The film is very well done, in my view. It keeps close to the important parts of the plot of the book while - inevitably - cutting out some storylines, and cutting down on others. It's two and a half hours long, and quite intense. I felt myself very tense at times. Some of the action scenes were so rapid that I had to close my eyes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I think I would recommend this film overall, to anyone who likes the books or has seen the earlier films. It would rather be confusing for anyone who knew nothing about Harry Potter, however.

I deliberately didn't watch most of the climax at the end, knowing what was coming. Just listening was more than sufficient - and it was well done.

Latest longer review: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2023/10/harry-potter-and-goblet-of-fire-dani... ( )

Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is about to start and he is enjoying the summer vacation with his friends. They get the tickets to The Quidditch World Cup Final but after the match is over, people dressed like Lord Voldemort's 'Death Eaters' set a fire to all the visitors' tents, coupled with the appearance of Voldemort's symbol, the 'Dark Mark' in the sky, which causes a frenzy across the magical community. That same year, Hogwarts is hosting 'The Triwizard Tournament', a magical tournament between three well-known schools of magic : Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The contestants have to be above the age of 17, and are chosen by a magical object called Goblet of Fire. On the night of selection, however, the Goblet spews out four names instead of the usual three, with Harry unwittingly being selected as the Fourth Champion. Since the magic cannot be reversed, Harry is forced to go with it and brave three exceedingly difficult tasks. Written by Soumitra ( )

This is where the series starts to get much darker as the rise of Voldemort begins. The director makes the good decision to focus on the competition and avoid the school aspects to a large extent. ( )

A student at a magical boarding school is forced to perform death-defying stunts.

Nope, doesn't make any sense. And if it did, it would still be too rushed and jumbled and long for it to work, anyway. It has its moments, some good character bits and excellent casting, but mostly it's a huge pile of disappointment.

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 2.1/4 ( )

Region 1 (NTSC) ( )