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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [2001]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

As the first Harry Potter film of the celebrated series, this is a must for ardent fans and newcomers to the global fantasy phenomenon. An adaptation of J. K. Rowling's enchanting, funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (known as the Sorcerer's Stone in the US), it’s our first big-screen encounter with the series’ well-loved characters and the goings-on at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

We meet orphan Harry Potter (played by a young Daniel Radcliffe) while he’s as yet unaware of his magical powers and is living a miserable existence with his horrible Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. A mysterious letter arrives, delivered by the friendly giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane in fine acting form), inviting Harry to study at the exclusive Hogwarts School and he soon discovers his true heritage as the son of a wizard and a witch. He’s also gained widespread notoriety, being the only survivor of an attack by the evil wizard Voldemort that killed both his parents. The film explores Harry’s growing realisation that there are two worlds: the non-magical world of humans, called "Muggles", in which he used to reside and the magical fantasy world of wizardry that is his destiny.

The greatest strength of the film comes from its faithfulness to the novel, and this new cinematic world is filled with all the details of Rowling's imagination, thanks to exuberant sets, elaborate costumes, clever makeup and visual effects, and a crème de la crème cast, including Maggie Smith, Richard Harris, Alan Rickman and more. Especially fine is the interplay between Harry and his new schoolmates Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they club together to fight the forces of evil. --Sally Giles


Pleasant viewing, but nothing special
Review date: 2008-08-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

Never read the books so I came with an open mind when watching this film. Like the book, the film is for children but can be enjoyed by adults.

Unfortuneatly this came out at the same time as the excellent 'Lord of the Rings' and it cant really compare with Tolkiens classic (same with the books really) but you can enjoy it on its own merit, especially if you havnt bother reading the novel first. If you have, then it could be an up hill struggle. However, the acting and the characters are enjoyable and the whole movie leaves you interested enough to watch the follow-up movies.

This is certainly a better film than some other recent fantasy films like Narnia, The Golden Compass, The Seeker (Dark is rising) and the truely terrible Eragorn.

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Reviews


Good Start
Review date: 2008-07-01 Rating: 8 out of 10

This is a visually beautiful film, with the best of the british lighting up the screen. But it's still my least favourite of the Potter movies, and this is because the pace of the film is slow (though that's mainly due to the setting up of characters and locations). Also though the children do a great job, I just prefer them in the next one because they are much better.
The dvd itself aint great, not too many extra's and no director commentary. For a 2 Disc I give the features 2 out of 5 though the movie is 3.5/5

enjoyable
Review date: 2008-06-07 Rating: 6 out of 10

ive never read the books but this is an enjoyable fun popcorn thats great for all the family.theres a great british cast too

Very poor
Review date: 2007-11-01 Rating: 4 out of 10

I have not been impressed with any of the five Harry Potter movies so far, but the first three are on a different level of badness than number four or five. Fine they are very faithful to the book, but they are terrible adaptations and the director and scriptwriter ought to be ashamed of themselves.

The plot is basically like this ( although everybody knows it ), Harry doesn't know he's a wizard until a giant tells him that he is, he then goes to a magic school called Hogwarts and makes friends with Ron and Hermione, but everything doesn't go well because Harry finds out about the philosophers stone which is hidden in the school, and he suspects one of the teachers is going to steal it.

The problem with this movie is the following: The first two books were more for children than the ones following them, but this takes a novel for 9+'s and turns it into a soppy kids movie for four year olds who aren't able to tell te difference between a good movie and a bad movie, aswell as that they take the direction of the happy ending, and seem to ignore all the horrors that Harry went through during the term. The script is terrible, I mean, no children talk like that, it's just disgraceful that any scriptwriter that bad could be hired for this major a movie. There are some excellent adult actors here, but even they have to struggle with a terrible script, and the three main kids in it are useless, nowadays Emma and Rupert are ok, but Daniel has only imroved a little bit, but certainly not enough to be convincing. The directing is very poor in this one and only starts to improve at number 3, when they got a new director.

I don't recommend this to anybody except young children, and the only reason I didn't give it 1 star is because of the good acting from most of the adults, and because I can't stand giving something even remotely connected to the genius of JK Rowling 1 star.

A good film - spolit by unnecessary bad language
Review date: 2007-10-30 Rating: 6 out of 10

This film keeps faithfully to the book but, for some reason, it has been considered necessary to put in some bad language that certainly does not appear in the book. A couple of "bloody hells", several more "bloodies", one "arse" and a "bugger". One wouldn't even notice this mild swearing in an adult film, but, in a film for children, it jars. Why is it considered necessary? Is it because it was scripted by Americans who do not recognise this as swearing? Doesn't this bother any other parents?

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Maggie Smith
Richard Harris
Robbie Coltrane
Daniel Radcliffe
Saunders Triplets

Creators:
Richard Harris (Primary Contributor)
Maggie Smith (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900588157
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2005-10-24
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 146 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2001-11-16
Language: English (Original Language)

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