Home :: DVD :: Science Fiction & Fantasy :: Kids & Family  

Alien Invasion
Aliens
Animation
Classic Sci-Fi
Comedy
Cult Classics
Fantasy
Futuristic
General
Kids & Family

Monsters & Mutants
Robots & Androids
Sci-Fi Action
Series & Sequels
Space Adventure
Star Trek
Television
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Full Screen Edition)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 .. 178 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Movie... can't wait for the next offering.
Review: This was a great movie, not just for the little-ones, but for the whole family. We thoroughly enjoyed the photography quality, the characters, and the special effects. It held true to the book 99% of the time. I whole heartedly recommend it, not just to Harry Potter fans, but to everyone who wants to be entertained with a cinema-treat. Eye candy for everyone.
A must see on the big screen.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Potter flawed. How not to transistion from book to film
Review: The best thing about going to this movie is watchig the trailer for the new Scooby Doo movie. The trailer was short, original, dramatic, suspenseful, funny. Well done. All of the things that Harry Potter was not.

I will be frank. The Harry Potter film was long, boring and sterile. It's a case study in how not to transistion book material to film. Yes dialoge should be taken from the book. But the visuals should satisfy the expectations of theater patrons. Not just theatergoers who happened to have read the book. The Potter production team should make intense action really intense! Make key drama really dramatic! Give characters real character!

The production team should use impressive special effects. [Another customer's] review attempts to compare Potters special effects with Star Wars and his comparison of the Quidditch game to The Pod racing scene fron The Phantom Menace. Potter's special effects are a long, long way from such quality!

Potter's directors were probably forced to give a middle of the road portrayal that leaves the audience much room to imagine how key scenes could have been shot or enhanced. That is the job of the book reader not the movie viewer. Book readers and movie viewers have two different objectives.

Those who watch the Potter flick should prepare for a movie that never deviates beyond mediocrity -- it sticks to the book in a manner that forces viewers to constantly make their own visualizations from the visualizations shown on screen. Again, that should not be required with a solid movie. The Potter film is far from solid.

Those who have not read the book will come away from this film feeling as though they watched a book. A book that was well written but not well visualized on the big screen. Viewers will also feel as though they have seen this story in many other children/teen oriented films. I have many wonderful movies that were made for all audiences (ie. Lion King, Shrek, various Disney classics, etc.) therefore I have no bias against such films. Potter failed due to poor directing and poor screenplay (if any). The material was there for a wonderful picture but it was "watered down". But it's still a long, long way from a classic movie. Save your money or see Shrek -- the best movie released this year!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone!!
Review: This Is one of the greatest films ever made.The Actors were brilliant especially Daniel Radcliffe who played Harry Potter.Some scenes were quite innerpropiant for young kids.
I can't wait to see the next film when it comes out!!!
I Hope I'ts Soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Magically marvelous.
Review: I highly recommend Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen. A perfect cast, excellent music, gorgeous sets and lovely story. Watch it if you can.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing!!!!!!!
Review: I have got to say this has got to be one of my favs I think Warner Brothers has the right to make a total of 7 books and movies because of this movie I saw this Thanksgiving weekend on Saturday and you know what I bet the sequels will be as wonderful as this film was I've heard that Harry Potter movie #2 will be out in theatres November 15th 2002 just a day after this film was released please go see this if you don't you don't know what your missing out on.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Left alot out, but was fantastic
Review: This movie was a really good movie, do not get me wrong, but they left alot out! Things: Taking Norbert up to the tower, the midnight duel, and Draco and Harry did NOT meet at Hogwarts, they meet at The Leaky Cauldron.
(...)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Go see it and take the kids
Review: The music does have reflections of Indiana Jones and maybe others. I don't care.

The movie is a little long. I don't care.

The special effects are great.

My only criticism is that it's a fourth or fifth grade story, same as the book was.

Enjoy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the great children's fantasy films of all time!
Review: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" had the secured assurance of being one of the biggest movies of the year, and certainly one that would gain attention on opening weekend. But this is one event film that lives up to the hype surrounding it; director Chris Columbus has taken the beloved character and transformed his world into one of the great children's fantasy films of all time, combining a terrific cast with a production design that recreates the novel in all the right ways. The sheer sense of awe and wonderment one feels while watching this film is exhilarating, and I, too, fell under its magical spell.

This pre-destined classic centers around young Harry Potter, an 11-year-old boy who, as an infant, was left to live with foster parents after his parents' death. Harry is played by Daniel Radcliffe, who befits the part to the maximum in appearance and mannerisms. He has become a legend among admirers, and possesses special abilities, which he is demanded to suppress by his guardians. Cruel and controlling as the Dursleys may be (though it's all extremely hilarious), they cannot keep Harry away from his future of attending Hogwart's, the well-known school where children with otherworldly powers go to learn to use such powers in a fitting manner.

By this point, the story has succeeded in accomplishing two things: making itself easily accessible to those who have not experienced the book's many pleasures, and remaining completely faithful to its celebrated source. Harry's journey to Hogwart's provides the story a mystery surrounding a package retrieved by Rubeus Hagrid (played with enormous heart by Robbie Coltrane), and another mystery relating to Lord Voldemort, who was responsible for the death of Harry's parents.

The novel is filled with many interesting characters, all of whom make an appearance in the film. Most delightful are Harry's two best friends, Ronald and Hermoine (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson); watching these three child actors perform together is wonderfully funny, and the movie grants their characters each a special ability that will further their exploration and discoveries throughout Hogwart's. With a fabulous supporting cast that includes such heralded actors as John Cleese, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris, John Hurt, and Alan Rickman, the movie is never short of extreme talent.

As Harry sets out to uncover the secrets within the walls of the expansive school, the film extends to the greatest lengths of imagination and whimsy that is worldly possible. This is the kind of movie that allows a director the chance to run wild, and Columbus has capitalized on that opportunity with tremendous effort and care. Not only does he possess the story, he also possesses the knowledge of how to recreate it with complete faithfulness, ranking his film's creativity with such momentous projects as "Titanic" and the "Star Wars" series.

In doing so, he has charged "Harry Potter" with scenes that are sure to become instilled in the mind. From the first revealing shot of the castle-like Hogwart's, black against the night sky, to the luxurious and brooding halls and articulate rooms, the film boasts a set and costume design that is impeccably authentic and visceral. The shifting staircase, the three-headed dog Fluffy, who guards a forbidden door, the dark forest, forest, and the action-packed Quidditch game, all become monuments of resilient joy, and one cannot help but gasp at the sheer spectacle of each expertly crafted scene.

The use of special effects in the film is fervent, though always well-intentioned. There are scenes in the film that possess this technique that vary in terms of believability: the Quidditch scene is an amazing technical achievement, while Fluffy the dog and the life-size chess game have a certain artificial zeal to them. Only a cynic could find fault with this variance of convincing effects; in my opinion, it serves as a testament of the film's fantasy land, a statement that this is pure imagination, and a wild one at that.

The most appealing aspect of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" lies within its capability to please all ages groups, young and old alike. Children with delight in the marvelous realization of the novel into a feature film, while adults will rediscover the pleasures of childhood happiness as they take part in this mesmerizing masterpiece of imagination and fancy. I felt an extreme burst of joy as the movie unleashed its brilliance; this is the kind of film that makes me want to invent new words to describe it, because there aren't enough to measure up to the praise it so truly deserves.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Grinchy Opinion
Review: While I can't fault anything in what was presented, the movie was like watching highlights from the book without any connecting material. I can't believe that anyone who had never read the book (Perish forbid) could actually follow what was going on.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: selling occultism to kids?
Review: Apart from the awesome special effects, I really can't see what else is worth watching in this movie. The movie seems to lure unsuspecting kids into developing new interest in witchcraft and the occult.


<< 1 .. 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 .. 178 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates