Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

[pegkerr]

I liked it. I would put it in first place, and #3 in second place, although the preference is not strong between the two. That may simply be due to the novelty of the fourth movie, and things may change as I mull it over. (Plus it's so much more fun to mull the fourth movie over. The bad place, you know.)

I thought Steve Kloves did as well as he could streamlining that enormous book, and yeah, there were holes, but it could have been so much worse. Some changes really worked, like having Neville give Harry the gillyweed, which cleanly simplifies things by cutting the role of Dobby and at the same time brings Neville forward into a slightly more prominent role, a nice set up for his expanded role in the fifth movie (but then you all know that I have a special soft spot in my heart for Neville, and all the nice Neville touches thrilled me. Matthew Lewis was spot on, as far as I was concerned. Excellent job with his reaction to the Cruciatus curse; it was everything I hoped it would be. My, that boy has grown tall in the last eighteen months.) Another change which was a good quick fix was to eliminate the whole Ludo Bagman plot and all mention of Harry giving the twins his Triwizard Cup earnings plots by having Fred and George obviously raising money for the joke shop by taking student bets on the tournament outcome. Economical (in more ways than one.) Draco fans, I know you were disappointed that you saw so little of your boy, but cheer up. He gets his big scene in book 6, when he has Dumbledore at the end of his wand, so hang on until then. Interesting to see how they handled the one shot that had both Tom Felton and Jason Isaacs in by shooting it from directly overhead; I gather that they did that to disguise the fact that Draco, who is supposed to be only fourteen, is now already taller than his father.

The age difference between the actors and the characters was a little more obtrusive, this time, but I still want all the actors to continue with all seven movies.

Brendan Gleeson was marvelous as Mad Eye Moody. He just gobbled up that part with tremendous gusto; great fun.

Yeah, there were scenes that I wished they could have shoehorned in, despite how long they would have made the movie. I really really wanted to see Molly Weasley hold Harry in the hospital wing, as he's trying desperately not to cry, because that was always the scene that made me cry most in the book. Yeah, I wanted more Sirius, and I wanted to see some of the actual Quidditch World Cup match. On the other hand, the scene where Harry brings Cedric's body back packed a much bigger wallop in the movie than the book, because they have added the reaction of his father--between Harry and Amos Diggory, that scene has broken me up both times I saw it, tore out my heart.

I loved little touches all the way through: the nervous little giggle Hermione gives when she takes Victor Krum's arm at the ball (and for those of you who have been complaining about too much giggling in the film from the girls, I tell you as the mother of a little girl poised on the cusp of adolescence, I think they got the amount of giggling just right). I just love the little detail of Hermione plopping down right on the stairs after her big fight with Ron to take off her shoes because she's been dancing all night, and they are probably her first pair of grown up shoes and her feet are killing her. I love the way that Snape makes that little adjustment to his cuffs in preparation for knocking Harry and Ron's heads together in study hall. I loved the close up shot of the spider dying from the Avada Kedavra curse changing to a far-focus shot of Harry's stricken face, re-living his parents' deaths. Beautiful!

The kids are getting better and better. I didn't see anything that made me cringe as a misfired emotional beat, the way that the ending of CoS did. Dan really did break my heart in the last quarter of the movie.

I liked what they added to the first task (although it belied Charlie Weasley's (?) reassurance in the book "don't worry, we'll have dragon handlers standing by so things don't get out of hand." Things clearly did get out of hand). The prefects' bath scene was perfect, serving the plot while capturing the awkwardness and embarrassment of an adolescent all too aware of the ways his body is changing (but then Moaning Myrtle would manage to embarrass anyone).

Someone (was it aome or cruisedirector? Don't remember.) mentioned how they were annoyed that Dumbledore seemed so angry at Harry in the trophy room when he asked whether Harry had put his name in the Goblet, whereas he was calm in the book. Didn't bother me one way or another. I liked Michael Gambon; I do prefer him to Richard Harris, mostly because I think Gambon is ten years younger than Richard Harris, and so his Dumbledore seems so much more vigorous, with a wider range of his emotions and an inner core of toughness that I like for Dumbledore, whereas Harris just felt wispy to me. Hope Gambon lives long enough to finish the series; I'd particularly love to see what he does with book 6).

So, yeah. I was pleased. I recommend it. My quibbles are on the order of "I wish that they could have put this favorite scene in, but I understand why they didn't." The stuff that seemed to be gaping holes (e.g. the lack of fuss over Barty Crouch Sr.'s death) were an understandably unavoidable side effect of trying to condense such a huge manuscript into a movie that runs for a reasonable amount of time.

Can't wait to see the next. They start filming in February. Hurrah.

If you reviewed GoF in your LJ, leave a comment pointing to your review. Thanks! And you should also leave the link to your review over at fandom_history here. Thanks to heidi8 for the link!

Comments

[ascian.livejournal.com]

I shan't argue with you about your (WRONG!) preference for Gambon (WE HATES HIM, WE DOES!), for I have a larger issue to ask you about.

Did you notice that Big V called Harry's mum a muggle? It's been a while since I've read the books, but I remember everyone talking about Harry's parents both being powerful wizards, and how he couldn't have been the half-blood prince for the same reason. Right? Or am I mistaken?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I think that what they were getting at was Voldemort and his ilk refusing to accept that wizards who are Muggleborn are as acceptable as "pureblood." In the book, they get that idea across by calling them "mudbloods," but I think they do call them Muggles, too, although I can't point you to chapter and verse. The point is that Voldemort and his followers are the equivilent of racial snobs, in defiance of actual logic, because obviously wizards who are muggleborn are perfectly capable of being very good at magic, like Lily (and Hermione). But the purebloods who follow Voldemort (like the Malfoys) will never admit it. Obviously, their stance is ridiculous because they are following a half blood (although I doubt they know it). There are other purebloods who don't espouse this philosophy, of course, like the Weasley and Longbottom families.

Interesting to discover in book 6 that Snape was a half blood, too.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No, the movie had it right: LIly is considered a muggle by Lord Voldemort because she's the first one in her family in whom magical ability appeared. No one knew about magic in Lily until she got her Hogwarts letter at age 11. So yes, she's a wizard, a very powerful one, but the Deatheaters still call her and consider her a Muggle.

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/nmalfoy/320157.html

There's my thoughts.

[kishmish.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/kishmish/41711.html#cutid1

Sort of a long ecstatic late-night rant on it. I disagree with you about Gambon, I thought Richard Harris was better at conveying the wisdom and oddness that is Dumbledore. Or "dumblydorr" as Madame Maxime said in the movie! I love that they kept in so many little loveable things.
I love Snape's sleeve adjustment as well:)
I reread that passage from the book, with Ron and Hermione fighting at the Yule Ball, and at no time does she start crying. I found that rather overdone and didn't like the crying very much. The giggling was weird to see, but you must be right, she is 14:P
About Draco being taller than his dad, should that matter? I have a fourteen year old cousin who is taller than his father. He's almost 6 feet.

[franticgoddess.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/franticgoddess/534789.html

Not so much a review, as the random and excited notes I took during the first viewing (first time I did that also- usually I wait until the second, but I liked it this time), but it's sort of funny.

I just got back from my second viewing, and I'm mortified. During the last scenes, the woman next to me handed me a tissue and asked me if I was alright. I was being very discreet, but she was right there :P

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I was very happy at the amount of fat they cut, compared to the book (my remark on the way out of the theater was "the less closely they stick to the book, the better the movies are"). I was mildly disturbed, in retrospect, that they kept Rita Skeeter but dropped her subplot just as it had been set up, but that really is a nitpick.

Has someone already remarked on tousled!Harry's occasional resemblance to Elijah Wood in LoTR? :-)

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

But now, how are they going to blackmail her in OotP?

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

As a straight up action scene, I loved Harry's encounter with the dragon. Incredible. The whole theater was gasping as it scrambled across the roof, making holes and sending tiles flying (I'd hate to be Fitch repairing that mess.)

I appreciated focusing on the main plot of the tourney, but there was enough He Who Is Not Named stuff that would confuse the heck out of someone who didn't watch the first three movies or read the books.

[aome.livejournal.com]

You must've read my review already (I don't know about cruisedirector, but I didn't like Dumbledore shaking Harry and shouting at him), but it's here in case you want a handy reference.

Overall, I like Michael Gambon's Dumbledore just fine, but since Dumbledore is almost always so placid in the books, that angry and almost violent reaction felt really out of place to me. On the other hand, Richard Harris' Dumbledore was almost *too* placid - no twinkle.

[irielle.livejournal.com]

Chalk me up as another Michael Gambon supporter. You're not alone.

[eeyorerin]

GoF was my favorite book in the series, and I think that this may be my favorite movie (so far). The scene where they are trying to pry the weeping Harry off of Cedric's body made even more impact on me than it did when I read it the first time, and I knew it was coming! I thought they captured the frantic, jumbled, and almost-frenzied climax of the book extremely well. I, too, would have loved the Molly-Harry scene, but I can see why they streamlined.

And, oh, Neville love! I wish they had revealed what happened to his parents in more detail. I hope that they do flesh it out in the next movie (perhaps with the St. Mungo's visit scene?), because it's so important.

I find myself utterly unable to go to the Bad Place with any of the actors portraying the students. This may be because I have cultivated a "students can be cute and adorable, but not In That Way" in order to maintain appropriate distance from my students. So I find myself saying "Oh, they've grown up so much! Look at how cute they are!" in a completely innocent way. I find it very amusing when I see other people going to the Bad Place, because I just couldn't get there if you drew me a map! (I hope I don't come across as critical or condemning here; I'm not trying to be.)

Now, the professors, on the other hand... no map required!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Here were my reactions.

[lapsus-0-calami.livejournal.com]

Great review - Mine (http://www.livejournal.com/users/scorpiosphynx/352364.html) is more a list of random thoughts....

[mark356.livejournal.com]

My initial reactions are here, but it's not really a review. I agree with most of your reactions; despite the choppiness, they compressed the book fairly well.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

It's a bulletpointed list rather than a true review, but my impressions are over here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/sienamystic/84457.html)

[leiabelle.livejournal.com]

Great review, especially the bits about Neville, and the fact that during the first task, no one seemed particularly concerned that a dragon had just burst its chains and was flying free over Scotland. o_O

My initial review is here, and my second-viewing post is here. I liked it better the second time, after I'd had a chance to get used to the changes.

[morganmalfoy.livejournal.com]

Excellent review Peg! This is why I haven't bothered writing one, because other people are doing it so much better. I will say that the lack of the Barty Crouch storyline gets rid of some of the complexities about death eaters that book four was trying to introduce to pave the way for characters like Bellatrix Lestrange. And I really, really, really wanted the scene at the end of Dumbledore sending Snape out as a spy again.

[aeditimi.livejournal.com]

I just reviewed GOF. I really liked it!

[mahoni.livejournal.com]

I saw your comment in nmalfoy's LJ and came over to see what you thought. Wonderful review! I agree with nearly everything you said, and you pointed out so many things that slipped my mind when I was trying to scribble down what I liked.

Anyway, reading your review made me happy. :)

[cruisedirector]

It wasn't me -- someone said that in a comment on my journal. (I really like Gambon, much of which has to do with the fact that I am not a great Dumbledore-lover. *g*)

I howled that the only shots of Draco and Lucius were overhead so you can't tell Isaacs is 5'10" and Felton is 6'2"! David Thewlis is the only actor who's ever going to be able to stand next to Felton.

[genealogygirl.livejournal.com]

My review is here

I agree pretty much entirely with your review and commentary above, btw! I love Neville too and thought the filmic license with his character was nice given that we know he will be more important in OoP. I only wish Rowling had continued to develop him more in HBP. One of my many issues with HBP!