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Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire..Reviews (1 Viewer)

Tim Glover

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Saw this earlier tonight. Think I agree with Chuck. There are certainly some wonderful moments...but also some that fall a bit flat. Strangely, I found myself caring less for the characters this time around. :frowning: To be fair, I was REALLY tired so I will see this again. First reaction was it's not nearly as good as Azkaban.

Great sometimes, flat other times. Didn't connect for me alot of the time. Need a second viewing.

For now...

7/10
 

Mikel_Cooperman

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I enjoyed it but it didnt flow very well for me and there were some draggy parts. They seemed to have added a lot of new characters and neglected the old ones. My party was disappointed as was I.

I know what people are saying about the theatre experience. There was some guy text messaging in the row in front of us and someone leaned over and asked him to stop. He did not.
There was also a lady standing in the isle half the movie. Where do these people come from?
 

Adam_S

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I saw it at Grauman's Chinese (DLP) and it did not come off as drab even from more than 3/4 of the way back.

I really hope they give order of the Phoenix a 160 or 170 page script. that's a book that can't be as focused on a throughline as Goblet of Fire is. the tournement gave a very nice structure to hang everything on and pare away from. OoTP on the other hand HAS to get to many many different places, pull in much information and bits and pieces from those places, have several new and important developments take place (dreams and occlumency) all before Harry takes off for what will undoubtedly be a forty minute set piece. The book is truly all over the place and will not condense or lose material easily, and if they're keeping a subplot like Grawp, I just hope they don't lose more essential but less effects focused story and character points for some idiotic effort at a 140min cieling. They really need to bite the bullet and let a three hour script through.

Half Blood Prince should be a much easier adaptation with a more straitforward plot to work with.

Why they haven't taken an LOTR EE approach yet is beyond me, it'd add an entirely additional layer to DVD revenue and they could also do a two week rerelease of the EE to theatres the week or two before the latest movie is released. Fans would certainly be much more satisfied if Azakaban had had the important information and scenes left out. Fans would be ecstatic to get more character and wizard development in GOF, and it would be ideal for OotP, since the movie will be so plot heavy slinging Harry from location to location to location to location to location (and so on) there will probably hardly be a chance for any character moments.

Adam
 

Ricardo C

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Your opinion is noted. Mine is that you shouldn't judge a body of work by the fourth part of its episodic adaptation to another medium. It's the equivalent of writing a CD review after listening to those 30-second compressed samples on Amazon.
 

Chuck Mayer

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Excellent analogy. Whether or not it works for you, attempting to judge the "hype" for the Harry Potter based on your opinion of the films is pretty specious. Harry Potter was huge before the first film, and will live long after the 7th.

Take care,
Chuck
 

Shawn_KE

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Saw it last night and while it was good, I found it boring. About the same as I felt about the last one. I don't see how these movies could hold a childs attention. Chamber of Secrets is the only one that I really enjoyed.

If the movies are anything like the books, I fail to see what keeps kids attention reading them.
 

Vickie_M

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But I was in that very position for real, and had the opposite reaction. I thought, that (the whole movie) must be what it's like to read Rowling, exciting and fascinating but with tons more details. I picked up and opened the first book the day Half-Blood Prince came out, and raced through the 6 books, breathless at wanting to read what happened next. A week and a half later, I read the last page of HBP, thoroughly satisfied. My 2nd readings have been much slower, the better to appreciate Rowling's wonderful writing, interesting characters and colorful characters names. The movies can't possibly convey how rich that world is, but they're a good introduction, I think. I'll always have a special place in my heart for GoF because it's what got me to read the books, finally.


Order of the Phoenix will be the first movie where I'll have read the book beforehand, and I do hope I can keep the book and movie separated and not assume I know best what a non-reader would need to enjoy it.
 

Tino

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And this opinion is based on a first viewing of a middle chapter of a seven film series with no previous knowledge of the books or films.

Sounds informed to me.:D
 

todd s

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Kinda of topic. Went to the Big Apple Con in NYC today. Jamie Waylett(Crabbe), Matthew Lewis (Neville) and Devan Murray(Finnigan) were there. They were very nice. Devan spent the time talking to my 10year old daughter about how they did the film. She was asking if Hogwarts was filmed in once castle...the answer is a bunch. He did say they begin shooting Order of the Phoenix in Feb.
 

Jason_Els

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Thanks for the reply Vickie!

I'm a little muddled here. Had you read Goblet of Fire before or after you saw the movie? The reason I ask is because I believe that Sorceror/Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets are both so true to the books that there's hardly any need to read them. I saw Stone before reading the book and kept checking everything against each other and only very minor stuff was missing from either; things that do not appear (as of yet) to figure into the overarcing story line.

I will say that I do think the things I mentioned matter later on because Winky, Madame Maxine, and Fleur return in later books and their actions influence the outcome of events. It is also very[/b] important to know that the Dark Mark tattooed on the flesh of Death Eaters burns when Voldemort summons them. All in all it seems the film makers are gambling on what will be important down the road and what will not. Perhaps Rowling has advised what can and what can't be dropped safely? I don't know.
 

Holadem

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This is the very definition of nitpicking. Absolutely none of those elements was necessaery to the story (you want to see Charlie? Why?!). As for the Dark Mark, anyone with more than 2 neurones understood that it was the bad guy's symbol. That no dialogue was need to convey this is a sign of good filmmaking.

As for the complaints about Cedric's character development, have you read the same book I did? Cedric did not have any "character developement" in the book! He was no less present in the movie than the book.

This is the first Harry Potter movie I fell compelled to watch again, one I will certainly acquire as soon as it's released. I will end up buying the 1st 3 for completion's sake, only.

Where they completely, absolutely nailed the movie was the Yule Ball, and everything leading up to it. The interplay between the characters was just wonderful. Several laugh out loud moments. Surprisingly enough, it's my favorite part of the movie.

Similarly, I while the Hungarian Horntail chapter/action set piece was absolutely fantastic, the lead up to it was my favorite part in the book. It would have been nice to have a similar build-up of emotions ranging from anguish to absolute terror in the movie. I understand that time is an issue, but one place where they could have created some tension was when Harry was waiting in the tent for his turn. Some indication that Harry spent several minutes in the tent listening to the other contestant's "battle" the dragon, pretty much ready to crap his pants would have been cool.

The Hungarian Horntail itself was everything I wanted and then some more.

But the biggest issue I have with the movie is the last act, and the tone of the ending. The significance of what occured in that graveyard just didn't come through, and that is the single most important part of the book. This is an obscure reference, but I equate the last few chapters of the book to the Season 2 finale of Babylon 5, The Fall of Night. The closing of Goblet of fire should have felt like night had indeed fallen, like the begining of a new dark age, so to speak. They attempted to accomplish this with a few lines of dialogue but it just didn't work.

More, the stuff with the ministry would have taken 2 minutes of dialogue, the Minisiter of Magic and Dumbledore screaming at each other.

This is stuff I feel is infinitely more important than Charlie or Winky or god knows what other details.

I DO NOT like this Dumbledore. It's not the actor, it's the character. Why do they feel the need to fuck up with the powerful and intimidating, yet calm and gentle Wizard?

In the end, an excellent time :star::star::star:1/2 / 4.

--
H
 

todd s

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I have not read the books. But, after Harry gets back. I was puzzled by why Harry didn't immediately say Lucius Malfoy was part of it. A friend of mine who I saw the movie with. Told me of the whole arguement part of the book with Fudge & Dumbledore. I feel no reason this couldn't have been put into the movie..Another 10 minutes wouldn't have killed the movie.
 

Patrick Sun

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I think these movies are primarily made for the readers of the books, and if non-readers become readers, that's a bonus, but that isn't the target audience, and, thus, it allows the filmmakers to chop out a whole lot of source material to provide as little as needed to cover the basic plotpoints of HP 4 due to running time consideration to carry the casual film viewer from HP 4 to HP 5. Readers already carry with them all the details from the books, and are less critical of glaring omissions that would affect the non-readers' enjoyment of the films. The readers simply fill in all the gaps, and get to enjoy watching the characters and the settings come alive in front of their own eyes.

I know there's no way to adapt a 600+ page book into a 150 minute long film and do it faithfully. But I was hoping for a film that was adapted from the source material and made into a cohesive story with sufficient new character intros. Owen Gleiberman (from Entertainment Weekly) remarked in his review that this film felt like the director had many of these pieces from the book, and he simply slammed them together like LEGOs to produce a film from the parts, but for him, and for me, the sum of the parts don't quite fit seamlessly into a smooth flowing film, but has an overall clunky feel from its beginning to the end.

But I totally get the pop cultural pass this film will get in terms of cinematic quality. The criticisms will be different from the have's and the have-not's (readers vs. non-readers).
 

Holadem

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You know, they teaser for this movie is one of the best I have ever seen. The montage at the begining makes me (embarassingly enough) a bit misty, especially now that I have read all but the 2nd half of the latest book.

Does anyone think Ron is just a bit too cool in this movie?

--
H
 

Patrick Sun

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Speaking of montages, in light of Team America's view on montages, I think HP 4 needed some Harry Potter training montages in terms of his training because the viewer never gets a sense of Harry Potter preparing/learning/going the extra mile, but seems to always be expected to pull off a miracle to save the day. I need that Rocky-training montage. (Okay, some of that is tongue-in-cheek).

I thought Ron was a whiney lil' beyotch in this film, up until he and Harry sort of make up after first task is completed. I'm like, "Ron, get over yourself, dude."
 

Holadem

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Agreed. As you can imagine, in the book, there is quite a lead up to each of the tasks. Until Moody made Harry realize the day before that he could summon his broom and play his strenght of being an excellent flyer against the Horntail, Harry and Hermione (who spent a lot of time in the library fruitlessly researching spells) hadn't a clue what to do and their "what am I gonna do against a fucking dragon?" desperation provided much delightful tension before that 1st task.

The day of Task 1 was really a big day, and that should have been emphasized more.

Similarly (to a somewhat lesser extent) with breathing under water for task 2.

The third task, being failry standard, didn't require much prep other than being in top form skills wise.

Something else that would have made me roll my eyes is how little Potter was able to counter a spell from someone who is probably the single most powerful Wizard on the planet. The book explains it - if you remember from the 1st movie, Harry's wand is made of the same stuff as Voldemort's and no other wands are (another sign of a link between these two). Unfortunately the movie doesn't touch the subject.

Ah well...

--
H
 

Adam_S

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I too love a good montage scene. There's the summoning charm build up and all the massive training he did for the third task that set him up to be ready for DA in OotP. Either would be nice. Neither is a bit of a let down.

Steve Kloves interview


Glad to hear that five and six are going to be shot close to one another. If Order of the Phoenix comes out November 2007, we'll get the Half Blood Prince movie November 2008, and if OotP comes out June 2007, we'll get Half Blood Prince November 2007 or (maybe) 8. And if we get the seventh book in 2007 or 8 they'll finish the series with the release of movie 7 in 2009 or 2010, which would put the main actors around 18-20 when it actually shoots. Not too bad to only have a three year discrepancy for a series of seven movies.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that half blood prince starts shooting between October 06 and January 07.

The only thing I'm worried about is WB balking at back end deals for the three leads in the final films. I really hope they keep everyone around for all seven films.
 

Jason_Els

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Ron's testy because he's always playing second fiddle to Harry, Harry has more money than he does, Harry's the youngest seeker in a century, and (through out the book) he's jealous of the attention, such as it is, Harry receives from Cho because Ron doesn't seem to be getting any female attention. He's the sidekick of the Chosen One. Can't be an easy place for anyone. This situation isn't well-described in the movie and, in the book, Ron has more time to fester over his belief that Harry really did enter his name and Harry lets Ron go on believing it because Harry has too much self-righteous indignation over what he views as Ron's betrayal.

Once again, part of the characterizations the movie skips over without anything but the slightest hint in the candy trolley scene.

Go back to Chamber of Secrets. You'll see that, to the other students, Harry plainly appeared to be controlling the snake and urging it to bite Cedric. This is important because down the road many students will come to question how Cedric died, believe that Harry had it in for Cedric because he was Harry's only real rival in popularity, his only rival for Cho, his rival in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and they will use the snake incident at the duel as evidence that Harry wanted Cedric out of the way. This is all part of Harry's growing disaffection and is quite important in the following books. All the characters I mention come into play later on in the series. Yes they have been bit players so far but their roles are expanded and losing that background hurts the future films.
 

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