Harry Potter and the Goblet of Flops?

Rating: 5/10 (1 December 2005)

I am one of those people that has read all the books too many times to count, so I suppose I have an eye for things they may leave out. Although this was my personal favorite of all the films, it definitely was NOT because it was faithful to the book. The special effects, the acting, and the script was probably the best out of all four films, but it was the least faithful to the series we all know and love. Yes, I cried when Cedric died, and I was freaked out when Voldemort was revived, but through the whole movie, I felt myself thinking, "Oh my god, I can't believe they completely cut Winky the House Elf from the entire movie!" or "Okay... if I had NOT read the book, I would be confused out of my mind right now..." They cut so may important events from the story, and so many vital facts, that most people leaving the theater (that obviously hadn't read the book) were heard saying, "So wait, what was with that one scene? It didn't make any sense." And many of the things that were explained, were very discrete, and were hardly noticeable because of the speed of the dialog, or the tone of voice. Also, they attempted to condense a 734 page book into two and a half hours, making the movie seem too choppy. I know at one point the director was considering cutting it into two films, and making it have two parts. I think that was a much better idea; it would have made it flow through better, and seem more natural. I think that later in the series, they will look back at what they left out and realize that people will have to use the former films as references for future occurrences. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is probably the most important book to the series, because of the many proceedings that lead to important events in the future books, and it certainly didn't seem that way by the look and feel of the film. That is why I only gave the film five stars out of 10.