Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (4 November 2001)
directed by Chris Columbus
starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Harry Melling, Richard Griffiths, Ian Hart, Verne Troyer, Richard Bremmer, Julie Walters, Bonnie Wright, Chris Rankin, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Matthew Lewis, Tom Felton, Jamie Waylett, Joshua Herdman, Devon Murray, John Cleese, Zoë Wanamaker, Warwick Davis, Sean Biggerstaff
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MPAA rating: Studio: 1942 Pictures, Heyday Films, Warner Brothers Script: Steven Kloves Based on the book by: J. K. Rowling Music: John Williams Running time: 152 minutes Tags: Adventure; boarding schools; centaurs; chess; dragons; Family Film; Fantasy; magic; mirrors; novel adaptation; sorcery; trains; unicorns; United Kingdom; wands Tactical strength: [8/10]
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for some scary moments and mild language
If you haven't read the Harry Potter books, then I highly recommend that you at least read the first book before seeing this movie. Director Chris Columbus has done an excellent job presenting J. K. Rowling's vision of the magical world of Harry Potter, but I personally have more fun seeing how well the movie matches my vision of the characters rather than reading the book and just plugging in premade actors and settings someone else created for me.
Just in case you really haven't heard of Harry Potter, I'll give the briefest description of the plot. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) lives with his uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths), Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw), and cousin Dudley (Harry Melling). Harry believes his parents died in a car crash, but in fact his parents were wizards and killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort. Turning eleven, Harry receives an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, the boarding school for wizards and witches in training. Harry learns that an entire subculture of magic keeps itself hidden from the muggles -- a term used for non-magical people like his aunt and uncle. Harry quickly makes friends with Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and develops a nemesis with fellow student Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) and potions teacher Professor Snape (Alan Rickman).
The basic message of Harry Potter generally follows, like most fantasy stories, a struggle between good and evil. Voldemort suffered a huge defeat when trying to kill Harry as an infant. As Harry learns magic and takes his inherited place in the magical world, Voldemort also starts making a comeback. Harry aligns himself with the Headmaster Dumbledore (Richard Harris) and other adults aligned with good against Voldemort. In this and all the other installments of Harry Potter to come, Harry has a showdown with Voldemort at the climax of the story. At some point, you would think Harry would start associating final exams with his annual battle with the forces of evil. Perhaps evil just peaks in June. But in spite of Harry's encounters with evil, the tone in the movie borders on comedy, and we frequently laugh at the antics of these likeable kids.
Rowling's also emphasizes friendship as a major theme. Harry could never survive his adventures without his friends Ron and Hermione. This first movie demonstrates Harry's approach to friendship and loyalty in an early exchange with Draco. Draco says, "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." Harry refuses to accept Draco's outstretched hand and says, "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Harry has only known Ron for several hours, but he clearly demonstrates loyalty to his new friend.
Steven Kloves' script does smooth over some of my problems with the book. In the book, Harry and his friends often learn important information by overhearing adults talk. This happens so often in the book, that you wonder if Harry does much else besides fly his broom around and spy on adults' conversations. He certainly doesn't seem to study much. The movie also does an excellent job at realizing Quidditch -- an airborne version of rugby -- and the setting of the school itself.
I have to credit J. K. Rowling for sticking to her guns and insisting on an all-British cast. At one point Steven Spielberg had the option to direct this film, but he wanted to cast Haley Joel Osmet as Harry. I believe Osmet would have done a fine job as Harry, but Daniel Radcliffe has the perfect appearance and accent for Harry. I also like that Columbus cast age-appropriate actors for the roles. (Of course, only the first two movies have this advantage. Since Warner Brothers couldn't produce a new Harry Potter movie annually, the actors keep getting much older than the characters they play. For the fifth installment, eighteen-year-old Radcliffe must play a fifteen-year old Harry. If the trend keeps up, Radcliffe will make the final Harry Potter Movie at twenty-one and play a seventeen-year-old.)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone holds up well to repeated viewings, although you do start to see a lot of minor inconsistencies. For example, as the students make their way to their dorm rooms on the first day, we hear the students mumble in awe at the characters in the wall portraits moving about within their frames. While Harry would find this amazing, the remaining students have all grown up in magical homes where they would have seen moving portraits and newspapers images every day. The film contains a lot of these moments, so after repeated viewings my family and I tend to point these out more than the major events of the film.
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