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

Rating:
Summary: Good for some audiences but...
Review: I was recently introduced to the books, about a couple of months ago actually, and I have just remembered one thing about the first book, the Philosophers Stone as it's called over here. The Philosophers stone was by far the worst of the 4 novels. The novels I enjoyed immensely.
The reason that I have only given the movie 2 stars where I would give the book 4 is that the film doesn't do what the books did, and that's give children a reason to want to read again.
The books were very good to excellent (the 4th novel being excellent) and I am waiting for the 5th anxiously.
Back to the film though. If I hadn't read the books and compared it to other films I would have to say that the film is no classic.
If I compare the story line and the plotof the film to that of the book, there was too much left out.
The film reminded me more of the PC game than the book to be quite frank and with the tremendous marketing campaign behind it and the budget that was available to it, I thought that better could have been done.
Sadly, there are two things that are likely to happen. The first is that the sequel will be even further from Rowling's materialthan the first. And lastly, maybe Disney will have to make cartoons tell the story as it is in the book in 20 years as people have too much free will to mess a good thing up. I guess that they really needed 3 hours to tell a story.
OK. So LOTR WAS MUCH BETTER.... Couldn't resist....

Rating:
Summary: It surpassed my expectations
Review: When I heard that Warner Bros. was going to make my beloved Harry Potter books into movies, I was truly terrified, after seeing what Hollywood has done to other favorites...But I was wrong. This movie is honestly one of my favorites already, and my only complaint is that it wasn't nearly long enough! I would gladly have sat through a 10 hour movie, just so everything in the book could have been in it! The filmmakers stayed true to the books, and while I understand they are getting much criticism for it, I applaud them. They deserve great praise for sticking with Rowling's creation and not "interpreting" it like some fools would have. Anyhow, go and see this movie - it's spectacular, even for 20-year-old pharmacy students like myself and friends! And I wouldn't be concerned about children being scared - I took my 6-year-old cousin to see it, and he adored it. It's lovely for all ages, unless of course, you're a Muggle of the worst sort, like the nasty Dursley's of 4 Privet Drive!

Rating:
Summary: Don't look if you don't like spoilers!
Review: What happened to all of those other things that happened? I mean they missed out on one importnat character, Peeves the Poltergeist and Hermione is barely worth that sort of point in just being calm! She's supposed to be logical in the face of a fire. Geez, the movie is excellent though I'd rather watch it the whole way through even though it is six hours long with all the scenes done! In any case watch the movie, it's fantastic though. I know they couldn't act the rest out so I'm willing to appreciate their work.

Rating:
Summary: Well, really!!!!
Review: This movie was a real disapointment.My best friend had watched the movie before me and she said that it was not as good as the book but that was putting it mildly.This movie was nowhere as good as the book, it did little to make me feel good to be a Harry Potter fan and it did make my parents more determend than ever not to read the books. I had waited more than year to watch the movie, that made me feel even worse.
But the thing that stung the most was that I did not even want to read the books any more, that I did not like Harry Potter any more. I had to read all four books again to cure me of this madness.

Rating:
Summary: GRRRRRRREAT!!!!!!!
Review: Great movie, characters and special effects were awesome! Some parts are different, but the movie still rocks. At first I didn't want to see the movie because I had my own ideas of how everything looked. I watched the movie and surprisingly everything looked the way I thought it would.

Rating:
Summary: An okay adaptation, but disappointing
Review:

The movie was mediocre at best. The casting, looks wise, was incredible, but all the talent went into minor roles. I don't know why the casting directors stressed that the main characters were unknown. Maybe they really wanted the kids the be thought of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, which will really suck when the kids want to move on to other roles. These newbies to the silver screen were okay, but there were some acting glitches. For example, Hermione over-enunciated (boy, that girl can open her mouth wide!), and hesitated at parts.

Also, the sense of time passing was almost completely stripped from it. In the books, they show some of the slower, action-free times in order to create a sense that time was going, and to show that Hogwarts life was not nonstop action and fighting evil bad guys. The movie was stripped of those sequences, and thus lost much of the heart that the books contained.

This is more of a personal thing, but I also missed Fred and George. They got so little screen time, and what time they did have was serious, thrilling times, like right before the Quidditch game, which was no time for jokes. I genuinely missed their lighthearted, goofy humor.

So all in all, it doesn't matter if you see the movie if you're a Harry Potter fan. It won't hurt to, but it's not an "Oh my God! I have to see that!" movie, like LOTR.

Oh, a little note to a previous reviewer: You said HP got the California treatment, which was style with no substance. I, as a Californian, resent that, totally. Californians are nothing like that, even in the middle of Hollywood. We're not all glitz and glamour. We're perfectly normal people living perfectly normal lives. It just happens that we live in an environment where a lot of movies are filmed. So shut up, you jerk.

Rating:
Summary: Great fiction.... Great Movie
Review: The books offer a whole new world to travel to from Quiditch races to potion classes. The movie only adds to the excitement laying the stage out in front and allowing you to compare what you imagined with someone else. Above all this is a great series for kids of all ages,not to be taken to seriously because yes it is fiction. I fear those that do lack real imagination.

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This movie is the best! Its full of suspense. I love the whole magic plot!...

Rating:
Summary: What about Dumbledore's wool socks?
Review: Not as good as the book, naturally, but a good screne adaptation. Special effects and scenery were awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the lousy book
Review: An unimaginative workman-like "Special Effects" rendering of an overbaked derivative hack novel. Sad, sad sad. People don't even know the difference between the product of a truly talented imagination and mere brain sludge. Face it: the books are notable only because they literally vomit "magical" people, objects, places, and animals in one of the most conspicuous cases of literary overkill seen in recent times. Rowling captured the chaos and inanity of a mind-sucking kids sorcery video game on the printed page. Yawn city, in terms of real substantial value. The movie was superior to the book because at least it added technological craft to the mediocrity of the story and the dry-as-old-pieces-of-toast characters. Tasteless hordes will hate this review, but deep down they must know it's the truth. Read and then watch Lord of the Rings to encounter true storytelling power on page and onscreen.

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