This is my favorite film yet in the series...
Technical Review and Closing Comments by Dean Winkelspecht:
Video:
The Blu-ray release of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is just as impressive as the previous film in the series, but the film benefits from a stronger palette than "Prisoner of Azkaban," but is again altered in a stylistic manner. The 2.40:1 film is presented with a VC-1 mastered picture that provides the full 1080p resolution. The stylistic palette used for the fourth Potter film is skewed heavily towards the blue range of colors and skintones are paler than skin´s natural warm coloring. Harry Potter has a horrid hairstyle in this film, and his white skin coloring doesn´t help him much. Detail is again very strong, but I noticed a slight dropoff during the final Triwizard trial in the maze. This was due to some heavy black crush and loss of shadow detail, but the rest of the film looked quite strong. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a darker film than previous efforts and black levels generally hold up except for this one sequence. In general, this is a clean and sharp looking release.
Sound:
The Blu-ray release of this Harry Potter film is again awe-inspiring in the number of soundtracks provided. The superior English PCM 5.1 mix is provided, as well as a lesser, but still strong English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Foreign languages are supported with the following list: Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1. As was the case with the previous films in the series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" utilizes the .1 LFE channel effectively and has a strong presence in the surround channels. Sound flows nicely between the channels and this aggressive mix sounds quite good. Dialogue is clean and intelligible.
Extras:
The fourth Harry Potter film is the last of the films I own on DVD and the final comparison I am able to provide between the original DVD format at the new Blu-ray release contained within the expansive Harry Potter box set. As was the case with the first three pictures, many of the supplements have been ported over to the Blu-ray format, but the interactive features were left behind. The fourth film contained an "EA Game Demo" and "Hogwarts Timeline" that could be played via a DVD-ROM PC drive. There were also three challenges based upon the three Triwizard Tournament events and a final challenge based upon the climatic graveyard squaring off between Harry Potter and "He Who Must Not Be Named." The majority of supplements did make it to Blu-ray and only the more interactive elements intended for younger children didn´t make the cut.
Nearly everything is contained under "Behind the Story." The first three features detail the three tasks from the Triwizard Tournament. Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task (6:08) finds the actors and filmmakers talking about creating the scene and detailing the genesis of the first task in which Harry Potter had to face the meanest of the dragons. In Too Deep: The Second Task (9:48) is much of the same as the first featurette, but looks at the underwater challenge and what all went into the impressive action sequences. The Maze: The Third Task (6:48) looked at the scariest maze since Kubrick´s "The Shining." These three EPK-styled features were interesting enough and not too promotional in composition. Meet the Champions (13:03) was an in-depth look at the three champions that competed with Harry Potter and the three actors that brought them to life. This featured many video-diary like segments mixed with interview moments.
Lord Voldemort is the next topic of discussion with He Who Must Not Be Named (11:09). This featurette looked at the creation of the big bad Harry Potter villain and how he was finally brought to life in the fourth film. This is an EPK style feature that looked at the entire genesis of the Voldemort character and I learned that Ralph Fiennes was the man behind the make-up. That was a surprise. Preparing for the Yule Ball (9:03) was a talking-heads behind-the-scenes look at the big Christmas Eve ball shown in the film and they talked about being dressed up and dancing. It was a unique experience for those involved with the Harry Potter films. Conversations with the Cast (30:36) is a lengthy featurette that finds host Richard Curtis sitting down and chatting with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. This was a matter-of-fact conversation with the young actors and a nice watch. Reflections on the Fourth Film (14:13) found members of the cast and crew talking about their experiences up to the fourth movie. This shows how much the characters have aged.
Once again, "Additional Footage" and a "Trailers" section appear on the Blu-ray disc. The Additional Scenes (10:08) finds a number of short scenes bunched together and unlike the first three films, the scenes are not separated. The scenes are again worth checking out. Some are extended moments of existing scenes and others are items that were left entirely on the cutting room floor. The film´s Theatrical Trailer is included, as well as mention of the Online site created by Warner Bros. to tout their support of the Blu-ray format.
Closing Comments:
Each Harry Potter film seems to get a little bit better than the previous installment. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is no exception and this is easily the biggest and grandest adventure for Harry and his friends. This is my favorite film yet in the series and I actually enjoyed this one more than the following picture, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." All of the ever-expanding cast performs magnificently in this film and I continue to enjoy the new characters, especially Brendan Gleason as Professor Moody. It is just a shame that a professor for the Protection against the Dark Arts never survives more than one film. The Blu-ray release is against strong for the Harry Potter series and features a very good looking picture and solid sounding audio. The bonus materials are culled from the previous DVD release and are worth checking out if you haven´t already done so with the DVD release. This is the best Potter film yet and great fun.
Video:
The Blu-ray release of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is just as impressive as the previous film in the series, but the film benefits from a stronger palette than "Prisoner of Azkaban," but is again altered in a stylistic manner. The 2.40:1 film is presented with a VC-1 mastered picture that provides the full 1080p resolution. The stylistic palette used for the fourth Potter film is skewed heavily towards the blue range of colors and skintones are paler than skin´s natural warm coloring. Harry Potter has a horrid hairstyle in this film, and his white skin coloring doesn´t help him much. Detail is again very strong, but I noticed a slight dropoff during the final Triwizard trial in the maze. This was due to some heavy black crush and loss of shadow detail, but the rest of the film looked quite strong. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a darker film than previous efforts and black levels generally hold up except for this one sequence. In general, this is a clean and sharp looking release.
Sound:
The Blu-ray release of this Harry Potter film is again awe-inspiring in the number of soundtracks provided. The superior English PCM 5.1 mix is provided, as well as a lesser, but still strong English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Foreign languages are supported with the following list: Danish Dolby Digital 5.1; Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1; Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Quebec Dubbed) Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1. As was the case with the previous films in the series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" utilizes the .1 LFE channel effectively and has a strong presence in the surround channels. Sound flows nicely between the channels and this aggressive mix sounds quite good. Dialogue is clean and intelligible.
Extras:
The fourth Harry Potter film is the last of the films I own on DVD and the final comparison I am able to provide between the original DVD format at the new Blu-ray release contained within the expansive Harry Potter box set. As was the case with the first three pictures, many of the supplements have been ported over to the Blu-ray format, but the interactive features were left behind. The fourth film contained an "EA Game Demo" and "Hogwarts Timeline" that could be played via a DVD-ROM PC drive. There were also three challenges based upon the three Triwizard Tournament events and a final challenge based upon the climatic graveyard squaring off between Harry Potter and "He Who Must Not Be Named." The majority of supplements did make it to Blu-ray and only the more interactive elements intended for younger children didn´t make the cut.
Nearly everything is contained under "Behind the Story." The first three features detail the three tasks from the Triwizard Tournament. Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task (6:08) finds the actors and filmmakers talking about creating the scene and detailing the genesis of the first task in which Harry Potter had to face the meanest of the dragons. In Too Deep: The Second Task (9:48) is much of the same as the first featurette, but looks at the underwater challenge and what all went into the impressive action sequences. The Maze: The Third Task (6:48) looked at the scariest maze since Kubrick´s "The Shining." These three EPK-styled features were interesting enough and not too promotional in composition. Meet the Champions (13:03) was an in-depth look at the three champions that competed with Harry Potter and the three actors that brought them to life. This featured many video-diary like segments mixed with interview moments.
Lord Voldemort is the next topic of discussion with He Who Must Not Be Named (11:09). This featurette looked at the creation of the big bad Harry Potter villain and how he was finally brought to life in the fourth film. This is an EPK style feature that looked at the entire genesis of the Voldemort character and I learned that Ralph Fiennes was the man behind the make-up. That was a surprise. Preparing for the Yule Ball (9:03) was a talking-heads behind-the-scenes look at the big Christmas Eve ball shown in the film and they talked about being dressed up and dancing. It was a unique experience for those involved with the Harry Potter films. Conversations with the Cast (30:36) is a lengthy featurette that finds host Richard Curtis sitting down and chatting with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. This was a matter-of-fact conversation with the young actors and a nice watch. Reflections on the Fourth Film (14:13) found members of the cast and crew talking about their experiences up to the fourth movie. This shows how much the characters have aged.
Once again, "Additional Footage" and a "Trailers" section appear on the Blu-ray disc. The Additional Scenes (10:08) finds a number of short scenes bunched together and unlike the first three films, the scenes are not separated. The scenes are again worth checking out. Some are extended moments of existing scenes and others are items that were left entirely on the cutting room floor. The film´s Theatrical Trailer is included, as well as mention of the Online site created by Warner Bros. to tout their support of the Blu-ray format.
Closing Comments:
Each Harry Potter film seems to get a little bit better than the previous installment. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is no exception and this is easily the biggest and grandest adventure for Harry and his friends. This is my favorite film yet in the series and I actually enjoyed this one more than the following picture, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." All of the ever-expanding cast performs magnificently in this film and I continue to enjoy the new characters, especially Brendan Gleason as Professor Moody. It is just a shame that a professor for the Protection against the Dark Arts never survives more than one film. The Blu-ray release is against strong for the Harry Potter series and features a very good looking picture and solid sounding audio. The bonus materials are culled from the previous DVD release and are worth checking out if you haven´t already done so with the DVD release. This is the best Potter film yet and great fun.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]22520[/release]