Click Here To Enlarge

• 1080p High Definition

• Additional Scenes

• Audio with Cast Members

• He Who Must Not Be Named Featurette

• Reflections on the Fourth Film

• Meet the Champions Featurette

Special Feature Rating:

Coming on the heels of the strongest and most technically dazzling Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire is a bit of a letdown. The characters are older and not as charismatic. Harry and Ron even harbor grudges against each other for much of the film and there are other signs of growing pains as the children move firmly into adolescence. Different challenges are presented, but the premise and arc of the story is much the same. Thankfully, those new challenges provide an opportunity to create dazzling special effects, and The Goblet of Fire does not let us down.

Story Rating:

Digital manipulation appears to have dynamically squashed the picture a bit, and depth suffers. This is especially true where significant CGI imagery is used. The effects are impressive, and rendered with great care. But the cost is the absence of gorgeously defined, palpable imagery that 1080p is capable of delivering. Another factor is the slight aqua green tint in many of the computer-generated scenes. It almost looks as if a translucent film of toothpaste was applied to the screen. For example, watch Harry fend off the dragon during the first challenge in the wizards' competition. When Harry and the dragon take to the skies, the picture seems ever-so-slightly obscured by a green tint. The aqua green is gone during the brighter scenes which, not surprisingly, show superior depth and presence.

Picture Rating:

The surround sound was crisp, with pinpoint imaging of some effects. Voices were clear, with good detail, but many of the other effects and the massed strings prevalent in the score had a homogeneous quality to them and did not sound as dynamic or vibrant as in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The audio assigned to various characters, creatures and props at times didn't seem mastered at the correct level. Returning again to the dragon scene--which, done right, could have been a reference-quality, standout in the series--the sound of the dragon flying and Harry's broom made noises that were surprisingly similar. Now granted, I've never heard the flight of a dragon, or a broom either, for that matter, but one would think the dragon would create more voluminous audio effects and that a broom would be relatively quiet. But that is not the way the sound was produced.

Sound Rating:

Overall Rating:

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2005 - Red Hot Reviews