5 Reasons Why The Goblet Of Fire Is The Best Harry Potter Movie

In the fourth instalment of the Harry Potter series, Harry is faced with challenges far bigger than anything he's ever come across before. Despite this film's darkness, there's something about the Triwizard Tournament that gives it a fun lightheartedness and measured pace.

Harry and his friends are clearly growing up now, with their longer hair, questionable fashion choices, more intense use of offensive slang, and petty teenage feuds. Notably, this is the film in which Voldemort finally makes his long-awaited return. The whole film teems with a sense of looming darkness, and the conclusion is a satisfying combination of heartbreak, loss, resolution, and the start of a new journey.

More Conflict

Stories are driven forward by conflict, and the fourth Harry Potter film delivers more of it than the first three. It's no longer just Harry clashing with his inner demons; his identity crisis is now driving him and his friends apart. The first example of this is his drawn-out argument with Ron and Hermione. Even though he didn't enter his own name into the Goblet of Fire other people suspect that he has - including Dumbledore. He's beginning to lose people's trust, and this will continue into the future.

There's also the fact that somebody is out to get Harry - in this case, Barty Crouch Jr. posing as Moody. From the beginning of the film, it's clear that Harry is facing a bigger enemy than he ever has before - he's having nightmares about Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew, and the Death Eaters come looking for him. He's fighting darkness itself, and feeling betrayed and isolated doesn't help him.

A New Sense of Humour

As the characters age, so does the tone of the story. Here, Harry and his friends are around fourteen years old, and the dialogue in this movie is packed with sarcasm, snide remarks, and witty insults. The first three films don't leave a lot of room for humour, given their focus on establishing the magical world, but this one needs some lightness to balance out the dark.

Harry himself is particularly snarky in this film, and the Weasley twins get their time in the limelight. There's also Ron's jealousy of Hermione's relationship with Krum, the Beauxbaton girls, the reappearance of Moaning Myrtle, and Neville's bungled attempts at helping Harry.

Triwizard Tournament

Of course, the Goblet of Fire film is best remembered for the Triwizard Tournament. It gives the film a clearer structure and adds many new elements to the setting. Viewers realize that the wizarding world extends far beyond Hogwarts, and that magic is just as dangerous as it is helpful.

The Tournament is exciting, full of unforeseen twists and turns, betrayals and unlikely allies, as well as the introduction of many new magical creatures and spells. Best of all, it leads to a satisfying finale. The Tournament allows witches and wizards to show off their magical knowledge in a way that isn't seen in any of the other films. Even spectators get involved, like Neville reading up on plants, or Hermione helping Harry decode the egg's message.

Expansion of the Wizarding World

The fourth Harry Potter movie introduces a lot of new aspects to the wizarding world, expanding far beyond the Hogwarts campus. The film opens with the Quidditch World Cup, where viewers see crowds of witches and wizards gather to view a truly captivating spectacle. The Cup is also where Harry sees Death Eaters for the first time, as well as Voldemort's symbol in the sky.

The Ministry of Magic is much more involved in this film, with many of the side characters somehow involved in it: Fudge, Barty Crouch and Barty Crouch Jr., Dumbledore and his mysterious past, Igor Karkaroff, and Madeye Moody. Even the world of Hogwarts expands to further flesh out students from other houses, like Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang.

Voldemort's Return

To top it all off, Voldemort's long-awaited return adds a renewed sense of danger and darkness to Harry's story. Voldemort's return is hinted out throughout the film through Harry's nightmares, and is pretty much inevitable, given Pettigrew's escape at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Still, his return is momentous, unsettling, and horrifying. Harry is trapped, helpless, while he watches his friend die and the darkest wizard of all time return to power. What makes the scene even more effective is the juxtaposition of this darkness against Harry's return back to Hogwarts, where he's greeted with cheering and music and obliviousness. He has no proof to convince the world of Voldemort's return, which only makes the villain even more dangerous and is the perfect set-up for further adventure.