What Parents Should Know
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 discuss 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?
Common Sense Media Review
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE is the first PG-13 movie
in the Harry Potter series and not for nothing. Older
characters -- Harry and friends are 14 now -- are growing up
fast, noticing the opposite sex, and realizing what huge
expectations the wizarding world has for them during dangerous
times.
The film begins differently than the others, without the now-familiar setup of Harry ( Daniel Radcliffe) at the home of his muggle relatives. And at school, Harry, Hermione ( Emma Watson), and Ron ( Rupert Grint) face what is, aside from Lord Voldemort, the most frightening hurdle they've yet encountered: sex. Like other kids their age, they're both excited and afraid of what this burgeoning interest holds for them.
One model of valiant behavior and focus of desire is offered in the worldwide Quidditch champion, Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski). When the students attend the 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 a visit from the Death Eaters (Lord Voldemort's masked henchmen) hardly brings pause, as the film (much like the others before it) 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 event that overshadows the Death Eaters' attack and extends the thematic interest in celebrity is the Triwizard Tournament. This year, Hogwarts hosts stars from two other schools, Beauxbatons Academy (all girls in blue dresses, all French, arriving via flying carriage) and Durmstrang Institute (Viktor and other robust Eastern European boys, who travel by a submersible ship).
