Difficult times lie ahead for Harry Potter.
Beset by nightmares that leave his scar hurting more than usual, Harry (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) is all too happy to escape his disturbing dreams by attending the Quidditch World Cup with his friends Ron (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione (EMMA WATSON). But something sinister ignites the skies at the Quidditch campsite - the Dark Mark, the sign of the evil Lord Voldemort. It's conjured by his followers, the Death Eaters, who haven't dared to appear in public since Voldemort (RALPH FIENNES) was last seen thirteen years ago - the night he murdered Harry's parents. Harry longs to get back inside the safe walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Professor Dumbledore (MICHAEL GAMBON) can protect him. But things are going to be a little different this year. Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, one of the most exciting and dangerous of the wizarding community's magical competitions. One champion will be selected from each of the three largest and most prestigious wizarding schools to compete in a series of life-threatening tasks in pursuit of winning the coveted Triwizard Cup.
The Hogwarts students watch in awe as the elegant girls of the Beauxbatons Academy and the dark and brooding boys of Durmstrang Institute fill the Great Hall, breathlessly awaiting the selection of their champions.
Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch (ROGER LLOYD PACK) and Professor Dumbledore preside over a candlelit ceremony fraught with anticipation as the enchanted Goblet of Fire selects one student from each school to compete. Amidst a hail of sparks and flames, the cup names Durmstrang's Quidditch superstar Victor Krum (STANISLAV IANEVSKI), followed by Beauxbatons' exquisite Fleur Delacour (CLÉMENCE POÉSY) and finally, Hogwarts' popular all-around golden boy Cedric Diggory (ROBERT PATTINSON). But then, inexplicably, the Goblet spits out one final name: Harry Potter.
At just 14 years old, Harry is three years too young to enter the grueling competition. He insists that he didn't put his name in the Goblet and that he really doesn't want to compete. But the Goblet's decision is binding, and compete he must. Suspicion and jealousy abound as muckraking journalist Rita Skeeter (MIRANDA RICHARDSON) fans the flames of the Harry Potter backlash with her outrageous gossip columns. Even Ron begins to believe his "fame seeking" friend somehow tricked the cup into selecting him.
Suspecting that whoever did enter Harry's name in the Tournament deliberately wants to put him in grave danger, Dumbledore asks Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (BRENDAN GLEESON), the eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, to keep his highly perceptive and magical eye trained on the teenage wizard.
Harry prepares for the challenging Triwizard tasks - evading a fire-breathing dragon, diving into the depths of a great lake and navigating a maze with a life of its own. But nothing is more daunting than the most terrifying challenge of them all - finding a date for the Yule Ball.
For Harry, dealing with dragons, merpeople and grindylows is a walk in the park compared to asking the lovely Cho Chang (KATIE LEUNG) to the Yule Ball. And if Ron weren't so distracted, perhaps he would acknowledge a change in his feelings for Hermione.
Events take an ominous turn when someone is murdered on Hogwarts grounds. Scared and still haunted by dreams of Voldemort, Harry turns to Dumbledore. But even the venerable Headmaster admits that there are no longer any easy answers.
As Harry and the other champions battle through their last task and the advancing tendrils of the ominous maze, someone or something is keeping a watchful eye.
--© Warner Bros.
