I have always been in love with the Harry Potter series. I’ve read the books at least four times, have seen the movies more times than I can count and (shameless self plug) covered the South Bend Symphony’s Harry Potter performance. There is no doubt that one of my favorite pieces of work created by the controversial writer J.K Rowling is “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire” which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this November. The film also represents a departure from the three films that precede it, adopting an overall darker tone and reckoning with death, but still retaining a quintessentially Harry Potter soundtrack, music and of course storyline.
As a lover of sports, this movie appealed to me the most out of the eight films in the series because it focuses on competition. The Triwizard Tournament involves contestants from Beauxbatons Academy, Durmstrang Institute and (of course) Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Traditionally, all participants must be over the age of 17 with only three people (one from each of the three wizarding schools) allowed to compete. However, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) competes as the fourth student in a number of events throughout the movie including facing dragons and mermaids before eventually facing off against Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). I think that this is a twist as Potter is not old enough to compete but he does and eventually takes home the trophy with creative techniques.
The musical score of the movie is beyond comparison. Composed by Patrick Doyle and others, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” has some of the best music I have ever heard. Arguably, one of my favorite songs in the soundtrack is “The Quidditch World Cup” which is played at the beginning of the movie when Harry, alongside companions Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), his family and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) attend the professional league Quidditch world cup match which also happens to be one of my favorite scenes in the movie (think of it like you are attending a World Cup game with all of your friends). The song starts with intense and upbeat violins playing to represent Ireland and then turns dark, more intense and fast-paced to represent Bulgaria. The other song that appeals to me is “Potter Waltz.” It is a very graceful song as it appears when Potter is dancing at the annual ball that is hosted during the games. Throughout the song it features violins that freely play to the dance movements of the characters in the scene. The addition of the different brass instruments in the background such as french horn and trombone help with the lead up to different climaxes throughout the song.
Overall, this movie is very exciting from the different events that take place, the highly competitive storyline from attending the Quidditch World Cup to facing dragons and sea creatures, it is truly my favorite movie out of the seven and I highly recommend it.
Writers note: While I do recommend watching this movie, I highly recommend watching the movies in order as the storyline will not make sense if you don’t.
