Overall Rating: ***
Movie Review: The Goblet of Fire
This is the 411 on the DVD release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Being the fanactic that I am, I ran out and purchased the 2-Disc Special Edition dvd. To tell the truth, I don’t think there is much special about the 2-disc edition. Its a decent set, but its not all that a special edition should be.
The big thing that bugged me about this set is the menu system. Now, typical dvds will have sections like special features, behind-the-scenes, deleted scenes, games, etc. This set, and all of the other Harry Potter 2-disc sets for that matter, have sections called Hogwarts, The Maze, or The Black Lake. Though I appreciate the novelty of this layout, it makes it impossible to find what you’re looking for. I couldn’t tell if deleted scenes would be in Hogwarts or the Maze. I guessed and got lucky.
Now, if you get beyond the menus, the bonus disc has some cool features. The deleted scenes were interesting to see, though it was clear why they were cut from the film. I was hoping that the deleted scenes would be more significant, but unfortunately, they weren’t. They were still cool to see. The unfortunate thing is that if you buy the single-disc version of the movie, you get no special features. I think that’s being a bit cheap on Warner Brother’s part, but that’s just me.
Disc-2, the one with all of the special features, is full of games. There is a xbox demo, a pc demo, and several dvd games. There’s plenty to keep you entertained for hours! I personally don’t enjoy games played on a menu system like a dvd-player, but I can imagine that they would be fairly entertaining for a kid.
The burning question: is it worth the money? Now, the average difference between the sales price of the single-disc versus the 2-disc appears to be about five dollars. My dvds get enough use to make that five bucks worth it. If you have kids that get a kick out of dvd-games, then its worth it. If you’re a fanatic like me, its a must have. If you just liked the movie but you’re not crazy, then I would only spend the cash on the single-disc. In the end I think it makes a nice, albeit flawed, addition to my dvd collection.