Discussion

1. Goblet of Fire is so far the best HP movie, but there were still things I didn’t like about it, and I found the movie started to drag after the second task. One thing I didn’t like was how Cedric Diggory’s parts in the movie changed his modesty into pride and made him look weaker than Harry in the maze. I also didn’t like Dumbledore’s character. He didn’t command the same authority or exude the same power he did in the books and often resorted to shouting to get the student’s attention when this would never have been necessary in the books.

   Also, I think I would agree with you about Prince, but not Goblet. In Goblet, there are all sorts of signs of friendship and love; I point to Dumbledore’s Army. In this book many relationships are developed, however it is often the hardships in relationships- like the inner struggles of the Order, Harry’s isolation from most of the school, his new friendship with Luna, his relationship with Sirius, Dumbledore, or Snape- All these things were memorable to me. (On a similar note, I just noticed the themes of isolation throughout this book.)

   Flipping through the chapters, I do find that some interesting details were forgettable, but there were other things that I couldn’t forget. In fact, it was in spring term shortly after the second PDEng forum that Goblet of Fire started meaning something to me personally, because I felt I could compare my situation to Harry’s. Or perhaps Hermione’s.

   Posted at 6:45 pm on November 22nd by Kristi Herlein.

2. In retrospect, I am a little disappointed with \”angry Dumbledore\” versus \”serene Dumbledore.\” He may have more screen presence or whatever, but he ends up coming across just a little bit uncorked. The real Dumbledore would never have physically shaken a student.

   As for the maze, it comes across as more creepy than difficult… an emotional and mental challenge rather than an intellectual and physical one as I perceived it to be in the book. TenNapel, having not read the book, claimed that it was stupid to put the challenge with the dragon first.

   It\’s been a while since I\’ve read Goblet, but I do miss Hermione\’s SPEW stuff, and the whole Hagrid plot with the Screwts. (Although the DA was in Phoenix, not Prince, I think…)

   Posted at 12:08 pm on November 23rd by Mike.

3. Shoot, I just realized that when I wrote Goblet I meant Phoenix in those last two paragraphs. Don’t know why I wrote Goblet.

   Posted at 2:19 pm on November 23rd by Kristi.

4. It’s clear that it’s in Prince and Phoenix where the romantic relationships start to seriously get off the ground… but I’d argue that way back in Goblet we’ve already got signs that friendship, trust, and loyalty are becoming more important than the singular adventures of the earlier books. The challenges in Philosopher’s Stone were teamwork, yes, but it was more just that each of them was better suited to particular tasks; Ron to the Chess, Hermione to the Potions, Harry to the flying, etc.

   For example, the Barty Crouch storyline is extremely important in the book; the horrific sacrifices that a loving parent will make for their child. Also the mentoring relationships Harry has with both Dumbledore and Sirius. All of this was dramatically cut back in the film, but the skeleton of it is still there.

   Posted at 8:53 pm on November 23rd by Mike.

5. Just watched the latest Harry Potter movie. Am I the only one dissappointed with the watered down version intended for the masses? Unlike the previous films, I found this one a little too cheesy (couldn’t find a better word). I was also a little frustrated with some of the acting (Harry’s character in particular). You’d think he would have improved by now. I don’t think I’m asking for too much because I was very satisfied with the Lord of the Rings widescreen interpretation. Unlike the previous films, which I thought could be enjoyed by all ages, I found this one geared at the ˝I just hit pubery˝ generation. Am I alone with these complaints? Are my expectations way too high?

   Posted at 4:26 pm on December 3rd by M (one of the original creators of EMPYREAN back in high school).

6. I think Radcliffe has been doing a pretty good job, although there’s loads and loads of people over at the IMDb forums who would be happy to tell you otherwise.

   I mean, he’s not the next Spacey or anything, but it sure is a complicated set of emotions that he’s trying to present on-screen. And very quickly, too—this is a movie that contains enough plot elements for a 10-hour television series. (Maybe it’ll happen down the road sometime; based on the BBC’s production of Pride and Prejudice, they might be able to really do an amazing job.)

   As for watering down the story: It’s clear that they had to make a choice between plot elements and relationship elements. I think they made the right choice. On the other hand, it is too bad that we lost the Voldemort story, the Bagman plot, and most of the Barty Crouch Jr. story. (Not to mention Rita Skeeter’s secret, which becomes important in Phoenix)

   Posted at 6:29 pm on December 3rd by Mike.

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