DVD Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

It's time for Harry, Hermione and Ron to grow up fast. See what special goodies are included in the DVD of this pivotal Harry Potter adventure.

You know the drill, Harry has disturbing dreams. He gets picked by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the Triwizard Tournament even though he's too young. He faces dragons, water monsters and a killer Maze then has to face the worst threat of all to a young teen boy..... girls!! Who will he take to the Yule Ball? Not the gal of his dreams. Then he must face Lord Voldemort, finally back in the flesh, in his biggest challenge yet.

Video: "The Goblet of Fire" in original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 is enhanced and looks good for the most part. The contrast is a little odd at times. The movie has a lot of very dark scenes and it's hard to see detail in those. The transfer is clean, no flaws but, although close-ups are crisp, things get a little murky in wide, vista scenes. Maybe some of this is in the actual film but more detail would have been nice. Overall.. okay however.

Audio: The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack comes through with deep bass tones; you can understand the dialogue and sound effects come through but not always as pumped into all speakers as in previous "Harry" releases. Sound balance is fine however.

Special Features: This is a two-disc set with the film on the first disc and bonus stuff on the second. As usual, some features are better than others. Three games require you to use your remote and, for some reason, mine wasn't getting the right responses on the screen but that's probably my non-gamer, non-expertise or a lousy remote.

The features are divided into the arenas of Harry's three Triwizard challenges. In the "Dragon Arena" area you get a little "Triwizard Tournament: Dragon Challenge" game. Then, in "Harry and the Horntail: The First Task", a 16-minute featurette shows you all about the creation of that sequence in the film. Then there is "Meet the Champions," a 13-minute "behind the scenes" segment with on set info with the actors playing the three tournament champions plus Daniel Radcliffe. Fun.

In "The Lake," you get another game to play then a ten minute featurette "In Too Deep: The Second Task," focusing on Daniel's difficult underwater work for the segment. The poor actor was really put through some tough underwater training for this challenge. Interesting.

"The Maze" section has two more games; one kind of fun one as you face the maze and then "To the Graveyard and Back Challenge" placing you in the graveyard facing the Deatheaters. A short featurette on "The Maze: The Third Task" is about seven minutes and shows how much of the segment was done with CGI roots and vines. On set, the actors were tied with ropes and guys pulling them around. Also interesting. A final eleven-minute feature concentrates on the wonderful Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort in "He Who Must Not Be Named" covering Ralph's interpretation of the character, the make-up and filming the graveyard scene.

The last arena "Hogwarts Castle" was my fave with ten minutes of "Additional Scenes" that are worth watching. You can see some scenes that should have been in the film and others that were wisely left out. "Preparing for the Yule Ball", about nine minutes, is really fun. You see Emma Watson in her pretty ball gown and hear anecdotes from her and the various actors on learning to dance (Radcliffe is awful and admits it!) the fun had by the young actors who filmed the ball scenes, etc. Really enjoyable.

The really good treat for "Harry" fans is "Conversations with the Cast," that gives you a full 30 minute interview with Emma, Rupert and Daniel. The cast members look great and it's fun to see them be more candid about making the film. Some contest winner fans get to ask the cast their own questions. Enjoyable. Then there is "Reflections on the Fourth Film," fourteen minutes with the actors commenting on all the changes they've lived over the Potter films etc. Very interesting.

Putting the disc in your DVD-ROM drive gives you an EA Game Demo, magic trading cards, a Hogwarts Timeline and some Web stuff. You also get a trailer, some previews of upcoming films etc.

Wrapping Up: If you are a "Harry" fan, you'll be buying this DVD whether you think the film was too close to the book, not close enough etc. I really enjoyed the new teen angst as the three leads go to their first dance, deal more with jealousy etc. Although not totally perfect, the DVD is certainly entertaining and, for devout fans, the interviews are especially great to have. Games are cute if simplistic and behind-the-scenes stuff is plentiful. You must at least rent but probably buy to put next to your other "Harry" films!

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.