Rating: 
Summary: Lovely to look at, but lacking in substance....
Review: As many of the readers here, I have read and re-read the books with relish and an ever-growing appreciation of the mastery of nuance incorporated into these stories by J.K. Rowling. However, heart and depth of empathy is missing in this film adaptation. We never get inside our characters' motivations. The protagonists are never truly allowed to develop. Columbus, although he had the power to command the option to direct, has never had the talent required to do so. Visually the film is engaging and I enjoyed seeing the castle, although some rough mechanical props marred several special effects. See the film by all means and then return to the written 'world' to remember why you have loved these stories so dearly.
Rating: 
Summary: MAGNIFICENT
Review: When I first heard news of the movie I was a bit upset. It was such a good book I didn't want the movie to spoil it. But, when I saw the awesome cast and heard how Columbus made it extremly faithful to the book I decided to go see it. I went to see it the day it opened. (I bought the soundtrack a week before, which I do recommend) The music was amazing (thumbs up for John Williams!) Daniel was just perfect for Potter, mature, sweet, kind, brave. Emma was cute and Rupert made me laugh. Costume was great. Its a really cool movie that I hope a lot of people enjoy. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: FIRE THEM!!!
Review: Off to a good tone, aren't we? But hey, the movie was a little below Average. Chris Columbus obviously cared nothing about what made the books interesting which was the emotional depth each character had. In this movie, the characters are blank walls, and he gives them way too much time to show their blank walls. Wait, why am I using the plural? It was one blank wall in the movie, just one, and unfourtenetly, it was the lead actor. Daniel Radcliffe cannot act worth...well, make up your own word. I didn't care for Harry, litterally. In the books, when something bad happens to Harry, I'm like "Aww, come on, go fight evil." But in the movie I'm like 'Yes! Get Killed!" Daniel had three expressions through the entire movie. He was smiling, gasping, or frowning. When he is told he's a wizard, he just stands there. I believe this is totally different then the book, plus, when Hagrid bursts through the door, he's not afraid. He...spoiler!...gasps. The Quidditch scene looked so incredibly fake that i was dissapointed. This was the scene I wanted to see because of the hype, but nothing lives up to the hype. It was like watching computer graphics that were obivously Computer Graphics. Same with the troll. He looked like Shrek, only blue and bigger. The supporting cast saved the movie from 1 star. If Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, and Richard Harris recieve no Oscar Nomination for thier roles, I will be most displeased. I still think Alan Rickman should win Best Supporting Actor. He's the perfect Snape, and the same goes for Maggie Smith and Richard Harris. They couldn't have gotten better actors. Comlubus pulls a no-no. One of the biggest cliches in Movie History. He pulled a Star Wars. Lets look at the line: Voldemort: Join me, harry, and together we can bring back your parents Okay:
a.) JK Rowling is to original to EVER do that in her book
b.) Voldemort wants Harry dead. He will probably not want to have him join him, regardless Stupid things, too, made this an unejoyably movie for me:
1. Many scenes got cut from the book. But they cut the wrong scenes, and they left the wrong scenes in the movie
2. Where is Peeves?
3. The Sorting Hat Doesn't sing
4. Snapes and Quirrel's challenge are nowhere to be seen, even though Hagrid mentions them. Clearly, ten precious minutes couldn't be added
5. Seamus is the Neville. He constantly messes his spells up. Now, why couldn't Columbus have just kept it that Neville was the person who constantly messed up? I can't give this a thumbs down because of the supporting cast, and I can't give it thumbs up because of Daniel Radcliffe (To whom I say go shove your head in the Books again, buddy boy). Columbus needs to be sacked, and Daniel needs to be tutored by An acting Coach and Rowling herself. And to the parents of the Anti-harry potter group, shut up. These books contain witchcraft, yes, but I can't count the number of times I've gone out in my backyard, picked up a stick and said "Stupefy' And my dog gets stunned. Only stupid kids would truly believe this is real, and as for the violence, it is fantasy violence. It is used with wands, things that cannot hurt anyone BECAUSE THEY DON'T EXIST. You need to go get a life, because these books are not conveying as sense of violence to kids. Maybe you should go check your childs room, because I'm willing to bet that 3/4's of the kids whose parents are Anti-harry potter have read at least one of the books. To keep your children away from such wonderful books is almost blasphmous I will go see the second movie, but if it too ends up like the first, I will stick the books
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: I went to see the new Harry Potter movie, worrying that the media had TOTALLY blown the movie out of proportion...However, that was THE best "book-that-became-a-movie" I have ever seen! I actually found myself clinging to my best bud (sorry heather!) when the "3 musketeers" stumbled upon Fluffy's hidden room. To those who have yet to read the book: don't worry...You can almost follow along. It's so sad Mr. Columbus had to cut the original 4 hour movie down to a mere 2 hours, 40 minutes. Wonderful casting, effects, etc. And to the man (woman) who said the editing totally left "dead-end scenes": it's spelled "Quidditch", not "Quillage".
Rating:
Summary: Can you say "EXCELLENT"?!
Review: WoW! This movie is amazing! It is well thought out, and I do think everyone should see it. However, a lot of parts from the book weren't put into the movie, but it's ok, because it all comes together at the end. And because it would be 24 hours long! Even if you didn't read the book, you could figure out what was the point, and what was going on. For Harry Potter fans, like me, it was...I'm lost in words...it was magnificent, wonderful, excellent, well you get the picture. Go see the movie!
Rating:
Summary: PURE MAGIC!!
Review: This was a fabulous movie. It was very true to the heart of the book, although my daughter and I were able to quickly pick out the differences from the book; they do not take away from the appeal of the film. Perfectly suitable for younger children familiar with the books (althoungh there are a few moments near the end that might be too creepy visually). We loved this movie and can't wait to see the next movie in the series.
Rating:
Summary: very very good
Review: i loved this movie. many of the special effects were awesome (especially the bricks entering diagon alley -- coolest thing i've seen on screen since the matrix). very fun and enjoyable. however, i wish it hadn't been made ultimately, because it's genuinely scarred my visual images for the book. before, i had a weird imagined world of some animated, some live action characters (ron actually switched between those two) that thrived in my mind with perfect consistency as i read. i'm trying to recover that now by re-reading the books for the first time in a year. however, this doesn't factor in to my review, as the review is intended to express my opinion of the quality of the movie. excellent. go with friends. awesome. moments that, somehow, bizarrely, made me remember why i loved the books (possible minor spoilers) : 1. (i know i had a first one, but i forget it)
2. harry discovering that his dad had been a seeker before (it was about two random seconds, and i don't even know if this was explicitly in the book as an event so much as a fact, but in the movie, it somehow made me remember why loved the books.)
3. professor quirrel coming in and shouting that there was a troll in the dungeon. i don't know how it happened, but when i saw these, i thought "wow, i really love these books."
Rating:
Summary: Great!!
Review: When I read the book, I didn't care for it that much. I recently saw the movie and loved it. Funny, Action-packed, and Mysterious. Brings the Hogwarts world top life.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Review: This was a very good movie. At first you thought it was something or someone else but it wasn't. If you like a movie with alot of good twist this is the one to see.
Rating:
Summary: You have to love a movie that makes you go read the book
Review: After going to the crowded movie theater and watching "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," I kept thinking I have not been as impressed by the book as I should be. Not that everybody rushing off to the theaters has read the book; there were a couple of adults sitting behind us and he kept asking her to explain everything throughout the entire movie and not only did they keep talking but she kept getting things WRONG. I did not know if I should tell them to keep quiet, correct her mistooks or just have Hermione zap them. Anyhow, watching "Harry Potter" was like watching "Dune" because the reader of the book gets to fill in all the details. Screenwriter Steven Kloves got a lot of praise because he was going to stick to J. K. Rowling's book, which was obviously a no-brainer. This is a "Gone With the Wind"/"Godfather" sort of book, not "Jaws." But at the end of the film it was rather clear a bit of the magic was missing. Specifically, Kloves fails to really set up the two key scenes in the film, by which I mean the two scenes where I was prepared to cry. In explaining to some friends why the first Harry Potter book was so special I was talking about the awarding of the final points for the House Cup and how Hermione and Ron get points, and Harry gets points, but the final points go to Neville. This was where Rowling goes off the beaten path and celebrates the least as well as the greatest. I decided that if they did not have that scene, I was going to be so mad. Well, the scene was there, but the whole idea that Harry and his friends had been losing points, i.e., what made Neville's attempt heroic, was just not there. I had to supply it all from reading the book. The other emotional moment is when Hagrid gives Harry the photo album. All I wanted here was one line, how Hagrid had sent owls to the friends of Harry's parents for photographs. I was looking forward to Harry flipping through dozens of wizard photographs, which is why you would have an album and not just a frame. Again, you understand it better having read the book but that does affect the enjoyment of the moment. They was so much concern that the script would make unnecessary changes or additions and what became important ended up being those deletions. However, I do get Kloves credit for his changing the end of the climatic battle. Even when you are dealing with millions of kids who have read the book and get taken out of school to go see an early morning showing, you still want to surprise them and give them an added thrill. Klove definitely gets all the credit on that one. The production design is absolutely perfect and for all the concern the wee folk have over the images created in their mind's eye about Hogwarts, I would find it hard to believe anyone would not be entranced by what is on the screen. I also appreciate the fact that at the end the credits the three kids came first. They ARE the movie, but we all remember how long it took Christopher Reeve to get top billing in a Superman film. The adults are equally marvelous, especially Robby Coltrane when he notes he should not have told the kids something and Alan Rickman every time he does anything with his face. So, in the final analysis, the movie glorifies the book both by what it includes and what it excludes from Rowling's writings. As my youngest daughter, Maggie, worried after the film: "They left so much out and the books just keep getting thicker." Fortunately this underscores why reading the Harry Potter books has become such a passion, and not just with kids. In a perfect world "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" would have been a great television mini-series, devoting enough time to getting all of the details letter perfect. Then again, what is wrong with a world where kids learn books are better than movies?
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