Home :: DVD :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

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 (Widescreen Edition)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Widescreen Edition)

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

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 .. 178 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT!! 13th december 2003.
Review: This film is ace, not quite as good as the second, but certainly better than the book. I didn't like the book i thought it was boring. This film is a MUST SEE. Great action and great magic. All though it is not real, i thought that it was great how they did it. It would be ace if magic was real, then you could use wands. I have watched this film lots of times, and never got fed up with it. I hope number three comes out soon, i am dying to see it. If you like films with magic, you will like this film.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A nice looking film but.....
Review: This film is a case of if you don't know the story, you will have questions all through the film and or miss some points.

I was one of those rare people who hadn't read any of the books till this year.

Now that I read the books, the film could have been much better!

I thought Dumbledore was a guy that you wondered if he was either insane or the supreame genious. Richard Harris(God rest him) came off as a little too grandfatherly for my vision of the character.

I thought Snape was right on as was Mcgonical(sp) and somewhat Hagrid.

The children were almost there. I kind of thought Harry had a bit of the smart A-- to him which Danial did not portray.

Hermione was supposed to be the busybody knowitall and that almost came across.

Ron and the twins were good!

Overall if you read the books, it is a fun film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: very good movie, but lacks some of the charm of the book
Review: A film by Chris Columbus

This is the first film in the Harry Potter series and it is adapted from J.K. Rowling's novel of the same title. A common complaint about movies that have been adapted from a book is that the movie strays too far from the book and that it makes too many changes. This is sometimes necessary as film and novels are two different mediums and need to tell stories in different ways, but sometimes unnecessary changes are made. Happily, this is not the case with this movie. This movie is extremely faithful to the book, and I think the film works because of that.

By now, many people probably have a good idea what Harry Potter is all about. For those who are not in the know, here's the story for this movie. Young Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is living with his aunt and his uncle because his parents died when he was an infant. It is obvious they do not want him around as he is forced to live in the closet under the stairs and he is treated like a servant, an unwelcome servant at that. One day owls start arriving at the house and deliver letters to Harry. We see that the letters are from "Hogwarts." Harry's uncle keeps destroying the letters, but more come each day. Finally he has had enough and Harry's Uncle takes the family (including Harry) to a remote island where no letters can reach them. It is at this point that Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) finds Harry, tells him that Harry is a wizard, and that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. See, Harry is a wizard, and is the son of a wizard. Harry's parents were not killed in a car accident (as he had been told), but rather they were killed by the Dark Lord Voldemort, a wizard gone bad. Harry is the boy who lived, which is why he is famous in the wizarding world.

At Hogwarts, Harry makes friends with Ron Weasely (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and makes an enemy of Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). Ron and Hermione are also first year students and are in Gryffindor House with Harry. Draco is also a first year, but is in Slytherin House (Ron tells Harry that "not a wizard went bad that wasn't in Slytherin"). Harry, Ron, and Hermione become good friends and get into little adventures together. They believe that someone is trying to steal something called the Sorcerer's Stone and since no adult will believe them, they try to figure this out on their own. At the same time, they are in the first year of school, so they have to go to their classes in magic. A little bit of time is spent in each class so that we get a sense of the school and a sense of the magic of that Harry and friends are supposed to be learning.

The movie is very faithful to the book, so most events from the book are included in this movie and while it is a fairly long movie (2 and a half hours), it moves along fast enough that you don't really feel like you've spent so much time. One of the reasons you don't feel the time is that the acting is fantastic. The actors are so perfect for their roles that they are almost exactly how I imagined the characters to be. Two actors who stand out are Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore and Alan Rickman as Professor Snape. Rickman, especially, is a delight to watch. This role border's on Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) as one of his great characters. The movie also features Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) and Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick).

Even though I would recommend the book to anyone, I'm not convinced the movie is for everyone. I thought that the movie captured the events and the spirit of the book, but is missing some of the charm. Rowling's novel just sucks you in, but at times I thought the movie was only for fans of the book. I really enjoyed the movie, and I will give it a good rating, but it may not convert people who don't really enjoy fantasy (or movies that have fantasy elements).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: awesome movie
Review: im so esctatic that i cant write everything in the space provided go to my site http://www.outwar.com/page.php?x=1719175 to check out my thoughts

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie though flawedin areas
Review: The film was excellent though there were a few flaws mos of them dealing witht the special effects in the film (which I think were improved in the second film). The forbidden forest is totally bare and would never work for some of the things that are written in the books (especially in book five). Then although the other effects in the film get by they do not look very real, particularly in the troll and the quiditch sequences. Other than that: excellent book and excellent film! (You may want to see my review for the second film. It's a quite a bit more critical.)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Conflicted movie...
Review: While making any movie based on a popular book (Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings), the movie makers have a major conflict on their hands: should they remain loyal to the fans, and make a movie which is almost identical to the book, or try and adapt it as much as possible to the screen, and make it more available for the general crowd, even though this might require compromises to the original story.

LOTR's crew has decided to go with the later - changing the facts of the story, while keeping its spirit. This has made some of the more dedicated fans angry, but has exposed many non - fans to the story. Harry Potter 1, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have decided between the options - some parts of the story were cut for timing or because of their small significance, but nothing was added or changed to clarify the story to the non fans. So the fans weren't happy with the cuts, but anyone else could never understand the story without reading the book first.

Another problem with this DVD set is the fact the the special features revolve around games, as if someone forgot that many grownups are also fans of the film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not as good as the book, but still a good movie.
Review: This is a good movie. It stays pretty clean. And it has some great action. This movie is a must buy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Family movie
Review: My family and I were so engrossed in this movie. My kids never sit still during movies. This is a movie that you have to own.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ALREADY A CLASSIC!
Review: This movie, well you know the story, an orphan kid that becames a wizard!, parents were killed by a great dark wizard, that for some strange reason let Potter live, this is a classic fantasy that will drive you away to another world, what a pleasure to watch movies like this done, great script and acting, worth it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this movie is sooooo good
Review: It's funny, magical. Brings you to the world of magic.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 .. 178 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates