Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire (18 November 2005) Reviews/Comments

[Guest]

[emmafan]

Really good point with the lack of the main theme.  I wonder what would make them choose not to use the great Williams score.  As I understand it, they changed composers (Patrick Doyle) so I guess they had intentions to go in a different direction.  Regardless, someone at the top must have wanted to use a different main theme.  I just don't understand it because the original main theme was very dark and ominous and would have worked extremely well.

As was mentioned before, other movie franchises have done well in capitalizing on theme recognition. 

[greenpaw]

I haven't seen the movie yet as it opens this Thursday in Australia (already bought tickets though!).
I have heard the soundtrack and as a fan of various "franchise" movie themes i was also quite dissapointed on first listening.
I don't mind them changing composers but I would have thought they would build on John Williams' wonderful creating not throw it away.

To be fair the "Harry Potter" theme that reoccurs through the first three movies and is the instantly recognizable bit of the soundtrack is there in Goblet of Fire but very much disguised-you really have to listen to the soundtrack on its own without the visual distraction to pick it.  Its like the Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)  in the first two prequels of Star Wars. They are there at points in Anakins early life but altered slightly, sometimes a little slower and with other music interweaving.

I will have to wait until I buy the CD to make a firm decision on the music but my initial reaction was like yours-a big mistake.
There are no obvious character or event cues in Goblet that make films like LOTR and SW and the first three HPfilms so wonderful. They seemed to have thrown them away for this film and thats a bit off.

Having said that i eagerly await Thursday!

[ferdinand_the_yak]

Have just come back from seeing this and I am making these comments without having read what anyone else has said (so not to be biased).

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed

To have a movie that was shorter in length than Philosopher's Stone/Chamber of Secrets but was adapted from a book that was over twice as long as PS/CoS would have obviously meant alot of cutting. I am not a slave to the book type, so I wasn't expecting a Chris Columbus type movie, but this was pretty bad. The movie jumped from major event to major event - there was no continuation. What was with the Quidditch World Cup?  No character development to speak of. Almost all the other characters were reduced to cameo like roles. Krum as a grunting, comic relief guy, Fleur and Diggory were barely around for long enough to even form opinions of them and the fuss about Katie as Cho? She barely made an impression (not her fault, but due to lack of any real screen time) and served pretty much to set up comic relief situations for Harry.

So much for a M rating. The only really good bits for me were the funny bits and given this movie was meant to be dark and scary, I don't think that is a good thing

Emma Watson's acting irritated me. Alot of her lines seemed very forced (not the word I am looking for...) and she seemed very amateurish.  I mean, I know she's a kid, but comparing her with Radcliffe and Grint - well she was very overshadowed in my opinion. Ralph Fiennes was good, but not nearly made to look scary enough. And what was with Snape as comic relief??? The homework scene? Funny, but not in character for him at all.

Overall, way too rushed and not nearly enough depth. Lets hope they improve OoTP - if they make it 2 hours like this... let's hope they can do a better job!

The one redeeming feature was Dan Radcliffe - that guy has a future in acting, he and his acting ability has grown so much with each movie!

[savage727]

Hi FTY:

I have to agree 100% with your analysis.  This movie could have been so much better.  Let's hope this Director does not do the next film.

[ferdinand_the_yak]

There was something else... they introduced things that they never tied up - Karkaroff for example - we see him sneaking into the Hall where the Goblet of Fire was kept and closing the doors behind him, obviously to make it look like he was up to something. Now the people who have read the books would have known that he was the main suspect that Harry thought put his name in the Goblet, but for those who hadn't, it was hard to guess. Also his role was never really fleshed out at all. We see him with Snape, but apart from that, we never really get much substance about his character. Same goes with Barty Crouch senior - when his son was arrested, he was like: 'Oh, OK, that's cool', he was so meek and mild! And when he was killed, again, the book readers know why and by whom, but for the others, it was never really explained why.

Argh - this made me so angry - what a waste of a fantastic book!

[Sharon]

I must admit I felt that if you hadn't read the books a lot of the scenes would go straight over your head ie I don't think I would have understood that Crouch Jnr had escaped from Azkaban and how significant that was.  It was almost like Azkaban is an open prison and everyone - Crouch, Black - can just walk in and out.

The one bit that bugged me and was not explained was the wand locking at the end.  Graham has never read the books and the significance of Lily, James, Cedric etc re-appearing was totally lost on him.  As was the fact that no one believed DD that Voldemort had returned.

I did like the film though, mainly because of the funny bits.  But you are right, this should have been a dark film.

[rns91294]

I think we we learn more of everyone not believing DD that Voldemort returned in the next movie.

As for the length of the movie, I could have sworn I read somewhere that this one was the longest HP movie yet.....Hmmmmmm.

I also heard that when you switch composers, the new composer is not allowed to do something identical of the old composer.  Copyrights or something, so maybe that is why it was changed.  But then, why switch composers?

All in all, I really liked it, and I think for those who had not read the books, there was enough in there to keep you going and let you enjoy it.  But now you know why it is important to read the books as well, because you can get more out of the small details, and you know more than those who have not read the books.

[Trey]

Oh FTY thats not good that you didnt like it  I didnt see it last night, going to see it tonight and im excited about it. My friend saw it last night and said it was great...alot of action and the movie was constantly on the go...

  Only 12 more hours till I see it

[grecopa]

It's definately action packed!    I think that's why I liked it when I first saw it.  But now that it's been a while I can't remember any scenes with dialog that stick with me. 

[EmmasOneandOnly]

I still think its the best movie even thought its starting to slip my mind (thank goodness I get to see it again Saturday!) So before it completely slips my mind I'll give my proper review

I, as most of us, thought the QWC was rushed along as well. In the book the QWC consist of 3 chapters and about 75 or so pages. Now, I don't know about you lot but I did not read all of that in about 15 minutes so why should the whole story take about that long. I agree that the whole match itself should have shown a little action, maybe a few minutes of playing time then the catching of the Snitch, maybe a nose-to-nose thing like we see every movie with Harry.

The action of the Goblet of Fire was slightly rushed. The few days before they names were picked were squeezed into a few minutes show people add in their names but that fit it fine. There was nothing really to add into those slots of the week anyways and it would have added to the length a bit.

The whole Yule Ball story line was very funny and was worth every minute. There was nothing at all I had problems with in those scenes. I saw a slight blooper when Harry ask Cho out: Don't you think Cho would be half way down the stairs by the time Harry decided to say something Harry and Ron picking a date was humorous but I felt we should have seen a little more of the Patil sisters and maybe Harry actually asking them out. I was absolutely shocked at the Yule Ball. The Great Hall was breath taking (I actually hear a few people gasp) and the bit was marvelous (couldn't think of a better word)

Neville has changed my view of him ALOT. He's morphing me into a fan LOL His bits were funny and fit in perfect.

The Tasks were amazing, absolutely a joy to watch. I was thrilled on the First and Second Tasks, even if the Second was slightly rushed. The First One with the added in fit it great and both my mom and I were sitting on the edge of are seats gripping the arm rests The second one was great, favorite task of the book and favorite one in the film.

Rita Skeeter was a little witch so she was perfect, hats of to Miranda.

There were some things I didn't like,
Like the lot of us, Krum and Fleur's 2 lines a piece made me angry because they were great characters in the book and should have deserved more. But if Stan and Clem are OK with it then I guess I can be Maybe will see more of them on the DVD

Moaning Mytle got on my nerves once more, if she had skin I would have slapped her

I do recall something about Rita Skeeter being a Animagus in the books but that doesn't have anything to do with the plot so I understand why it was removed along with SPEW

But unless you haven't read the book you would never know that Barty Crouch Jr. had his soul sucked out by a Dementer (thank you Dawn for helping me out with that ) So films only fans have the motion he might pop back in.

Overall 3 1/2 out of 4

   

[mcgonagall]

Saw the film last night and had a lot of my questions answered . I watched the costumes of the Beauxbaton girls and in 1 scene the girls where wearing the light blue outfits but had dark blue collars.

I loved the movie but would have loved to have scene harry gives the 1000 to the weasley twins lol
but other than that it was fantastic

[kbmum]

Saw the film last night and had a lot of my questions answered . I watched the costumes of the Beauxbaton girls and in 1 scene the girls where wearing the light blue outfits but had dark blue collars.

It's funny how we go to enjoy the film, but also to figure out the swatches in our cards.   While I was watching it, every now and then I'd think, "So that's the (insert costume or prop)!"

[EmmasOneandOnly]

It's funny how we go to enjoy the film, but also to figure out the swatches in our cards.   While I was watching it, every now and then I'd think, "So that's the (insert costume or prop)!"

Look at what they do to us

[blackcat20]

Ive just got back from seeing it, and i loved it! I accept that all those bits from the book that we love are missing, and lots of little things are not explained, but take it as a movie of its own right, and it was great!  It was dark, wet, and miserable, but also funny. I loved those little comic bits, esp Snape (I know its out of character, but hey...). And I loved the sad bits (and yes, I cried at the end  :'( as usual...).

Im definately going to see it again, I do every time. And though its not exactly like the book, I think it was fantastic. 

[Trey]

I really loved the film...Except...the start.

I thought the Quidditch world cup was extremely rushed and it disappointed me that we didnt get to see any part of the match at all...only the bit where they come out at the start. It looked absolutely fantastic and would have been so much better if they had of shown more. I would not mind if the movie went for 5-10 mins longer if they showed more of it.

The tent part was crap. I liked when they came out of the tent and saw the death eaters and burning tents...but I hated the bit where harry got knocked out and woke up and everyone was gone. The tents had stopped burning and there was only barty crouch jr...who then makes the dark mark...I am wondering why the hell they did that.
The dark mark was meant to be made while everyone was running around crazily...and everyone saw it that is why it was more terrifying in the book...that is why they are really scared and running around...but it was done in a very stupid way and I am disappointed because of that.

The rest of the movie I thought was great. There were bits missed but you can live with that and have to expect it. I loved every scene of the rest of the movie apart from the first 20 mins.

Loved Voldy...he was great...and it was kinda horrible the way they had cedric spralled on the ground..but very good at the same time because that is how it was written.

All in all I thought it was great...just thought the first part was absolutely stupid.

 

[blackcat20]

I agree that the Cup and the tent part were a bit rushed and abrupt....I loved the look of the stadium so it was kind of a waste that it was only shown for a few mins...

I went to the movie session from hell (mobile phones, babies crying, kids doing laps in front of the screen etc) so Im off to see it again on Thurs. Hopefully Ill take in a bit more this time, and get a chance to check out where all the cards costumes/props are...

[LikORish-Spider]

In the book didn't Dobby give Harry the Gilliweed? I missed Dobby.
Also remember that Barty Crouch was invisible and used Harry's wand to make the Dark Mark.
What happened to Crouch's house elf, Winky? She was a major agent of cause in the book.
What's with being so cheap that they couldn't even digitally create Krum's dragon, The Chinese Fireball? 
Rita Skeeter's and Fudge's character were not at all developed.

The movie was a metafore for a house full of baby chickens ----CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!  :'( :'( :'(

I give the movie 6 out of 10 for continuity with the book.
I give it a 4 out of 10 for "fullfilling its potential".
They are just milking a cash cow. Sacrificing quality and quantity, riding the coat-tails of the books.   

If J.K. Rowling is not screaming and ranting her displeasure, I'd be very surprised.


*Don't ask me how I really feel* 

If they repeat this treatment in OotP it will not be a surprise.

[Geek Boy]

Watched a bootleg copy last night (Gasp! Shock! Horror! - It's all right kids, I'll buy the real thing when it comes out 

Overall I really enjoyed it.  Some of it I thought was strong for a 12A - Cedric's death, Pettigrew chopping off his hand, Harry's "blood letting", Voldemorts creation/transformation.  But in general I thought it was lacking detail, some stuff was just so skimmed over it wasn't funny.  I'm glad they left out the house elf thing though, it's fine for the book but non essential to the plot of the movie.

As for the acting, Emma Watson, bless her, she's turning into one of those gushy, prima donna actresses who tries just a little bit too hard to be all thespian.

Rupert Grint - funniest bit of the entire movie "So Hermione, you're a girl then"    but criminally under-used overall.  Too much sulking to the camera and the swearing was not a good thing.

Dan Radcliffe - Is he getting better as an actor?  Not convinced.  Still too much wide eyed wonder which he really should have got over by now.  Some of his dialogue was a bit stilted as well.

I would have liked more of the Quidditch World Cup but we've seen it in each film anyway so where else can you go with it?

Azkaban had more going for it as a film.  But Phoenix has the potential to be a real snooze-fest...

[EmmasOneandOnly]

I think POA was a great movie because it was a short book so its tranfirmation into a movie was smooth. But I do think that Steven [Kloves] is losing his touch with writting the movies.     

[ferdinand_the_yak]

Phew - I am glad that other people thought it was a bit of a letdown - I thought I was just being a party pooper

John - I agree with you 100% on those ratings - they were exactly what I said after I saw it too. Continuity was my major issue - they followed the story fine but I thought they just went from major event to major event with no linking in between. Hence a lot of the underlying significant links were left out. I won't bother going through these (if you really want to hear it - PM me and I'll send you the essay ) I agree with the non-necessity of the house elves though. Maybe we are taking it for granted as most of us have read the books?

I was cheesed off that they didn't show the Chinese Fireball as well. I hope they don't get Newell to do OoTP - like Geek Boy says - it will be hard to do that so it won't be a snoozefest