Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

The fourth film in the saga pits Harry more directly against Lord Voldemort and the forces of darkness.

Reviewed by Greg Maltz January 9, 2008

"It is not our abilities that show who we truly are," Hogwart's headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) tells Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). "It is our choices." Harry and his friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are back for a fourth year at Hogwarts in the film translation of J.K. Rowling's hugely successful novel. But this time, Harry's friends cannot help him as he is unwittingly entered in a prestigious competition that will ultimately determine who is the most gifted wizard. Harry faces the tournament's dangerous challenges, including a maze full of man-eating foliage and a deadly dragon. But he also must face the embodiment of evil itself, Lord Voldemort, who is brought into human form by the forces of darkness.

Harry must survive a brutal encounter with a dragon in The Goblet of Fire.

Coming on the heels of the strongest and most technically dazzling Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire is a bit of a letdown. The characters are older and not as charismatic. Harry and Ron even harbor grudges against each other for much of the film and there are other signs of growing pains as the children move firmly into adolescence. Comic relief is in short supply. But the larger problem is that the story has become much too formulaic and predictable, and the acting too stilted. Different challenges are presented, but the premise and arc of the story is much the same. Thankfully, those new challenges provide an opportunity to create dazzling special effects, and The Goblet of Fire does not let us down.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While picture detail and definition is strong, the overall resolution has taken a step back from the more dynamic imagery of The Prisoner of Azkaban. Digital manipulation appears to have dynamically squashed the picture a bit, and depth suffers. This is especially true where significant CGI imagery is used. The effects are impressive, and rendered with great care. But the cost is the absence of gorgeously defined, palpable imagery that 1080p is capable of delivering. Another factor is the slight aqua green tint in many of the computer-generated scenes. It almost looks as if a translucent film of toothpaste was applied to the screen. For example, watch Harry fend off the dragon during the first challenge in the wizards' competition. When Harry and the dragon take to the skies, the picture seems ever-so-slightly obscured by a green tint. The aqua green is gone during the brighter scenes which, not surprisingly, show superior depth and presence.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio, too, was a bit of a letdown compared to its predecessor. That said, the surround sound was crisp, with pinpoint imaging of some effects. Voices were clear, with good detail, but many of the other effects and the massed strings prevalent in the score had a homogeneous quality to them and did not sound as dynamic or vibrant as in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The audio assigned to various characters, creatures and props at times didn't seem mastered at the correct level. Returning again to the dragon scene--which, done right, could have been a reference-quality, standout in the series--the sound of the dragon flying and Harry's broom made noises that were surprisingly similar. Now granted, I've never heard the flight of a dragon, or a broom either, for that matter, but one would think the dragon would create more voluminous audio effects and that a broom would be relatively quiet. But that is not the way the sound was produced. Part of the problem is that the 16-bit 5.1 PCM track, at 48 kHz, is not of significantly higher resolution than your average CD or DD track. That is not sufficient resolution for a complex audio mix with music and a variety of sound effects.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Again, the content of the Blu-ray version mirrors the supplementary content on the original DVD release. Thankfully, we do get an HD upgrade on the documentary, but the rest of the content remains standard definition. The content includes: an HD 31-minute documentary entitled, "Conversations with the Cast"; a 13-minute featurette, "Meet the Champions", about the supporting cast; another 13-minute retrospective look at older footage in the context of Goblet of Fire, entitled "Reflections on the Fourth Film"; an 11-minute analysis of what was involved in preparing actor Ralph Fiennes for his role as Voldemort, entitled "He Who Must Not Be Named"; a six-minute featurette showcasing the effects wizardry that went in to production of the dragon, "Harry Vs. the Horntail"; a nine-minute study of the aquatic CGI world required in the second challenge of the wizardry contest, "In Too Deep" and a similar seven-minute featurette, "The Maze"; and a nine-minute behind-the-scenes look at some mindless fun "Preparing for the Yule Ball". Rounding out the bonus material is 10 minutes worth of deleted scenes--eight scenes in all-- that offer no additional insight into the plot, and the requisite theatrical trailer.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Dumbledore's message in the scene noted at the top of this review is really the moral of this story--and it's a good one--the film fell flat for me. Perhaps The Prisoner of Azkaban raised my expectations too high with its character development and quirky humor, but I found the lack of comic relief and overdramatization weighed down Goblet of Fire excessively. As I plodded through the Blu-ray versions of the Potter films, I was struck by the narcissism of it all. In many of the films it is palatable, and we all can relate, to some extent, as we each want to think we are special people and we discover unique aspects of ourselves as we grow up. But of course the core of the Harry Potter saga carries this egocentrism to excess, and Goblet of Fire was a bit too much for me to stomach. The film centered around a competition for Hogwarts seniors, but Harry was entered into the contest by seemingly divine power, even though he was too young. My eyes started to roll at that point. I'm all for superheroes and wizards, but trying to put the two together in a prepubescent teen is just a bit much unless it is handled just right.