Goblet of Fire VS Half-Blood Prince

[luna]

gof: 5/10

hbp: 8/10

 

hbp is supreme in pretty much every single way.

[John Marston]

HBP is not perfect but it destroys GOF./ GOF was the worst film of the franchise. by far

[The Dark Alfred]

GoF is by far the best film of the franchise for me along with PoA.

[Noctis]

I LOVE that HBP is winning.

[Jawa]

Goblet of Fire is a complete trainwreck disappointment, especially coming off Prisoner of Azkaban. I saw it on Thanksgiving 2005 and tried to convince myself that I enjoyed it, ignoring the huge character inconsistencies and unnecessary changes made to the plot. I'll just make a list of the worst offenses:

 

- "Who wants me to open it?": completely out of character for Harry. He doesn't like being the center of attention. In the novel, Harry doesn't want to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, but is bound to by the rules. He barely celebrates his victories, and is just happy to survive them.

 

- Also out of character for Harry: he almost lets Cedric die in the maze. Also, Cedric is an asshole who is completely unsympathetic. I don't know if it's Pattinson being miscast or the poorly-written script, but considering how bad the rest of the script is, I'd bet the latter.

 

- "DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET?": completely out of character for Dumbledore. He's not an unstable psychopath like the movie would have you believe. Gambon's Dumbledore in general wasn't very good, but he was particularly awful in GOF (although his OOTP performance was pretty bad as well).

 

- Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. What was up with them dancing their way into the Great Hall? Why is Fleur, a Veela, not that attractive? Why are they both unisex schools? Why does Madame Maxime eat a bug out of Hagrid's beard? Why is Krum so boring?

 

- Barty Crouch Jr. is nothing like how he acts in the book. In the book, he is shy and nervous. That's what makes him so scary. He's the last kind of person you would expect to be a Death Eater, which makes the atrocities he commits all the more terrifying. David Tennant's hammy performance is fun, but it is a complete departure from the book. Also, the movie makes no effort to explain how he escaped Azkaban and doesn't include his ultimate fate (Dementor's Kiss).

 

- Sirius is in one scene as a pile of embers. Goblet of Fire is the book that most develops the relationship between Harry and Sirius, and yet Harry only speaks to him once in the entire film.

 

- The Third Task. Such a step down from the awesome maze in the book filled with magical creatures. They dumped a sphinx and blast-ended skrewt in favor of ominous wind and bushes that eat people. Scary!

 

- The Yule Ball is the centerpiece of the movie. Half-Blood Prince gets a lot of hate for cutting plot-important memories (the Gaunts, Riddle asking for the DADA job) in favor of teenage romantic drama. While that is a valid criticism (and one that I share), this film is way, way worse about it. I swear the Yule Ball is twenty minutes long. Too long for not advancing the plot at all.

 

- Makes no effort to set up Order of the Phoenix and the conflict between the Ministry and Dumbledore/Harry. "The Parting of Ways" chapter of the book is completely gone, which makes for a really weak ending:

 

- Hermione: "Everything is going to change now, isn't it?" Yeah no shit, Hermione.

 

I understand that a lot has to be cut out or changed to adapt the novel into a film. All of the Harry Potter films do this to some extent. But Goblet of Fire is the only one where the changes undermine the plot and characters to such a high degree.

 

Half-Blood Prince has a few flaws, but nothing too major, and the material it gets right, it gets right.

[Noctis]

Amazingly put, Jada. I completely agree.

[Jawa]

Thanks Noctis.

 

I feel like the best parts in the Harry Potter films are the most emotionally-charged or moving scenes. POA, HBP, and both DH films are packed with emotion, which I believe is why they are commonly cited as the best of the series.

 

My favorite scene in HBP is actually one in which the filmmakers took creative liberties: where Slughorn decides to give Harry the Horcrux memory. In the book, Slughorn is drunk, which makes it easy for Harry to guilt him into giving him the memory. In the film, Slughorn talks about the fish Lily gave him and what her kindness meant to him. It's more powerful because Slughorn is completely aware of what Harry is trying to do, but he makes a conscious choice to do the right thing. I think it's played out perfectly and is in my opinion the most emotional scene in the series. GOF is sorely lacking in anything close to that.

[Noctis]

Wow, I completely agree. I was just going to mention that. That was a beautifully written scene that gave a lot of depth to Slughorn's character. If there is one thing where Yates excels at, it's character moments. Even in OoTP, which is not as good as his other three, it does have genuine emotion (every single scene with Luna, and Harry being saved from his possession by the memories of his friends and loved ones). I have no problem whatsoever that they cut the battle from HBP. That didn't bother me one bit. I think it works so well in the film, as it gives it a much more lonely and personal feel. 

 

In the book, when Lavender kisses Ron, Hermione just freaks out and attacks Ron before Harry is able to do anything to comfort her. In the film, they turned it into such a strong moment between Harry/Hermione where he was able to sit by her and give her comfort and assurance that she wasn't alone in what she was feeling. 

 

HBP is the one film in the series that's been changing a lot of minds since its release. While it started out as extremely divisive for the fanbase, it's now turned into one of the favorites. It's because they did complete justice to the characters.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Noctis

[Lumos]

Well GoF and HBP are interesting comparisons. GoF sacrificed a lot of character moments for action, and HBP sacrificed a lot of action for character moments. So it all comes down to what you prefer.  

 

HBP is one of the most visually stunning films I've ever seen.  The cinematography is still my favorite aspect of the film.  It's just so beautiful to look at.  I feel like this could have been the perfect film in the series if they added a few more memory scenes and deleted out the attack on the burrow, which is a HUGE blemish on the film.  And I agree with Noctis, the scene with the birds was very emotional..  It gave me a lump in the throat the first time I watched it - first time for a HP film!  This film is also the most timeless entry in the series, along with DH1, SS and PoA.  Those are the 4 movies that i think are going to hold up the best in the next ten years. CoS, GoF, and OOTP will be forgotten. 

 

I watched GoF not that long ago, and it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it.  Its lost its charm and wit, that I enjoyed so much on my first few viewings. One scene I really enjoyed though was Moody's DADA class where he teaches the students about the unforgiveable curses, and Neville walks out obviously devastated. That scene was stellar.

 

HBP: 8/10

GOF: 6/10

Edited June 23, 2013 by Lumos

[Jawa]

Good analysis, Lumos.

 

I did have a few problems with Half-Blood Prince. Like you said, the attack at the Burrow was a mistake. I understand what they were going for (showing that Harry wasn't safe outside Hogwarts), but that's conveyed much better in the next film at the wedding. Also, after the attack at the Burrow happens, nobody mentions it for the remainder of the film. You'd think someone would say something along the lines of, "Holy crap, Ron! Your house was on fire!"

 

The memories should have stayed, I agree. I love the insight into Tom Riddle we get in the film, but I'd have liked more.

 

Also, I wish Dumbledore's funeral had been included. It shows what an impact his death has on the overall wizarding community, and is much better than everyone pointing their wands up at the sky.

 

But again, none of those are too bad of faults, and pale in comparison to what the film does justice to:

 

- The Ron/Hermione relationship.

 

- Draco Malfoy. If you ask me, Tom Felton steals the movie. In particular the Sectumsempra and confrontation with Dumbledore scenes are his two best in the series.

 

- The best performance from Gambon in the series. It's a shame it took him four films to start getting Dumbledore right (well, three... he didn't do much in POA), but he's convincing in this one.

 

- The cave. The inferi were legitimately scary. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to jump when it grabs Harry's hand.

 

- Both of the Tom Riddle memories and their actors' portrayals of him.

 

- The cinematography. To be fair, I did like the cinematography in GOF, but watching HBP is often like looking at a painting.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Geez, now I want to watch it again...

[Noctis]

I loved how in the film we got to see Draco's journey. It added a lot of depth and vulnerability to his character. Draco crying when he found the white bird dead in the cabinet was a beautiful touch. 

 

AMAZING foreshadowing in the film, too:

 

The black bird surviving the cabinet transfer (I thought it was a neat foreshadowing moment since the Death Eaters eventually get into Hogwarts through it)

 

"You'll never know what you'll find up here." Again, foreshadows Harry discovering Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement.

 

Harry's neck twitching when he touches the Horcrux.

 

"Oh no, Harry, your blood is much more precious than mine." Brilliant.

[Punishment]

GOF is definitely the film I enjoyed the least out of the series.

[Dilusha Bandara]

Easily the  better movie is HBP. It was much darker and thrilling than GOF.

[The47th]

Goblet of Fire should've been way more serious, specially in terms of the villains. It's the book that took the story to the adult territory, and the movie just doesn't portray that.