Harry Potter GOF reviews - spoilers possible

[Granite]

Well post away! If you think the movie deserves a x.5 star rating, then indicate in your review

[Granite]

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Honestly, I was disappointed in this movie. The trailers promised a lot of action and excitement, and there was...but something was missing.

First let me tell the best parts of the movie

--The dragon chase - very exciting, dragon reminded me of "Dragonheart"
--Mad Eye Moody (the fake one) - Brenden Gleason is a terrific actor!
--The escape from Voldemort and the death of Sedwig (sp?)

The movie handled (initially) the death of sedwig really well. I almost welled up in tears when Harry's parents appeared and when Harry was crying over Sedwig's body. That moment more than made up for the flaws in the movie.

Initially I noticed many threads that were introduced but never went anywhere. The best example is the Quidditch world cup. It begins (with a bang!), and then suddenly the weaselys and friends are back in their tent. I hope it shows it in a deleted scene - it was jaw droppingly beautiful. The never went anywhere with Cho Chueng (the very pretty girl Harry tried to
ask to the ball). They never went anywhere with Lucius Malfoy. I could go on...

Let's talk about voldermort. Just like the reavers were in Serenity, Voldemort was a lot more scary until he was actually seen in person. And what was with the prancing?!?

The end of the movie was terrible. I;ve heard the book ends very dark. It looks like to make it more appealing to kids, the changed it. One of the characters actually says "It's never a dull year at Hogworts". It felt a lot like they were actually saying "Tune in next week for the next episode of Harry Potter".

It sounds like "The order of the Phoenix" has a chance to go darker than Azkaban (the movie - the darkest one in my opinion) ever did. Here's hoping!

[j7wild]

i haven't seen the movie but i recognize one of the actresses in there from another french movie where she was a bit underdressed...

the one who plays Fleur Delacour...

[Hollywood_News]

I would have to say that i would give it a 2-3

[j7wild]

I took my 7 and 4 year old nephew and niece to see it; sorry but I didn't understand who was who or what was what, I couldn't wait for it to end and I even took a nice 30 min nap during the movie.

[carl]

Over the years the Harry Potter films have had something of an uneven following with the over 15's crowd. Fans of the books generally love them for the way they bring the magic of the books to the silver screen, wheras none fans generally remain so due to the fact that no changes are made in order to explain the plot points that need to be excised. Still, speaking as a fan of the books, I always feel a little concern that the films will not be able to fully recapture the magic of the ever expanding series. In this instance though I feel that I was justified in feeling this concern. Afterall not only was The Goblet Of Fire the first book in the series to break the thousand page mark, but it's also my favorite entry into the series thanks to the dark, gothic atmosphere that it portrayed. Thankfully I'm here to tell you that you can rest in peace; that The Goblet Of Fire movie is just as well acted as the previous films, just as atmospheric as the book, and well, by far the best film in the series to date.

Director Mike Newell (Mona Lisa Smile) achieves this by really skimming the fat from the story. He removes all of the formulaic devices that worked in the books, but for me always drew too much attention from the narrative structure of the films. The Goblet Of Fire opens as the book did, with a dream involving a weakened Lord Voldemort murdering the grounds keeper of his childhood home, before a screaming Harry is woken by Hermione so that the trio can set off to the Quiditch World Cup. This only leads to further troubles as followers of the dark lord make a reappearance in order to attack the spectators while they sleep. Of course the specifics of this attack will not be revealed to a group of school children who will instead return for another term at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. This year though the school is to host something known as The Tri Wizard tournament, a dangerous contest in which any student over the age of 17 can risk life and limb in the name of their school. The idea being that any qualified student who wishes to partake can place their name in a flaming goblet that will then select one student from each of the 3 schools. Unfortunately this year four names are selected, one from each school, and one very under age Harry Potter. Due to the binding nature of this contract Harry has no choice but to partake in the dangerous game with no knowledge as to how, or why, he was selected.

Now I've already stated that a lot of the fat has been trimmed from the story, and so naturally fans are going to be nervous about the changes made. I wont lie to you, there are a lot. The most minor changes come in the form of characters showing up in unexpected scenes, which is used to explain characters whose introductions had otherwise been cut. This does happen a few times due to the scale of the original book. In fact almost every side plot has now been removed, and there's no more Dursley's, no more Quiditch, and certainly no more following these kids to every single class they would attend during the course of a year. To be honest as much as these factors worked in the books, in the films I always found that they distracted from the narrative structure, and without them the film feels more focused, less formulaic, and as a result a whole lot more entertaining.

Of course entertaining is exactly how this film should turn out too. The 3 rounds of the Tri Wizard Tournament are designed to push Harry further than he's ever been pushed before, and the way they come alive on screen is an amazing thing to behold. Each of the three rounds introduce you to a brand new creature, and mercifully the effects that bring them to life are seamless. These creatures have a genuine depth to them, perspiring, breathing, and reacting to the environment so well that you never once find yourself questioning their reality.

Though everyone knows that all the effects work in the world doesn't mean squat if the director doesn't implement them correctly. This is the part of the film that Martial really shines at with a choreography that perfectly captures the high speed thrills of the books, but never confuses the audience with a hyperactive camera. Believe me, the days when Columbus turned a Quiditch match into a Deathstar trench run are now long behind us.

What needs to be considered with every Harry Potter film is the cast though. Adult veterans are as perfect as ever, with just one exception. Michael Gambon still doesn't feel quite right as Dumbledore. It's not that he's bad, he actually gets the characters authority across perfectly, but sadly Dumbledore is supposed to be a warm, approachable character, and Gambon just doesn't portray that at all. Still the other newcomers more than make up for this. Roger Lloyd-Pack (Trigger in Only Fools And Horses) surprised me with his portrayal of nervous politician Barty Crouch. Then Miranda Richardson's turn as unpleasant reporter Reeter Skeeter seemed ooze the kind of manipulative charm you would want from a character you love to hate. Brendan Gleeson plays the new defense against the dark arts teacher Mad Eyed Moody, and is absolutely the highlight of the film. He's got the slightly goofy, slightly crazy, and more than a little distant demeanor perfected in ways that I never expected possible.

The kids themselves are still played by the same group of actors, and despite showing definite physical signs of ageing, are mostly what you'd expect. Daniel Radcliffe has grown comfortably into the roll of Harry Potter. Rupert Grint occasionally comes across as bored with the roll of Ron, but usually bounces right back during interactions with his friends. However the only one to truly grow is the young Emma Watson, who has somehow gone on from the cute little girl in the first film to an actress quite capable of portraying an exasperated teenager without becoming irritating. I was a little disappointed with Tom Felton though. His portrayal of Malfoy was once the best thing in the series, but as he's getting older you can tell that he's stopped caring for the role, and the result is that he has lost the arrogance you could once hear in his sneers.

At the end of the day you know what you're getting with a Harry Potter movie. Either an enjoyable fantasy adventure, or a childish work of fiction that you really wont like. Oh, you may even consider it to be the devil's work, but I aint goin there. All you really need to know from me is that with the sinister tone, superb action, and tighter plotting, The Goblet Of Fire is the best film in the series to date.
5/5

[thecapuchin]

I was a little disappointed in this one. They had to cut things, I understand that but the changes that they made this time around (making Beaubatons an all girls school and vice-versa with Durmstrang) don't make a lot of sense to me. They left out the Dursleys and most of the Weasleys for time constraints which is sad, but they also cut out the whole reason that Barty Crouch Jr. was able to escape (i.e. that damned house-elf, whats-her-face), Rita Skeeter became a non entity which is going to be a problem when Order of the Phoenix comes out because there will be no context for Harry telling his side of the story when Luna Lovegood offers her father's newspaper. There's no threat of exposure for Rita from Hermione anymore which is STUPID. That was one of the things that made the end of GOF a great thing. The story between Hagrid and Madame Maxime was totally changed, they were supposed to be slightly antagonistic when he mentioned the whole giant blood thing.

Geh, I liked the movie but have a hard time separating it from the book. I thought Prisoner of Azkaban was better while it still left things out that really pissed me off (the whole Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail bit).

Argh.

[thecapuchin]

I was a little disappointed in this one. They had to cut things, I understand that but the changes that they made this time around (making Beaubatons an all girls school and vice-versa with Durmstrang) don't make a lot of sense to me. They left out the Dursleys and most of the Weasleys for time constraints which is sad, but they also cut out the whole reason that Barty Crouch Jr. was able to escape (i.e. that damned house-elf, whats-her-face), Rita Skeeter became a non entity which is going to be a problem when Order of the Phoenix comes out because there will be no context for Harry telling his side of the story when Luna Lovegood offers her father's newspaper. There's no threat of exposure for Rita from Hermione anymore which is STUPID. That was one of the things that made the end of GOF a great thing. The story between Hagrid and Madame Maxime was totally changed, they were supposed to be slightly antagonistic when he mentioned the whole giant blood thing.

Geh, I liked the movie but have a hard time separating it from the book. I thought Prisoner of Azkaban was better while it still left things out that really pissed me off (the whole Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail bit).

Argh.

[thecapuchin]

Damned multi posts.

SORRY!!! So very very sorry, I'm a clicker sometimes, damn it.

Some friendly admin sort, could you delete all but one of these?

Thanks.

[clfred]

Well said carl. I thought it was the most entertaining movie of the series and one of the best films of the year.