Rating: 
Summary: an excellent one for the kids
Review: I cant wait for the next one!
Excellent storyline with a great cast.
Great magical effects.
Wouldn't we all like to of gone to hogwarts!
Rating: 
Summary: The first DVD flop?
Review: The first Harry Potter film sold over 1.5 million videos and DVDs in its first day of release in the UK, breaking the previous impressive record held by Titanic. Now of course all these people, and their families, would have seen the film in the cinema and have enjoyed Christopher Columbus's excellent adaptation of one of the most succesfful books of the last century. They would have been gripped to the screen, just like myself, as we saw JK Rowling's incredible imagination come to life. The film is, in my humble opinion, a revelation. An example of how the medium of film can awe an audience, transport them to another world and entertain them for a few hours. It is escapism in the truest form. There's only one problem. The DVD [is bad].The film has now surpassed The Phantom Menace as the second most successful film of all time. Warner have therefore spent an awful lot of money on this DVD production (and it shows). They clearly want to give us fans something to sink our teeth into, a DVD like no other, and one that would simply put to shame the conventional DVDs we have now grown accustomed to. But as they dived into complicated navigations and interactive menus they forgot about the elementary yet effective delights of Making Of Documentaries and commentaries. I cannot find a valid excuse why Warner would want to deprive us of a filmmakers commentary. The sets, effects, casting, direction, music, sound etc are of the highest quality and no doubt the people who contributed to this film would have been proud to share with us how the production was made. Commentaries are the most popular & SIGNIFICANT features on DVDs, and probably one of the cheaper features to make, so not even seeing ONE present on this 2 Disc "Special Edition" package is a disappointment to say the least. The interviews with the director and producer are very good but are too brief. Why have the people who made this DVD been so slack with the basics? There must be hundreds of hours worth of Making Of footage lying around in the Warner vaults. An inch of it barely makes it onto these discs. Of course there is the much talked about guided tour of Hogwarts, and this is where the DVD gets really messy. You get to direct yourself around certain sets. Using the arrows on your DVD's remote you can go left, right and forward at certain moments, and you can select objects on the screen to activate a voiceover which gives us a description. For instance, if you click on Hagrid's large cloak whilst in his hut the voiceover says what it contains and so on. I have to say that the idea is excellent. The intentions were in the right place but the tour becomes boring. It is not like a video game either where you can go wherever you want. You navigate yourself according to arrows, which restrict you to a certain area, and once you have completed the tour I guarantee you that it will not be half as interesting the second time round. It is quite laborious. And this is why I am calling this the first DVD flop. Sure, it will make millions, but only because of the film itself. The features are simply pointless. An experiment that went wrong. And to compund how poorly the navigation is I have yet to even see the deleted scenes. I can't find them. There isn't a simply button that says "Deleted scenes - click here" but different rooms and tests that I mast trawl through to access them. This said I would still recommend you buy it. Why? Because the film has never looked or sounded this good. The picture quality is perfect, and as the film is such a visual feast the picture transfer is actually important. The plus $120 million spent on the film is justified when you see Hogwarts for the first time. It is a glorious sight and I will be the first to say far better than what I imagined it to be. Now when I read the Potter books I often substitute the film's interpretations for my own because they are more vivid. Then you have the glorious digital 5.1 soundtrack. The atmosphere created makes your hairs stand on end, and when the Quidditch game takes place you hear sounds whizzing by your ears. Great stuff! I was expecting a DVD similar to The Phantom Menace. Instead it is second rate, trying to pass itself off as a CD-ROM. Thinking about it why didn't they just do that! The kids will like it, but will grow bored very quickly. Over $20 million was spent on the production of this DVD, making it one of, if not the most expensive DVD ever made. It is a disappointment. That my friends is what I call a flop. The irony, considering what the film went on to do at the box office. Now lets hope Warner will consider making a more conventional, but EFFECTIVE and INFORMATIVE DVD in the near future, maybe in time for Christmas. Well what do you know, maybe Warner wanted it to be like this all along!
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun for all ages
Review: I have never written a review and willl never write one again but these armchair critics are driving me crazy. The biggest problem with todays viewers and critics is that they insist on comparisons. Some movies should stand alone. Star Wars Episode One got slammed because people expected even better than the original Trilogy. The same goes for ;Harry Potter:. I have found that the friends that have not read the books enjoyed the movie the most.So..all books aside, I tried to go to 'HP" with an open mind and enjoyed myself immensly. It has everything. From great comedy and nailbiting drama to woderful special effects.In general I think people should stop listening to the critics and view the movie the way we used to..stuffed with popcorn and waiting to be amazed..
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous CHILDREN'S Movie
Review: OK All - I keep reading reviews written (obviously) by adults. I would like to remind you - THIS MOVIE IS BASED ON A CHILDREN'S NOVEL!!!!!! So stop with the over analyzed reviews. NOT only are the books exceptional, but the movie is VERY entertaining. AND, my son LOVES this film! So, even if I hated the movie with a passion (which I do NOT), I would still rate this highly (since the audience it has been aimed at would give it a high rating). We have looked forward to the video release since first hearing the book would be made into a film. FUTHERMORE, I look forward to the next novel and the next movie and so forth and so on!
Rating: 
Summary: Good for the kids, at least
Review: I personally loved the movie and looked forward to getting my hands on the 2-disk DVD for the special features. The interactive menus are extremely clever, and designed most definitely for the younger kids who will get a kick out of attempting to open the portal to Diagon Alley and a few puzzles to access other parts of the special features part on Disk 2. I had to access the books to remember a few details for certain puzzles, which was a bit annoying. The payoff at the end, 7 deleted scenes, was worth a small part on the trouble gone to. What is disappointing and missing is a director commentary track on the movie, as well as any technical aspects outside of initial storyboard concepts (through yet another puzzle-like page). There were no documentaries outside of a short interview / small glimpse into the production values of making the film (essentially they are interviews with the Producer, Director, the Production Director, and the scriptwriter. It's excellent for the film, which is the real highlight of the DVD. However, someone over at Warner needs to rethink the Special Features category for the adult fans of the series and movie. The DVD is a kids interactive tool, most of the features intended for the kids market. I would like to think that Warner is going to be smart enough to release a revised Speical Edition with all the trimmings, as most high-profile DVDs have (like the commentary, costume design, production value and concepts outside of the brief interviews, the option for audio). Buy it because you love the movie. Unfortunately the special features lack at present.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Ever!
Review: I actually haven't seen the DVD yet but I can't wait for it to come out! I saw this movie four times in the theater and I can't wait to see it again plus see extra footage! I've read all the books since seeing this movie and although I'm sure they won't be as good as the writings, I'm excited for the film sequels.
Rating:
Summary: A hearty, destiny-driven quest
Review: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" may be best summed up as a hearty, destiny-driven quest. The costume design, art direction, and score by the invincible John Williams are among the best of the year, but it is the film's strict adherence to J.K. Rowling's engrossing tale that makes it worthy of its record setting box office numbers. A far more centralized and child friendly flick than "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", Harry Potter fans could not ask for anything more than what fluidly caresses the movie screen. I don't imagine that the movie is any less fun on the small screen, either. The only measurable flaw with "The Sorcerer's Stone" is Chris Columbus' failure to bust out the magic of child actor directing he showed in deserving family films like the "Home Alone" series. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, who play the popular triumvirate of Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, often seem delayed in their reactions and pretty stiff in their dialogue. Radcliffe redeems himself when it counts, though, in a cliffhanging ending that pits him against his worst enemy and unescapable destiny. Alan Rickman's strong but underused performance as nasty Severus Snape made us hate his role all the more. My verdict: A film worthy of family time and enjoyment that children and, yes, even teens like myself deserve to see when they go to the movie theater. David's Favorites: Best actor or actress: Alan Rickman
Best scene: Quidditch game.
Comparable to: "The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"
Rating:
Summary: i truly want to like this film but i cant
Review: i've been debating over the last few months whether or not to get this DVD. after all, i didnt enjoy the movie that much. i want to like the film i really do. and there are parts that are quite enjoyable, like Hermoine. she was very good, as was Ron. but i cant like the film because it really felt like it was just a copy of the book. it didnt have life of its own. maybe chris columbus has learned and will do chamber of secrets differently. i hope he does, because unfortunately, i, like everybody else, now will dutifully go in november and see chamber of secrets. how can i not see it?
Rating:
Summary: It Lived Up to My Expectations..
Review: I can't think of a single movie in history that had so many preconceived visions to conquer. Not since the decision to cast Tom Cruise in Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" had there been so much "audience" speculation as to the capability of a movie to match what readers had built up in their minds. But Harry Potter was truly amazing. Having read all four books myself (and repeatedly, at that) I too had a mind full of imagery associated with the characters and locations in these books. The kids in the movie (Daniel Radcliffe et al) had HUGE expectations to meet. Not only was this the screen debut for all three, they were playing roles of kids that millions of readers had come to know and love. Without exception, I think all three lived up to expectations. Next is the scenery. While some of the actual settings didn't match up to what I had pictured in my mind, the movie is visually stunning and shows a painstaking attention to detail. Detractors may complain that the movie itself didn't compete with what they had envisioned, I enjoyed the differences in what I had pictured and what the director put on film. With 100 million readers, it would be impossible for any director to satisfy everyone. I think Chris Columbus did a fine job and produced a film worthy of its literary roots. Add to that a host of bonus features and a second disc, this is a purchase worthy of the asking price and will make a fine addition to my collection of DVD's and to my Harry Potter books.
Rating:
Summary: Not Too Shabby...but
Review: As a prof. of mine says, "you can always tell what's good about somehting so there's no need to discuss that" so I'll just address the parts that were a bit of a disappointment.
I first picked up a Harry Potter book for a course I was taking on the role of the adolescent in literature, in which I was supposed to do an annotated bib of modern YA novels. I begrudged Harry all the hype surrounding him, assuming that I would never fall for somehting so publicized. I was wrong. I read all four books back to back in two monthes and this was with a 15 credit course load at the same time, so enough said. So in terms of the film, you can only imagind my excitement over its release on video (I'd been interested in it in the theaters just based on the adverts but couldn't get anyone too see it with me, at the time).
I preordered the DVD from Amazon.co.uk and when it arrived my family insisted on my waiting for them to watch it, since my interest in the books had spread to them like wildfire by then (My fifty-one year old dad is just about to finish his turn through them all). The movie was so much like the book with the exception of the end that it left little for me to see new - that is I had already watched it as such in my mind and so if felt like nothing I was seeing was anything different.
I enjoyed being introduced to the characters for the first time, but I was surprised to find Harry the tallest of the group, when in the books Ron calls him a midget. Also, I personally thought Herminoe was almost too cute, since I always pictured her as being a bit homely - although my dad had a fit over how well she was cast, so I suppose good protrayal is a bit subjective.
That aside, I liked the characters. I didn't even mind Daniel Radcliffe being the tallest eleven-year-old I've seen to date, he did such a nice job - exactly as I pictured Harry, aside from the height.
While a lot of reviews criticized Rupert Grint for not being sarcastic enough in his role as Ron, I was pleasantly surprised after reading them, to find that I enjoyed him. I think there were essentially three drawbacks to the movie that promtped me to give it four stars instead of five: The movie, prbably due to time constraints, had almost none of the satire that I loved so much in the book - it was like all the Harry Potter story with very little of the heart. I think this was not so much a fault of the actors, but that they just tried to fit too much else in. I would have preferred more good dialogue, even if it meant lengthening it or cutting out something. It was just lacking in this dept, which kept me from being completely "into" it so I felt very little empathy with the movie, unlike the book. The one exception was in the "Mirror or Erised" scene, which I thought was touching. The other thing that I thought caused the movie to suffer was that they had Harry being much sharper and more sure of himself than in the books. Hermione was really the one who solved most of the mystery and the way they discovered Flamel on screen threw me a bit. Also, the entire encounter with Voldemort was changed. That bit felt more like "Harry Potter meets the Mummy," which was a letdown. I thought it odd that they would be so careful about detail and yet alter the most important scene so dramatically. Lastly, although I enjoyed the Quidditch scene, it too fast moving and at times, hard to follw, and looked a bit fake, especially when people got knocked askew on their broomsticks - more like puppets than people, really. Although I outlined primarily what I considered to be flaws, I did enjoy the movie as a whole and am looking forward to the sequal. I was not thrilled with it, but pleasantly surprised, especially with the performances of the children, since child actors usually have a tendency to act too young or old instead of their supposed age level.
I would recommend this movie to anyone, whether they read the books or not, but would say to read them first, anyway. I think it was better for me that I did.
I'll probably end up buying the American version as well, and go to the Borders midnight Harry Potter party to do it, too.
I am a loyal fan, so although I'm a little bit let down, I have faith in the future releases, and will be fairly content, as long as they're as good as the first.
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