Like a fine wine, Harry Potter continues to improve with age as each succeeding film version of Rowling's books seemingly surpasses the last.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:31
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: The main characters are maturing, and the filmmakers are likewise improving on their craft; vibrant special effects and assured performances add up to what is the most complex yet of the Harry Potter films.
Runtime: 2 hrs 38 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
US Box Office: $289,994,397
Synopsis: Difficult times lie ahead for Harry Potter. Beset by nightmares that leave his scar hurting more than usual, Harry (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) is all too happy to escape his disturbing dreams by... Difficult times lie ahead for Harry Potter. Beset by nightmares that leave his scar hurting more than usual, Harry (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) is all too happy to escape his disturbing dreams by attending the Quidditch World Cup with his friends Ron (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione (EMMA WATSON). But something sinister ignites the skies at the Quidditch campsite - the Dark Mark, the sign of the evil Lord Voldemort. It's conjured by his followers, the Death Eaters, who haven't dared to appear in public since Voldemort (RALPH FIENNES) was last seen thirteen years ago - the night he murdered Harry's parents. Harry longs to get back inside the safe walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Professor Dumbledore (MICHAEL GAMBON) can protect him. But things are going to be a little different this year. Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, one of the most exciting and dangerous of the wizarding community's magical competitions. One champion will be selected from each of the three largest and most prestigious wizarding schools to compete in a series of life-threatening tasks in pursuit of winning the coveted Triwizard Cup. The Hogwarts students watch in awe as the elegant girls of the Beauxbatons Academy and the dark and brooding boys of Durmstrang Institute fill the Great Hall, breathlessly awaiting the selection of their champions. Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch (ROGER LLOYD PACK) and Professor Dumbledore preside over a candlelit ceremony fraught with anticipation as the enchanted Goblet of Fire selects one student from each school to compete. Amidst a hail of sparks and flames, the cup names Durmstrang's Quidditch superstar Victor Krum (STANISLAV IANEVSKI), followed by Beauxbatons' exquisite Fleur Delacour (CLÉMENCE POÉSY) and finally, Hogwarts' popular all-around golden boy Cedric Diggory (ROBERT PATTINSON). But then, inexplicably, the Goblet spits out one final name: Harry Potter. At just 14 years old, Harry is three years too young to enter the grueling competition. He insists that he didn't put his name in the Goblet and that he really doesn't want to compete. But the Goblet's decision is binding, and compete he must. Suspicion and jealousy abound as muckraking journalist Rita Skeeter (MIRANDA RICHARDSON) fans the flames of the Harry Potter backlash with her outrageous gossip columns. Even Ron begins to believe his "fame seeking" friend somehow tricked the cup into selecting him. Suspecting that whoever did enter Harry's name in the Tournament deliberately wants to put him in grave danger, Dumbledore asks Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (BRENDAN GLEESON), the eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, to keep his highly perceptive and magical eye trained on the teenage wizard. Harry prepares for the challenging Triwizard tasks - evading a fire-breathing dragon, diving into the depths of a great lake and navigating a maze with a life of its own. But nothing is more daunting than the most terrifying challenge of them all - finding a date for the Yule Ball. For Harry, dealing with dragons, merpeople and grindylows is a walk in the park compared to asking the lovely Cho Chang (KATIE LEUNG) to the Yule Ball. And if Ron weren't so distracted, perhaps he would acknowledge a change in his feelings for Hermione. Events take an ominous turn when someone is murdered on Hogwarts grounds. Scared and still haunted by dreams of Voldemort, Harry turns to Dumbledore. But even the venerable Headmaster admits that there are no longer any easy answers. As Harry and the other champions battle through their last task and the advancing tendrils of the ominous maze, someone or something is keeping a watchful eye. Victory is in sight, but as they edge closer to the Triwizard Cup, all is not as it seems - and Harry soon finds himself hurtling head-first toward an inevitable encounter with true evil... --© Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Miranda Richardson, Jarvis Cocker, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Selway, Robert Pattinson
Director: Mike Newell
Director: Mike Newell
Screenwriter: Steve Kloves
Producer: David Heyman, David Barron, Tanya Seghatchian
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
It's too episodic, relying on action rather than emotion. The pace is headlong, so that the characterisation suffers.
The best part, I think, is that this fourth Harry Potter film goes further than its predecessors in setting out a moral map that reaffirms the values of human decency, loyalty and selflessness - and does so with great flair and endless entertainment.
It’s refreshing that Potter 4 aspires to be a paranoid thriller rather than yet another detective mystery. House points, too, for the movie's terrific effects and considerable charm.
[Newell] cannot do much about the slightly tired sadism that is creeping into the cracks of the Potter franchise.
The special effects are first rate but I think it’s always going to be about the characters. And they’re great characters.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is probably the most engaging Potter film of the series thus far.
It's not until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that a film has successfully re-created the sense of stirring magical adventure and engaged, edge-of-your-seat excitement that has made the books such an international phenomenon.
[Newell] balances delicately between whimsy and the ominous, on the uncertain middle ground where Harry lives, poised between fun at school, teenage romance and the dark abyss.
Childhood ends for the young wizard with the zigzag scar in the happily satisfying film adaptation of the fourth book in J. K. Rowling's series.
The filmmakers keep the narrative screws fastened tight, which gives The Goblet of Fire an intensity that rarely flags.
It seems like only yesterday the three wizardy sprigs were battling giant spiders and cracking conspiracies in the girls' toilets. That knowing comedy keeps this episode sharp.
Latest News for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
July 14, 2009:
RT Visits the Set of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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November 25, 2008:
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August 19, 2008:
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February 21, 2008:
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It appears as though David Yates will be the one helming the final Harry Potter film -- but his decision comes at a price for fans anticipating another literary adaptation. More...
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