It was definitely worth waiting for!

Rating: 9/10 (5 December 2005)

Well I might over-reacted with the voting but, it is due to the fact that I am such a big fan, and also under the strength of the impressions of just returning from the movies, after taking the whole exposure to magic.
I can not say that the Goblet of fire is the best book of the series, it somehow lacks the strength and the activity of the characters of the Order of the Phoenix, but still exposes to the best of light my favorite two characters. The first one of course being Harry Potter and the second as always, and for me naturally, Minerva McGonagall. Having the three previous movie adaptations of the books for hundreds of times, since I have the DVDs at home, I can say that I consider this as the best, although there were somethings that I lacked.
The first two films were necessarily adapted to suite to the children, as they were considered as the primary audience, and they were, but as the characters grow and develop the audience changes and the actual happenings in the story develop to a different level more likely followed with the film as such.
As of the very beginning up to the very end I enjoyed this film (Mike Newel brought something more adequate for the story - British, and finally he turned it to the stream it should have taken instead of the one that Cuaron wanted to lead it to). The first two, although a bit to much adapted to the younger audience and with more innocent approach, were definitely better in the sense of adaptation, since the third brought it to much into modern times and left the all British issues like school robes, rules and discipline that the students are supposed to have in a school such as Hogwarts being a proper English boarding school. There is an extreme quantity of effects that were conceded although the film was not made darker in any sense as it was with the previous one. The scene with the dragon was according to my taste a bit to exaggerated and thus made less attractive, unlike the second task which was offered to the viewers as reality. However I lack the difficulties and the dangers of the third task since the film offered us no more then the maze it self.
The actors on the adult side were more or less up to the challenge, of course, knowing that we speak of the most talented bunch of British actors that we have seen, while the strangers were very bad. Pedja Bjelac, I am sorry to say, was to stiff, and was like reading the lines from a card and speaking them in front of camera, while Stanislav Ianevski, although from the youngsters, with the three words said into the film does not deserve the efforts by the producers to go casting in Bulgaria. All the praise goes to Maggie Smith since she was the best in picturing the character of McGonagall as she really is described in the books. We saw Alan Rickman and Michel Gambon, possibly in bringing to us the worst of Dumbledore and Snape, but if this is a school then we should definitely see some more professors. Gleason looked to me like some oaf and although got the character right I think that Moody should be played by someone more agile who could prove to be up to the job of dark-wizard catcher not only by his magic abilities but by appearance to.
The younger cast are improving by the minute, but in this movie I so somethings which I shouldn't have like Ginny with no words at all, and Nevile at the most marvelous of his. Dan is the best and acts as a sponge by acquiring the most of positive experience from the grown-ups.
Nevertheless, the film did lose some points on a few issues. First, the Dursleys and the arriving of the Weasleys. The accommodation in the boxes during the Quidditch finals, and the finals themselves, if they were supposed to be omitted then they should have been omitted fully, and finally Molly Weasley should not have, I repeat, should not have been omitted since she plays a vital role for the emotional part of the movie and the upbringing of Harry. Her presence on the final task should have been most awarding for this side of the film. I personally being a cry baby at films, was on the verge of crying but there was a simple lack of emotions and a person dies, or worst was killed.
I do recommend to every movie lover to see it, in all the artistic senses it is worth seeing it, it is not just a part of the series. For the book lovers as I am I recommend that they accept the "film", not necessarily the adaptation.
Finally, thanks to the whole team for the Christmas present.