Young Potter fans rejoice! It is time to watch "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" over and over and over again. The fourth movie based on J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter character has been released on DVD in a couple of different flavors: a two-disc special edition with all the extras and a no-frills standard edition. No matter which edition you go for, the movie is one of the better in the series and will probably see a lot of time in your disc tray if you like the adventures of Rowling’s young wizard.
Events in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" surround the Triwizard Tournament, a wizarding challenge played out by the world’s three major schools of magic. The Goblet of Fire accepts names from students willing to undertake the three perilous challenges of the tournament and then judges the one student of magic from each school who is worthy to participate. Harry is actually too young to participate, as he is only a year-four student at 14 and contestants must be 17 to enter. He is relived that this is one high-profile event he is not going to have to prove himself in. But by some strange circumstance, after the three champions are chosen, the goblet throws out a fourth name, that of Harry Potter. The rules are clear: Harry has to participate in the tournament.
Director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile) takes on the story with a decidedly dark tone; definitely the darkest of the four movies thus far made. (Of course anyone who has read all the books knows things will get darker still.) Young Harry spends a great deal of the movie either bleeding or bandaged. Newell’s pacing throughout the film seldom lets up the pressure except to show the bittersweet first steps of the main characters into the world of youthful dating as they participate in the tournament’s traditional dance ball between the challenges. After that it is back to the action and an unrelenting drive to the final confrontation between our hero and a menacing evil that has always hung as a specter in previous Harry Potter stories, but in this one fully manifests itself.
The three leading young stars (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) give adequate performances in their roles as heroes of the story, but as usual the best performances are reserved for the adult stars who play the supporting cast. Maggie Smith again plays the character of Professor McGonagall with verve. Alan Rickman is back but not given nearly enough lines this time as the villainous Professor Snape. New to the cast is Brendan Gleeson as the most recent (and always ill-fated) defense against the dark arts professor, Mad-Eye Moody. Gleeson plays his new role with an eccentricity, and perhaps downright schizophrenia, that makes him a joy to watch on screen. He steals every scene he is in. Ralph Fiennes finally brings the character of Voldemort to full realization with a performance that is wonderfully ethereal and at the same time filled with a loathing repugnance.
As you might expect, the special effects that bring the world of Harry Potter to life are so integral to the movie that they are like a star unto themselves. The first Triwizard challenge involving the stealing of gold eggs from different dragon species is outstanding. The advancement of computer generated characters just keeps getting better and Harry’s battle with the Hungarian Horntail is a definite high-water mark in the film, though there are many scenes almost equally as good.
The theatrical impact the movie had adequately comes home on the DVD. The widescreen version is an excellent DVD transfer with no noticeable digital artifacting. The standard widescreen is letterboxed and okay on standard-definition, 4:3 ratio TVs, but the real beauty of the film is only fully evident on a 16:9 ratio HDTV where the anamorphic widescreen transfer can strut its stuff. When pumped through a 5.1 surround sound system the audio puts you right in the middle of the movie. Only two spoken languages are available, English and Spanish, but in subtitles French is added.
The standard, one-disc edition of the DVD is absolutely barebones. There are no extras whatsoever; not even a theatrical trailer. The two-disc special edition is loaded. There are additional scenes, multiple making-of featurettes, cast interviews, games and game demos and more – definitely a healthy array of extras. As the DVD releases, the actual difference in price you’ll pay in stores for each of these versions is about five dollars, though the suggested retail price is only about three dollars difference. It all depends on how much of a Potter fan you are as to whether or not the extra money is worth the goodies. I’m just happy to see a studio giving consumers a choice of a full-featured DVD experience or just the movie.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a terrific movie that nicely condenses the rather lengthy fourth book of the Harry Potter series into an immensely watchable film that has now made the leap to home video. No doubt many parents will be driven absolutely mad with the repeated viewings their kids are going to subject them to. But there are far worse films they could choose to watch, and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was definitely made with a quality that should entertain viewers of all ages.
