Rating: 
Summary: A Magical World
Review: Who would argue with this one? Some people would, but of course we still love it. It has some missing parts, but they have included more things into it, than it has in the books. I would love everyone to buy this DVD, while it's out. And also.. the 2nd movie is coming out, who would want to miss it? No one would, it's fantastic, so I say, see this and be amazed.. everyone would want to see a magical world.. of Harry Potter.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the book...
Review: ... As are all movies that are based on a book. There are no exceptions to that. You *cannot* take a movie, and make it exactly like the book. You can try, but probably will not succeed. The book creates its own little world, which is unique to only itself. You can take a movie and make it close to the book, but it will never be exactly the same. That's what I needed to get out of the way. Now, onto business.I am as much of a Harry Potter fan as anybody, perhaps even more. I have read the books dozens of times each, and am anxiously awaiting the 5th one, as is the rest of the world. I believe J.K. Rowling to be one of the greatest authors that ever lived, as do the tens of millions of people that have read her books. I was thrilled when I learned that my favorite series of all time was going to be up on the big screen. Absolutely thrilled. But at the same time I was a bit paranoid. I knew that you cannot make the movie exactly like the book, even with great casting and wicked special effects. I also knew that since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was a mildly long book, that the director would have to cut quite a few things out. And I was right. They did. You have to understand that thousands of kids love the books, and if the movie would have included everything that was in the books, the kids would not have been able to sit that long. What the movie did do, though, was take all of the important scenes that were in the book. Yes, I was ticked off when I heard that Peeves wouldn't be in the movie because of time reasons, and of course the missing potions scene was a bit disappointing. But they got all of the good aspects of the book in the movie, which is more important then a mischievous poltergeist and a silly logic sequence. I thought the acting was wonderful, and that the special effects were great *as expected*. Turning a movie into a book is extremely hard work, especially if the movie you're trying to make was one of the most successful book series in all time. I think that they did a splendid job, and I cannot wait for the second one to come out.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Converted
Review: I didn't get it. Other than loving the fact that children everywhere were finding the joy of reading thanks to a little boy named Harry, I didn't get what the fuss was all about. Well, my brother bought the Harry Potter DVD, and I was excited to see it, but I had no idea what it would mean to my life. After viewing the movie once, I decided to purchase my own copy so as to get it in widescreen, and have viewed the movie 6 times in total. Also, after viewing the movie, I picked up the first book (and I suggest everyone do so). I read it, bought the second one, read it, bought the third and fourth ones and read them. Harry Potter has quickly dominated my life. The movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is one of the most accurate novel to film adaptions I have ever seen. It is entertaining, beautiful, and very well acted. I especially love the kids in the movie (which is strange for a cynic such as myself). This movie rushed to one of my all-time favorite movie slots. While watching it I flashed back to such all time greats as The Wizard of Oz and Star wars. I felt 6 again, I felt the cynicism melt away. Harry Potter is a movie you should at least try to watch, and if you like it at all, I do suggest the books (all of them). I don't know how they'll do it, but I hope they can make all of the books into movies. Even, or especially since it's my favorite, the 735 page Goblet of Fire.
Rating:
Summary: I've always known there was magic in the world HP proves it
Review: I've always known there was magic in the world HP proves it! Harry Potter was a joy to watch my grand children loved as much as I did. Now that they have seen it; what am I going to do with all these owls
Rating:
Summary: The wonders of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Review: I am 12 years old, and When I first read the books I was like the bigest fan of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My favrote book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I hoped there would be a Movie to that? If there was I real wanted to be one of the actors. I have read all the books and have been wating for the 5th book to come out and the 2nd movie to come out. The person I thought was the best is Hermine Granger(Emma Waston.) Because, she was the smartest and cutest. If any of the actors of this movie or dractors that are reading this PLEASE try to give me a part in the seconed movie or any of the movies
Rating:
Summary: viewer from texas who gave it two stars
Review: i feel sorry for you, you sound like you need counselling and a high dose of prozac i seriously think you need to look at life through a different mirror since jk rowling wrote her amazing books all my friends and their parents have taken up reading my teacher read all 4 books to us and we have seen the movie many times and think it is wonderful the book is much deeper than the movie but what movie is ever better than the book? didn't your mom ever teach you manners!
Rating:
Summary: Utterly charming
Review: I procratinated seeing "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" for months, having been put off by all of the overwhelming hype. However, when I finally sat down to watch it recently, I was completely entertained and totally charmed. The story is engaging and well thought-out, the actors do a wonderful job, and the special effects are every bit as good as I'd hoped they'd be. The special features on the DVD are pretty extensive, and can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. If you're a grown-up who's been avoiding this film for fear it would bore you to tears, let me assure you that it's a timeless tale for all ages. There are elements of "Cinderella," multiple Grimm's Fairy Tales, and other stories, as well as completely original ideas. I plan to watch this film many times, and will likely get more and more out of it with each viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely as magical as the literary world
Review: While there are, of course, liberties taken and omissions made from the actual text, this movie is by no stretch of the imagination any less magical than its literary counterpart. From the first glimpse Diagon Alley, on through to the walls of Hogwarts and out, finally, to the vibrant Quidditch field...this movie is pure magic. The film also carries today's audiences into what will certainly be an entirely new genre of theater entertainment. The special effects are amazing. The original John Williams score is a perfect match. The casting,(no, it could never quite capture the exact book!), was thoroughly effective. This movie is end to end fun, adventure, and, well, magic. Perfect for all ages, save a little violence and Fluffy (cover the kids eyes), this movie gets about as high and honor as I can offer. Well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great.
Review: Well lets see here I thought it was a rather interesting movie having never read the book I probably didn't get half the stuff in it. I thought id see it to see what all the hype was about and I guess I was indifferent. It didn't blow my socks off. The effects were good. My favorite part was when they played chess against the human sized pieces. I can't help to compare it to the Lord of the Rings which was a superb movie and even better book. I find that more interesting because it is darker in nature and magic seems to be used as a means to an end not just to have for the matter of having it like it seemed to be in Potter. I Have to compare the 2 because; A) they came out very close to each other. B) Tolkien basically took fantasy to a new level and every thing after it is just trying to come close to matching it. I liked it but it did npt leave me thirsting for the sequel unlike a few other movies I saw in the past year.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie, terrible DVD
Review: I'll not comment on the overall movie itself, as that has been the topic of most other reviews here. I'll just say that the movie itself was excellent, save a couple disappointing visual effects (e.g. Voldimort; he wasn't scary). Also, the film transfer and sound mix were great (the surround channels could have been used more, but it wasn't BAD). I would however like to discuss the movie's presentation on the DVD. There are several problems:
- It is known that there were far more scenes shot than were actually included in the movie. When you edit a movie for the theatre, you want to keep the running time down for two reasons: the longer the movie, the less tolerant of the running time the casual viewers will be, and the shorter the movie is, the more times a theatre can show it in a day. HOWEVER, the type of people that purchase DVDs care more about the movie, and will be far more eager to see a longer cut of the movie. In this spirit, I was sorely disappointed to find out that none of the deleted scenes would be integrated into the movie. My rule of thumb is that if the scene was a good one but was just cut to shorten the movie for the theatre, it should be put back into the movie for the DVD (the rest should be included as bonus features). I hope next year's disc has a more "full" movie, with scenes that don't make it into the theatre. As a compromise for "theatrical purists", the DVD could be programmed so you can choose either the theatrical cut or director's cut (and example of this is "Stargate: Special Edition").
- The lack of an audio commentary track was noticeable. Practically all big movies these days have an alternate audio commentary track by the director, producer, crew, and even sometimes cast. This is almost unforgivable. A movie of this scope deserves one, and again, next year we should expect one. I would also like to comment on the DVD's features, or rather, lack thereof. Put simply, for a movie of this magnitude and popularity, the disc construction falls woefully short. To its credit, disc 1's menuing system is set up nicely -- clear, concise, and to the point. Interesting but appropriately short animations make it easy to navigate through the DVD. This is not the case with disc 2. I can understand that to the movie's target viewers, all the "games" on the second disc might be appealing, but they get old VERY fast. Whenever you have long animation sequences between menu pages, they are fun to watch the first time, but from that point on, they just get in the way of enjoying the REAL features of the DVD. Disc 2 was the worst offender I have ever seen of this rule. While the technical setup of the disc is impressive, it doesn't work in practice. The single featurette and the deleted scenes were the highlights of the DVD, but you shouldn't EVER have to spend 15 minutes trying to get to a feature. Here are some things the disc and menu should have done differently:
- It should have clearly labeled menu choices that point directly to either a feature or a submenu of features. Labeling with wizard terms only serves to confuse.
- No feature should require the level of messing around that the deleted scenes required. Instead, the game should have been a separate, independent feature. Yes, I know you can skip this by directly entering title and track number, but having to take that route is really cheap. The deleted scenes should have been set up as the interview was - through a single option on the main menu labeled as "Deleted Scenes".
- The other main problem with disc 2 was the fact that it had so little content. As mentioned earlier, the deleted scenes and interview featurette were the only major selling points of the DVD (the walkthrough wasn't bad, but it still wasn't that great). There's just too much fluff. Clicking on jellybeans just to hear the announcer make some stupid remark just doesn't cut it. For the year 2 DVD, I expect far more content (making of special effects, blooper reels, more deleted scenes, storyboards, set and prop construction features, interviews with more of the cast and crew, etc.), and far less "fluff features". When it comes down to it, this 2-disc set IS worth purchasing for fans and casual viewers alike, but only because of the movie itself. Don't expect much out of the second disc, aside from the two or three mentioned features). Because of this, I take two stars from the rating.
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