Harry Potter IV - Spoilers welcome!

[Crothian]

I don't think Harry is that powerful of a Wizard. He's a baby that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His mom used that old love magic to defend him from the most horrible wizard ever. That created a link between the two and made him the focus of Vorty's comeback.

That's the only thing special about Harry, he's not that great of a Wizard but becasue of all this problems in his past he has managed to make great allies to offset the great enemies.

As for why people would believe the 14 year old, no one wants to believe Vorty is comeing back. Everyone things he his dead and they have no reason to think otherwise. Its not like the hidden happens at Hogswart make the front page of the magic newspaper.

 

[orbitalfreak]

I have a plot question...

The TriWizard tournament is for "eternal glory." They play up what a big deal it is.
Then at the end of the movie it just whimpers away.

Did Harry win? Did they cancel it b/c what's-his-name was killed?
Where's the eternal glory?

I think it's along the lines of the Olympics, World Cup, or something. In the wizarding world, you're probably looking at a smaller population, so you wouldn't be forgotten as quickly.

And, I think that Harry did win, but no one cares. Cedric died, and the dark lord returned; that pretty much overshadows anything else from the TWT.

 

[Xath]

I wouldn't have minded seeing a longer movie. But as I said, the movie was well compressed, I just missed seeing alot of things. I think some of what they skipped is going to haunt them in the next movie, unless the DVD has alot of extra scenes.

To me the HP movies are more of a "see your favorite scenes acted out with special effects." They're more of a supplement. If you want the whole story, read the books. That being said, I'd like to see more of my favorite scenes acted out with special effects.

 

[JoshWilhoyte]

Add me to the disapointed side. I think I probably cared for the GoF least of the four movies. The first two followed the letter of the books very well, but lost some of the spirit in doing so. PoA diverged from the books a fair amount, but their changes and additions "felt" more like Hogwarts and I thought they captured the spirit of the book. Meanwhile, Goblet of Fire didn't seem to follow the letter or the spirit of the books.

They hacked out massive chunks of the novel, and while I understand that they needed to trim it down, I think they underestimated their audience. Millions of 8 year olds have read this 750 page book a dozen times. You don't think they'd sit through a three hour movie? Or two 2 hour movies? I think they would.

IMO, most of the changes weren't very good, and many were pointless. Such as the very mechanical set up at the Quidditch World Cup, the fact they were in the nosebleeds instead of in the Top Box. The Moody twist went from being heart-breaking and shocking to dull and way too foreshadowed.

I've seen several people say that book 4 isn't a cheery and fun book to read. What the heck? Bour four was an awesomely fun read. Sure, Harry's miserable for several large chunks of it, and it's got the devastating ending (Mood's still by favorite DADA teacher, and he's the bad guy? Cedric's death, I liked Cedric, JK built him into a character with real heart in books 3 and 4. Voldemort's return), but most of the book is fun to read and imagine. The ball was great, the tasks were fun to read and watch. Meanwhile, in the movies, the dragon looked cool, but otherwise the 1st task looked kind of silly. The mage who just summoned his broom from a mile away can't easily get it from four feet away? The second task was pretty boring, and it cut out most of the interesting parts from the book. And the third task was utterly blah. The final task was a hedge maze that sometimes tries to eat you? WTF? That's their replacement for Giant Spiders, Blast Ended Skrewts, magical spells and a Sphinx?

All in all I felt they cut out too much, cut out many of the wrong things, dumbed down the story, plots, twists, and characterizations entirely too much. The above poster who thinks Neville got better play in this movie should see how much more he's gotten in the novels.

Don't get me wrong, there were good parts. Fred and George were hilarious. The scene where Harry asks Cho to the ball was perfect. The scene where Ginnie and Hermione help Ron back after he asks Fleur to the ball was perfect. Ron's "helping" Harry for the first task was funny. Neville was good, and Ginnie got a few more props. The Moody/Draco/ferret scene was hilarious.

Still, all in all, blah. Should've made it a mini-series.

Edit: And for those of you who haven't read the books, give them a chance, just read the first one. It's better than you think.

 

[billd91]

I think it's along the lines of the Olympics, World Cup, or something. In the wizarding world, you're probably looking at a smaller population, so you wouldn't be forgotten as quickly.

And, I think that Harry did win, but no one cares. Cedric died, and the dark lord returned; that pretty much overshadows anything else from the TWT.

Speaking of the Olympics, think of the glory of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, particularly for the Israeli team. That will probably help people understand why there was no being covered in glory.
The co-winners suddenly appear and one of them, a popular student, is dead and the other one saying that the scariest wizard who ever lived is back. That should end the party right there.

 

[RangerWickett]

One of my friends refers to it as "Harry Potter and the Giant F***ing Pile of Money."

 

[Rykion]

The lack of explanation of the Priori Incantatum scene is what sticks out most to people that haven't read the book. The other cuts will be more important in the next movie, as the next director will have to invent scenes to explain things or ignore large parts of the story.

That's the only thing special about Harry, he's not that great of a Wizard but becasue of all this problems in his past he has managed to make great allies to offset the great enemies.

Harry definitely has the ability to be a great wizard, but he is a major league slacker like Ron. When he focuses on learning something, he has shown more ability than the other students of his class. The Patronus he conjured in the third movie/book is years ahead of what he should be able to do. He is well ahead of everyone else in magic that matters to him, defense against the dark arts. That said, he is very fortunate to have the allies he does.

 

[WizarDru]

The above poster who thinks Neville got better play in this movie should see how much more he's gotten in the novels.

If you're talking about me, then you're mistaken in thinking I haven't read the books. Neville, like all the characters, gets much more time to do things in the books. In point of fact, I think Neville is under-used in the books, but he gets his chance to shine in OotP, as do the rest of the DA. My point was that he, the twins and others actually got meaningful screen time in the movie, as opposed to being one step above extras as they were in the most of the previous two movies.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The lack of explanation of the Priori Incantatum scene is what sticks out most to people that haven't read the book. The other cuts will be more important in the next movie, as the next director will have to invent scenes to explain things or ignore large parts of the story.


Harry definitely has the ability to be a great wizard, but he is a major league slacker like Ron. When he focuses on learning something, he has shown more ability than the other students of his class. The Patronus he conjured in the third movie/book is years ahead of what he should be able to do. He is well ahead of everyone else in magic that matters to him, defense against the dark arts. That said, he is very fortunate to have the allies he does.

You are correct. Harry has a lot of potential and ability that will only get greater as he gets older. I can only imagine that he will defeat Voldemort in a duel of some sort next book.

 

[Arnwyn]

I will echo what all the other non-HP-readers had to say: this movie was generally 'bleh'.

I found it quite silly in places, too fast and frenetic, and fairly incomprehensible throughout. While the absolute overall general storyline is reasonably clear, there are so many details and events that are left unanswered that the movie becomes quite unsatisfying. And, again as a non-HP-reader, the whole 'dark arts defense' teacher being screwed up was trite and even predictable.

I am thankful, though, that I had my trusty translator beside me (read: Mrs. Arnwyn) to help me understand what the heck was going on, and what the significance of x, y, and z was.

Now, I certainly do understand that the director/writer(s) had to make a decision on how to present the movie and what assumptions to make - and it looks like the assumption was that movie-goers have read the books. I think that's probably a wise decision, considering how many books have been sold - but, regardless, there is no question about it AFAIC: this movie does not stand on its own.

(And, as to the "critics/RottenTomatoes/teh intarweb reviews" line of thinking - I'll hazard a guess that most of them have read the books.)