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Directed by: Chris Columbus Starring: Daniel Radliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Richard Harris Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first film in what will be a 7 part series. The first movie has some fun moments such as when Harry finds out he is a wizzard and the quidditch match, while not as how most people imagined, is still pretty cool to watch. For what it is, the movie is long. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against long movies because you only notice them if they drag on, and this film can in a few scenes. All in all, if you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you do. The child acting leaves something to be desired but when you have wizzards and magic with flying brooms and a cast with the Late Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman, you know you can't go wrong. RATING: 4 PROS: Fun, Good sountrack, Easy to watch, Creates a magical environment. CONS: Long winded, sometimes too true to the books. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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May 5, 2004 20:55
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:43 |
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You have to respect J.K. Rowling for demanding only British actors, to save us from a horde of terribly fake accents, and Alan Rickman as Snape. I also have to commend her for pushing for Terry Gilliam to direct, even though she eventually accepted Chris Columbus, who was better with child actors. I think this will be a family classic for many years. With the success of the books I was expecting a cheap cash-in but from the casting choices to the sets and minor details like Tom M Riddle's Quidditch trophy, you can see the moviemakers loved and cared about this. Columbus's talent for sentimental wonder fits the first movie well, and as Abberation said he creates a magical environment. Other than that, the production is amazing, the acting's average, the CGI is goofy at times but forgiveable, since the world of Harry Potter is a bit cartoonish in itself. The story is good but not amazing because it mainly serves as introduction to Hogwarts and wizardry. 4.5, an excellent movie and I really enjoyed it
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May 5, 2004 21:14
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My real qualm with this movie is that the books have a lot of charm and wit, which is why adults as well as kids enjoy them. It seemed to me like Chris "Home Alone" Columbus took out a lot of the subtle jokes and cleverness in favor of good-to-mediocre CG effects and a lot of slapstick fluff. And while it's been awhile since I read the book, it seemed like the book was used as a screenplay. There were a lot of scenes that didn't really need to be included and changes could have been made to make it more interesting. (The first two books are the weakest in the series.) This plus the wooden acting on the part of the kid who played the lead and the fairly uninteresting cinematography left the supporting characters and the art director with the task of keeping the audience interested. And they did a pretty good job. Decent movie, but it felt a little bland. 3/5
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May 6, 2004 21:44
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Best book-to-movie adaptation ever. I hate it when Hollywood screenwriters change the original story. I'm glad Rowling was there to say NO gently caress YOU to those assholes who wanted to change things so they could get the credit for changing them. My only real problem with this movie is that Rowling chose Chris Columbus as the director. He's such a pussy, and is the epitome of a "safe" director who won't take any chances. I'm jazzed for the 3rd movie already, which has a real director for it. Really cool movie, and Alan Rickman was the best possible actor to play Snape. I remember jumping for joy when I first heard he was cast for Snape. I wish Snape were featured more in this volume of the series. 4/5
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May 22, 2004 07:31
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Did they actually have the actors in this say 'Sorceror's Stone' for the US release?
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May 22, 2004 10:00
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quote:Madoushi came out of the closet to say: Also, can sombody please explain to me something about the scoring in Quidditch? Possible Spoiler ahead, but not really so I won't black it out... First thing you learn is that if and when the Seeker catches the golden snitch, their team wins. OK, so...what's the point of the rest of the game really? You get 150 points for catching the snitch and you get 10 points for scoring otherwise. But, if you catch the snitch you win. So what if the opposing team has over 150 points more through scoring goals when the snitch is caught? Sounds to me like the score is meaningless because the game doesn't end until the golden snitch is caught, and when it's caught you automatically win. So what gives?
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Jun 4, 2004 07:38
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quote:Shop Suey came out of the closet to say: This was explained in the 4th book. For instance, say Gryffindor scored 200 points but then the Slytherin Seeker catches the snitch. Slytherin gets 150 points but still looses in the end.
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Jun 4, 2004 07:58
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Ahh, so even though Wood says "Catch this, and we win" he was pretty much assuming they didn't suck enough to get down by 150 points. Gotcha  Thanks!
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Jun 4, 2004 13:30
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:43 |
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This is my least favorite of the novels, and thus my least favorite of the movies. Harry does almost nothing in this story. He's given an invisibility cloak, he auto-magically an expert on the broomstick, he's got "magic skin protection" in one of the cheapest bits of deus ex machina you'll ever see. All his accomplishments in this story are accidental or simply because he's born that way. He doesn't work hard, he doesn't have any great ideas, he just stands around while the glory get handed to him on a silver platter. It's lame. And it's lame that Dumbledore comes up with these bogus reasons to give Gryffindor the cup. No wonder the Slytherins are so nasty, if they always get cheated like this by professors who play favorites. However, we won't fault the film for flaws in the source material too much. Columbus and company bring the Harry Potter world to life in extraordinary fashion, with only a few small quibbles. The CGI is mostly astounding, but it does get annoyingly obvious at times. And John Williams must have gotten lazy; his score seems composed entirely of bits cribbed from Star Wars that are tweaked ever so slightly. Otherwise, well done, particularly in the astonishly appropriate casting. Rating: 3.5
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Feb 2, 2005 23:24
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