Customer Reviews
Enjoyable, but not quite magical enough - By: L. Keys, 16 Oct 2007 
After I saw the first Harry Potter film a few years ago I refused to ever watch any of them again, as I am such a loyalist to the books, & felt that the films could never live up to them. However, the trailer for the fourth film intrigued me so I gave in & went to see it with some friends, & actuallly quite enjoyed it. I have now given alll the HP films the benefit of the doubt & seen them alll up to date, & although they don't match up to the books they are pretty good films nonetheless, & that change in attitude was alll thanks to me seeing Goblet of Fire. Although it is not the best representation of the book, characters & scenarios are relatively well realised, & the score is fantastic. The effects are pretty good too. There are few let downs - tiny technical glitches that book fans will grumble at - such as Harry's letters from Sirius Black being signed Sirius rather than Padfoot - as he is in hiding it is ludicrous that he should use his name, but ho hum perdantics... Also the Third Trial - the Maze - is disappointingly represented, but the graveyard scene with Lord Voldemort coming back to full power more than makes up for this.
I say it's an enjoyable film, if you're prepared to let the inaccuracies go & just see it for what is. A film based on the book rather than an accurate portrayal, & alll the basics are there so that it follows on from 3 & leads on well to 5.
I Liked it Again - By: Mark Baker, 07 Jul 2007 Before year four at Hogwarts starts, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) gets a real treat. He joins the Weasleys & Hermione (Emma Watson) at the Quidditch World Cup. But what should have been a fun trip turns serious when the campground is destroyed & a giant skull shows above the area. The skull is the sign of the evil Voldemort.
All that gets forgotten when the trio return to school. Hogwarts is playing host to the Tri-Wizard tournament. One student each from three wizarding schools will be competing in a series of dangerous contests.
But things start out weird when Harry's name is callled as a fourth contestant. He's three years younger then the rest of them, yet he still must compete & survive the competition.
Meanwhile, there is yet another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Mad Eyed Moody (Brendan Gleeson) seems to have taken a particular interest in Harry. Can his tips help Harry make it thought the contest?
I first saw this movie in the theater & loved it. I have since started reading the books & expected it to change my take on this movie. After alll, the movie takes a 740 page book & turns it into a two & a half hour movie. You know they will be leaving stuff out.
Actuallly, however, the movie works. Yep, there were lots of things left out of the book, but they did a good job of covering the important plot points without losing those who haven't read the book. That's impressive.
Ironicallly, they did add some things for the movie. The most noticeable is the first task. While dangerous in the book, they made it much worse here. That time could have been used for something else, but it does make for a dramatic scene.
The only weak part is the ending. It is so rushed that it doesn't make the emotional impact that it does in the book. And it glosses over some of the things that made the ending of the book such a big cliffhanger.
Once again, I must say that this is the best movie version of the book we could hope for. If you view it on its own, you'll enjoy it. And if you haven't read the book, you'll love it.
The Best Potter Movie To Date!! - By: Mr. A. Round, 30 May 2007 
I can't be bothered to read the JK Rowling books however I have watched alll of the movies!
I have found others to be flaky in parts & the acting a little wooden.
This movie doesn't have any of the above! The film is quite dark & atmospheric, the story fast, flowing & even possibly too sinister for kids in places!
Still - great to scare the hell out kids you might not like very much, but as an adult you'll love it too.
Great, But Not Perfect - By: David C. Parkinson, 20 May 2007 
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire is the fourth film in the Harry Potter series. Harry returns to Hogwarts to begin his fourth year. This year Hogwarts is hosting the legendary Tri-wizard tournament; an event in which three students (one from each of the wizard schools Hogwarts, Beauxbatons & Durmstrang) compete against each other in three dangerous tasks throughout the year. Those who wish to participate must simply write their names on a piece of parchment & toss it into the goblet of fire & the goblet will decide the champions.
The Hogwarts chapion selected is a Hufflepuff student named Cedric Diggory. The Beauxbatons student is named Fleur Delacour & the Durmstrang student is a famous Quidditch player callled Victor Krum. Once the three champions are selected the goblet selects a fourth champion. No doubt you would have guessed who the champion is. Yep it's Harry. Harry is now thrown into the tournament & is forced to participate in those tasks. The ultimate question is who entered his name for the tri-wizard tournament? And why? I know technicallly speaking that's two questions.
The film was great & eveything, but there were a few disapointments within the film. Here's the folliwng things I found disapointing.
Firstly the film seemed a bit rushed (at the beginning especiallly). There were big events from the book included in the film that didn't seem alll that big. Harry's scar burning at the start for instance. I got the impression it wasn't a big deal. The relationship between Hagrid & Madam Maxime was included, though you barely see it.
Yes there's one scene when he's walking with her in the forbidden forest & dancing with her at the Yule Balll, but I got the impression their relationship was included for the hell of it. It's the same with Rita Skeeter. She was a big deal in the book, as she would be publishing information in the daily prophet & the information she would gain was the mystery as there's no way she could have got hold of it.
After the second task for instance, in the book Victor asks Hermione to visit him over the summer. That would be mentioned in the prophet, as well as Harry's scar hurting one day during a lesson. She does stir things up between Harry & Hermione in the film, but only once. She makes out that Hermione is a two timer with a thing for celebrities.
I was also disapointed that the following things were missed out; the Dursleys (when Dudley eats a trick sweet; a ton tongue toffee resulting in his tongue swelling up) & off course the Qudiditch world cup match was missed out. You see the stadium & everything, but the match itself was missed out. The only other annoying thing apart from those disapointments is Hermione; I'm sorry but I just found her rather irritating in this film.
There were some things I DID like. For instance the first task scene was good, as Harry is chased by the Dragon around Hogwarts, where in the book he just flies around the stadium. There was also the maze for the third task; it was massive (it was in the quiditch pitch in the book I remember) & spookier than I pictured, though the monsters inside were skipped out. Lastly there was that battle between Harry & Lord Voldemort. That scene was brilliant in my opinion. Voldemort looked exactly as I pictured, except I pictured his head to be more skull like (if you catch my drift) & he didn't have red eyes like he does in the book. The director of this film however does mention on the bonus disc why he missed out the red eyes. He said something like he wanted to capture the evil within them, or something. It could have worked if he had made it both (normal eyes with a red iris).
Anyway the film was great. Dispite those disapointments I mentioned above, I was still pleased with the film.
A bit of a mess - By: J. Bloss, 26 Apr 2007 Firstly I have not read any of the HP books but have seen each of the films. I have to say that I found Goblet of Fire gloomy & disjointed. Sometimes it felt like little sections of the story had been edited out which made the film feel like it didn't flow very well.
The acting is ok but Hermione just becomes annoying after the first few minutes - she completely overacts as a stroppy teenager & it gets quite tedious. What is reallly disappointing is the amount of screen time David Tennant gets - probably 3-4 minutes - what a waste! Michael Gambon does not shine as Dumbledore either...he is lacking a certain mystical gravitas at the moment & he sounds like a Gloucester Pig Farmer who must have emigrated to Ireland a few years before!
However, the worst thing about this film is that it just does not know where it is going - in the other films there tends to be a self contained mystery or objective to resolve but here we just get the dull Tri-Wizards tournament which just drags on. You don't reallly care if HP will triumph or not. Also with the apparent finale we get to see Voldemort - what a let down the actual scene is - it is so lacking in drama that it is tragic. What I do find completely puzzling though are certain parts of the story just get glossed over - we see Malfoy with Voldemort but this is not referred to afterwards by HP - a bit bizarre! We also see the corpse of Roger Lloyd Packs character but little explanation of what happened or why. I am guessing if you read the books alll these gaps are explained but this doesn't help someone who has only seen the films. I hope the next instalment is a return to form...
