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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
PG | | Cast
Daniel Radcliffe
Rupert Grint
Emma Watson
Robbie Coltrane
Richard Harris
Alan Rickman. | | Directors
Chris Columbus. | | Screenwriters
Steve Kloves. | | Running Time
152 minutes |
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Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (PG) Plot
On his eleventh birthday, orphan Harry Potter discovers that he's a wizard, so off he goes to Hogwarts School to learn the ways of the wand. But it isn't all lessons and making friends: Harry is destined for a showdown with the evil Lord Voldemort. Review
Sometimes the best plan is to do things by the book. With over 100 million Harry Potter readers desperate to rush down cinema aisles to see their hero on the big screen for the first time, you can't blame Chris Columbus for sticking close to J.K. Rowling's novel. It's one thing to let your imagination loose with the words on the page; it's another to have those images backed up by a multi-million dollar Hollywood budget. And from the very first sight of an owl perched on the Privet Drive road sign to the closing shot of the Hogwarts Express pulling away from the station with the majestic school sitting high on the hills behind, we know that every golden galleon has been well spent.
That's why this faithful adaptation won't fail to win over the book's fans with its 'wow' factor. It thrives on audience recognition. John Williams' score swells at the key moments - Here's your first glimpse of Hogwarts! Isn't Diagon Alley crammed with Dickensian detail! - as Columbus pulls back curtain after curtain to reveal all of the avid readers' favourite bits. The stand-out sequence is the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, a fast-paced medieval Rollerball with broomsticks. It soars where The Phantom Menace's podrace stalled on the third lap.
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone has one advantage over so many other blockbusters: it already knows that it's the first in a series, so it doesn't have to become a self-contained hit movie before its sequels can receive the green light. This means it deliberately takes its time setting up the characters and the scenario before, like the book, pulling in a quest-cum-whodunnit plot to provide a climax. This structure is fine for the initiated, but it might leave first-timers feeling a bit uncomfortable with the shape of the movie. And because it's more of a kids film than the book was just a kids book, the two-and-a-half hour running time is bound to provoke some cinema squirming from young viewers.
That said, Columbus ensures there's a bit of on-screen magic coming our way every couple of minutes, and not just in the shape of expensive effects. Near-perfect casting ensures character colour from the adult actors and allows the central trio of kids (Radcliffe, Grint and Watson) to prove that three heads are better than one (unless your name is Fluffy).
Coltrane as cuddly giant Hagrid and Grint as Harry's cheeky chum, Ron, steal some scenes, but it's Radcliffe who leads us through Harry's journey from open-jawed underdog to pint-sized hero. Sympathetic and strong, brave and believably ordinary, he becomes the audience's counterpart in this weird world of witches and wizards. Verdict
Even though a few of the book's scenes have been cut, fans probably couldn't hope for a better adaptation. It bodes well for the rest of the series, when strong stories start taking precedence over set-up.
Reviewer: Alan Morrison
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Average user rating for Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
| its not amazing | | | I still think its excellent, sure, but some of the acting is so painfully bad (I understand they're child actors, but there a younger kids who do a great job) that the atmosphere is killed. The adult cast makes up for it on the most part but all in all this is only a decent adaptation of a very short book, I digress once more, excellent film, but they cut so much in favour of some of their own ideas. ... Read More
| | | Shikea About me | | 20:37, 03 March 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Deserves 5 stars | | | I think the reviewer gave a fair overall analysis but the marks out of five didn't reflect the quality of the film. ... Read More
| | | hellboy22 About me | | 14:13, 08 January 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Deserves 5 stars | | | I think the reviewer gave a fair overall analysis but the marks out of five didn't reflect the quality of the film. ... Read More
| | | hellboy22 About me | | 14:13, 08 January 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Very entertaining adap | | | I really enjoyed this. Excellent performances ... Read More
| | | blaud About me | | 13:32, 05 March 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | | | I thought this was great in primary school, but now its unbearable, I don't get why adults still like, guess I'm completely out of touch with my inner child, which is sort of a good thing. ... Read More
| | | dgribble About me | | 17:18, 21 February 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | | | I thought this was great in primary school, but now its unbearable, I don't get why adults still like, guess I'm completely out of touch with my inner child, which is sort of a good thing. ... Read More
| | | dgribble About me | | 17:18, 21 February 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Harry Potter | | | This film is probably one of the best family films out there. It will satisfy children who yet haven't read the books and it will also satisfy all who have read the books. It is also the most successful adaption of a book to date ... Read More
| | | davieboy About me | | 17:20, 20 January 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | | | Magic, charming, great score, great cast, fantastic set design... great family film. ... Read More
| | | jncorbett About me | | 22:43, 13 August 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | | | Magic, charming, great score, great cast, fantastic set design... great family film. ... Read More
| | | jncorbett About me | | 22:43, 13 August 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | | | | Well acted, good effects, charming, and wonderful ... Read More
| | | lynnshep About me | | 17:59, 18 July 2007 | Report This Post | |
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