Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth film in the popular Harry Potter series based on the books by J.K. Rowling. It was directed by Mike Newell and was released on November 18, 2005. It is rated PG-13 in the United States, 12A in the UK and Ireland and M15 in Australia. Three days after its release, the film had grossed approximately $102 million at the North American box office, the highest first-week tally for a Harry Potter film. The film was nominated for an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction, but lost to the film version of Memoirs of a Geisha.
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire image = Harrypotterandthegobletoffireposter.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mike Newell |
| Written by | J.K. Rowling (novel) Steve Kloves (screenplay) |
| Produced by | David Heyman |
| Starring | Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Emma Watson David Bradley Robbie Coltrane Warwick Davis Ralph Fiennes Michael Gambon Brendan Gleeson Robert Hardy Jason Isaacs Gary Oldman Miranda Richardson Alan Rickman Maggie Smith Timothy Spall Eric Sykes David Tennant Mark Williams |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros |
Release date | November 18 2005 |
Running time | 157 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $130,000,000 |
Taglines:
- Difficult times lie ahead, Harry
- Everything is about to change
Synopsis
Template:Spoilers The movie starts with an enormous snake (Voldemort's pet snake Nagini) slithering past a derelict graveyard beside an abandoned manor (The Riddle House). Frank Bryce, the caretaker, is boiling water for tea when he sees a light shining in the Riddle house. He assumes there are vandals who come to make trouble in the old manor. Frank then goes to the house and enters. He goes up the stairs and hears three men talking in a room. Frank goes nearer to have a closer look, and we see Wormtail and an unknown man (who is later revealed as Barty Crouch Jr) talking to an unseen Voldemort sitting on an armchair. Nagini then slithers past Frank, comes in and tells her master (speaking in Parseltongue) in the chair that the Muggle caretaker is outside the room. Voldemort kills Frank with the Avada Kedavra curse.
Miles away, Harry Potter awakens at Ron Weasley's house and is greeted by Hermione Granger. The Weasleys (Mr Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George), Harry and Hermione rendezvous with the Diggorys (Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric) at dawn to attend the Quidditch World Cup. The group arrive on top of a hill with an old boot, which turns out to be a Portkey, which transports them to the moor where the World Cup is to be held. Upon arrival, we see a multitude of cultures attending the event (i.e. a flag of Italy is seen, as well as African men in tribal clothes). The arena is a huge stadium that seems to be dug out in a hill beside the moor. The Quidditch World Cup is brief, since we only see the introduction of the two teams (Ireland and Bulgaria), most prominently, the Bulgarian Team Seeker, Viktor Krum.
After the World Cup, a riot suddenly erupts at the campsite. Masked wizards (The Death Eaters) carrying torches ambush the area and burn the tents. Harry gets separated from his friends and gets knocked unconscious by the fleeing crowd. Later, when the campsite is entirely burned down, Barty Crouch Jr, arrives and conjures the Dark Mark. Harry wakes up and sees the man, but Barty Jr runs away. Ron and Hermione find Harry and they almost got stunned by spells by the Ministry, who Apparated on the scene. Afterwards, Harry and his friends take the Hogwarts Express back to the new school term. Hermione advises Harry to write to Sirius Black about the mysterious events happening, and Harry sends a letter via Hedwig.
When the students arrive at the castle, they are suddenly amazed by the arrival of two magical modes of transport: a pristine carriage driven by seven white flying winged horses, and a majestic galleon rising up beneath the Black Lake. Dumbledore then explains that Hogwarts was chosen to host the Triwizard Tournament, a centuries old magical contest created to promote inter-school friendship and international magical cooperation between the three prestigious magic schools of Europe. Dumbledore then introduces the two visiting schools: the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (presented in the film as an all-girls school) with their Headmistress, the towering yet elegant Madame Maxime together with the beautiful Fleur Delacour; and the Durmstrang Institute for Magical Study (portrayed in the movie as a military-style academy) headed by their Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, and to the surprise of Ron, Viktor Krum. After the introduction, the Goblet of Fire is presented to the entire student body.
The next day, Harry and his friends learn about the Unforgivable Curses from Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Soon after, the Champion selection is about to commence. The Goblet of Fire has chosen Viktor Krum for Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons, and Hogwarts Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory. When everyone thinks the selection is over, the Goblet spits out Harry's name, causing an uproar between the three school heads. Suspicion that Harry put his name in the Goblet or had an older student do it for him are quickly dispelled when Mad-Eye Moody states that it would take an extremely powerful spell to trick the Goblet of Fire. In the end, Barty Crouch states that the rules of the Tournament are absolute, and that Harry is officially a Champion.
Immediately after the selection, Harry gets into an argument with Ron. Having always harbored a slight envy of Harry's fame and fortune, Harry's selection as a Triwizard Champion transforms Ron's envy into jealousy. The two friends do not speak for a time. Later, Harry is contacted by Sirius Black, who warns Harry to be careful; his selection as a Champion was no mere accident.
In the First Task, the four Champions are to retrieve a golden egg from a dragon, which contains a clue to the next task, which is to be held in February. Hagrid asks Ron to tell Harry about the dragons beforehand, but Harry never gets the message as the two boys are having a feud. Harry faces the Hungarian Horntail summons his broom and flies away with the Horntail chasing him breaking free from the chain around it's neck. The dragon hits Harry who lands on top of the biggest tower(the dragon perches atop Dumbledore's Tower. Harry retrieves his Firebolt missing a hit from the Horntail. They fly throughout Hogwarts until Harry and the Dragon hit the stone bridge (the one that connects the Great hall to the rest of Hogwarts). Harry safely returns to the dragon arena and finally grabs the Golden Egg, (appearantly, the dragon was either killed in the impact of severely injured).
In Christmas, the traditional Yule Ball is held, which causes some hormonal adolescent tension on the students, particularly Harry, Ron, and Hermione. the Great Hall is decorated appearing as a winter wonderland. Later, it is revealed that the egg is a clue to the Second Task: a song which can only be heard underwater.
The Second Task turns out to be an underwater rescue taking place in the Black Lake with a special person assigned to each Champion: Ron for Harry, Hermione for Krum, Cho Chang for Cedric, and Fleur's younger sister, Gabrielle. Fleur failed to save her sister due to the attacks of the Grindylows, leaving Harry the task of saving both Ron and Gabrielle Delacour. Shortly afterwards, the Grindylows attack Harry. Ron and Grabrielle emerge from the lake safely but Harry is left injured in the lake. He yells "Ascendio" and is pulled upwards out of the lake and onto of the platforms. Despite finishing last, Harry was awarded second place (tied for first in the book) for his "moral fiber".
After the Second Task, Harry discovers the dead body of Barty Crouch lying on the forest floor. He goes to Dumbledore's office to inform the headmaster but he overhears a heated conversation between Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Moody sees Harry and the conversation ends. Dumbledore asks Harry to wait in his office while he attends to the Minister. It is here that Harry stumbles upon the Pensieve, allowing Harry to witness an event that Dumbledore experienced years ago: the Ministry trial exposing Barty Crouch's son to be a traitor.
Finally, the Third Task is a race inside a vast maze which fills up an entire valley near by Hogwarts castle. The objective is getting to the Triwizard Cup hidden deep within the labyrinth. Cedric and Harry go first, followed by Krum, then Fleur. Inside, the hedges constantly smash together, the roots of the hedges burst suddlenly from the ground, trying to grasp the champions. During the competition, Viktor Krum is possessed by the Imperius Curse and begins attacking those he comes in contact with. Fleur becomes victim to Krum, and is engulfed by the magical hedges. Harry manages to save Fleur by conjuring red sparks where the hedges swallowed her yelling, "Periculum!". Afterwards, when Cedric and Harry dispose of Viktor, who tried to attack them, they both race to the visible blue Triwizard Cup. Later on roots grasp Cedric and try to wrap around him. He yells for Harry who stops facing a hard dessicion; continue to run, grab the Triwizard Cup, and win the Tournament or the go back and help Cedric. He points his wand at the roots and shouts, "Reducto!" which immediatly release Cedric. They agree to put aside competition and reach for the cup together before they are engulfed by the hedges.
Instead of arriving back at the entrance to the maze, Harry and Cedric are transported to the graveyard of the Riddle family. Cedric is killed by Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) using Avada Kedavra, who then bewitches the winged Death statue to seize Harry with its staff. Wormtail drops Voldemorts weakend body in the Cauldron, adds Voldemort's father's bone, cuts of his own right hand. He approches Harry, cuts him, and uses his blood as one of the ingredients for a ritual to revive his weakened master, Lord Voldemort. The cualdron is engulfed in fire and then transforms into black fog surrounding Voldemort's forming body. Voldemort is finally resurrected and calls forth his Death Eaters. His followers Apparate on the scene, and one by one, Voldemort painfully unmasks them and decries their meager efforts to force his return. Harry discovers Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater, along with familiar names (Macnair and Crabbe). Voldemort then attempts to destroy Harry in a direct wizard's duel, torturing him with the Cruciatus and tells him what awaits him. Taking the opportunity, Harry hides behind the Riddle Tombstone, builds up his courage, and faces Voldemort.
Both yell, their spells at the same time and their wand connect (both are struggling to maintain holding their wands. A field is formed around them and they echoes of those killed by Voldemort. Harry's mother and father tell him to get to the Triwizard Cup after he breaks the connection. Harry breaks the connection (the spirits distract Vlodemort)and he grabs Cedric's body summons the Triwizard Cup, and arrives back at Hogwarts.
The crowd at first are happy thinking that they are okay and have won the tournament but are shocked as the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory is seen. Distraught, Harry is escorted out of the scene by Mad-Eye Moody back to the castle. After a few moments, the plot unravels as Moody is revealed to be Barty Crouch Jr, thanks to the intervention of Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape. Towards the end, a sort of funeral tribute is given in memory of Cedric Diggory with Dumbledore delivering a moving eulogy, and the entire student body in attendance. The film ends with the departure of the two visiting schools, with every student parting on good terms (i.e. Fleur and Gabrielle kissing Ron goodbye; Krum giving Hermione a piece of parchment with the promise that she write to him). As the students applaud the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, Harry, Ron, and Hermione reminisce the past year and look forward to their next school term as they watch the Durmstrang ship dive beneath the lake and the Beauxbatons carriage flying off into the sunset.
Cast
Locations
The film was mainly shot in Leavesden Film Studios. Other locations used in filming are as follows:
- Ashridge Estate, Hertfordshire, England, UK
- Black Park, Iver, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
- Divinity School, Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Beachy Head, Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, UK
- Glenfinnan Viaduct, Fort William, Highlands, Scotland, UK (Hogwarts Express)
- New College, Holywell Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK (Cloister, Ferret Scene)
- Steall Falls, Scotland, UK
- Virginia Water, Surrey, England, UK
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to this film was composed and scored by Patrick DoyleTemplate:Fn. The track listing is as follows:
- The Story Continues
- Frank Dies
- The Quidditch World Cup
- The Dark Mark
- Foreign Visitors Arrive
- The Goblet Of Fire
- Rita Skeeter
- Sirius Fires
- Harry Sees Dragons
- Golden Egg
- Neville's Waltz
- Harry in Winter
- Potter Waltz
- Underwater Secrets
- The Black Lake
- Hogwart's March
- The Maze
- Voldemort
- Death of Cedric
- Another Year Ends
- Hogwart's Hymn
- Do The Hippogriff Template:Fn
- This Is The Night Template:Fn
- Magic Works Template:Fn
Template:Fnb Original Harry Potter themes composed by John Williams.
Template:Fnb Tracks 22-24 Not composed by Patrick Doyle
Alterations from the book
Trivia
- Characters cut from the movie include Ludo Bagman, Vernon Dursley, Bertha Jorkins, Dobby, Winky, Narcissa Malfoy, Bill Weasley, Molly Weasley, Charlie Weasley and Percy Weasley.
- This film is the first Harry Potter film to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA. It was rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images due mainly to the semi-disturbing images of Voldemort's return and the violence in the Triwizard Tasks. It was also the first Harry Potter movie to be rated 12A by the BBFC, due to reasons such as lots of spiders, Fleur being pulled underground by plant roots in the third task, and the instance in which Ron says "piss off" and Harry saying damn. In the Netherlands, it is the same: 12, violence and fear. However, in the Philippines, the movie was rated G (General Patronage). In Australia, the film was rated M - for mature audiences (recommended for audiences aged 15 or older, similar to the "R" rating in the U.S.), and PG (General admission, but "parental guidance advised") in Canada.
- Fake Mad-Eye Moody and Barty Crouch Jr. always lick their lips. This is a hint of that they are the same people. In one scene, after fake Moody licked his lips, Barty Crouch Sr. realised that he is his son and stared at him, so Barty Crouch Jr. killed him shortly after his discovery.
- Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead along with Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, bass player Steve Mackey, as well as Jason Buckle(Of All Seeing I) and Steve Claydon(of Add N to (X)) appear in the movie as members of the band called The Weird Sisters
- According to rumours that circulated the Internet in 2004, both Rowan Atkinson and John Malkovich were considered for the role of Lord Voldemort. Neither rumour turned out to be substantiated.
- An official picture released by Warner Bros. featuring Harry standing in front of the Riddle's tombstone shows Voldemort's father named as "Tom Marvolo Riddle," which is The Dark Lord's real name, and both his birth and death years inaccurate. According to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Marvolo Gaunt was Voldemort's maternal grandfather, so it's a highly unlikely occurrence that the Dark Lord's Muggle father could have had the very same name as his middle name, which additionally was Voldemort's. Plus, Voldemort was born in 1926, which makes 1915, as shown in the picture, an unlikely birth year for his father. However a picture has been released that shows the misinformation digitally altered so that it is now accurate.
- The "spider" Mad-Eye Moody demonstrates the curses on is a Tailless Whip Scorpion.
- British contortionist Richard Rosson was hired to play the Death Eater named Avery. He shot scenes in which Avery suffers torture, but they were cut from the final cinematic edit.
- The song Hermione sings before Harry finds Crouch's body is the Hogwarts school song.
- The names on the graves in the graveyard scene are of the crew of the movie, in order to avoid getting into copyright problems with other people.
- In the original posters for the movie, the tagline on the posters read Difficult times lie ahead Harry, which lacks a comma. After a few months, the newer posters corrected this mistake to read Difficult times lie ahead, Harry.
- Before being offered this film, Mike Newell was set to direct The Constant Gardener. Coincidentally, that film also stars Ralph Fiennes.
- Mike Newell is the first British director the film series has had.
- Gary Oldman and Ralph Fiennes have both played villains in the Hannibal Lecter films. Oldman played Mason Verger in Hannibal, and Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon.
- The band playing in the Maze grandstand scenes is composed of young musicians from the Aylesbury Music Centre in the UK. However, the music itself is dubbed, as the band were playing "magical" instruments.
- At the end of the credits you can read the sentence "No dragons were harmed in the making of this movie".
- To play Voldemort, a large majority of Ralph Fiennes' facial features (more often than not his rather prominent nose) were digitally altered in post production. To help the visual effects team, Fiennes had colored dots painted onto his face during principal photography.
Weird Sisters Lawsuit
In the runup to the movie, a Canadian folk group called the Wyrd Sisters filed a US$40-million lawsuit against Warner Brothers, the North American distributor of the film, Jarvis Cocker from Pulp and Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead for the use of their group's name. In the book, the band is called the "Weird Sisters" after the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth but was reportedly renamed the "Wyrd Sisters" for the film. Before the film was released, however, Warner Brothers removed all references to either name for the band. Nevertheless, the Wyrd Sisters moved for an injunction in a Canadian court to prevent distribution of the film in Canada. This motion was dismissed by an Ontario judge.
- "'Wyrd' lawsuit against new 'Harry Potter' movie". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
- "'Wyrd Sisters' cannot stop Harry Potter". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Reaction
The film was received very positively by critics, garnering an 89% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The film was praised for being smarter and much wittier than its predecessors, and the actors were credited with some of the most human performances in all of the movies so far. Ralph Fiennes in particular was greeted enthusiastically for his sinister and quietly evil portrayal of Lord Voldemort, Harry's arch-nemesis. Brendan Gleeson was also much-loved as the slightly off-kilter Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
However, there were some complaints. The movie was deemed to be too clunky and jerky in its making by some (in the lack of build up for the Third Task, for example). While most greeted Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort with applause, some believed he was not giving off the air of someone to be feared. While fans enjoy Alan Rickman's portrayal as Snape, there are complaints that he didn't have enough screen time. Furthermore, Michael Gambon's more aggressive portrayal of quirky yet endearing Albus Dumbledore has been greeted with disappointment by people who did not wish to see anything reminiscent of Gandalf the Grey. It is often said that those familiar with the books are annoyed by how much is left out, while those unfamiliar are left confused by the plot-holes.
Box office
After an opening day of $40m at the North American box office, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire enjoyed a successful run at the box office, setting numerous records including the highest non-May opening weekend in the US and the most successful opening ever in the UK, earning £14.9m in its opening weekend. 'Goblet of Fire' then drew $102.7 million from 3,858 locations its opening weekend at the North American box office, setting a new opening high for the franchise and selling about as many tickets as the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, did out of the gate. The debut marked the fourth $100 million weekend in history, behind Spider-Man's $114.8 million, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith's $108.4 million and Shrek 2's $108 million.
As of March 19, 2006, the Goblet of Fire has earned $891.7 million worldwide according to Boxofficemojo, making it not only the highest grossing international and worldwide release of 2005, but one of the only films to have ever passed $600 million in international box office receipts. It has joined only four other titles to have passed the $600 million mark, including 'Titanic', 'Return of the King', and the first two Harry Potter films. Its worldwide total includes $289.7 million in the U.S. and Canada. The film ranks third domestically behind Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for 2005. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2005&p=.htm
In January 2006, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire surpassed the box office takings of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, to became the eighth-highest grossing film of all time, and the second-highest grossing film in the Harry Potter series so far, behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
DVD
The film was released on DVD in North America on March 7 2006. It was available in one- and two-disc editions, as well as part of an 8-disc boxset that includes all four films to date. (Source: Mugglenet) The film was also in UMD format for PSP. The Bonus Disc features three interactive games, as well as seven behind the scenes featurettes.
On it's first day of release in North America, over 5 million copies sold were sold recording a franchise high for first-day sales. And within it's first week, sold over a total of 9 million units of combined sales of both the widescreen and full screen versions of the DVD. (Source: Pan and Scan)
The UK edition will be released on DVD on March 20 2006. It will be available in a two-disc edition. The special features are similar to the North American two-disc edition. ("Source: DVDActive")
Future Shop has an exclusive promotion including a holographic cover for the two-disc edition.
Warner Home Video announces the HD DVD edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it is to be released on April 11 2006. ("Source: Yahoo! News")
The Chinese DVD edition was released 2 weeks before the North American release as an effort to combat DVD piracy in the country of China. The DVD was sold at a low price of $2.73 USD.
More DVD release dates:
- Brazil: March 23 2006
- Denmark: March 29 2006
- France: May 31 2006
- Italy: March 22 2006
- Norway: March 29 2006
- Spain: March 29 2006
- Sweden: March 29 2006
Source: Veritaserum
The DVD will be released on March 29 2006 in Australia (Source: Harry Potter Fan Zone)
References
- "Pottermania in London". (8 November 2005). New Straits Times, p. 30.
External links
Movie Sites
- Official Goblet of Fire site
- Official movie series site
- Official UK site
- Box Office Totals
- Template:Ymovies title
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at IMDb
Reviews
- Movie Review - Mark Sells, The Oregon Herald
- musicOMH.com Review
- Mugglenet Press Screening Fan Review
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at IMDb
- Template:Msp
- Harry Potter Movie Pictures
Trailers
Theatrical Trailer released September 15 2005
International Trailer released August 24 2005
Teaser Trailer released May 7 2005
Trailers from Movies.com