Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

As many of you may know - I'm a total Harry Potter geek and I just saw the newest installment in the Harry Potter saga - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The movie is not geared to anyone jumping into the middle of the Harry Potter story. There is no back story of who Harry is, why he's at a school for wizards or why some guy named Voldemorte wants him dead. You definitely have to know your Harry Potter to understand and enjoy the movie.

Well I know my Harry Potter and enjoy the movie I did. In fact I'm sure I'll be seeing it again soon.

The conversation for Potter fans will probably focus around what was not in the movie instead of what was. The book was of monstrous length and originally the idea was to have two movies. Instead the director, Mike Newell, cut out everything that he deemed not central to the story. Among the things you won't see in the movie are:

- the Marauders Map
- Dobby or Winkie
- the Dursleys
- Ludo Bagman
- the King of the Merpeople
- Bertha Jorkins
- Mrs. Crouch
- a certain animangus beetle
- The Tri-Wizard Prize (the cash that Harry would give to Fred and George for their jokeshop)

I understand leaving out the rest but why leave out that last bit? I thought that was pretty central to the rest of the story (book 5 and 6).

Anyway - if you're a Harry Potter fan - you'll love the movie. If you haven't read or seen any of the movies - the Johnny Cash movie may be more your style.