“When Harry Potter’s name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools—the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons (We Harry Potter nerds call them Grindylows and Merpeople) and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named. In this fourth film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, everything changes as Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave childhood forever and take on challenges greater than anything they could have imagined.”
So I’ve been re-watching the Harry Potter movies that I own lately. One of my favorites is this very movie.
The books are so much better than the movies, let me tell you. But here’s why I love this movie so much:
Reason One: The different magical creatures!
Yeah, there have been creatures in the other movies, but we have never been exposed to the movie’s interpretation of a Grindylow (I’ll leave a picture, because I’m terrible at explaining things… particularly when they’re not my creation). Mer-people have never made an appearance in the movies (and I don’t think they ever will again, if my memory serves me well). We also get to see a gigantic dragon! A Hungarian Horntail. The only other time I can think of a dragon being in the films was in Sorcerer’s Stone, but even then, I can’t check to see if it’s there. Either way, it would have been a baby or in a box.
Grindylow ^
Reason Two: The Triwizard Tournament!
It’s really exciting! Three tasks that most of us would never think or want to compete in. The dragon is just a beast—they fly all around the castle, so get a good feel of what the school grounds look like. The underwater task was especially interesting. Mostly if you’ve seen the behind the scenes clips of how they did this. There are four tributes (one for each champion) that are put into an enchanted sleep and placed underwater to be “rescued.” The people they put underwater were constructed replicas of the actors that represented the people at the bottom of the lake. The actors that played the champions earned their Diver certificates because they were underwater for so long (not at once, cumulative hours). Then Harry had to grow gills so that he could breathe! The maze was just insane. It could move when it wanted to and close up the pathways. People are being controlled by the Imperius curse (one of the Unforgiveable Curses).
It’s just an amazing movie. I’ve watched it about four hundred times J
I shall leave you now! I have a children’s book about positive and negative ads to write! Perhaps I’ll scan some pictures for you, if I have time. In the meantime, have a good rest of the week everyone!
--Jude
You are really inspiring me to read them again. Someday. But for now, your reviews remind me of the books so nicely. Thanks.
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