Now that everybody has had a chance to calm down a bit, does anybody else think that the dragon Harry faced in the first task was possibly the stupidest dragon ever created?

Not only does it miss the first sneak attack when Harry is a sitting target, but it CLIMBS around the side of the building looking for him. Then it doesn’t immediately fire ball Harry when it sees him clinging to the window ledge but bites the window!

And finally it crashes into a stationary and very visible bridge, like a sparrow into a glass door.

Surely the makers of this movie could have kept closer to the book and made the dragon not so brain dead!

Yeah maybe they could have stuck closer to the book and just take out that whole scene where the dragon is chasing him around the school since it NEVER HAPPENS.

actually i agree because the director shouldn't of wasted time putting in things that weren't in the book, and focused on what actually was...ludo bagman...dobby and winky...

I agree too but I have to say I think that problem is not only in GOF but gennerally movies and Tv makes dragons look like stupid monsters who doesn't really got brains. I'm, like Hagrid, a big dragon fan, and one reason I like them is because they are very wise and powerfull whitch can make them deadly enemies. I'm sick of the fact that they are beeing underestimated everywhere.

I agree with you bajab, the dragon looked awesome but he behaved like an idiot. I really didn't like the part with the dragon climbing around the Hogwart halls, not only because it wasn't in the books but I prefer to see a dragon fly instead of climbing It's much more "macho" and would've added even more action to the movie.

I really don't like it that they portrayed the Dragon as some sort of idiotic creature while it's supposed to be an intelligent being.

lol well i thought it was stupid. why didnt it fly at harry instead of crawling on the roof. i did think it was stupid.

When I first saw it I thought "WHAT?!!!". But then I realized they put it in so the dragon scene would seem more action-filled for the audience. I mean, in the movie, they really made the tournament seem incredibly dangerous. So they had to follow their word!

Well I found the whole roof clinging scene to be BORING. It just went on and on. As far as I am concerned it added nothing to the movie and slowed down what should have been an awesome five minute action scene of swooping and dodging and fire breathing and crowd gasping and crashing.. you get the picture. Think Top Gun people!

It was obviously put in there to have some awesome special effects on show (and the dragon climbing did LOOK awesome), but it 'dumbed down' the story yet again.

Dumbledore, Moody, and the rest of them did not even LEAVE THEIR SEATS! How exactly are they meant to be protecting Harry?

But my main complaint is that they protrayed the Dragon stupidly.

It ambushes Harry, but then offs itself in a head on with a stationary bridge! No wonder you can't keep them as pets, if they are that stupid they might actually set fire to themselves or eat their own tail.

Unless Harry got the retarded one

I thought it was okay. Compared to other things that were cut out of the movie or changed around. This wasn't nearly as bad as other things.

I was disappointed we didn't get really any view at all of the other dragons. It was almost pointless to even mention them.

I agree with bajab -- to me it was BORING.
I was sitting there watching an entire scene that did not even exist in the Goblet of Fire book. It was kind of disappointing to me....actually very disappointing, but they must take account for the other 40-50% of the audience who have never read the book. If the real acts of the book were put onto film, it would probably get sort of boring.

But, the directors and writers should stick to the actual book in OotP because it is a very complicated book that will be RUINED if not portrayed correctly!

And Harry's injurie wasn't in there was it. When he gets tailed in the shoulder. The dragon was so retarded it got less owls than Fred. Fred is clever but only got 3 owls or something

yEAH.. bcuz it wasn't supposed to go high in the air..and obviously not over Hogwarts..! it was looking ok..but it's actions and movements and direction wasn't very good yeah and they didn't show the other opponents facing the first task as well..?! and then when harry gets poked by the horntail..? wher was that..?

I think the dragon scene was much too long. It was time wasted when there could of been more interesting scenes added. It was a predictable ending that anyone who hasn't read Harry Potter could've guessed. The gradon looked alright though.

Well I'm going to be rather unpopular for saying this, but I thought the dragon was spot on!

I mean, where in the Harry Potter series does it state that a dragon is intelligent? Untameable-yes, aggressive-yes, but smart?

I thought it was just like the dragons Jo describes in her books. It chased Harry down relentlessly, single-mindedly, with no other thought in its head but to make a meal of him. (possibly flame-grilled if it could manage it )

If you watch it again, you might begin to appreciate the beauty of such a primeval creature. I thought it was far more realistic than the classic fairytale talking-dragon *yawn* It was a beast. The best portrayal of a dragon I've ever seen. And how likely that in its fury to capture its antogonist, it doesn't watch where its going! Happens to the best of creatures. Ever watched those wildlife shows? lol.

Whether the dragon was stupid or not, the scene was stupid.

The dragon lunges at Harry, the dragon breaks free. Then the dragon goes all over the place, fixated on Harry for no real reason, when it could have had its pick of any tasty human in the huge auditorium surrounding it. Most animals don't go out of their way for a meal, they go for what's handy, and easy. lol

That scene was one of those scenes when my son and I always look at each other and say "Yep, that's one of those scenes we're not supposed to think about too much." Guess they thought the audience was a dumb as the dragon.

Aww Darcy, I think its only natural that the film makers are going to take certain liberties because afterall, we are talking about fantastical things here. I don't think I've ever seen a fantasy or sci-fi that hasn't had elements of the unbelievable in it. I mean, lets face it, dragons are mythical, aren't they?

I feel really out of place for saying this but i agree with razzberry2. I thought the dragon scene was great and very action packed. Being a totally obsessed fan i have to say that i dont think the action of the scene is just for people who havent read the book. Im a great fan of action scenes so i enjoyed the dragon scene and i thought the image of the dragon was perfect

However when i read that the dragon was going to break free of its chains, BEFORE the film came out, i did think it was pretty cheesy and stupid but when i actually watched the film i thought it was absolutely perfect

Well, yeah, I get your point, but it's still an unbelievable element. It defies logic! lol And there is a logic to the series, that's why one can get lost in the stories--there's just enough reality to make it plausible.

I guess it's just a difference of opinion, in the end. To me, a dragon that breaks its chain would either eat anyone in close range, or fly away to freedom, or eat everyone in close range, then fly off to freedom. It would not go scrabbling after one little boy on a broom.

OK, I'm being facetious, but it's still illogical.

I have to agree with Aethonon here, if it weren't for a tiny thing that everybody who loves the dragon scene seems to have overlooked. The dragons in the first task were chosen by the Ministry because they were breeding females that would be very protective of their eggs. Remember that Harry had great difficulty enticing the dragon to leave her clutch of eggs ... he had to antagonize the dragon before she would take flight and give him an opportunity to snatch the golden eggs that was hidden in the clutch.
The first task was to get past the dragon and take the golden egg, but the filmmakers have made it into a more heroical "kill the dragon" scene, which is in my opinion totally out of dragon's character and unwarranted.
So yes, I do find the extended dragon scene stupid. They would have done better saving a lot of that special effects money and spending it on character details like Dumbledore's costume and Mad-Eye Moody's appearance.

Even if you can accept that flying into a bridge is not a sign of how dumb the dragon is, how can you say the whole thing was action packed? For half of the sequence Harry was hanging onto the roof helpless while the dragon thought about how it was going to eat the window box.

Then there is whole lack of logic in DD and Co. staying in their seats while Harry nearly gets eaten by an escaped dragon.

It dragged on and on when it should have been short and brutal.

I have just one thing to say about the dradon scene -Wicked!

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Yeah I thought the dragon was stupid. I also thought that scene was boring. The first time I saw the movie I was to excited to even think about it but after a little while I really thought the dragon was stupid. Not to long a go I was watching it with my friend and when the dragon hit the bridge I said "Now that is one stupid dragon"

You know, I never thought about it before but that is very true. The dragon could have killed Harry a million times if it hadn’t doddled about so much. Plus I thought it was a bit pointless of them to put the big dragon scene in anyway when it wasn’t even in the book. They were trying to squeeze as much stuff from the book into the film as it was and then what do they go and do? Put a huge big dragon scene in, very clever. Just like the dragon…

Hehe, fun topic! I agree with everyone who thought the scene was horrible. It was, and I remember wishing it would stop rather badly. In fact, I felt like that more than once during the film, but luckily I could switch off and listen to Patrick Doyle's score when things got silly.

And apart from the dragon's obsession with eating (or not eating) Harry, it looked horrible too. Nothing like it's described in the books at all, and that ticked me off too. It wasn't very lizard like - it looked like a dinosaur that had woken up after some serious rockwork had been done to it's cheeks by several centuries of being buried in stone.

I really can't undertsand how a dragon sequence can be that bad. I agree with razzberry2 about the scene. Afterall dragons just add to the magic and the Horntail part was very well done and rather enjoyable. At one point I thought Harry might hurt himself or break a leg since that furious dragon was after him! Sorry to say, but I liked the dragon sequence, it's one of my favorites action scenes and Harry actually gets to be involved and use his Quidditch talent in the process.

Yeah, it was a little obnoxious.

I mean yes i know it was supposed to be intence, and on the edge. But they over did it? Too much stuff in one scene. And I still can't figure out what happened to the dragon once it fell????? It flies, and although it was hurt, harrys burnt broom made it out alive? I'm sorry, but when you have a bunch of friends over who don't know a quaffle from a hippogriff asking you "why this" and "why that" it's hard to explain when you don't know yourself! lol

<3 michelle

Ugh that whole scene made me mad! And that dragon was stupid! And im glad it died! Ok now back to reality.. Why is it that the director wastes precious moments to put in made up stuff? Us true harry fans would love to see the more important stuff that they always seem to axe out anyway! And when are they going to realize that us true fans don't care if the movie is five hours long? We'll see it over and over again and not even complain! And we will definately not take a bathroom break once! They know us best and they need to put in the things that make us love the books!

Yeah, the dragon was not as fierce as I expected him to be, but it still looked amazing.

I know I'm missing the point entirely, and I'm quite aware that no actual dragons were harmed in the filming of GoF, but when did it become acceptable to torture living creatures? Is that just some "wizard thing" ? The idea that anyone, for any reason would chain up an animal, activate its instinctive need to protect its young, and then torture it for their amusement is, well, sadistic. And this was perpetuated by the good guys!

I thought the scene in the book and the movie was stupid.

well, the scene was ok, but I do admit it was a bit over- the-top with all the window climbing & everything...and yes, the dragon also seemes a bit out of place, but that's not generally the movie's fault, because most people picture dragons as big & clumsy fire-breaths who only know how to protect themselves on pure instinct.

I thought that the attack was a little overdramatic. It wasn't even that difficult for Harry to get the egg. Not to mention all of the building structure Harry and the dragon took out at Hogwarts.

Oohh, i wish they stuck to the storyline more! They could have fileld that extra time with something more important to the plot, like Winky or something. I don't think that the big ten minute dragon fight scene was really necessary.

i don't think the dragon was stupid, it was just so intent on chasing harry that it probably didn't see that bridge, and after seeing harry on the window, it was just shocked. besides it probably didn't have the time to draw up fire.

i REALLY hated it that they were in a freaking cage. i mean, what was that? why are they in a cage? it portrayed it kind of like a wrestling match. it was ridiculous.
but i suppose the dragon scene with the buildings and everything was just for action and entertainment for the audience, though it might seem boring to some.
i think the dragon was unintelligent, but it wasnt stated in the books that dragons were smart, unless im mistaken.
all that time wasted in the movie could have actually made things that were in the book prominent. aka dobby/winky.

She was a dumb dragon. but if you think about it, she was trying to protect her brood while surrounded, cornered by all the crowds, not to mention trying to swat Harry, so naturally she would have felt threatened and not displayed her normal behaviour.