Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Story

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) receives an invitation from his friend Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) to attend the Quidditch World Cup, which is being contested by Ireland and Bulgaria. The match ends in chaos when dark wizards appear, destroying everything in sight and placing the ‘dark mark’ of Voldemort, a huge skull, high up in the sky. Ron, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Harry are still trying to unravel the events when they return to school for the start of the new year.

When they return to their school Hogwarts, they are greeted with the news that the school is hosting the Triwizard Tournament, an event which hasn’t taken place in over 100 years. The Tournament is a challenging and dangerous event, traditionally contested by three students, one representing each of the world’s wizarding schools – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The three students are chosen by the Goblet of Fire, which spits out their names, with Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) chosen to represent Hogwarts. On this occasion, the Goblet of Fire chooses an additional fourth contestant – Harry Potter. Harry has to compete against students much older than himself, fighting fire breathing dragons, rescuing his friends from the bottom of the Black Lake and finding his way through a maze, which is intent on strangling all contestants.

As he defeats each obstacle, he unknowingly falls further into the trap set by Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who plans to capture him and use his blood to be reborn in human form.

Themes

Moderate dark themes; moderate fantasy violence

Violence

There are several violent scenes in this movie, mostly performed by magic. For example:

A caretaker is struck down by a flash of light.
Harry’s first task in the Triwizard Tournament is to collect a golden egg, which is being protected by a dragon. The scene between Harry and the dragon is very well done, but quite violent. The dragon repeatedly breathes fire on Harry and attacks him. Harry ends up with blood on his face and quite bruised.
Harry is attacked by strange and vicious underwater creatures.
Diggory, the other Hogwarts competitor, is killed by Wormtail (Timothy Spall), a Voldemort supporter.
Wormtail cuts off his own hand and lowers it into a cauldron where Voldemort, a shrivelled baby-like creature, is waiting to be trasformed into human form. Wormtail then cuts Harry’s arm with a long knife, collects his blood and puts it into the cauldron.
Voldemort presses on Harry’s scar, making Harry scream and writhe in pain.
Voldemort and Harry duel with their wands.

Sexual references

None

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Mad Eye Moody is constantly drinking from a hip flask.

Nudity and sexual activity

None

Product placement

None

Coarse language

This movie contains infrequent mild coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a visually stunning and excellent story, full of witchcraft, wizardry and magic. Many adolescents will enjoy this movie, with the special effects, and deftly handled clumsy teenage romances. Because of its overall sense of brooding darkness and the very dramatic and dark climax, this movie is not recommended for young or sensitive children.

You may want to discuss with your child a major moral dilemma in this movie: while Harry appears to have done the right thing sacrificing his win of the tournament to help his competitor, he in fact causes his competitor’s death by doing so. You could also talk about the use of violence as a means of solving conflict and about the values in this movie, including self-sacrifice, gender equality and courage. Also, be prepared for questions about what happens when good doesn’t appear to triumph over evil.