Goblet of Fire DVD Review

This is not a review of Goblet of Fire, but it is one of the DVD package.

The shipping: Normally I get Amazon Super Saver Shipping, and stack it up with other items.
Word of advice – never, ever do this again. Just pay it and be done with it. While everyone was being gleeful, I only got my DVD (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)) this week. I learned my lesson, no more suffering. Life’s too short.

Sonorus would like me to mention the difficulty of the shrinkwrap, as he got the full experience in reading the play by play “how does one open these things without damaging the package?”. See, I am not a wimp without nails and this was the extra vacuumed Deluxe Edition that Amazon threw my way. The packaging escaped mostly unscathed but still has those typical DVD dings that seem unavoidable in the peel ‘n tear frenzy. I nearly broke out sharp objects, it was that bad. Are you suffering? I am on to you, Amazon. I really am.

That said, I skipped the Main Disc right off, because while I did buy it for the movie, what I really wanted to see were the extras, and in that regard the Deluxe Edition is all that and the bag of Sun Chips. Make no mistake, these are not simple 2-3 minute extra features. These are extras of decent length and well chosen quality.

Features
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Additional scenes
Conversations with the cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint
Preparing for the Yule Ball
Reflections on the Fourth Film
Triwizard Tournament, Dragon Arena:
Dragon Challenge (game), Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task, Meet the Champions
Triwizard Tournament, Lake:
Lake Challenge (game), In Too Deep: The Second Task
Triwizard Tournament, Maze:
Maze Challenge (game), To the Graveyard and Back Challenge, The Maze: The Third Task, He Who Must Not Be Named
Theatrical trailer

DVD-ROM features: EA Game Demo, Hogwarts Timeline, Web Interactivity

[p]Now let it be known that Goblet is a serious movie. Someone dies, even. Voldemort comes back. This is not a happy movie. But what struck me most about the features was all the lighthearted fun enclosed. These people love what they do, and it shows. The cast laughed, played, and danced together. Perhaps it was idealized, but I don’t get that feeling at all. You really can’t fake the fun these cameras captured.
Favorite Extra: “Meet the Champions”, followed very closely by “Preparing for the Yule Ball”

The “Meet the Champions” followed Clemence Poesy (Fleur Delacour), Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), and Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum) around for a day, starting bright and early in the morning and following them until it was time to go home. This was fun to watch, especially as the tasks ranged from exciting (the graveyard), to the mundane (walking down a hall, yay fun). Through the whole day, the three stars handled the cameras with humor and viewers got a refreshing behind the scenes featurette.

[p]The “Preparing for the Yule Ball” was filled with good stuff. Everything was discussed – the set, Hermione’s dress, and the dancing. The set was even more magnificent and detailed than I had originally thought. These are movies done with care.

Least Favorite Extra: Trio Interview
I just didn’t like this one – it seemed awkward and forced in places, as if the interviewer had no idea how to talk to young adults.
Best extra scenes: “Do the Hippogriff”- I gained new appreciation for this song. While it does go on a bit, including just a bit more of this in the movie would have been welcome. The Karkaroff/Snape scene was excellent as well.

Worst extra scene: “Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts” – it was funny but I can see where the music gets cut, thankfully. Harry Potter is not a musical! Stop singing!

Some pointless extra scenes illustrated the cuts of the movie were very well selected. They weren’t bad, they just really wouldn’t have added anything to the movie.

Amusing: The extras disc is in French and English. The movie can be seen in Spanish too, though, so Spanish viewers may just be out of luck on the extras.

Of particular enjoyment were the comments and
increased visibility of the “second string characters” (Ginny, Dean, the Weasley twins) peppered in with the comments from crew members, Mike Newell, and David
Heyman. By the time we get to Order of the Phoenix, we’ll understand why everyone is more visible and talking in the movie – they had presence, both in the movie and out.

But how are the games? At least unlike in previous years, you don’t have to do anything special to get to the extra scenes. The games are neither entirely interesting or good. As for the trading cards, do people really use them?

The timeline is great – a handy feature to the obsessive Potter-phile in need of something more clearly defined. You know these people. We run fansites. Filled with mountains of information and databases bursting at the seams, exact data combats the imprecise extrapolations from text, and maybe could help you out at your next trivia night. Maybe.

Lumina’s Recommendations on “Things to improve on or add for Order of the Phoenix“
More book related stuff – perhaps
a feature on “things we left out” (in Order, if they make the movie properly, they’re going to have to be brutal with the cuts)
A day with the trio!
Profiles of the DA
The Black Family Tree
I realize the trio interview is obligatory, but the comfort level of both the interviewer and the interviewees needs to go way up. Faster paced, better/more interesting questions would help greatly.
Selectable ‘cut’ scenes via menu, which would enable the ability to rewatch a certain scene without having to see them all again.

Recommendation
If you don’t get the Deluxe Edition, you are truly missing out on excellent stuff. Highly recommended. Spend the extra couple dollars and watch out for the shrinkwrap.