Daniel Radcliffe's Ranking Of The Harry Potter Movies Is A Fascinating Mess

Have you ever ranked the "Harry Potter" movies from best to worst? For what it's worth, we here at /Film ranked the books for good measure and ranked all of the original 8 movies to boot ... but what does original star Daniel Radcliffe have to say about the matter?

During an April 2026 interview with Josh Horowitz to promote his Broadway show "Every Brilliant Thing" (via Parade), Horowitz asked Radcliffe, who won a Tony in 2025 for his on-stage role in "Merrily We Roll Along," to choose between pairs of "Potter" movies. (You can also watch the clip on TikTok.) Presented with the first two, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (or "Philosopher's Stone" if you're across the pond) and "Chamber of Secrets," Radcliffe picked the second film, claiming to be a fan of the massive basilisk that plays a major part of the story. Then he hit what he knew would be a road block: "Prisoner of Azkaban," a fan favorite, against "Goblet of Fire."

"That's actually tough," Radcliffe told Horowitz. "I know everyone wants me to say 'Azkaban.' I know that's how everyone else feels, but I love the stuff I got to do on the fourth movie. It was awesome. I'll take 'Goblet of Fire.'"

Ultimately, the way that it all shook out is that "Goblet of Fire" earned second place behind the last movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2," largely because Radcliffe rather famously hates "Half-Blood Prince." This surprised Radcliffe, apparently.  "Wow! I'm fascinated, he said. "I don't think I knew Goblet of Fire would have been my second favorite film. Although it would have survived if the bracket were different. It would have gone a different way." With all due respect to Radcliffe, this ranking sucks. Absolutely not. 

I don't like disagreeing with Daniel Radcliffe. I'm a huge fan of his work, especially the way that he broke free from the shackles of the "Harry Potter" identity in the years since the franchise ended. I have to, though, because Radcliffe is rad-ically wrong. (Sorry.) "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a perfectly middling "Harry Potter" film, and both parts of "Deathly Hallows" are sort of a mess, largely because the movie suffered drastically from being split up in the first place. (Remember when every franchise-ending installment insisted on doing that? Weird times.) Radcliffe is right about "Half-Blood Prince," which largely sucks, owing to the fact that it cuts most of the Dark Lord Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) backstory so that all the teens can kiss each other for most of its run time. What he sorely overlooks, though, is "Order of the Phoenix."

Yes, most people would, as Radcliffe said, anoint "Prisoner of Azkaban" as the best movie, and that's not entirely wrong. From a filmmaking perspective, "Azkaban" is the best movie — because it was helmed by Alfonso friggin' Cuarón. From an adaptation perspective, "Order of the Phoenix" is the best movie. Not only does it perfect cast its main villain Professor Dolores Umbridge by bringing Imelda Staunton on board, but "Order of the Phoenix" is, canonically, Harry's whiniest book, and the movie gets his (honestly understandable) teenage angst across perfectly. The whole film is dark, moody, and pretty comprehensive — in that most of the book's story remains — and it's the best in the franchise.

Luckily for Radcliffe, aside from interviews like this, the world of "Harry Potter" is in his rearview mirror. So what has he been doing since?

Here's the thing about Daniel Radcliffe. He might have bad taste in the "Harry Potter" movies that made him famous, but he's also an unbelievably talented and audacious performer who seems to always be striving to expand his already considerable range. "Harry Potter" wrapped up its original film franchise in 2011, and though Radcliffe appeared in some serious projects like the Allen Ginsberg biopic "Kill Your Darlings," he also started working on some distinctly comedic projects, which is where he shines.

Radcliffe is also an absolutely incredible stage performer — I was fortunate enough to see him in "Equus" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," and I've watched the professionally shot version of "Merrily We Roll Along" that won him what I expect will be his first Tony of many — but I think the most notable thing about him is his knack for comedy. Putting aside projects like his romantic comedy "What If?" (which is outstandingly good), Radcliffe has played "Weird" Al Yankovic in the tongue-in-cheek biopic parody "Weird," danced in fishnets and garters and played spoiled princes and avenging angels in the anthology series "Miracle Workers," and shown off that he generally has exceptional comedic timing.

That's on perfect display in his 2026 Peacock series "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins," which I cannot recommend highly enough and which pairs Radcliffe with the unlikeliest but best scene partner imaginable: Tracy Morgan. With Morgan as Reggie (an NFL player disgraced for betting on himself who's attempting a comeback) and Radcliffe as documentary filmmaker Arthur, "Reggie Dinkins" shines when it highlights their friendship. Also, Radcliffe is really, really funny. That's on Peacock; the "Harry Potter" movies are there and on HBO Max.