Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - HD DVD (UK Import)
4.5 out of 5 stars - The Movie Itself (has an average rating of 7.8 on IMDb)
4.0 out of 5 stars - Video Quality (1080p in VC-1 on a 30gb disc)
5 out of 5 stars - Audio Quality (Dolby TrueHD 5.1 & Dolby Digital Plus 5.1)
4.0 out of 5 stars - Bonus Materials (include “In-Movie Experience” & more)
- PG-13
- 2005
- 157 minutes
- Warner Brothers
Buy it for $29.99 @ Amazon.co.uk
Buy it for $41.99 at HD Movie Source
The Movie Itself continues on the story with Harry and his friends and their adventures at Hogwarts School of Wizardry. Before they arrive at the school though, Harry and his friends are invited by the Weasley family to attend the Quidditch World Cup. While here, Voldemort and his Death Eaters attack the event sending a message that Voldemort is indeed back and he means bad things.
The biggest plot of the film revolves around the Triwizard Tournament which is a tournament where three finalists are chosen by the Goblet of Fire. The three names are Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts, Viktor Krum from Durmstrang and Fleur Delacour from the group of Beauxbaton girls. When the Goblet spits out a fourth name, Harry Potter’s, everyone is at a loss of words. According to the rules, you must be 17 to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. With Harry being only 14, Dumbledore can’t do much as he mentions that what the Goblet wants, the Goblet gets. But the real question is who put Harry’s name in the Goblet?
With Goblet of Fire being the fourth film, we can easily see the talent that J.K. Rowling has in her mind. She brings these characters to life with such simple ease. All of her novels, up to book six, have created a world that any age can pick up and become involved in. While I’m mentioning her ideas, I did especially like the character of “MadEye” Moody portrayed by Brendan Gleeson. His first appearance is one of puzzlement. He has an artificial limb and a glass eye that he can zoom in and out with. Gleeson brings Moody’s oddness to the table in fine form dealing with the stares from students to sort of patching a relationship with Harry after dealing with Malfoy in an extremely hilarious scene. Even though Goblet of Fire running at nearly 2.5 hours, I felt the running length was perfect for the film. Scenes of action (The Tournament) were done perfectly, while scenes of pain (the ending sequence of the third trial) were done with emotion. I’m hoping that Warner Brothers and new director David Yates can bring The Order of the Pheonix to the screen in the same order they did with this film. The Harry Potter franchise keeps on running down the road with no signs of running out of power.
Video Quality on this release is Presented in a 1080p, VC-1 Encoded, 2:40:1 Widescreen Aspect Ratio. The overall quality of this HD presentation somewhat mimicks that of the SD release. The whole presentation is excellent, but some inconsistencies mar this one dropping it a whole star level.
The film’s print, only 2 years old, is in great condition. There is never any evidence of video noise and only a slight bit of grain during some of the opening dream sequence. Colors level, in particular blacks, are incredibly rich and deep. Take a look at, again, the dragon portion of the tournament. The CGI dragon looks so real that I had wondered if I was watching some type of medieval program. As the dragon chases Harry, the rocks crash and break with such vibrant detail that any aged viewer will surely be impressed.
While I do have a lot to say about the positives of this transfer, the big negative here is that a majority of the film’s brighter sequences lacked a real spark in Hi-Def. When Harry and the other participants are chosen around the blue-flame, I expected a more impressive image. Instead, the blue flickering seemed to drop the contrast level here and there. This wouldn’t have been a big thing if this only occurred during this one sequence, but I noticed this when anything really bright (candles, dragon’s fire breath, etc) was on screen. Not the biggest problem for most, but for the critical eye, especially on a release of this importance, it must be noted.
Despite the inconsistency mentioned above, Harry Potter has finally arrived on Hi-Def and the wait was well-worth it. A great, solid job here Warner.
Audio Quality on this release is quite impressive to say the least. Included are either a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Track or a Dolby TrueHD 5.1, both which sound excellent. But while both do sound impressive, the TrueHD track adds that extra oomph that brings the track one notch above the Plus 5.1.
Everything is just about perfect when listening to the TrueHD track. Dialogue is crystal clear, never becoming unintelligible. Dynamic Range is powerful with numerous sequences (particularly the ending where Harry meets Voldemort) boasting many discrete effects. Take a listen to the surrounds as Harry fends off Voldemort’s blasts. WHEW! The sub, while not as active as other Warner titles with TrueHD, still is active enough, particularly during the dragon portion of the TriWizard Tournament
If I can find any real fault here, and this is myself really stretching far, is that I wished the whole track had more of an overall impact. Sure the track was impressive, but never really screamed out demo material to me. The track screamed out more of a whole film demo, which is far more impressive than demoing out a certain scene. A five-star job here Warner.
Bonus Materials are wealthy and informative including some exclusive HD DVD content. First up is Triwizard Tournament Dragon Challenge, which is a game that requires the viewer to sit through a series of tests and questions. This is very similar to the game on the Chamber of Secrets DVD. A true pleasure for fans of the book.Harry vs. The Horntail: The First Task covers the creation of the scene in detail. We are given a host of movie clips, bit from the actual shoot, and various interviews. If you enjoyed the sequence in the film at all, do yourself the favor and watch this very brief feature to learn more about the creation of the scene. Meet the Champions deals with the wrapping up of the Dragon Arena components. In this feature, we follow a day in the life of one of the performers finding out what they exactly went through during the shoot of the film. Triwizard Tournament: Lake Challenge presents another game similar to the above game.
In Too Deep: The Second Task goes in-depth into the visual effect challenges of the diving sequence in the film. We get to see the real underwater sequences next to the CG elements that were added on in post-production. Definitely a cool little feature here. Two more games follow via Triwizard Tournament: Maze Challenge and To the Graveyard and Back Challenge. The Maze: The Third Task looks into the sets, design, and CG execution of the final part to the Tournament. Another informative, if rather short, feature. He Who Must Not Be Named looks into Fiennes’ casting as Voldemort, various character topics and his actual visual depiction. We also get a bit on the effect challenges, performances and the film’s dark tones. Fiennes’ did a fabulous job as Voldemort and this feature shows all the work he did.
The film has a few Deleted Scenes. The first scene deals with the Hogwarts kids welcoming the representatives of the other schools. The second scene deals with the observations of the kids. The third scene deals with Harry’s attempts to ask out Cho Chang. The fourth scene deals with a rock band performing at the ball. The fifth scene deals with Harry’s observation of a discussion between Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff. The sixth scene deals with a warning from “Madeye” Moody to Harry. The seventh scene deals with a few deliberations about the mystery among Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The eigth scene deals with the entire rock band sequence at the ball. The other scenes are so incredibly short that they don’t do much. The scenes mentioned above do a bit more to close in that gap of book to movie. Almost done folks. Preparing for the Yule Ball deals with the dancing lessons all the actors and actresses went through for the ball sequence. The piece, while being rather comical, is still pretty interesting. Conversations with the Cast has comments from Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint with host Richard Curtis. They speak about their reactions to the film, daily life making the film, working with new director Newell, character growth and basic interactions with each other. This is definitely the best and most informative feature on the whole set.
Reflections on the Fourth Film focuses on the cast members and their thoughts about making the fourth film. While the information presented is rather dull, it is nice to see the sets up close
There’s also the HD DVD exclusive bonus material of Warner Brothers‘ “In-Movie Experience“. The content presented here is excellent and highly informative. I’m confident when I say that any Harry Potter fan, regardless of age, will love to hear the comments made by the cast and crew. The only problem I had, like most IME features, is that there are too many moments where absolutely nothing is going on.
— Review written by
Brendan Surpless