Changed my mind!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Excellent, but the PG-13 is accurate.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 12 and Up
The good stuff
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Parents need to know that this film has two deaths (including a really sad one), scary creatures, some romantic yearnings, and edge-of-the-seat scenes. With each film the scariness quotient increases. This movie features fighting dragons, tortured bugs, a scary huge maze, and an underwater horror show. Young kids who don't understand the difference between fantasy and reality should stay clear. So should kids going through an anxious time about unnamed terrors or unwanted separations, as one of the death scenes is upsetting. The action is sometimes rowdy, and camera movements/edits are aggressive, all of which increase the scary effects. One of the deleted scenes featured on the DVD shows teen couples after the Yule Ball getting caught kissing, etc., in carriages -- it's a little more sexual content than you get in the feature film.
Families Can Talk About
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- Families can talk about the film's more mature content and who this movie is targeted to. Young kids are going to want to see this -- should the movie have been toned down or is the violent content appropriate given the age of the characters? For kids who read the book, which plot points got left out that you missed? Why do you think they left out the house elves? What role did they serve in the books? Cheating is rampant among the teachers and judges involved in the Triwizard competition, but not among the competitors. Why do you think this is? Does Ron have a right to be jealous if he didn't ask Hermione to the ball?
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More on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
What’s the Story?
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE is the first PG-13 movie in the Harry Potter series, and not for nothing. Harry and friends are 14 now and growing up fast, noticing the opposite sex, and realizing what huge expectations the wizarding world has for them during dangerous times. This year, Hogwarts hosts stars from two other schools -- Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute -- for the Triwizard Tournament. The Tournament contestants are selected by the magical Goblet of Fire; they must fight dragons, spend an hour underwater with merpeople, and find their way out of a maze. In the end Harry faces fear and pain not sanctioned by the Triwizard committee. He's on his own against his true enemy, and his uneasy transition to adult hero figure is palpable.
Is It Any Good?
When Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) attend the Quidditch World Cup, they witness the full-on effects of sports celebrity: fans cheer and stomp their feet, magical images of the star shimmer over the crowd. The fact that the tournament site is destroyed by Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters hardly brings pause, as the film tends to move from plot point to plot point, ensuring that each beloved character from the novel gets at least a brief moment on screen.
The Tournament extends the movie's thematic interest in celebrity. In due course, H arry is exposed to cheating (by adult coaches who mean for their charges to win) and not a little bit of emotional and physical abuse (he's a wizard and quite ingenious, so perhaps the awful stuff is not so awful to him). That such disturbance makes sense is almost as vexing as the violence per se: whether 14 or 17, the kids are expected to be warriors and survivors, able to undergo pain and work through fear, and especially, to fight back, to inflict pain. A difficult transition on screen or off, it makes the whole growing up thing look pretty unpleasant.
Movie Details
Studio: Warner Bros., Director: Mike Newell
Run time: 156 minutes
Theatrical release: 11/18/2005, DVD release: 3/7/2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.
Run time: 156 minutes
Theatrical release: 11/18/2005, DVD release: 3/7/2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.
Our Members Say
See 159 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title on for age 13 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
Another Addition
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I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
Addition to below review
Sorry, I meant to put "iffy."
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I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
Agreeably the darkest HP yet
Yes, Prisoner of Azkaban was pretty dark, more so than the first two HPs. But, as most everyone agrees, this is the big turning point. I love this movie, but I must admit, this is my least favorite of all the HP movies yet. If you knew me, you'd say, "What? But it has a dragon in it! Everyone knows how crazy you are about dragons. They're your favorite magical creatures, O, wise and beautiful one." Okay, so I wrote that last part, but that's what my parents call me. (Love you, guys!) I will admit one thing, though: I AM crazy and I'm happy about it. Try it, it's fun! The other thing I'll say is that there's one little four minute long part in the movie I don't like. At all. Period. The bathtub scene in the middle of the movie. Yet again, you speak, but this time you say, "A WHAT? I thought this was a Harry Potter film." Yes, it is, and this is, so far, the worst thing in the series (I've only seen/read to HP #6) Besides, you know, the middle of that scene when Moaning Myrtle starts flirting with Harry (in the book) and climbs into the tub (not in the book) with him. I had the same look on my face as Harry did: annoyance, fear, embarrasment, and just a hint of anger. I'm sorry, but that's just sick! Who wrote that? Oh, right. Well, besides that, this movie was perfect! Just watch out for when that guy chops his own hand off.
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Kids ages: 9
I rate this title on for age 15 and give it- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
Depictions of evil are over the top
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I rate this title on for age 13 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Outstanding, but not for young children.
This is a great movie, but a lot of stuff from the book that I would have liked to see in a movie was left out. In terms of inappropriate content, there is some language: d***, bloody h***, p*** off; some violent and frightening scenes; some s*xual content including some images of a topless mermaid who's hair barely covered the breasts, a ghost girl who gets up close to Harry in the bathtub; a mild reference to h***s*xual relationships, and other mild romantic content.
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