DVD Releases and News

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)

Unless you were one of the few five million who bought it on the day it came out, you might not have realized that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire arrived on DVD last week. Frankly I don't know what to say about this. I really liked all the Harry Potter books and movies. My family even threw me a surprise Potter-themed birthday party once, complete with an incredible 8-foot hero sandwich shaped exactly like a Nimbus-2000.

Um, yeah, this was for my 30th birthday, by the way.

Lately though, the series, more accurately the fans of the series, are starting to get a little out of control. I'm not saying they have reached the full on "Trekkie" level yet (i.e. complete outfits, speak Klingon fluently), but they are heading in that direction. If I were to place them on a scale, I would say they are at the level of people who showed up at the last Star Wars prequels dressed as Jedi (but haven't yet mastered Huttese - and I realize with horror that I spelled Huttese correctly without any aids.) Please note that there are still three more films yet to be made in the Potter series. Give them time, and you know at the premiere of the last movie the theater will be filled with adults in wizard costumes waving magic wands and shouting vaguely Latinesque incantations at one another.

Perhaps my uneasiness stems from my own family. My father read all six books and watched the first three DVDs all in one week. He then spent the next 3 months calling us all "muggles". (I mentioned I am over 30, right? So you can do the math and guess what his age might be) The man pointed a pencil at me recently and yelled "Silencio!"; there's no coming back from something like that.

Let's not forget my sister, with whom I watched the Goblet of Fire with. I don't want to know how many times she has re-read the entire series. She spent the better part of the movie making exasperated hand gestures at the screen. Her biggest scorn was aimed at poor Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore. She ripped every one of his scenes to shreds. "Oh! He's NOOOOO Dumbledore!" she blurted at one point, in the exact same measured tones as Senator Lloyd Bentsen. For those of you keeping track, this puts her in two scary gangs, the Jane Austens and the Potters. She is not to be trifled with. (For the record I was about to mention that my mother is a huge Potter fan as well, yet hadn't lost her mind to it, but now I realize it was she who, not only thought it up but, convinced the guy at the deli to make an 8-foot Nimbus-2000 Submarine Sandwich.) I'm really a lost cause.

It's best if I just relay all the details of the Two-disc Deluxe Edition:
Disc 1:

• Widescreen Feature of the movie

Disc 2:

• Additional scenes - Deleted scenes.
  
• Conversations with the cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint - a 30-minute chat with the young stars of the film.
  
• Preparing for the Yule Ball - a featurette on the making of the Yule Ball scene.
  
• Reflections on the Fourth Film - various cast members reflect on the four films, and the changes that have taken place in them.
  
• Triwizard Tournament, Dragon Arena: Dragon Challenge - the first of the useless DVD games.
  
• Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task - a behind the scenes look at the dragon sequence.
  
• Meet the Champions - a look at the four actors who play the champions in the film.
  
• Triwizard Tournament, Lake: Lake Challenge - the second of the useless DVD games.
  
• In Too Deep: The Second Task - featurette on the special effects of the underwater segment of the film.
  
• Triwizard Tournament, Maze: Maze Challenge & To the Graveyard and Back Challenge - the last two useless DVD games.
  
• The Maze: The Third Task - The making of the Maze segment.
  
• He Who Must Not Be Named - a featurette on Voldemort and the actor who plays him, Ralph Fiennes.
  
• Theatrical trailer.
  
• DVD-ROM features: EA Game Demo, Hogwarts Timeline, Web Interactivity

As you may have noticed I dared to name he who must not be named. It's Ralph Fiennes. There I've said it again! Expecto Patronum!
(I know full well a member of my family will correct my spelling of the spell) --Matt Callahan



Photo: © 2005 Warner Bros.

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Posted by on March 13, 2006 10:12 PM
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