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judecorpWe have returned from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
I expected it to be choppy, and in some aspects it was /definitely/ choppy (woah, where did the months go? the school year is over? what?) but I think the plot came across as fairly seamless if you hadn't read the books. They tried to put all of the critical events in there and the stuff they couldn't explain fully they often omitted rather than gloss over. Although some things were definitely, definitely glossed.
The effects were quite cool and I was impressed with the Tournament events and also the Yule Ball. The movie was incredibly dark and scary, though, and I think it might be over the top for a lot of children. Granted, the HP series gets progressively dark as it goes on (and I think Rowling has adjusted for her older audience), but a lot of people still think of these as kids' movies and this one, while having young people in it, would be a bit much for any kid under 8 or 9, I think. The dark tournament events themselves were quite tense - nailbiters. I liked that.
I found that the movie was very captivating and I didn't realize how much time was passing. It was very engrossing. There were dry parts in 1&2 and this one didn't seem to have any. Then again, it was sooooo plot heavy that who has time for dry parts? Because it was so plot-intensive the characters didn't get nearly the attention they deserved.
I think they did a good job with some of the dynamics between the Main Three but everything else was so rushed. Krum and Hermione, Harry and Cedric and Cho... barely a mention. Rita Skeeter and Mad-Eye Moody were present but almost non-existent, and gosh... there was almost no Snape, almost no McGonnagal, almost no Hagrid, almost no Dumbledore even. It was All Action All The Time.
I adored it. I really did. HP4 was a fantastic book, the point where the series really makes a conscious dark and mature turn, and this was definitely evidenced in the film. I think it might even be /more/ enjoyable for a non-fan or someone who hasn't read because they won't be thinking, "Oh, this is when..." or "Oh, I wish I could see more of..." or "Oh, why did the Pensieve get a 2 second mention when it will be so critical in Book 6" or "What did Moody show Neville upstairs at the beginning of the term?" etc. Instead they will just be enjoying all of the eye candy (special effects and all that).
Speaking of eye candy, I think now's the time to order that Hermione t-shirt.
I expected it to be choppy, and in some aspects it was /definitely/ choppy (woah, where did the months go? the school year is over? what?) but I think the plot came across as fairly seamless if you hadn't read the books. They tried to put all of the critical events in there and the stuff they couldn't explain fully they often omitted rather than gloss over. Although some things were definitely, definitely glossed.
The effects were quite cool and I was impressed with the Tournament events and also the Yule Ball. The movie was incredibly dark and scary, though, and I think it might be over the top for a lot of children. Granted, the HP series gets progressively dark as it goes on (and I think Rowling has adjusted for her older audience), but a lot of people still think of these as kids' movies and this one, while having young people in it, would be a bit much for any kid under 8 or 9, I think. The dark tournament events themselves were quite tense - nailbiters. I liked that.
I found that the movie was very captivating and I didn't realize how much time was passing. It was very engrossing. There were dry parts in 1&2 and this one didn't seem to have any. Then again, it was sooooo plot heavy that who has time for dry parts? Because it was so plot-intensive the characters didn't get nearly the attention they deserved.
I think they did a good job with some of the dynamics between the Main Three but everything else was so rushed. Krum and Hermione, Harry and Cedric and Cho... barely a mention. Rita Skeeter and Mad-Eye Moody were present but almost non-existent, and gosh... there was almost no Snape, almost no McGonnagal, almost no Hagrid, almost no Dumbledore even. It was All Action All The Time.
I adored it. I really did. HP4 was a fantastic book, the point where the series really makes a conscious dark and mature turn, and this was definitely evidenced in the film. I think it might even be /more/ enjoyable for a non-fan or someone who hasn't read because they won't be thinking, "Oh, this is when..." or "Oh, I wish I could see more of..." or "Oh, why did the Pensieve get a 2 second mention when it will be so critical in Book 6" or "What did Moody show Neville upstairs at the beginning of the term?" etc. Instead they will just be enjoying all of the eye candy (special effects and all that).
Speaking of eye candy, I think now's the time to order that Hermione t-shirt.
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Date: 2005-11-19 03:55 am (UTC)I <3 Emma Watson!
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Date: 2005-11-19 04:16 am (UTC)p.s. Whatcha dooin' tomorrie?
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Date: 2005-11-19 04:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 01:23 pm (UTC)Ahh well, I suppose it would have been a six hour movie if they'd included ALL the good stuff. It WAS an exciting movie, though, with some pretty spectacular effects. I was glad the Malfoy ferret scene made the cut. I'm also glad that they started to show Dumbledore as more than a benevolent grinning codger only there to provide after the fact exposition. I'm also glad the movie is funny. I've always thought it a little strange that so much of the humor would be cut from the first three films.
I'm glad you liked it. I did, too. But it's early and I'm sleepy and hungry and I think I've finally stopped making sense. Whee! Must. go. pack.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 02:15 pm (UTC)One of the things I liked about this movie that I didn't like about 3 is that it cut out a lot of those things that are in every book but don't need to be in every movie - Hogwarts train rides, buying magical candy, etc. There was so much that had to go into this movie that I'm glad it gave the push to get rid of some of those scenes that look the same in every movie except the kids get older. I know there was a blip of train scene (basically so that we could meet Cho Chang, who in the movie is not Chinese at all - Korean?) but it wasn't a major issue which is nice. The whole summer stuff was a little rushed so they could get right to the Quidditch World Cup, but whatever, it worked.
I liked having more Fred and George, too, even if they DID end up with feathered hair. WTF? They had some awesome facial expressions. There was more Ginny, too, less of a tag along.
The Rita Skeeter stuff didn't work that well. They didn't show enough of it to make sense. Instead, she wrote 2 articles, Ron was mopey, but there wasn't enough of a link.The whole idea that Harry was getting more and more notoriety which was pushing Ron more and more into ire was kind of lost on the film and instead made Ron look a little whiny than he unfortunately already is.
However, I thought the graveyard scene was pretty impressive. They've been really consistent with You Know Who and I like that.
Good luck packing!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 03:10 pm (UTC)Imdb.com doesn't list Cho's ancestry, but does mention that her father runs a Chinese food business... dunno if that means anything or not. Oh well. I liked her and her cute little accent.
I agree about the Ron stuff. If you haven't read the books, you might think that he's just a bit of a jerk. Even one line from Hermione saying something like 'He's always been living in someone's shadow, Harry, and he's getting tired of it.' would have made it easier to pull together.
I think cutting out so much Rita stuff is going to make it harder for whoever has the sad job of condensing Pheonix for a screenplay. Unless she writes an article in the Quibbler for fun... or unless they cut out the whole 'everyone thinks Harry Potter is an attention whore' storyline. Dunno.
The graveyard scene really did work very well. I like that Voldemort actually seemed so much smaller than the Death Eaters and they still cowered before him. Though I couldn't help thinking that Ralph Feinnes must have been positively suffocating with his nose all squashed and covered up like that. Gives me the willies just thinking about it. What if he sneezed? Would it blow (literally) five hours of makeup?
I actually liked the twins' hair. I liked everyone's weird retro haircuts. Except Harry's. I know he's supposed to have messy hair, but it doesn't have to look like the kid was handed a mangey Beatle wig...
re: weirdo haircuts
Date: 2005-11-21 12:34 am (UTC)Re: re: weirdo haircuts
Date: 2005-11-21 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-26 06:55 pm (UTC)I think condensing OoP for screenplay is going to be SO hard. I don't know how anyone can do it. It's even longer than GoF and SOOOOOO full of stuff. With GoF you could kind of skip the other stuff and make an exciting action movie just about the Tri-Wizard Tournament (which is pretty much what happened), but with OoP I don't know if there is one sort of central "event" that you can build a movie around. I think the screenwriters have their work cut out for them, that's for sure.
I really liked the graveyard scene, too. I thought Ralph Fiennes was PERFECT, with all of his body contortions and facial expressions. I like it when someone is in a movie for a short time but really busts their ass to deliver a quality performance!
I dug the retro hair, too... but I wish EVERYONE had it. I didn't like Harry's shaggy mop, and I wish the girls had more vintage hair. Yum, vintage hair.
p.s. Weren't the Patil sisters' Yule Ball outfits SO CUTE??!?!
I love Krum.
Date: 2005-12-14 09:48 pm (UTC)I loved that the Patil sisters wore sari to the Yule ball. Then again, I thought it was kinda funny how the girls' 'dress robes' were, well, dresses. And it was cute how Hermione got all girly with Krum.
Re: I love Krum.
Date: 2005-12-24 09:28 pm (UTC)Yeah, I wanted to "dress robes" to look more like robes. But I liked how the boys had robes over tuxes. Classy.
Don't wear blue!
Date: 2005-12-25 05:07 am (UTC)Re: Don't wear blue!
Date: 2006-01-07 02:48 am (UTC)Anything for you.
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Date: 2005-11-19 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 02:59 pm (UTC)I love it.
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Date: 2005-11-19 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:43 pm (UTC);)
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Date: 2005-11-19 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 03:49 am (UTC)