#MovieReview: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)

Movie: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Cert:  PG (UK)
Release: 4th Nov 2001 (UK)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Director:
Writer (novel), (screenplay)
My Rating: 5 out of 5

About the Movie
Harry Potter, the bespectacled boy wizard, has his first feature film outing in this blockbuster box office hit. Newly enrolled at Hogwarts School, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his chums Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) have a surpise encounter with a three-headed dog guarding a secret trapdoor. They then begin to suspect that something important might be hidden beneath the school, and when they investigate it leads to an encounter with the evil wizard Voldemort (Ian Hart). Will Harry be able to keep up with his studies, lead his team to victory in the school sport Quidditch, and still triumph over the dreaded Voldemort? - Amazon UK

 

With the release of the new book and with it being JK Rowling and Harry Potter's birthday yesterday it was a no-brainer that the movie this week would be a Harry Potter one and while The Philosopher's Stone is not my favourite, it is the movie that makes us start to fall in love with the movies. 


I remember when this first came out. I must have been about 13/14 at time and I went with a friend from school to see it in the cinema. I was in awe of just how well the story was transformed from book to screen. It's always a worry when a film company takes a well loved book and tries to adapt it into a movie. And while there was changes and of course not everything was the movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was a just a magical tale and captures the very essence of the book. 


The movie is of course fantastic, the chemistry between the characters is wonderful and really portrays the characters from the books. It's always a hard thing to make sure actors can fully become the characters from the books that we all grew to love and while the casting wasn't perfect they managed to create a believable bond between the trio. The trio all so young in the first and their acting improves with each movie, you can tell that this was their first major role. And that is some pressure for three young kid's. However, Rupert Grint I have to admit is such a talented young man and he brought Ron to live. He was the perfect choice Ron. Most people's favourite character is Harry or Hermione but not me. I loved Ron. Books and movie I think he is best character in the whole series.


Now yes, there are changes and characters left out. Right now I am currently making my way through the audiobooks with my 9 year old son and his favourite character isn't even in the movies. He adores Peeves. I actually forgot how amazing Peeves was in the books. He should have been in the movies. He would have just made the movie so much better that it already was. 

I can't talk about this movie without mentioning Snape. Every time I watch any of these films I get a lump in my throat and my eyes tear up. Alan Rickman is THE perfect Snape. He plays that role so well. You actually hate the character so much. You just love to hate him. The day that the news broke that Alan Rickman has passed the whole fandom was shaken. He was a wonder man and even though he has done many many movies there is no doubt that for my generation and younger he was best known for Snape. 



You can't watch this and not notice how beautiful this was. The setting and graphics play a massive part in the story telling of this movie. The attention to detail makes this movies breathtaking. For me it was the scenes of the castle that took my breath away. I wanted to be at Hogwarts so bad when I was kid and seeing is come alive on screen was amazing. And still makes me want to believe that this world that JK Rowling has created could be real. Of course I know it isn't. But the child inside still wants to believe. 


And when I got to see the game of Quidditch I was completely captivated by it. I knew it was going to be epic but actually seeing on screen was just something else.


We just love Harry Potter. Every single night my kid will watch and listen Harry Potter. We have seen this movie in peculiar so many times that we can recite almost every single word in the movie. Much to the annoyance of anyone else who actually watches it with us. I love that my son is a Harry Potter fan. We can geek out over this franchise. He isn't a reader but he loves everything Harry Potter and that makes me so proud. He can watch the movies all day, every day and that's not an exaggeration. And it was this movie that opened him up to the wonderful and magical world that is Harry Potter.  


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