This “Ultimate Edition” is clunky in terms of both the box and how the features are laid out, but the new documentary it does include is pretty good though I probably would not spend the money for this set unless I didn’t already own the previous Blu-ray.
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (2005)
Genre(s): Fantasy/Adventure
Warner Bros. | PG13 – 157 min. – $49.99 | October 19, 2010
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Mike Newell
Writer(s): J.K. Rowling (book); Steve Kloves (screenplay)
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 2005
DISC INFO:
Features: Picture-in-Picture, Featurettes, Additional Scenes, Theatrical Trailers
Edition: Ultimate Edition
Number of Discs: 3
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.40
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Codec: VC-1
THE MOVIE – 4/5
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth installment in the 7-part franchise (with Deathly Hallows being split into two), continues the darker path of the series, a far cry from the lighter Chris Columbus-directed films that also fits in with how the story and the characters are evolving towards a final showdown with Lord Voldemort.
This addition to the Harry Potter saga I was never particularly fond of, in comparison to Prisoner of Azkaban which remains my favorite, yet it is still stylistically far better than Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets and the plot also seem to be better constructed for whatever reason (no doubt back to the director). While Alfonso Cuaron did a great job looking introspectively into Harry Potter and company in Azkaban, and especially Harry’s relationship with his uncle, Goblet of Fire also has some key emotional elements mixed in with some thrilling action sequences.
Mike Newell was an interesting choice to helm a Harry Potter movie (though in comparison to Chris “Home Alone” Columbus, I guess it’s not out of the ordinary) as Newell’s previous endeavors included the underrated and charming romantic-comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, biopic-drama Donnie Brasco and rise of woman power in Mona Lisa Smile, hardly a resume that screams action-fantasy. Newell hasn’t done a whole since outside of 2007’s Love in the Time of Cholera and 2010’s fantasy-adventure flop, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time which was competently directed but with a story that failed to connect. In regards to Goblet of Fire, I thought Newell did a good job maintaining the momentum of the franchise’s ultimate story (Voldemort vs. Potter) while still making it an effective middle chapter.
As for the cast, the three leads (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint) continue to show their growth as actors from Year 1 to Year 4 having gained more experience in merely 4 years of basically non-stop filming (taking breaks between years 2/3, 4/5 and 5/6 with the final 3 (Year 7 split into two parts) being filmed back-to-back-to-back. It’s almost stunning to see how much these kids have evolved and ultimately grown up before our eyes that when the franchise is done, it’ll be interesting to go back and watch these from the beginning.
Once again, the supporting cast Newell and company assembled, from those returning to the newcomers, is quite amazing. We all know how great Michael Gambon is playing Dumbledore (replacing Richard Harris after Chamber of Secrets) as well as Gary Oldman who has a tiny role but has more to do in Order of the Phoenix, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Miranda Richardson and others, but then you add actors like Brendan Gleason and Ralph Fiennes (not to mention soon-to-be Twlight-er Robert Pattinson) to the mix and it’s one of the best large ensembles ever put on screen.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may not be my favorite Potter movie and perhaps not the best of the series, but at the same time it still has some great action mixed with a well told story that fits in nicely with the others in the franchise.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.75/5
Warner for some reason has slightly changed the packaging where the first two “Ultimate Editions” had a thin slip cover that houses a larger box that fold open and inside a folder with discs plus some junk (and the box flap was held closed with a magnate), the next two (Prisoner and Goblet) is a side sliding slip case and on the outside a removable lenticular cover. The layout inside is basically the same (sans the magnate)
Unlike the first two releases, this one does not have an extended version included, unfortunately. What we did get inside are two cards for Ronald Weasley and Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody and a 44-page Photo Book with “Rare Images from Years 1-7”.
Disc 1:
In-Movie Experience – This picture-in-picture feature has various people from the production like director Mike Newell, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, etc providing information on the film. This was carried over from the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions. This is still a ** High-Def Exclusive **.
Disc 2:
Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 4: Sound and Music (54:12; HD) – This edition delves into the music and sound design for the HP movies with cast and crew members give their insights on the importance of the music provides and how it evokes emotion to a scene. There are also interviews with the composers who have worked on the series, John Williams (Years 1-3), Patrick Doyle (Year 4) and Nicholas Hooper (Years 5-6). I assume at the time this was filmed, Alexandre Desplat (Year 7.1) had not been hired and thus interviewed. It then shows how the sound effects were created from bottles to doors closing as well as ADR work which to me is the most interesting aspect of the documentary.
Conversations with the Cast (30:36; HD) – Included on the previous releases, this featurette is now presented in HD and has Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint being interviews by Richard Curtis talking about Goblet of Fire.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Behind the Magic (48:51; SD) is a TV special created to advertise the film and get the fan base excited to see the fourth installment. It’s a lengthy featurette and some of it is annoying, especially the host, but you do get a glimpse at some behind-the-scenes footage.
Inside Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (43:48; SD) is another TV special that not only looks at making the fourth movie but also journeys back to the first three films. I guess this was made to catch audiences up before seeing GoF.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The Adventure Continues (24:12; SD) takes a look into the world of the fourth Potter movie and the new characters, creatures, sets and action sequences. It’s another special created to air on ABC, A&E, BBC or wherever and advertise Goblet of Fire.
Harry Potter: Animal Magic (23:25; SD) – The annoying host (or at least the annoying script he has to read) returns and takes a closer look at the variety of animals, and their human handlers, that help made the world of Harry Potter a magical place.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Dark Matters, New Masters (13:02; SD) – The final TV special concentrates on the dark forces at work against Hogworts and Harry Potter led by Lord Voldemort.
Additional Scenes (9:58; HD) – There are eight deleted or extended scenes that are fun to watch with some good performances but the film was already a lengthy two and a half hours, scenes did need to shore up.
Finally, the second disc wraps up with the Teaser Trailer (1:17; HD), Theatrical Trailer (2:16; HD) and advertisements of Harry Potter products (that were on the Prisoner of Azkaban Ultimate Edition).
Disc 3:
The third disc is a standard DVD that was included in the previous 2-disc Goblet of Fire DVD release.
Standard featurettes include:
Meet the Champions (13:03) – Here we get to meet the Triwizard participants and the actors who portray them.
Harry vs. Horntail: The First Task (6:08), In Too Deep: The Second Task (9:48) and The Maze: The Third Task (6:48) – These three featurettes on what each task entails with the participants giving their thoughts on each one.
He Who Must Not Be Named (11:08) takes a look at Lord Voldemort and his incarnation in Goblet of Fire.
Preparing for the Yule Ball (9:03) featurette takes a look at the Yule Ball scene and the growth of the characters from children to adolescence.
Conversations with the Cast (30:36) – Check it out in HD on disc two.
Reflections on the Fourth Film (14:12) has the cast and crew, well, reflecting on their experiences from the first to the fourth film and how they’ve changed through the years.
This also has a few games such as: Dragon Challenge, Lake Challenge and Maze Challenge and To the Graveyard and Back Challenge. We also get the Theatrical Trailer (1:17) again and a DVD-ROM portal (oh those were the days).
VIDEO – 4.25/5
Goblet of Fire is presented in its original 2.40 presentation and in 1080p high-definition. I can’t be positive since I don’t own the standard Blu-ray edition, but I assume this is probably the same transfer. The picture, as with Prisoner of Azkaban, is fairly dark from time to time but still well detailed throughout. Despite how dark some scenes may be faces and other elements are still full of color yet don’t pop off the screen and is fairly even. There are times that I thought were a tad oversaturated but I think that was more Newell’s style keeping up with how Azkaban looked.
AUDIO – 4.5/5
The standard Blu-ray released in 2007 was only a PCM 5.1 mix but this one does get a DTS-HD Master Audio track instead. The audio this go around, as with Azkaban, sounds fantastic from the opening notes through the Quidditch World Cup to the ending, it’s a nice mixture of score (by Patrick Doyle) as well as the audio effects which makes good use out of the rear channels.
OVERALL – 4/5
This “Ultimate Edition” is clunky in terms of both the box and how the features are laid out, but the new documentary it does include is pretty good though I probably would not spend the money for this set unless I didn’t already own the previous Blu-ray. If you can grab this for $25 or less then it might be worth it, otherwise just wait it out.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 11/05/2010