Only if a student could somehow cast a Confundus Charm powerful enough to confuse the Goblet, which from what the fake Moody said, would be extremely difficult.
I can’t speak for what happened in the movie, but as I recall from the books the Weasley twins got about two steps into the age line before it activated.
Ginny never speaks in front of Harry. I think that the earlier movies sort of glossed over this, but she’s got a huge crush on him and can never work up the nerve to talk to him.
The prints in the IMAX theatres are a bit different. The ads and trailers aren’t usually made in that format so the ‘preshow’ is shorter.
I liked the movie a lot although I was checking my watch near the end.
I stopped reading the books after reading GoF. I thought it was a terrible book so I’m glad that deep cuts were made. The French Girls were not glamorus enough and of course, Hermione has always been way too pretty. The absoultly stunning reveal of her as a beauty at the ball was totally blown. They could have at least ‘frump-i-fied’ her for the first parts of this film.
I did like Hermione’s speech at the ball and I liked the fact they let Harry and Ron be thoughtlessly cruel to their dates. It’s the sort of thing that years later they will kick themselves and say “What were we thinking?” sort of deal.
Is Bulgaria north of England? I don’t think so. I did like the school uniforms for the French school. But I hated their, and the other schools, ‘entrance’ into the school.
Oh and it has always bothered me how JKR ripped off Star Trek for this one.
But otherwise, it was good.
I haven’t read the books, but I enjoyed this movie.
If no one told me Dumbeldore I had died, it probably would’ve taken me two more movies to notice they got a Dumbeldore II. Old man, long beard, robes - check.
I liked everything except the rock 'n roll scene in the dance. WTF? Was that in the book?
Ok-now I am confused (not all that difficult, really)–but Star Trek?
There wasn’t a Tribble in sight!
I also have come to the conclusion that this film was horribly edited.
And I have it on good authority (my 16 year old daughter) that the hair cuts for the boys at least are very in at present.
I like them a bit shaggy–Harry’s hair is supposed to be unruly–this is the first film where it truly is. And Fred and George look great with it, as does Neville. Rupert–it improves him.
How hard is it to frizz hair? Hermione’s is supposed to be frizzy all the time UNTIL the Yule Ball where she wears it up etc and looks totally different. Emma Watson must have no hair–the lame attempts to make it bushy and just that-lame.
I am surprised at how much this movie is on my mind. I didn’t feel this way about film 3. Would like it to come out on DVD so that I can watch it at my leisure.
Anyone else notice the boxes in the tent for the first task? One of them has a red cross-like first aid and the other says Hogwarts something something. I wonder what those boxes are.
[QUOTE=Zebra]
Is Bulgaria north of England? I don’t think so. I did like the school uniforms for the French school. But I hated their, and the other schools, ‘entrance’ into the school.[\QUOTE]
There is no evidence that Durmstrang is in Bulgaria. It’s probably somewhere in Northern Europe somewhere, perhaps Scandinavia or northern Russia. In fact, we aren’t sure where it is, just that it’s probably in Eastern Europe. Krum, is Bulgarian, though. Karkaroff doesn’t sound too Bulgarian to me ;).
Durmstrang is a very interesting mystery. It seems to specialize in the Dark Arts, and Karkaroff is a reformed Death Eater, but Dumbledore trusts him as he does Snape. It is somewhere in East Europe, but we have no idea where it lays. On the other hand, Beaubatons is obviously in France, and frankly, led by uninteresting personalities (the Headmistress and Fleur aren’t the most interesting of people).
Doesn’t Hermione even say that noone really knows where Durmstrang is, and the school prefers it that way?
Yes, The Weird Sisters are a very popular wizarding rock group. JKR has even written about them (their names and ages, etc.) for the Famous Wizards cards, I believe. I’m sure there can’t be a whole lot of wizard rock music out there, but wizards seem to enjoy music similar to Muggle music but with magical themes. Mrs. Weasley, for example, likes an singer named Celestina Warbeck, who appears to sing old jazz standards and torch songs.
Well Dumbledore said “Our Friends from the North” and Krum plays on the Bulgarian national team.
Everyone at Hogwarts is British. Some are from former British Colonies, but with they way they talked they were all raised in the UK, probably second or third generation. The Indian girls spoke with English accents as did Cho.
I sincerely hope they come out with a better cut of this movie. Frankly, they really need to go back and reshoot scenes wholesale, but a re-edit is better than nothing. If nothing else, this movie is amazingly choppy. It feels like we’re watching a sequence of randomly-selected scenes, not a movie. In fact, quite a few things just show up out fo the blue and dissappear agian, never to matter.
Why did they have Rita Skeeter? She added nothing to this movie and was only present in one scene. In a similar vein, much wqas gping to be cut, and that’s understandable, but the movie has to have enough structure left to stand on its own. And this one simply doesn’t. It’s not a movie; it’s a visual guide to the book. And that simply can’t stand.
I have no problem with Gambom, but I’m shocked that no one mentioned Moody very much. This movie does not have Mad-Eye Moody in it! That may not be the fault of the actor, Brenden Gleeson, but it fails regardless. He’s too ruddy and fat. This is not a grizzled veteran of anything except big dinners. The scars look fake. The eye is not intimidating; it’s silly.
All in all, Moody was the biggest dissapointment. He had way to much fun. He was just a random teacher, and that’s not Moody. He two one decent scenes (in the classroom and with Malfoy). That was it, and those were uneven; Moody is, at best, grimly amusewd, not giggling. The “ceiling thing” was ridiculous. He had to give off an aura of controlled menace, like he’d seen things no one should and lived to tell the tale. He had to show he was proud and dangerous, but ultimately a hero.
Without that, no one cares that it was really Barty Crouch. In fact, accepting that everyone knows that, it’s way too obvious. Without that implicit mirroring of the real Moody, the character is wholly ineffective. They didn’t even bother putting in his trademarks, or used them once with no explantion.
I also though this movie was a bit short. Long movies aren’t my fav, but they aren’t too uncommon now, and this is one series where they’d be fitting.
One last thing: I noticed that several characters had a big flinching going on. Dubledore with the Goblet. Gryffindors after opening the egg. Neither case warranted the flinching. Even the egg shrieking was pretty weak. It was more mildly annoying than peircing.
Wasted characters list: Crouch Jr. as Moody, Cedric, Fleur, Krum (mostly), Barty Crouch Sn, Siruis, Karkaroff…
Oh yeah, what was the point of showing Karkaroff slowly and suspiciously going into the room with the Goblet of Fire, anyway? The entire scene makes no sense, and was put there solely to throw the audience off the scent, not that the rest fo the movie wasn’t pretty blatant about it.
The Imperius curse was not handled properly. In the movie, it looked a lot like Moody was just making it fly around. It’s supposed to allow total mental control, like what he later did to Krum. That asn’t clear to the audience, and I think that’s unforgivable. (Ba-dum-kssh!)
They should do extended versions of these like PJ did with LotR. I bet they’d sell well.
On seeing it again, I think that’s supposed to be Crouch Jr. Polyjuiced into Karkaroff going in to monkey with the Goblet. Definitely confusing, though.
Two, actually. She was present when Barty Crouch, Jr. got nabbed.
Speaking as somebody who hasn’t read the book, I disagree with this. Moody was no more over-the-top than any of the other freakshow characters in this world.
Again, I didn’t see this coming until the end, and foreknowledge of the plot has spoiled the ending of the movie for you.
Perhaps they didn’t have the sound turned up to eleven as they did at the theater I saw it in…
Yes, this was a longer book, and harder to fit into one movie. To which the proper response should have been to make it two movies. Instead, they made random and abrupt cuts all over the place, and made it that much harder for later movies to fit in as much as they needed to. At the Cup, when they jumped past the game itself, I thought at first that that was them sitting in the stands watching the game. OK, so you can’t show all of it, but at least have some sort of transition. Rita Skeeter is pointless, if we don’t learn how she’s getting her scoops, or how Hermione gets back at her. And her reaction to seeing Hermione hugging Harry is to write a story about her dumping him (this is before the Ball)… Way out of sequence.
But I can, to some extent, forgive cuts made for time (even though they were clumsily done). Some things, though, just seemed to completely miss the point. For instance, the attack at the World Cup was all wrong. The Death Eaters don’t just cause random mayhem. In the book, they were attacking Muggles, a key point. So, also, was the scene in Snape’s class: Snape would never settle for just smacking students’ faces into the desk. If there were any frivolity in his class, he would stop it. Five points from Griffindor at the first snigger, ten for the next and a detention. And we didn’t see the Imperius curse (whether in the classroom or later), we just saw some silly little levitation trick (which admittedly has some significance later in the series).
There were some good points in the movie, as well, of course. Most of the comic relief scenes were well-done. And I liked Hermione’s changed reaction in the DaDA class: “Can you tell us what the third curse is, Miss Granger?” “No”. In general, I thought Emma Watson’s acing was superb, in this movie, easily the best of the three (and it’s not really fair to compare her to an experienced adult actor). The entrances of the Durmstang and Beauxbatons students were appropriate also, I thought (yes, of course they’re showing off), except that I don’t think there was really room for them. Had we but world enough, and time, and all that.
Oh, and I also was curious as to whether Fleur’s swimsuit would become less transparent, but it appears as if that scene was slightly airbrushed (or the digital equivalent) to hide it before the movie release.
Where did they put Ralph Fiennes’ nose? Is it going to go up on eBay?
One small touch we would have liked–having Sirius present at the end. It wouldn’t have needed much–just a cameo of him as a dog. Perhaps in the dorm room when Dumbledore is talking to Harry.
Fred and George stole the show for me.
I wanted this to be awesome and it just wasn’t. They were going to have to cut out all kinds of things to pull it off. Frankly, I would have preferred they cut the Yule Ball and only mention it in passing.
Instead they cut Molly and the Dursley’s and S.P.E.W. and any sign of Dobby or Winkie, and Bill and Charlie (who does get mentioned). They tossed out “Weatherby” and Crouch being Imperious Cursed. There was very little of Viktor and none of the slaughtering of 'Monie’s name or him taking Harry aside to check with him about her and precious little of the results of Rita’s slanderous pen and nothing of beetles under glass. There was no disbelief from Fudge, no beginning of the forming of the major rift between Dumbledore and Fudge, no dementer for Barty Jr., no surprise when Jr’s identity is revealed, no Dumbledore regretfully asking Snape to go back to his night job and I don’t recall one shouted “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”. No hours of studying to perfect the Accio charm. The trial in the pensieve was only Igor’s so we still don’t know anything about Neville’s parents, though it was clear in DADA that seeing the bug Crucio’d upset Neville but non readers don’t know why, nor are they sure what’s up with Krum in the maze. Nothing about the joke shop or Harry giving the twins his winnings-or even mention of the monetary reward for winning the Cup. The ending was on a higher note than it should have been and the overall feeling was choppy, rather like a series of film clips with bits left out between them.
I could live with cutting the whole house elf thing, and would have preferred no World Cup game as opposed to what they did with what was left in. But Molly gives Harry his first real hug EVER and it should have been left in, the whole hospital wing scene should have stayed. It was important for later. All of it.
Floo calls were not like I envisioned at all. There’s a scene in The Shadow where the laughing face of Shiwan Khan comes out of Lamont Cranston’s fireplace. THAT’s what I was imagining a floo call looked like, only smaller. Not that there’s any blame for that at all but they way they did it seems to imply that there can’t be a fire burning since the face is in the embers and I could swear I had read that “a face appeared in the fire”.
And what the hell was with the scenery chewing by Gambon? And after all Dumbledore’s dramatics earlier in the film he shows precious little concern for Harry in the end. Of course, I still think Dumbledore is a manipulative old coot, but, hey.
What I did like was the resurrection scene, the whole graveyard scene really. While the Death Eaters could have lost the pointy hoods (though I sorta see where they’re coming from with that), and a half mask was not what I imagined, the over all effect was still creepy as hell. The Dark Mark was eerie in all it’s forms shown, what with the snake writhing about. Nagini was smaller than I expected but I suppose she could only get so big before it became ridiculous. Voldermort rising from the caldron that dissolved into shadows and being cloaked in said shadows was very well done. I was afraid the Priori Incantatum was going to look cheesy but it turned out very well. I always felt it lasted longer when reading it but in ‘reality’ it really couldn’t have. Harry couldn’t have stayed standing much longer. Overall, from the time they landed until Harry left with cup and body, that is my favortie scene of the movie.
The first and especially the second tasks, though Neville helped Harry instead of Dobby and I thought we could have done without the chase scene with the dragon (excuse me, there’s a bloody great DRAGON loose on the school grounds! Where’s the panic?), but over all they were brillant (“I killed Harry Potter!” Heh). Myrtle was hilarous imitating the mermaid and coughing from the soap bubbles, as were the twins in everything they did. While they changed the ferret scene, it was still funny. Harry returning to the pitch with Cedric’s body was touching. There was nothing but silence and Harry’s grief and the heartbroken cries of Mr Diggory under the camera panning across the faces of the students. The actor playing Cedric’s father was excellent and I was glad to see more Neville and especially liked how he danced all night with Ginny long after the ‘cool kids’ were in bed.
It was nice to see how many of the young stars have grown and improved over the span of four movies. For the adults, they were all great-with the exception on the aforementioned scenery chewing. I think Alan Rickman has way too much fun with Snape.
In the end, while I enjoyed bits of it, I was glad we had opted for the half price showing instead of paying full price. Especially since I had to spend half an hour in the parking lot with my non-bookreading friends explaining and answering questions.
I love Snape, too–he is so deliciously evil.
Favorite scene with Snape in the new movie is in that odd little storage closet with Harry. Snape leans in so close to HP and says, “Don’t. Lie. To. Me.”
Wonderful.
Arden --I have to agree–so many small, but crucial things were missing. Not many of them required huge scenes or complicated machinations–why not have Harry mention the winnings or the twins say something about thanks, Harry?
The Longbottoms were mentioned, but if you weren’t paying attention, it was easily missed.
And Mrs. Weasley not in the movie! Gah.
I also missed the Dursley’s–wonder if they’ll cut out the whole Dementor bit with Duddles next film.
I do hope the producers et al realize that the Dursley’s are very important to the plot as a whole.
And I know who Moody reminded me of! Jon Belushi in Animal House! I got the crusty old vet bit, but felt no menace, no unplumbed depths, no “I’ve seen things you can’t imagine” tone. He looked like an old drunk-not a secretive, crafty Auror.
Yeah, that’s the problem. Moody didn’t stand out. He’s supposed to stand out. He’s not part of the freakshow; he’s a cross between Dumbledore and Dirty Harry. Sure, you might not feel that way if you doidn’t read the book. But this is not a series where you can just ignore the books; everything you do and don’t do will be compared to them. It behooves the director to have a firm understanding of the book and its characters, and to develop them properly.
I’ve never understood all the hatred for Michael Gambon, and agree wholeheartedly about the vitality-to-frailty ratio. Dumbledore is supposed to be seem nuts. For all the things they did include in Philosopher’s Stone, they had almost none of Dumbledore’s funny lines. Harris seemed embarrassed to be in that getup, and the only funny line he delivered was the one about earwax.
Remember, nearly everyone in the story thinks Dumbledore is crazy. Percy calls him “mad” – the Ministry of Magic has no problem convincing the Wizarding World that he’s a lunatic. Remember, Dumbledore has lines in the books like “I would like to say a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddement! Tweak!” And how about, “And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” I really can’t imagine Harris playing tenpin bowling, as Dumbledore is supposed to.
Dumbledore should be played like the best versions of Polonius from Hamlet – the old man who may be crazy or wise.
And besides, I am really looking forward to this scene next movie:
The Ministry of Magic battle. Between Gambon’s Dumbledore and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, the energy of that battle is going to be marvellous. They could probably even carry it without special effects. Could anyone imagine Harris playing that role? Dumbledore gets more physical as the series progresses
The other new actors were marvellous. Cedric at the Crouches were so eerily perfect in appearance, the sounds and cadences of their voices, and even their gestures, that it was like looking at something projected right from my own mind onto the screen.
Rita Skeeter was at her vampish best. Again, a perfect interpretation, though sadly the role was cut so short. Warner Brothers really has to learn that with these movies they can afford to extend the time. One of the few things I really missed was:
Rita Skeeter getting caught as an illegal animagus
Fleur and Krum were very surprising. What struck me is how they took two of Rowling’s weakest and most comical characters – characters who were not up to her usual standard of good writing – and breathed not only life but some dignity into the roles. Fleur was so well-interpreted that I’m actually looking forward to seeing what the actress does with the character in the sixth movie, assuming they don’t cut her. Fleur’s parts are some of the weakest in that book, but now there’s a chance that they won’t harm the movie.
Krum was a lot better looking than I expected, not that I’m complaining of course. I predict that actor is going to get a lot of work. Cho Chang was also excellent, though her role wasn’t very big yet.
Nice use of the minor characters – Neville and Ginny especially. Those two have been fading into the background since the movies where they were introduced, and, but they need to be in the foreground because of developments in later books.
But the truly great news was Voldemort. Even with Fiennes in the role, I wasn’t expecting for much – bad CG animation, a voice maybe run through some form of distortion to make it unearthly and metallic. But no, they just slapped some makeup and a robe on Fiennes, and let his acting skill carry it. A wonderful decision.
I thought that no matter who played the role, it would be impossible to make a movie Voldemort without being campy. Fiennes wasn’t campy – his understated version of the role made him seem like a real-world sociopath, far more terrifying.
So I liked it. I liked the scenes – I even liked some of the changes. I wouldn’t have minded some of the deleted material being there, though I can do without House Elves.
I think part of the problem with people’s expectations for the movie is that they’re thinking of these films as on the same level as the books. They’re not. They lack the possibility of ever being on par with our imagination, both because of the limitation of resources and because of the individuality of our mental picture.
Rowling’s career is pretty much a testament to the fact that the written word still vastly surpasses all the visual media we’re bombarded with. It’s a statement about the power of books. The movies can only be expected to fail to a degree.
I tend to think of the movies as really expensive, really well-done fanart, not as adjuncts to the books. From that perspective, they’ve done incredibly well, given the limits of the medium.
Hamish good points, and I tend to agree with you. The books are the books and the films are versions of the books.
But not putting in the Animagus bit about Rita is a crucial omission–how is Hermione to leverage Rita’s help in OotP movie?
Other bits, already shared here, come under “it would have ben nice if”.
But Gambon–he is sooo stiff! Where is the twinkle, the fey quality? He needs to loosen up a bit. I think he “acts” older than Harris did.