Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The fourth installment of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series originally aired nearly 10 years ago, and is still no less a cinematic experience today as it was back then.

Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the cast return to Hogwarts to find the school host to the Triwizard Tournament – a tournament deemed too dangerous to continue 200 years previous to this revival. Without his knowledge, Harry is thrown into this tournament to face dragons, merpeople and a riddle-loving sphinx. By the fourth film, you’ll have invested too much time in this series not to continue!

Sam Kidman

The fourth of Rowling’s wonderful creations to be brought to life on the big screen and the first with a British director, Newell’s Goblet of Fire continues the uplift that began with Prisoner of Azkaban and delivers a vastly more enjoyable cinematic experience than the first two in the series. Despite some pruning of the book, the plot remains as detailed as it is inventive. For Harry, there is a trip to the Quidditch World Cup, the danger of the dragons of the Triwizard Tournament, and an unexpected encounter that will change everything. Not to mention the girls of the Beauxbatons Academy and the pressures of finding a date for the Yule Ball to content with. The humorous Ron and the increasingly less bookish Hermione are back too along with many other old favourites, as well as several new faces, the pick of the bunch being Ralph Fiennes as you-know-who.

The script is arguably the best adoption so far, keeping the essentials and letting any diversions fall by the wayside. This helps to focus the plot, letting the film progress at a fair pace, although there remains more than enough time for the veritable bucketful of special effects to show off its own brand of magic. It is one of the few instances when a record budget has been used well, producing a stunning array of visuals that are considerably more polished than any of the earlier outings and most definitely hold their own with the best of the competition. The greatest improvement comes from the cast, who have definitely matured with age and deliver solid performances, sending a signal that they undoubtedly have a future in the business.

Harry Potter is not just for kids and confirms it with gusto. It has been said that this is the scariest one yet, but I have a funny feeling that the average Warwick student should be more than a match for its terrors! Come and find out if Harry has what it takes to lift the Goblet of Fire or if he will be left drowning his sorrows in a pint of butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron.

James Kopka