Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Do not read this entry unless you have seen the movie. Just skip over to the next entry.

Today I went to the Tropicana casino to see this movie at their IMAX theatre. I had read the book over a year ago, but I distinctly remembered what was in the book and was ready to look for events in the movie that might correspond with the book. Unfortunately, the movie only barely followed through on the book.

How? Firstly, Barty Crouch junior was never in the Riddle House consorting with Voldemort; just Wormtail was there. Then Harry woke up from the dream in the Burrow, whereas the book says that he woke up at number four, Privet Drive, and immediately set to writing a letter to Sirius about the situation (which he did on the bus instead). The only coverage of the Quidditch World Cup was the introduction of the players (which, I must admit, is wizardry of computer graphics itself), and Crouch sent the Dark Mark in the forest according to the book but the movie put it among the ruin of the tents; also, there was no coverage of the Muggles being tortured. Malfoy was transferred into a ferret in the courtyard instead of the corridor as in the book, and in the book Malfoy was escorted by Moody afterward, but to Snape, and in the movie Harry is led directly to Moody's office and given hints about the first task — which in the book were to come after the dragons, yet the movie showed the dragons after Harry was given the tip! When Harry prepares for the first task, Hermione hugs him in the movie and gets caught by Skeeter — but the book alleges that Colin Creevey told Skeeter about Hermione and Skeeter furnished the rest of the story herself. And Harry was given the gillyweed by Dobby in the book, whereas in the movie Neville offhandedly (yes, it was that daft) gave it to him.

Then we go after the second task. In the book, Rita Skeeter was to write about Hermione 'dumping' Harry in Witch Weekly and Sirius was to speak to our trio afterward — but no sign of it in the movie! And in the movie Harry sees Crouch senior dead, but in the book he never does! And the second time Harry had the dream, it wasn't a repeat of the first one; it was when Wormtail was punished for his blunder. Then in the Pensieve, Harry witnesses three trials: one of Karkaroff, one of Bagman, and one of Crouch junior — but only in the book. In the movie, Karkaroff is hoisted up in a cage and not on a chair, and he gives away Crouch, effectively eliminating Bagman's inquiry and condensing the other two. Then the third task: Harry was supposed to send sparks for Krum after attacking him, not when Fleur was enveloped by the hedges. And even at that, the book said nothing about moving hedges — and the skrewt that blocked the way to the Cup was replaced by a large gust!

And after Voldemort rises again and Harry returns, the interrogation of Barty Crouch junior ends with Barty being sent to Azkaban in the movie — but a dementor sucks away his soul in the book, leaving Harry with no support for his story. And at the end Harry doesn't give any gold to the Weasleys, and they'll need it when they open their shop in book six.

And to top it off, Dobby, Winky, and Ludo Bagman, who have significant roles in the book, appear in the movie zero times apiece.

I'm sorry for ranting, but this was not what I expected of the movie. I realise that the book was 734 pages long and rather unwieldy to make into a movie, but the amount of material that the creators had to shave away is ridiculous. Had they put in at least ten of the discrepancies I've mentioned, the movie would be a lot better.