly-paced product nearly devoid of filler.

[Mr. Manager]

I thought it was great. However, I fell asleep. Not because I thought it was boring, I was just sleepy. Also, did anyone else like the Superman Returns trailer? The film looks super(no pun intended). Anyways, I only was awake for about three-fourths of the film.

[peacebyanymeans]

I thought it was great. However, I fell asleep. Not because I thought it was boring, I was just sleepy. Also, did anyone else like the Superman Returns trailer? The film looks super(no pun intended). Anyways, I only was awake for about three-fourths of the film.
You missed the best part!

[Mr. Manager]

You missed the best part!I missed the dance and the dance-related things and the dream sequence. What part were you refering to?

[peacebyanymeans]

I missed the dance and the dance-related things and the dream sequence. What part were you refering to?
Oh. I thought you didn't see the end.

[DR.MID-NITE]

Slightly off topic....After a year and a half. I finally finished my Harry Potter autographed cast matte. By far, my biggest project yet.



http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/5992/pottercast2hd.jpg

[Mike Spartz]

I missed the dance and the dance-related things and the dream sequence. What part were you refering to?You missed the Yule ball and brawl??? Blasphmey! :p

[Kasumi]

Saw this movie yesterday with my mother. I've got mixed feelings about it. I haven't enjoyed a HP movie since CoS and GoF just let me down.

Negatives
- They butchered Krum. What happened man? Krum was cool and him and Hermione had a good relationship. Sure, Ron/Hermione is my main couple but why did they have to load up on those hints while taking away from Krum's character?
- Fleur only got what? 4 lines at the max? What the heck.
- Cedric was just bland. Hot but bland. We never got to see the progression from rivals to friends between him and Harr.
- Serious lack of the Malfoys, Snape, and Sirius.
- I hope that wasn't Bellatrix I saw at the graveyard. I hope that wasn't Bellatrix I saw at the graveyard. *rinse lather repeat*
- The abruptness of the beginning caught me way off guard. I know they had to cut a load of stuff out but jeez!
- Hermione's dress was just bleh. Why the change from blue to pink?
- The cut of important sub-plots = bad.
- The ending! What happened to you!

Positives
+ I liked the music. Kind of catchy.
+ Kaite Leung as Cho Chang was perfect. She was adorable.
+ The ferret scene was great.
+ I loved the Horntail. It was just crazy.
+ Rupert Grint! Marry me!
+ The actors are better but not much. Emma Watson is still annoying though. She doesn't even resemble Hermione anymore, not in the physical sense or characterization sense.
+ Ah Lord Thingie. You look cool and creepy.

[purplehairedwonder]

Saw it a second time around and this time I was able to focus a little more as the atmosphere in the theater was much calmer. I really did notice how much was cut from the book, but the cuts that upset me the most were Voldemort's speech in the graveyard about who was there and who was gone and the "Parting of the Ways" chapter.
I'm trying to figure out how they are going to make Sirius' death as meaningful in the movie as it was in the book when he is hardly in the movie at all. This book really cemented Sirius' role as a protective figure in Harry's life, but you don't get that in the movie. Hell, when they were talking in the fire, Sirius seemed more like "You're screwed" than anything. They are going to have to jam-pack some Sirius action in this one to get the point across of how much he means to Harry to get the full effect you get from the book.
Dumbledore really wan't the character I was expecting, or even that was portrayed in the books. He was much more out of control of things in the movie than the book. I really don't think you really see him losing sense of control of everything until the end of book 5. Also, Crouch's death was glossed over and Dumbledore told someone at the end to call Azkaban because they were "missing a prisoner," but in the books he had "died" in prison. Krum was dumbed way down as well and there really was no connection to Cedric at all, though I still cried at his death.

I think omitting the background of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs was a mistake in PoA, as Pettigrew is only referred to as Wormtail in the movie. And what was the scene where Karkaroff goes into the hall where the Goblet of Fire is? I really didn't get that. It was Crouch Jr./Moody who put Harry's name in the Goblet, not Karkaroff, so that confused me.

[Mike Spartz]

I think omitting the background of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs was a mistake in PoA, as Pettigrew is only referred to as Wormtail in the movie. And what was the scene where Karkaroff goes into the hall where the Goblet of Fire is? I really didn't get that. It was Crouch Jr./Moody who put Harry's name in the Goblet, not Karkaroff, so that confused me.That was meant to confuse you. It was a way for the director to make the audience believe that Igor had placed Harry's name in the Goblet when it was really who you mentioned.

[Akelexre]

I was severely disappointed with this movie. I felt like it was a horrendous adaption of the book. Its not just that they left stuff out, but they added stuff in when they could have been dealing with stuff from the books, which makes little sense.

Looking at it from the parts of the story:
Begining: Including Crouch Jr. at the Riddle house and having Harry see him at the World Cup was dumb in my mind. I wish they had created more suspense, rather then having the non-book reading audience realize he was going to play a role. The exclusion of Winky was disappointing to me, and not getting Ludo Bagman was a letdown. The biggest problem was the exclusion of Bill and Charlie Weasley, who are more important later on.

Through the 1st Task: Decent adaption, although a couple issues. First of all, I didn't see Karkaroff at the scene where Harry and Maxime see the Dragons. Unless I had looked away or something, they should have made it more obvious. I also felt the Horntail scene went on way too long, it should have been a lot shorter.

Yule Ball/Second Task: I don't get why they were able to add a completely pointless dance lesson, but couldn't have Bill, Charlie and Percy in the film, or deal more with Barty Crouch being somewhat mad, or give a minor role to Ludo Bagman. But no, we need a pointless dance scene. Hermione seemed a lot pettier in the movies, especially the way she belittled Krum after the dance, which made no sense, and portrayed Krum as an idiot, which he definitely is not.

This section of the movie was handled the best however, as the second task was very good, and I enjoyed the ball, although the lack of Dumbledore mentioning a certain room, and Hagrid's Half-giant revelation, which is important in the future books, was sorely lacking.

Through the 3rd task:
I thought they should have had Harry seeing "Crouch" in Snape's office on the map, but I guess with the other revelations about Crouch, Jr, that would make things to obvious, which is why they shouldn't have had those. I hated that they didn't have the mention of Neville's parents from Dumbledore, we just hear their names in the Pensieve. They also left off Karkaroff running away, which was a really bad choice. The 3rd task itself was a little weak, I wish they had stuck closer to the book.

Through the finale:
Only two complaints about the Graveyard scene:
1. Cedric's death should have been more emotional. Better music, better reaction from Harry, etc was needed.
2. They shouldn't have left out the "6 missing, 3 in Azkaban, 1 who has chosen to run..." speach. It comes into importance later, and is just plain cool.

After that is when things get funny. There is a lack of a lot of things, including Crouch Jr's fate, Fudge and Dumbledore's disagreement, and quite a few other missing details. They really need a lot more time at the end.

Character Portrayal:
Harry: I really don't like Daniel's portrayal, and probably never will. Its just so bland in my opinion, and it seems like there could have been tons of better choices. I never really felt like he pulled Harry off quite right, and Harry himself just didn't connect in the film.

Ron: Rupert's the best of the maiin 3, but that doesn't say a whole lot. He's the closest to an accurate portrayal, and I enjoyed him in this film.

Hermione: I don't even know where to begin. Emma is not very good from what I've seen of her, and she's directed even worse. Hermione really felt like a 'you know what' with a lot of her actions and comments. SPEW may have been annoying, but it at least portrayed a more positive aspect of her personality, a more compassionate side, as opposed to how she acts in the movies.

Cedric: Should have been introduced in the PoA movie. We lost the whole way that the Twins and Ron disliked him, but overall he was handled pretty well, but the movie didn't really show Harry's jealousy of him going with Cho so much, since we can't really get in Harry's head.

Viktor: Kloves tied Viktor Krum up and violated him in every way possible. The implication that Viktor was an emotionless idiot, the near removal of his feelings for Hermione, and the fact that we didn't get a conversation between him and Harry at the end. He did have a couple of moments, like when he got made at Rita Skeeter. Not enough of his personality made it through, but I guess when it comes between an awkward dance lesson or giving insight to an interesting character, Kloves chose the dancing.

Fleur: Handled better then Viktor. We didn't see too much of her, and I felt like they could have developed her better and shown her more 3-dimensional characteristics, hopefully her future appearances won't be cut out of the movies.

Moody: Too much comedy, way too much comedy. He didn't seem like a paranoid auror. We never heard constant vigilence, he laughed way, way too much, and in general was handled very poorly.

Dumbledore: Extremely disappointed. Dumbledore was too angry and violent. Yelling at Harry, pushinig him up against a wall, it was so out of character. His portrayal needs to be a lot better in the Order movie.

Barty Crouch: They needed to emphasize him slowly going insane, which we didn't even see in the movie. Percy's role also would have emphasized this, but he was cut out.

Neville: What was up with that? Nevill was so bizzare in this film I don't know what they were even thinking. Here's hoping he's handled much better in Order, where he's much more important.

Sirius: No excuse for giving him such a minor role here. His final scene definitely should have been kept.

Fred and George: We got more of them, but it was pretty much all filler excep the aging potion and asking out Angelina. I wish we had gotten the Joke shop stuff, and Harry giving them the money at the end.

Snape: Almost invisible, his scenes at the end should have been expanded upon greatly.

Fudge: We didn't see him and Dumbledore coming to blows, and the fact that he thinks Harry is delusional, which becomes important. Nor did we see him do in Barty Jr.

Overall, not impressed at all. It was a better adaption then SS and PoA, but in the sense that 10 punches in the face are better then 11. CoS remains the best adaption so far, but it was still not good.

Should have been two movies, for sure.
Co-sign.

Good review.

Was really dissapointed all around.

Think I just might be sticking with the books from now on.

Later,
Alexander

[The Clown Prince]

Well, there is not much to say here that hasn't already been said.

I will say though, that like a lot of you, I have noticed Snape's personality being different in the movies than it is in the books. And that was a J.K. Rowling approval there. In fact, everything we see in the movies is for the most part all approved by her. She had to understand very quickly that not everything translates well to film, but Snape.... What we have seen in Snape in the movies has definitely been on purpose I believe.

Someone here mentioned about Daniel Radcliffe saying that Alan Rickman knows more about his character than any of the other actors do about their characters. I'll back that up and say that comingsoon.net posted an on set interview they did with one of the producers when GoF was filming (can't remember his name) where he did reveal in a question that was asked in that Alan Rickman is pretty much the only actor that J.K. Rowling has had a meeting(s) with him regarding his Snape character. So again,