Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Theatrical release poster

Directed by

Mike Newell

Produced by

David Heyman

Screenplay by

Steve Kloves
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Based on

by
J. K. Rowling

Daniel Radcliffe

Starring

Rupert Grint
Emma Watson
(See below)

Music by

Patrick Doyle

Cinematography Roger Pratt, BSC

Editing by

Mick Audsley

Studio

Heyday Films

Distributed by

Warner Bros.

Release date(s)
Running time

November 18, 2005

157 minutes
United Kingdom

Country

United States
Language

English

Budget

$150 million

Box office

$896,911,078[1]

Having seen Harry Potter on screen before, his fourth outing at Hogwarts becomes less about
exploring him as a character and more an exploration of how much can we throw at him.
Apparently quite a lot. This time around Harry fights dragons, angry shrubs, and a school dance.
For him, it's that last item that's the worst.
The same cast is back, but for Goblet of Fire Harry Potter gets a new director in the form of Mike
Newell. Mike's never directed a movie of this magnitude, and it shows. The film is well put
together, and Goblet of Fire shines in smaller character moments like a school dance, but it's
sometimes visually unimpressive. The school looks dreary and dark, sometimes rather bland.
Dark can be good, but it's not very magical. The movie's long too, perhaps no longer than the
others, but it feels longer. It drags, jumping between different sections it seems as though there's
three movies in here instead of one.
But now I've gotten all negative. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is actually a fairly good
movie, fun, inventive, and willing to show us a few things we haven't already seen from the Harry
Potter series before. It helps that the script takes a few breaks from Hogwarts, which by now has
been adequately reconnoitered. Instead, the film's characters hang out in massive stadiums
while Harry competes in a variety of competitions at an event called the Triwizard Tournament.
The Triwizard Tournament begins near the start of the film, and carries through to the end. It's
being held at Hogwarts, and students from other schools have come to compete. New characters
are introduced in an almost cursory way; most, with the exception of a fine young lad named
Cedric (Robert Pattinson), are never developed. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) gets stuck in the
tournament by happenstance, and again, succeeds as he always does through plain, stupid luck.
Harry's lack of any real ability continues to be this series' Achilles heel. If he wins it's usually only
on the backs of others, or in some cases through flat out cheating. What sort of character is this

kid? He seems only too happy to take all the credit, and movies are only too happy to give it to
him. Not exactly a great lesson for young people if you think about it which I'm sure they don't.
There's nothing all that special about Harry, except for his theme music. But that's ok; Newell
does a good enough job developing the other characters around him. Ron (Rupert Grint) gets
more screen time than he did in his last outing, and part of the film is spent on a developing rift
between him and his friend Harry. Hermione (Emma Watson) comes around to growing up, and
gets terribly interested in boys. Ron and Harry aren't quite sure what to do with this.
New this time around is another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher named Mad Eye Moody,
played with zest by Brendan Gleeson. How do they keep coming up with such fantastic guest
stars? Mad Eye's name is every bit as descriptive as you'd hope; his roving gaze is both comedic
and ominous.
Look, it really doesn't matter what I say about any of this. If you're a Harry Potter fan you're going
to go see it (in fact you've probably already seen it) and you're going to love it. This is a solid
outing for the boy who lived, better in any case than the rather sometimes boring ones Columbus
saddled us with. It's not quite the success of Cuaron's version though. It's too long in places, and
drags when it should soar. It's rated PG-13, but Newell really never takes advantage of that
heftier rating. If you're going to go PG-13, might as well go all the way. Instead Goblet of Fire
kind of lives in that place between PG and PG-13, one not-so-grizzly death less and it probably
would have been PG. In fact, I have this sneaking suspicion that it is Hermione's interest in boys
that pushed it over the edge more than anything. There's a double entendre in there about how
her date likes to be "physical".
This is a good movie, and a fun movie, but not a great movie. So far, the Harry Potter series has
only had one of those. It's irrelevant. I think Harry's fans are pretty happy with mediocre. At least
mediocre isn't bad.
Reviewed By: Joshua Tyler

Cast
Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter

Emma Watson
Hermione Granger

Rupert Grint
Ronald Weasley

Robert Pattinson
Cedric Diggory

Tom Felton
Draco Malfoy