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Goblet of Fire Movie
Nov. 17th, 2005 08:22 pmWe went to see it today, in the English Original version, here in Germany. I’m not sure what to make of it... All in all, it’s very angsty, more so than the book, although I have to say, I’ve found it to be the most entertaining Harry Potter movie yet. If you don’t want spoilers, please stop reading here (sorry, folks, I can’t remember the cut code for the life of me and am writing this from home, where I don’t have internet access yet).
First of all, far too much of the book was cut out entirely rather than merely being condensed. Everyone knew that beforehand, of course, but to actually see the movie kind of brings it home... I sincerely hope they’ll offer an extended version DVD, with all the cut-out scenes included!
There were a few scenes that I totally disliked, and a few that I seriously liked. The opening scene was brilliant. Totally canon, and i.m.o. very well done. The next couple of scenes not only failed to impress me, I feel that when I watch it again, on DVD, I will fast forward Hermione being bossy with Harry and “Ronald” (she doesn’t call him that in the books, does she? Or have I missed something? I haven’t GoF available right now as it’s being shipped from Asia) as well as the first Portkey scene, which i.m.o. was totally over the top, as exaggerated as could be. I do realise that Warner Brothers take into consideration the people who have not read the books, but please... They could do it more subtly, honestly *exasperated_sigh*. I mean, they do it extremely subtly for HG/SS shippers in the movies, as in encouraging us to continue writing because it just *might* become a possibility, why can’t they do so with the people who refuse to read the books???
However, the next few scenes were good if not brilliant, so I was somewhat mollified *smirk*. I thought the scenes showing the two sets of other students (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang) entering the Great Hall was a complete waste of time. It was, again, all too much over the top and exaggerated, but that might be just me. The first task was a bit over the top, too, I found, what with Harry flying on his firebolt all over Hogwarts and some dramatic self-rescuing on the roof before he got to the dragon egg, but the second one was spot on. The third task was far scarier to see on screen than to read and I felt more than once like turning my head away... And the graveyard scene where Lord Voldemort returns, calls his Death Eaters by way of activating the Dark Mark (another BRILLIANT Jason Isaacs performance) and then duels with Harry is outstanding, I dare say it’s the best of the whole movie and well worth waiting for.
Michael Gambon simply is a brilliant Dumbledore.
Jason Isaacs truly outdid himself. JKR’s own Lucius Malfoy could not have played his part better! The way he met Harry and the Weasleys at the Quidditch World Cup left me speechless. I don’t even like him, ya know. His acting skills are incredible.
Most of the acting was better than previous HP movies - The Golden Trio looked and sounded far more convincing, although Hermione was way more whiny than in the book. But that may very well have been the script rather than Emma Watson herself. She does not strike me as the whingy type...
Moaning Myrtle was her usual brilliant self (Merlin, that girl has talent!), Neville did an excellent job, as did Cedric and Viktor Krum.
Barty Crouch Sen. looked and acted very authentic, although his speech was a bit... well, off. His son, even though his appearances were extremely short, did brilliantly.
Miranda Richardson... I have a suspicion that JKR wrote Rita Skeeter with her in mind for the movie, need I say more... I cannot imagine anyone more suitable for the role.
Moody was good, too. At times a bit exaggerated compared to the book, I found, but very believing. Especially his subtle gestures helping Harry win the tournament.
The Phelps twins were truly in their element. They kind of lightened up the whole movie throughout and thankfully were given bigger parts than in previous movies. Deservingly so!
Karkaroff was a good cast, too, as, surprisingly, was Fleur. She kind of looked nothing in the pictures I saw, but she did make a very good Fleur in the movie. The typical French nearly-grown-up girl, with emphasis about appearance and the knowledge when and where to to cast haughty kisses on boys’ cheeks to enchant them.
Mme Maxime was a very good cast and played her role convincingly, but was simply not shown enough in the movie. Also, I wasn’t sure as to why she was depicted even taller than Hagrid... That was a bit unnecessary to my mind and downright off-putting in one scene. Somehow, Robbie Coltrane doesn’t lend himself to being clumsy or crude, no matter how big he is shown.
The big disappointment in casting/acting, no surprise here, was Cho Chang. And I will not join the hate club, either. We went to the auditioning in London, and I knew there and then that DD didn’t have a chance in hell to get the role, for the simple reason that there were hundreds and hundreds of very pretty Oriental girls going for it. Sara could pass for an Oriental with the relevant make-up, I have no doubt of that, and she has talent, too, but why would a caster go for that if s/he has hundreds of real Orientals who won’t require any make-up... Unfortunately, this casting appears to be truly a case of “Daddy, I want a part in a movie, so get me one” kind of thing, considering she comes from a millionaire family. She looks absolutely nothing like JKR’s Cho, she’s far bigger than the average Chinese looking teenage girl, and she can’t act for shit. Cho Chang DOES NOT HAVE A SCOTTISH ACCENT!!!! And she did in the movie. As in, seriously broad, too. I don’t blame her, I feel sorry for her. I do blame her parents, because I don’t think they have done her a favour by buying her the role.
Oh dear, I haven’t mentioned Severus Snape yet! *Smirk* That has two reasons. Firstly, it was Jason Isaacs’ acting that stood out in this movie - by far. And believe me, I like neither Lucius nor particularly JI. I don’t like blond guys, honestly, I prefer mine well baked with dark brown or black hair. Tatiana422 is very welcome to keep him, *smirk*. If he comes near me, I’ll apparate him straight to you, I promise. It was simply his absolutely perfect, brilliant acting that got me. It was soooo authentic.
I was glad Severus Snape featured throughout the movie. He had no big deal in it as such, Mike Newell surely didn’t know what he was doing, heck he could have made his part much bigger. But at least there was a Snape presence, a lot of the time, either in the background, or him making some snide comment. Not that the scene I was waiting for appeared! Oh No! There was no “I see no difference”, which in a way I found extremely disappointing. I had really looked forward to that one. But I guess that’s just Warner Brothers pissing off the SS/HG ship. *sticks_out_tongue*
AR wasn’t bad... but he honestly wasn’t brilliant in this movie either. He looked like... halfheartedly doing a job.
Lord Voldemort was good. I didn’t like his make-up, too reminiscent of the bad Aliens rather than his reptilian aspect, but that’s all. The entire scene was extremely angsty, very well done, and the acting was very believable.
A few things bothered me about the clothing. Why did they make Hermione wear a pink dress??? The book clearly states periwinkle blue! And the Patel twins wore the wrong kind of colours, too. One of them, I don’t remember which one, I think it was Ron’s date, she looks exactly like a young version of the Lady_Joyous, Sara said so as well. Is she related to you, Lady_J?
All in all, it was good entertainment, although I far prefer to read the books... :-)
First of all, far too much of the book was cut out entirely rather than merely being condensed. Everyone knew that beforehand, of course, but to actually see the movie kind of brings it home... I sincerely hope they’ll offer an extended version DVD, with all the cut-out scenes included!
There were a few scenes that I totally disliked, and a few that I seriously liked. The opening scene was brilliant. Totally canon, and i.m.o. very well done. The next couple of scenes not only failed to impress me, I feel that when I watch it again, on DVD, I will fast forward Hermione being bossy with Harry and “Ronald” (she doesn’t call him that in the books, does she? Or have I missed something? I haven’t GoF available right now as it’s being shipped from Asia) as well as the first Portkey scene, which i.m.o. was totally over the top, as exaggerated as could be. I do realise that Warner Brothers take into consideration the people who have not read the books, but please... They could do it more subtly, honestly *exasperated_sigh*. I mean, they do it extremely subtly for HG/SS shippers in the movies, as in encouraging us to continue writing because it just *might* become a possibility, why can’t they do so with the people who refuse to read the books???
However, the next few scenes were good if not brilliant, so I was somewhat mollified *smirk*. I thought the scenes showing the two sets of other students (Beauxbatons and Durmstrang) entering the Great Hall was a complete waste of time. It was, again, all too much over the top and exaggerated, but that might be just me. The first task was a bit over the top, too, I found, what with Harry flying on his firebolt all over Hogwarts and some dramatic self-rescuing on the roof before he got to the dragon egg, but the second one was spot on. The third task was far scarier to see on screen than to read and I felt more than once like turning my head away... And the graveyard scene where Lord Voldemort returns, calls his Death Eaters by way of activating the Dark Mark (another BRILLIANT Jason Isaacs performance) and then duels with Harry is outstanding, I dare say it’s the best of the whole movie and well worth waiting for.
Michael Gambon simply is a brilliant Dumbledore.
Jason Isaacs truly outdid himself. JKR’s own Lucius Malfoy could not have played his part better! The way he met Harry and the Weasleys at the Quidditch World Cup left me speechless. I don’t even like him, ya know. His acting skills are incredible.
Most of the acting was better than previous HP movies - The Golden Trio looked and sounded far more convincing, although Hermione was way more whiny than in the book. But that may very well have been the script rather than Emma Watson herself. She does not strike me as the whingy type...
Moaning Myrtle was her usual brilliant self (Merlin, that girl has talent!), Neville did an excellent job, as did Cedric and Viktor Krum.
Barty Crouch Sen. looked and acted very authentic, although his speech was a bit... well, off. His son, even though his appearances were extremely short, did brilliantly.
Miranda Richardson... I have a suspicion that JKR wrote Rita Skeeter with her in mind for the movie, need I say more... I cannot imagine anyone more suitable for the role.
Moody was good, too. At times a bit exaggerated compared to the book, I found, but very believing. Especially his subtle gestures helping Harry win the tournament.
The Phelps twins were truly in their element. They kind of lightened up the whole movie throughout and thankfully were given bigger parts than in previous movies. Deservingly so!
Karkaroff was a good cast, too, as, surprisingly, was Fleur. She kind of looked nothing in the pictures I saw, but she did make a very good Fleur in the movie. The typical French nearly-grown-up girl, with emphasis about appearance and the knowledge when and where to to cast haughty kisses on boys’ cheeks to enchant them.
Mme Maxime was a very good cast and played her role convincingly, but was simply not shown enough in the movie. Also, I wasn’t sure as to why she was depicted even taller than Hagrid... That was a bit unnecessary to my mind and downright off-putting in one scene. Somehow, Robbie Coltrane doesn’t lend himself to being clumsy or crude, no matter how big he is shown.
The big disappointment in casting/acting, no surprise here, was Cho Chang. And I will not join the hate club, either. We went to the auditioning in London, and I knew there and then that DD didn’t have a chance in hell to get the role, for the simple reason that there were hundreds and hundreds of very pretty Oriental girls going for it. Sara could pass for an Oriental with the relevant make-up, I have no doubt of that, and she has talent, too, but why would a caster go for that if s/he has hundreds of real Orientals who won’t require any make-up... Unfortunately, this casting appears to be truly a case of “Daddy, I want a part in a movie, so get me one” kind of thing, considering she comes from a millionaire family. She looks absolutely nothing like JKR’s Cho, she’s far bigger than the average Chinese looking teenage girl, and she can’t act for shit. Cho Chang DOES NOT HAVE A SCOTTISH ACCENT!!!! And she did in the movie. As in, seriously broad, too. I don’t blame her, I feel sorry for her. I do blame her parents, because I don’t think they have done her a favour by buying her the role.
Oh dear, I haven’t mentioned Severus Snape yet! *Smirk* That has two reasons. Firstly, it was Jason Isaacs’ acting that stood out in this movie - by far. And believe me, I like neither Lucius nor particularly JI. I don’t like blond guys, honestly, I prefer mine well baked with dark brown or black hair. Tatiana422 is very welcome to keep him, *smirk*. If he comes near me, I’ll apparate him straight to you, I promise. It was simply his absolutely perfect, brilliant acting that got me. It was soooo authentic.
I was glad Severus Snape featured throughout the movie. He had no big deal in it as such, Mike Newell surely didn’t know what he was doing, heck he could have made his part much bigger. But at least there was a Snape presence, a lot of the time, either in the background, or him making some snide comment. Not that the scene I was waiting for appeared! Oh No! There was no “I see no difference”, which in a way I found extremely disappointing. I had really looked forward to that one. But I guess that’s just Warner Brothers pissing off the SS/HG ship. *sticks_out_tongue*
AR wasn’t bad... but he honestly wasn’t brilliant in this movie either. He looked like... halfheartedly doing a job.
Lord Voldemort was good. I didn’t like his make-up, too reminiscent of the bad Aliens rather than his reptilian aspect, but that’s all. The entire scene was extremely angsty, very well done, and the acting was very believable.
A few things bothered me about the clothing. Why did they make Hermione wear a pink dress??? The book clearly states periwinkle blue! And the Patel twins wore the wrong kind of colours, too. One of them, I don’t remember which one, I think it was Ron’s date, she looks exactly like a young version of the Lady_Joyous, Sara said so as well. Is she related to you, Lady_J?
All in all, it was good entertainment, although I far prefer to read the books... :-)
