Book Review – J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
About two weeks ago I finished reading J.K. Rowling’s fourth installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It wasn’t until just the other day that I finally saw the movie again and felt prepared to write another book review and movie comparison.
Like the previous novels, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire starts out with Harry Potter suffering at the Muggle home of his aunt and uncle while waiting for the start of the next year of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is rescued by the Weasleys and allowed to temporarily live with them, including attending the final match of the prestigious Quidditch World Cup.
The Quidditch World Cup is what really starts the main plot line of the novel. The story goes into detail about the guests sitting in the Top Box with Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys, and of course, the main Quidditch match itself involving Ireland versus Bulgaria. It’s here in the Top Box where Harry is involved with several key characters including Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch, Sr. (also known as Mr. Crouch), and Winky, the house-elf for the Crouch family.
The Ireland and Bulgaria teams battle for the Quidditch World Cup title, and even their mascots get involved at times. The game comes to an epic conclusion with Ireland claiming victory and Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and a bit of a gambling man himself, owing quite a bit of money to Fred and George Weasley from a bet they made before the final match.
Chaos erupts that night after the Quidditch World Cup as Death Eaters arrive, destroying parts of the camping area and torturing innocent Muggles caught before them. People flee from the danger and during the confusion Harry Potter loses his wand. Moments later somebody unknown uses Harry’s wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky, letting all the witches and wizards know that Lord Voldemort is returning to power.
Uh oh! All those good wizards and witches are in serious trouble now! Oh no!
And so begins the main plot line in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Oh, sure, there’s the Triwizard Tournament hosted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and all the fun and games involving the three challenges, but the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book seems to focus more on the mystery of the Dark Mark and return of the Death Eaters rather than the tremendous physical and mental challenges of the Triwizard Tournament.
One thing to point out is that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the longest of the first four Harry Potter books. It’s quite evident that parts of the story seem to drag on, and on, and on, making the story fairly dull at times, such as Hermione’s yearlong quest to “free” the house-elves working at Hagrids. Oh, joy! /s
So where does the movie differ from the book?
You almost have two completely different experiences from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book and movie. While the book focuses more on the mystery of the Death Eaters and mysterious actions of people at Hogwarts, the movie focuses more on the Triwizard Tournament. And thus, most of the book is absent from the movie.
For example, the first 160 or so pages in the book, everything from the Weasleys taking Harry back to their home, to all of the events before and after the Quidditch World Cup, to the Death Eaters and Death Mark, to everything happening at the Ministry of Magic, to finally arriving at Hogwarts, takes about five or six minutes in the movie. Many of those events are drastically scaled back or just outright eliminated.
Is this faster pace and focus on other events such a bad thing for the movie? No. The movie is still pretty good, and the Triwizard Tournament, Yule Ball, and rise of Lord Voldemort is where it really shines. In particular, the first challenge in the Triwizard Tournament with Harry out-flying the dragon is one of several highlights in the movie. And just for the fun of it, parts of the movie’s soundtrack are really cool. 🙂
But it is the faster pacing of the movie and omission of several key parts that also makes the movie a little more confusing, as to why Ron is upset at Harry, how Harry learned summoning charms, or even who killed Mr. Crouch and why.
The golden rule is that if you want to learn more about what happens in a movie, you really need to read the book. Like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the book for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has some critical plot elements missing from the movie. Take the time to read the 734-page novel and learn about Harry and his friends’ fourth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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These reviews and much more are available at my other website, Chamber of Reviews!