The Yak Shack Forum

Release Date 18th November 2005

Released tomorrow! Anyone pre-booked?

Post reviews when you have seen the film!

I have booked my tickets for tomorrow, Starts at 20.40pm tomorrow, Can't wait  ;D

I'm going to the midnight plus one showing tonight. I'll post a review when I get back.  (:D#

We've got tickets to see the 11am showing and then we're going again at 18:00 and taking our lad with us!! ;D

    Just got back from the 12:01AM showing of Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Is it good? That's a resounding yes. Is it the best? Personally, I will always have a special place in my heart for the Chris Columbus Potter films, and it is not as visually unique as PoA, but it may just be, in the opinion of a great many, the best yet. It is also, at 2 hours and 45 minutes, the longest of the Potter films, so make sure and visit the pisser before hand.  ;) One of my big concerns going in was how much of the book I heard was going to be cut from the film, and you know what? A lot was cut, but by God what remained worked, and worked well. One thing this definitely has over the other films is a fine sense of humour, thanks largely to the Wesley Twins, Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody, and Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom (he has, in my opinion the most humour line in the film, just after Potter is pushed into the lake for the second task; I'm really glad he is getting more screen time). The acting is, for the most part, very good. The main trio are maturing wonderfully in their roles, the standout really being Emma Watson ('course, maybe I'm a bit biased on that point  ;) ). The music, which I didn't think would be equal to the task at first, really did impress me by the end.
    There are, of course, some points I didn't like. Snape, McGonagal, Krum and Fluer, among others, were vastly underused (Krum and Fluer had two lines each, and Snape and McGonagal had not many more then that), though Snape does get a brilliant bit where he gets to bash Harry and Ron in the back of the head a couple o'times. Ralph Fiennes didn't really meet my expectations of what Voldie would be, though he certainly looked creepy enough. Don't get me wrong, he did good, he just wasn't what I expected. All that is, admittedly, small points against a vastly larger good. There was one thing that did get on my nerves though. I am from the Richard Harris school of Dumbledoring, and while Michael Gambon is a fine enough actor, I believe he took Dumbledore in a direction that is very much the opposite of what the character in the books and previous films had been; not a direction that I, personally, liked for the character. But, like I said, there is a vastly large good to this film, and it is a very fine film at that. I'd say 3 1/2 stars outta 4.


This review has been brought to you by Casey, foreign beers, and the Grindylows for Fair Wages Association.  >:D


P.S. Okay, and what's with Flitwick? I liked his look from SS much, much better. Anywho, sorry if the review is short. I will try to add more to it later today, when it is not 3:11 in the AM.

I have also now seen installment four.  I thought I would digest it a bit before posting as I am still a bit undecided.

I think it is the best film so far.  But - yes it is a big but - it is the worst adaptation of the book so far.  I know the book was big but some of the things they cut or changed really were just done for the sake of it.  For example at the World Cup Harry and co are in the cheap seats, whilst a big thing is made of the Malfoys being with the Minister for Magic.  In my opinion there is a huge blooper at the end which I will post in the Half Blood Prince Spoiler thread.

And MIA - Bill, Charlie, Percy, Molly, the Sphinx, Dobby and Winky.  There was definitely room for the Weasley clan to be included, even if they wanted to dump the house elves.

The opening scene is a perfect lift from the book but I was a bit disappointed that the opening music was changed (ie not the HP theme).  The Quidditch World Cup is breath taking and I hope there will be lots more of it on the DVD.  Same goes for the underwater sequence, I am sure there are lots of extra scenes we can see.

The script is fantastic with lots of funny bits but with enough menace to suggest what is to come in the next film.  Minor gripe is Ron using a 'strong' swear word; completely unnecessary.

This is definitely not a film for the little ones.  It is very dark - and I mean this literally.  They could have done with a few more candles.  I think kids will get bored with the 'wordy' bits and even the some of the magic is just not suitable for them (the torture of the spider and Harry is quite grim).  IMO if you have a child under about 10 or 11 you should see the film on your own first and then decide if they should go; this was given a 12a for a very good reason.

Overall I loved this film.  I think if I hadn't read the books I would have thought it was amazing.  But then again I think if you haven't seen the other three films you will be very confused.

Now I just need to see it again to let it really sink in  ;D

Oh and Darthmactor that wasn't Flitwick, that was the Choir master (I know it is the same actor but he plays lots of different characters - the Warwick Davis auto's are my favourite  ;D)

Little footnote:  Gary Oldman - was it worth it?


Second Footnote:  Sorry Darthmactor I have just looked at the auto's and that is listed as Flitwick.  But that is definitley not Flitwick, it is the Choir Master from POA  ???


Third and final footnote:  There was a picture of Harry in another thread falling down what looked like a lift shaft.  The guess was that it was when he looked in Mad Eye Moody's chest.  It was in fact Harry falling in the Pensieve.

I just double checked that, and Artbox says the character is Professor Flitwick.  The producers might have permanently changed the appearance of the character.  Maybe someone could watch the credits for the name of Warwick Davis' character?

It will be a real bummer if that is Flitwick.  The man is conducting the band for goodness sake not teaching Charms class  >:()

The card does say Flitwick on it.....  Odd...  Maybe Artbox got confused???

Couple of fun things to look out for:-

The accents.  I was surprised that Cho is Scottish and that Rita has an Aussie twang, although both work perfectly.

The Weird Sisters.  After all the hype they couldn't have been more wrong if they had tried.  But the crowd scene with Flitwick/Choir Master is great.

Fleur's date.  I see he signed an autograph for the set.  Well I blinked during the film so missed him.

Madam Maxime.  I have a feeling Francis may have been using stilts.  If you watch carefully in nearly all her scenes she is holding someones hand.

The Patil twins are both in Gryffindor in the film.  Wasn't one in Ravenclaw in the book?

The scenes where Ron and Harry have to get dates.  These really are straight from the book, especially the Fleur bit  :rofl:

Ginny is no longer a redhead!!!

OK I haven't seen it yet but all this is interesting and how can Ginny not be a Red red she's a weasley!

Just to set your mind at ease that Artbox haven't lost the plot, Warwick Davis is credited at the end of the film as playing Filius Flitwick - I've just come from the second viewing of it and checked the end credits for you! ;) ;D

My husband and I saw the film today at 10am in a 3/4 full theater. 

Things I didn't like:
The quidditch scenes were much to short.  I just loved that part and wanted to see more.

I was kind of hoping that Krum and Cho would have more to say.

I'm still confused over Flitwick and the chior conductor.  They looked nearly identical.  ???

Things I loved:
Neville's part was great this time.  I've come to really like his character a lot.

The casting of the new characters was perfect.  I wasn't sure about Mad eye, but after I saw him I knew it was right.  Rita Skeeter was superb!

Hermione/Ron's "relationship"  is so obvious!  Sorry HP/HG shippers.

Special effects were amazing as usual. I especailly liked the Quidditch.

Lots of humour in this film.  Phil and I were laughing out loud many times.  Mostly at the twins and at Ron/Harry trying to get a date!

All in all I'm really happy with the film.  I plan to see it again in the theater which I hardly ever do with any movie.  Phil has seen all 3 other HP films, but knew nothing about the GOF book, and he had no problem following along.  I really can't say which film of the 4 I like the most, but I would say CoS is my least favorite.  Maybe GOF has a slight edge over the other 2, but then again it might be because it's still new.  :)

Saw this one at the first showing yesterday - theater was only half full!   ???  Anyway I liked the movie but was also disappointed at the Director's changing of scenes and omitting of others.  I wish these film makers would leave well enough alone like Chris Columbus did in the first 2 films! 

This film was a much more mature film in terms of the filming, casting, Content and Overall mood and in my opinion the best film yet much better than the first 2 by Columbus who I have to say I think ruined them and made them too fluffy. Dumbledore needed to be more agressive with the part in this film and i think we will see this continue especially with the next film where he is trying to avoid harry. If we got to that without this change now it would be too much to beleive. I expected it to be different from the book and to suggest it should be like it would be mad as we would have been at the cinema at least 6 hours if not more. It had to be shorterned and something had to go (a lot had to go) as for Ron using a "strong" swear word these are older kids and that is what they are like. Up til now they are shown as children they are becoming Teenagers they are rebelling and that is exactly what I expected.

Last thing that goodness at last we have a british director who understands the books and has done a great job of bringing of of the most difficult books to make into a film, and he did it in less than 3 hours. people will complain about it being not like the book, but it isn't the book it has to stand as a film in its own right too or it would have failed at the first hurdle

For those wondering what the stong swear word is, he didn't drop the "F" bomb or anything.  He say's P*** off.  Not something I want either of my kids to say, but I don't want them saying "bloody hell" either.  I'm not sure which is considered a stronger swear in the UK.  I would say those 2 are about equal here in the US for children.

well for me bloody hell is actually quite week and i wouldn't be upset at all if someone said that to me where as P*** off is slightly stronger and what I would expect of a teenagers vocab although I wouldn't want them to say it. I have to say it ain't that bad really. I can understand that elsewhere and to others it would seem stronger but bloody hell is no where near as strong here as P*** off as you can see i will type one on this forum but as more sensitive about the other in an open forum of all ages

Maybe I was a bit over sensitive about what Ron said.  I think I was just going by the fact that JKR avoided using these terms in the book by saying things like bloody hell.  I hadn't really given much thought as to whether other parts of the world view this term differently.  I was just thinking about a 10 or 11 telling someone to p*** off cos Ron said it.  Probably in the UK the 'f' word and 'p' word are about the same. It was such a throw away comment I felt it was unnecessary. 

And I know what you are saying about not putting everything from the book in the film but some things in the film were not in the book - the dance lesson, Neville dancing in the bedroom.  Wonderful scenes but I just wish they had used those one or two minutes to put Molly in when they returned from the World Cup to show she really thought the twins had died.

I did love the fact that the exterior of Hogwarts looks the same.  Hopefully they will stick with this for the rest of the films.

Did anyone notice if they altered the gravestone?  I have a feeling I saw a dodgy copy as the film was so dark you couldn't read the gravestone when I saw it.  Oh and I should have mentioned I think the cinema was only about 5% full when I saw it.

don't get me wrong I understand what you mean there was a big laugh when Ron said it in the cinema

There were loads of things i would like to have seen in the film and hopefully we may see some of them in the special features (fingers crossed)

but as a film It worked better than all the rest

I thought this was weird too!!! He didn't even have a speaking role, but yet he has an auto?  ???

What about Filtch!!!!  He was HILARIOUS!!!!!

Now that was one bit I didn't mind them making up  :rofl:

One of my favourite 'lift straight from the book' bits was how Fred/George (can't remember which) asked Angelina out.  Brilliant  ;D

Slight spoiler below for people who haven't read HBP yet.

My favorite bit was Filch dancing with Mrs Norris.

All in all, my real favorite parts are going to come after I think about it and watch it a few more times. Neville was great.

Too bad we missed so much of the Quidditch Cup and the whole Veela thread. It lessens the impact Fleur should have on males, and the character came out looking too much like a typical teenager. Hermione was more ravishing than Fleur.

I think there wasn't enough evolution for Hermininny, her hair's already pretty straight in the beginning. Not much of a transformation from duck into swan. I think they overdid her reactions to Ron's attitude at the Ball a bit, it goes a bit against the shippers who thought they never would get together.

The Maze task seemed a bit rushed, but it works okay. A bit more setup for Harry & Cedric grabbing it together would have helped, just having somebody say "we both saved each other". The Imperius curse might have been emphasized a bit more as a setup for later. All in all, it seemed like some of the short references are going to be lost on people who haven't read the book multiple times, like the Map in movie 3.

Mad-Eye was great, though I would have liked to see the eye on a stalk looking behind him. Now I can stop picturing Brad Dourif as the obvious actor for the role. Nagini was nearly perfect too.

Readers will all have bits that they miss when they collapse the book into a script. I believe a few of the explanatory dialogue from the end can be used early in film 5, so we didn't have to have a big setup for Fudge and most other people not believing Dumbledore's account of events. Too bad we didn't get a chance to start seeing Percy in his S.O.B. guise; it might have helped set up later films unless they write out that entire thread.

Now I want to know, is Filch going to have to climb up on the roof to repair the dragon damage?

I finally caught the film last night and came away impressed, but with many questions.  I think I am going to have to watch this a few more times before a make a final verdict.  But here goes for my initial opinions-

After watching the first twenty minutes or so, I was a little disgusted.  So much had been changed that didn't need to be different (ie the terrible seats at the world cup, harry waking up alone in the middle of the empty tents, Crouch next to Voldemort).  Also, I thought they should have shown a few more minutes of the world cup match itself.  It seemed like a terribly rushed and forced cut between the stadium and then arthur weasleys face back in the tent after the match. 

However, after walking out of the theatre, I changed my thoughts on the opening few min.  Though different, I thought Newell did a good job setting up the storyline while getting everyone to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. 

While decent at some points, the dialogue didn't really seem to be too convincing.  I thought most of the ideas were carried out in expression or actions (ie, rather than have Ron say he is mad at Harry, just show a few shots of him glaring).  But it worked very well all in all.

The one major complaint I do have however is in the characterization of Dumbledore.  I love Michael Gambon and think he is a great actor, but this rendition of DD was just WAY off base.  Did anyone else notice that their were several occasions when DD put his hands in front of his face and backed away a bit (when durmstrung blew fire near him and when the goblet expelled Harry's name).  Why would DD have any reason to cower?  Secondly, he seemed much too defeatist in the scene with Harry in his office.  Why did he sit down and complain?  I always read DD as a confident character that was nearly always calm and logical.  I really think they dropped the ball on this part of the movie.

However, I can't imagine any other way to portray so much of the story in so little time.  So I walked out impressed in the long run.  While everything was a bit rushed, the story did have a pretty consistent pace and they got nearly all the major stuff in (I was relieved that they eliminated the S.P.E.W. sideplot).  3 out of 4 stars

p.s.
another thought I had on the movie was the overall acting

Daniel Radcliffe = much improved

Rupert Grint = getting better

Emma Watson = overall didnt have too many lines.  Why did every line have to be accompanied by either excessive eyebrow movement or darting eyes?  Did anyone else take note of this?  I love emma (see my username), and thought she did a good job with her role, but was distracted with the above mentioned actions she didn't do in the other films.

I loved the moive.
I cannot wait for the next book and movie to come!  ;D

I loved the part with Moaning Myrtyle (sp?) in the bath tub!
"All the bubbles went away when Cedric was in ere last!"

My only complaint is that they should of ised more magic.
Other than that, I thought everything else was great!

I thought this was the best movie so far.


I think you might be right...not sure though.

The things I would have liked to have seen:

-Pig (Rons owl).  This is two movies we did not see him yet.
-Hermininny - I would have loved to see Krum say that
-The whole Veela bit....should have been explained
-Needed more of the World cup
-And Rita Skeeter as the beetle..... She had some stories, but there was nothing in the book about her being an animagus....
-and I know the Dursleys were not in this one at all, but I missed the letter the Weasleys send them covered in stamps, and the twins giving Dudley the tounge tied toffee or whatever it was.  Small things like that I would like to see.

Moaning Myrtle was hilarious, but in the book, doesn't she have a crush on Harry?  I don't remember her calling Cedric "the cute one" in the book.

I love the Weasley twins!!!  I think they are still my favorites.  And I think Ginny is still a red head, just her hair is not a bright red, more of a brownish red.....she sure did grow up though, huh?

And Filch was great too!  He had me laughing so hard.  I think he may be losing his mind. :rofl:  Neville was great too.  We should be seeing a lot more of him in the next movie.

I like the actors they choose for Cedric, Krum and Fleur, but I would have liked to see Krum and Fleur have more lines.

As for the curse word, I was expecting to hear that "F" word, but when we left, we could not figure out what was so wrong with what he said.  I guess i didn't realize how strong that word could be in other countries :-\

Oh, and I was able to catch that trophy that will be the case incentive too.

Oh!  And I know Crouch was not in the beginning of the book, but to be honest, I think it worked for the movie.  Especially for those who did not read the book. And I loved the snake too.  Although, I like snakes......

I had completely forgotten about Pig.  And do you know what?  We had a program on two weeks ago about the animals used in GOF and Pigwidgeon was there!  He is a beautiful tiny owl just as you would imagine.  He was sitting on Rons hand and they looked really cute together.  Maybe he will be in the extras - wonder why he was cut from the film?

I forgot about him too until I was looking through a magazine that had the same shot...Ron holding him. Adorable.  I thought for sure when Sirius's letter said not to usee Hedwig, that we would see Pig.  Or, I thought maybe Sirius would have sent the letter with him, but nope.

Oh, and I went to pick up my tickets at 6:30 for the 10:30 show.  All shows but the 10:30 and 11 were sold out.  When we got back for the movie, all shows were sold out. Glad I got my tickets early.

I love it so much, best one yet. I'm so ready for April, I want the DVD now :P

There is not a single word that can discribe this movie it is so good. I got lost in it. When the credits went rolling it toke me a moment to realize where I was :rofl:

Now that I have read the card set, I see a few text bits for events I don't remember seeing in the movie. There's probably a lot of good stuff on the cutting room floor.

well i loved the movie,even though DD wasn't what i would have expected. i must say i think Mad-eye was brillliant and go Brendan as i didn't think he was going to work but i was indeed very wrong. Miranda was brilliant people didn't even think it was her(such a great actress and not in the least bit like Queenie...lol)

the trio get ever better although Emma's eyebrows were a little mobile for my like. she looked amazing though in the ball scenes so go her.

i liked Voldemort although he wasn't as evil as i would have liked and of course maggie and alan were amazing as always although they didn't have enough to say. dob

can't wait for the next film and hope to see more of everyone.

i'd give it 4/5 pirates
(:D# (:D# (:D# (:D#

I suppose there isn't much I can say that hasn't been said but I am not sure how I feel about the movie.  I think that it looked great.  But I felt the beginning of the movie just flew by.  If I hadn't read the book, I would have been rather lost and befuddled.

Call me old fashioned but it bugged me that all the guys had such long hair and that hardly anyone wore their school robes. (like previoulsy said, I really like the C. Columbus movies).

I didn't like the whole Sirius bit.  He actually plays a large role in Harry's life during book 3 (part),4, and part of 5.  You miss out of 4 and you lose most of Sirius's character forever.  Also, I guess I sort of pictured the people (Sirius) in the fire like how you see the wizard in the Wizard of Oz.  Their face kind of floating amongst green smoke????

I think the castle looked much better this time.  I didn't like the castle pics last time.

I also can't believe the showed almost nothing from the World Cup.  Where was winkie?  Dobey?  Why wasn't Fleur a veela?

Well, for what they did with the movie, I liked it.  Too bad so much hit the shop floor.

 

We didn't see much of the school robes because we didn't see any actual classroom scenes in this movie.......


I completely agree.  In one of the later books (I won't mention names in case people have not read it).  Someone sticks their hand n the fire trying to "feel" someones head in there.  Thing is, how are you to do that if the head is coming out as part of the flames???



Again, I agree.  I am hoping for many deleted scenes of this on the DVD.  I know there will be no house elves at all, but the World Cup could have been extended a bit.

I was thinking the exact same thing about the hand grabbing through the fire.  I had also thought of this as looking much like the head from the wizard of oz.  I can understand that they might have wanted to make this look more magical, but it was much much different than I think any of us had anticipated. 
How do they intend to develop the relationship between Harry and Sirius?  I mean, I would have expected that they would have made more of an effort to show how much Harry needs and relies on Sirius in this film.  I think that they will certainly need to make those sentiments much more clear in the next film. 

sorry, messed up a bit on the quote there. 

No problem ;)

You know, I can't remember if they were in their robes during the lecture, but are they ever?  Usually, they are in their school clothes, like a sweater and skirt or pants.

On the whole, I really liked the film, but was disappointed from the first second.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE THEME? ??? ?  James Bond has it. Back to the Future had it. You don't even have to look up from the telly to know when a Tom & Jerry cartoon is on. Big mistake IMO.

I hope the collective directors can get together to 'do' a Peter Jackson and give us definitive versions of the films.

Someone brought this to my attention and I wondered what you guys thought.  Neville, at the 2nd task says, "I killed Harry Potter."  Well, we all know what he ment but someone said to me that it may be a foreshadowing comment.  Thoughts?


Also, too bad we didn't get to see SPEW in the making.  Always thought that it sounded funny in the books.

What a theory :o  It could be true.

I wondered that too about Neville. It doesn't have to be foreshadowing, but kind of neat if it is.

Saw it a second time with my brother, who hasn't read the books. His comment was that it seemed a bit slow. Therefore, if it seems a bit too fast-moving for people who read the books and slow for those who haven't, it might have achieved a good compromise. Every book farther into the sequence, there will be more and more "critical" stuff left out.

I watched carefully for the progression of Weasley hair colours, and have concluded that the colour balancing in the movie's edits are to blame. Ron, as one of the big three, and Dad always get red, but the rest of the family depends on how they average out the tints for the whole scene. In background shots, Ginny's hair seems to vary all the way from deep red to bright red to brown, and George & Fred range from solid light red to light blond. Since we know from the documentaries that they dyed their hair and weren't wearing wigs, I'd bet the colours were there before the scenes were adjusted in post-production.

My sister who does not read the books said the same thing, that it seemed slow :-\

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. 

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!

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!

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.

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! >:()

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.

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.

Oh FTY thats not good that you didnt like it  :o 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...

 ;D Only 12 more hours till I see it

It's definately action packed!  8)  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.  :-\

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 :rofl: 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 :P LOL ;D 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 :rofl: 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 :o=

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

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 :D ) So films only fans have the motion he might pop back in.

Overall 3 1/2 out of 4

   

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

It's funny how we go to enjoy the film, but also to figure out the swatches in our cards. :D  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 :rofl:

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.  ;D

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.

 :D

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...

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.  (:D#  |:#

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


*Don't ask me how I really feel*  :rofl:

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

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"   :rofl: 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...

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.     

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

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 :(

Rita's ability to change was very important to the continuity with the book. She was the thread that tied all of the events together.
Rita was the situp for OotP, too. Remember that in OotP she writes a story for Luna's dad's paper, The Quibbler, where she tells Harry's real story.
Also, remember in the movie that when Hagrid borached the subject of her parentage  to Madam Maxim she went berserk.

I can just see the big wigs at Warner Bros.

*Hey, the HP movie public doesn't like the way we do it? Well, let them eat cake.*
Apoligies to Marie Antoinette.
PS. I know Marie Antoinette never said that. It was actually said 100 years before her by Marie-Therese, the wife of Louis XIV. (And this is even in doubt.)

Why is ther never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over?

I FINALLY saw it today. And I loved it, I'm not mad keen on Quidditch so thats no loss to me. The only thing that really concerns me is that Barty Crouch Jnr was left with Snape, instead of having his soul sucked out. AS we have yet to decide which side Snape butters his bread wouldn't it be a bit dodgey him being left with crouch 'whoops he got away' but unless they are rewriting the whole series this didn't happen but in the film it could have.

That is probably most of are problems. We loved the book but that book couldnt be the 5 hour long movie we wanted :rofl: My mom has never read a single books but she understands it fine and didnt get disappointed at what should have been there