“Do you think we’ll ever just have a quiet year at Hogwarts?”
What’s it all about? It’s Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) has opened its doors to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, two other schools of magic, for the Triwizard Tournament. Hogwarts, of course, wouldn’t be Hogwarts if Harry and his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) weren’t in the thick of it. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE also stars Clémence Poésy as Fleur, the Beauxbatons champion; Stanislav Ianevski as Victor Krum, the Durmstrang champion; Robert Pattison as Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts champion; and Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Goblet of Fire By the Numbers
How old is Harry Potter? 14
How old was I at the film’s release? 17
Disconnect: 3 years
How many times have I seen the film in theatres? 4
How many times have I read the book? 5
Harry Potter Nerdery Level: Waning (Disappointed by both “Order of the Phoenix” and, especially, “Half-Blood Prince”, I stopped immersing myself in Harry Potter fandom.)
If I had to pick favourites and list the Harry Potter novels in order of preference, “Goblet of Fire” would be somewhere in the top three for sure, fighting for top spot with “Philosopher’s Stone” and “Prisoner of Azkaban”. The fourth school year of the Boy Who Lived features essential development in the relationships between Harry, Ron and Hermione; It also features the World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament and the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. J.K. Rowling, for the last time in her book series, manages to balance whimsy, hilarity and terror in equal measure. If you were to ask me to rank the Harry Potter films in order of preference, however, GOBLET OF FIRE would not be in my top three. It would be down at the bottom, just a hair’s breadth above the deplorable HALF-BLOOD PRINCE.
So I’m biased. That’s a given. Yes, I’m overly-critical regarding GOBLET OF FIRE because it is an adaptation of one of my favourite novels — a novel which is well-over six hundred words. Dialogue had to be removed. Scenes were cut. I understand this all rationally, but my heart doesn’t care. I only have to look at Harry and Ron’s too-long hair and my teeth go on edge. But Edward the Vampire (Robert Pattison, actually Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter) dies in this movie, and The Doctor (David Tennant as the titular character in DOCTOR WHO) is a Death Eater! So, GOBLET OF FIRE does have its charms.
Favourite Harry Potter Moment: The Triwizard Tournament’s third and final task — the maze. There is this brief moment where the hedge maze closes, shutting out the cheers of the Triwizard audience; It’s in this moment that Harry is left to fend for himself. The sudden transition from bright lights and excitement to dark uncertainty is a major change in this film’s tone, casting the remaining installments of the franchise in the same bleak shadows. It’s here you remember that Harry is vulnerable and, sometimes, he can’t rely on his friends to be there for him.
Favourite Ronald Weasley Moment: The fall-out between Harry and Ron in their fourth year is a necessary development between the Boy Who Lived and his overlooked best friend. In all honesty, it was a long time coming. In the books, it is easy to see where Ron’s misplaced anger with Harry comes from, and it’s very hard to keep yourself on Harry’s side of the argument. In the film adaptation, however, Mr. Ronald Weasley tromps through Hogwarts whining about Harry and insulting fellow students at near-Slytherin levels. It’s alarming, to say the least. Especially with that god-awful haircut. The filmmakers do keep one of my favourite quotes from the book — “You’re fraternizing with the enemy!” — so, I will keep my complaining to just a dull roar.
Favourite Hermione Granger Moment: Everything about the Yule Ball, despite its loose connection to the books in regards to Hermione’s character. In the books, Hermione still has her bushy hair and buck teeth up until this point. So, when she arrives at the Yule Ball perfectly coiffed and with her teeth fixed magically, it’s a bit of a shock to her classmates, even to the point where Ron, her best friend, doesn’t recognize her. In the film, Emma Watson, beautiful throughout the entirety of the Harry Potter franchise, manages to up her game with her now-famous pink Yule Ball dress. Oh, and the crying on the stairs. Have I mentioned that this is one of my favourite Harry Potter books? Because, you know, I could talk about the book-to-film changes a little more if need be. No? Alright.
Bonus Favourite Neville Longbottom Moment: “I’ve killed Harry Potter!”
Notes: Directed by Mike Newell; Produced by David Heyman; Written by Steve Kloves, J. K. Rowling; Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson, Robert Pattinson, Clémence Poésy, David Tennant, Stanislav Ianevski; Music by Patrick Doyle, John Williams; Cinematography by Roger Pratt; Editing by Mick Audsley.
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It’s a good film but I always think that next to “Chamber of Secrets” that it’s the weakest with a few exceptions. One is giving more profile to Neville Longbottom and the second which I think is the best part of the film is Lord Voldemort. All I can think of was “Lord Voldemort… rise”.
It’s always great to have more scenes with Neville. He really is the “fifth Beatle” in this story. (Okay, so “fourth of the trio”.)
Took me years to find out that the guys who played the Weird Sisters were musicians Jarvis Cocker, Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway. It’s the only time we will see Phil Selway in guyliner and guyshadows. Wait, there’s David Tennant? Oh yeah, Barry Crouch. That can’t be? David Tennant is Jarvis Cocker’s ghost of Different Class ’95. No wonder they were never in the same scene together.
I saw this movie in theatres a couple of weeks back. It was my first time watching it on the big screen after becoming a Whovian. I almost screamed when I saw David Tennant. I completely forgot he was in this.