Rating: 
Summary: Magic!
Review: I love Harry Potter books and this movie! I've read Book 1 three times and saw the movie three times. If you've read the book and go to the movie, you will find things they changed for the movie. Of course, they had to make some changes to make the movie fit into 2 1/2 hours. But that is a part of fun as a Harry Potter! How different are they? Can you name all the changes right away? If you haven't read the book yet, this movie will turn you onto the Harry's magical world, for sure!!
When you watch the movie, you are amazed at how real the book becomes in front of your very eyes! Diagon Alley, Gringots Bank, Hogwarts School and Hogwarts Express!! Then, wait until a Quidditch game starts! Wow! How did they do that? Three-headed Fluffy might scare small children a little, but all in all this is a movie anybody can appreciate, young and old, Harry Potter expert or not! I'm definitely buying a video when it comes out in May!!
Rating: 
Summary: A little creative liscense was required
Review: I'm sure you have seen how many stars I put down and said "What? How can anyone give this movie 2 stars?" Well that's the thing about movies, some people will like them and some people won't. But since this is a review I feel I need to explain my opion and how it is based on more than simple opinion. Also let me point out that I loved the books, I'm not just a Harry basher who wants to rain on other's parades. The books were so full of emotion and urgency and consequence, I would find myself cringing or gasping out loud when the characters were in danger or laughing and grinning like a fool when something great happened. That emotion and passion that I felt in the books is what drew me into them and made me feel like I was a part of it, it is why I love to read and why I love movies, the emotion grabs you and drags you into the story making you feel like you are really there. But when I came out of this movie I felt like I had watched a story, not like I had been part of one like I usually feel after coming out of a good film or reading a good book. I actually felt dissappointed and so I explored why that would be and this is what I found. The Movie was incredibly detailed and to the letter of the book, but I think this may have been it's downfall. Because of all the time necessary to show all of the information there was precious little time left for character development, or for showing off the more emotional parts of the story. It was kind of like someone was sitting there saying "Ok we have 2.2 minutes for the scene where Harry looks at the Mirror...Go!" In the books I felt that Voldemort was this epic, evil villain who could enslave the world if he were to return, I felt he was dangerous and at all costs he had to be stopped. In the books I felt that Dumbledore was this Mysterious and benevolent pillar of good and right, a pillar of strength for the heroes in their times of need. And in the books I felt like it was a race against time to stop whatever evil was trying to break into the school. But in the movie there was so little time to show the emotions the characters were feeling or to extrapolate on the strengths and natures of the characters and events that I think they missed out on all of that passion and depth. In the movie I felt like Voldemort was just another bad guy who did bad things, I didn't even get the impression that most people would know who he was. I did not get the impression that Dumbledore was anything more than a doddering school master. And I never felt like anything was at stake, I never felt like there was something serious going on. Overall a very cool movie with some great visuals and stayed very true to the book. But it did not have depth or emotion, nothing to draw me back again and again. I think that a little creative liscense by the director and the screenwriters may have been necessary, taking out a bit of straight information and filling the space instead with some character or story development would have added to the depth and made it feel more like a world and less like a picture show. Just my two cents.
Rating:
Summary: HARRRY POTTER IS THE BOMB!!!
Review: I loved the movie, but that was in part to the books. If you haven't read the books, don't see the movie because you can't really get as in deapth with the characters in the movie like you can in the book. I noticed that in the movie they NEVER said hedwig's name! It really got me going......(i'm a harry potter fanatic!!!) I can't wait for the fifth book to come out, but i can wait for the DVD cuz of all the extra stuff!!!...
Rating: 
Summary: A magical experience
Review: I am a huge Harry Potter fan and have read each of the books four times...so when I went to see the movie it was with a lot of expectations...and yes I do agree with a lot of the reviewers that the movie did not capture all the magic of the book and the axing of characters like Peeves the Poltergeist was dissapointing. But that being said, the sheer thrill of walking a while in Diagon Alley and seeing Hogwarts loom large and clapping and screaming through the Quidditch match was something that made every minute in that dark hall worth it.
Most people go to the movies expecting the film to live up to the book in every way. But that is rarely if ever going to happen. Harry Potter has excited the imagination of a generation and the images we conjur up in our mind's eye are ours alone...just because Chris Columbus could not translate a million fantasies exactly the way we want it does not make this a bad movie...we must remeber that JK Rowling was with him on this film every step of the way...and however much you find fault with it you are touched by the magic of Harry Potter and his motley band of friends...I would definitely reccomend the DVD...and let a little of the magic touch you too.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Adaption From the Novel
Review: The movie Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone was a wonderful movie for all ages. The director was able to make this movie a big hit while still remaining faithful to the author's vision.The cast in the movie did a very good jog of acting. This movie is definatly a movie for all ages! Honestly, at first when I heard about the Harry Potter book, I wasn't really interested in reading, thinking it was a book for kids. Once I saw the trailer for the movie, I knew it was a movie I had to see! After seeing the movie I got hooked on the books, and now it is up on my shelf of favorite books! This movie is not one that you will be bored of easily, it has it's shares of surprising turns. So if you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend you to buy the DVD,one that will become many people's favorite movie's of all time.
Rating:
Summary: The absolute *BEST* movie of the year!!!
Review: I was a die-hard Harry fan even before the books became famous, and I think I can boast that I know them inside-out. When the movie came out, I was excited and a little skeptical. There is no shred of skepticism left in me after having seen it four times(and working on my fifth!). At the moment, it's my favorite movie. ^_^I think Chris Colombus' biggest accomplishment in it was the casting. Each actor/actress was absolutely superb. Richard Harris was a magnificent Dumbledore(not quite as twinkly as I'd hoped, but magnificent nonetheless), especially in the end. Rupert Grint was an adorable Ron, and was very good with the humor. Alan Rickman was a wonderfully sinister Professor Snape, making his voice just right. Maggie Lawson was a rightfully severe Professor McGonagall, right down to the condescending looks. And Daniel Radcliffe...I just can't praise his performance enough. You could tell with every word he said that he loves his character dearly, and he got that air of deprivated-yet-brave air just perfectly. I cried twice at how heart-breakingly sweet he was. He was the *perfect* Harry. The special effects were a series of wonders. The Quidditch match was more than anyone could've dreamed of, the battle with Voldemort was creepy and ethereal, and the Chess Game was edge-of-your-seat exciting. It was a fan's dream to see that magical world alive in front of you. The over-all effect was astounding. Your heart is filled to bursting when the last strain of music fades, and I personally was a little woozy when I left the theatre. It was an amazing experience. As my mom said(she loved it, too), Chris Colombus' only flaw was letting it end.
Rating:
Summary: Harry potter
Review: It seems really great. The movie was excellent
Rating:
Summary: Unimaginative, un-magical mess
Review: This is supposed to be a review of Harry Potter, but I feel like talking about two previews I saw before Harry Potter more than Harry Potter itself: the newest Lord of the Rings and Star Wars: Episode II trailers, which were amazing and contained more originality, imagination, and pure excitement in them than HP did in its entire 2 hour-30 minute running time. HP proves that popularity (2nd or 3rd highest international gross so far) does not always equal quality. The film is about a boy, Harry Potter, who is raised by brutal and uncaring foster parents in a cupboard storage area under the stairs of their house (no, I'm being serious). One day he receives an invitation to Hogwarts, a school for training wizards, and Harry sets off to begin his career as a wizard in training. On the way, he discovers information about the death of his natural parents and is caught up in a plot to get the eponymous sorceror's stone. I appreciate how HP tries to contain a somewhat complex plot, complete with a mystery and history. It's very ambitious for a kid's film, but it still fails to succeed in this area. The first 15 minutes - showing Harry in his life with his foster parents - are nothing short of unbearable; Harry's situation and his mean parents are meant to evoke sympathy for his character and provide pathos, but it all ends up playing out as a comedy with the parents not being threatening at all but just bumbling fools. His treatment does not end up accomplishing what it should - making us genuinely desire that Harry go to Hogwarts and escape this undeserved life - but rather only serves as a kind of weird, humorous mess, and the only reason we are happy Harry has gotten into Hogwarts is because it means this segment of the film is finally over. On the journey through the film we do encounter some nice visuals, the direction here being at its strongest: the Dickensian detail of Diagon Alley, the interior of Hogwarts with its morphing paintings, shifting stairs, transparent ceiling, and so on. However, Chris Colombus is not an Oscar tier director, to put it lightly, and one can only sigh to imagine how someone capable like Spielberg or even Tim Burton would have brought the film to more life. The effects also hamper the film a lot (except the invisibility cloak, which is quite impressive in a simple way) - the troll and three-headed dog look awful, as does a lot of the Quidditch match, and the centaur looks like a videogame character on par with the awful job they did with the Scorpion King at the end of Mummy Returns. The acting is fine. Radcliffe is good because he's good at being shy and understated, which is what his character is like. Alan Rickman is devilishly entertaining and drips his lines with venom. The other kids are okay, sometimes bordering on annoying. The Quidditch match is a much ballyhooed action piece in the film, and it turns out to be pretty mediocre. There is great speed and velocity in it, to be sure; but the CG people on broomsticks turn out to be quite fake looking when the film decides to speed their frame rate up to 10 times their previous speed in the blink of a second, in the hopes that we won't notice and will just think it's their lightning reflexes. The game itself never gets very interesting because the rules are various and confusing, and are only explained in a brief two minute segment beforehand. I find myself asking more questions about how the game is supposed to be played and why people aren't just chasing after that damn golden ball thing instead of being able to "enjoy" the match. I mentioned the LOTR and SW trailers that played before this, and I must say I am glad these other fantasy/sci-fi films are coming/have come out relatively soon after HP, because hopefully people will realize just how much HP "borrows" ideas and elements from them, especially LOTR. Potter, to be completely honest, just isn't a very imaginative or creative film: the wizards are the typical long-bearded type (Richard Harris' Dumbledor looks like a carbon copy of Gandalf from LOTR), the witches are the typical broomstick-wielding, black pointy hat-wearing type, the goblins look like a cross between Yoda and (again) the goblins we will see in LOTR, the spells and magic we see in the film aren't anything new or interesting, there aren't any truly exciting action sequences, and there are plot holes galore: Why does Snape hate Harry? Can't Dumbledor come up with a better spell to protect the sorceror's stone? What did Voldemort have against Harry's parents in the first place? I don't want to waste much more time talking about this film. Honestly, why has this film been so popular? Even if we ignore the obvious "inspirations" it has taken from other sources and look at it for its "own merits," we still end up with a cheesy, kiddie fantasy flick with clichéd and typical fantasy wizard/witch figures, cutesy kid characters that spout cheesy comic relief one-liners like "wicked!" or "she really needs to straighten out her priorities," fake special effects, an action sequence played up to be the central event in the film that is bogged down by poor CG and confusing rules, a running time that is too long, subplots that take the film off on a tangent but end up contributing nothing to the central "story" , a very silly ending, and the fact that we still come away from the film knowing almost nothing about wizardry. But what do I know? 600 million dollars can't be wrong. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to finish watching the special features for Phantom Menace and begin getting hyped up for Episode II, because unlike Harry Potter, Star Wars deserves its popularity.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Another Based On a Book Movie!
Review: This movie was great for the kids, and it whetted an appetite to see some of J.K. Rowling's magic in "the works," but as far as it being better than the books, that couldn't be farther from the truth. I think it would be better off to leave Harry Potter to the imagination, but still... it was kind of cool to see the spells and enchantments of the stories. Take it or leave it.
Rating:
Summary: Good but important details left out.
Review: I thought that the movie itself was in fact quite enjoyable but they left out a few scenes and some important details. Being as big of a Harry Potter fan as I am, I was surprised to find that they even changed the way he looked in the movie. In the books it said Harry had jet black hair and green eyes. Well in the movie they gave him dark brown hair and blue eyes. It made me mad to find they changed the main character. But other than that and the fact that they left a few scenes out it was a spectacular movie. I suggest all who love movies to go see this one.It honestly was one of the best movies I've seen in awhile that I've been able to forget the outside world and enjoy what i was seeing. To all that haven't seen this I suggest you do.
|
