Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

With tens of thousands of sales in pre-orders alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone became available on video and DVD on May 28, 2002. In that rarest of occasions, not only did I buy the DVD, but I bought it on the first day of issue.

Based on the first book of J.K. Rowling's popular youth series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone remains remarkably true to the storyline established in the novel. Harry Potter (played with aplomb and wide-eyed wonder by Daniel Radcliffe) is the orphaned child of a pair of murdered wizards. Taken in by his decidedly non-magical Aunt and Uncle, he is kept in ignorance of his heritage in the hopes there will be no magic done in that mundane household. Extreme efforts to those ends by the Aunt, Uncle, and wholly spoiled cousin are to no avail when Harry receives notice that he's been accepted at Hogwart's School of Wizardry. And so begins what critics have called "'The Wizard of Oz' of its time."

Harry Potter fans will find the movie's casting to be delightful, as each personality comes across onscreen just as described in the books with which so many are familiar. Rupert Grant and Emma Watson take on the roles of Harry's friends and partners in mischief, and Robbie Coltrane is perfectly cast as the half human/half giant groundskeeper at Hogswart. Of special note are performances by esteemed actors Maggie Smith and Richard Harris, the latter of whom says he was talked into accepting the part of Headmaster after his grand-daughter called him to say she'd never speak to him again if he refused. I wasn't particularly enamored with the little boy chosen to play Harry's classroom nemesis - he's all right as an actor, but physically just didn't fit the part as far as I'm concerned - but that doesn't detract from the overall story or entertainment value of the three-hour epic.

As advertised, the special effects in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are terrific (with the notable exception of "Fluffy", a three-headed dog who is not only computer generated but appears to be computer generated). My favorite scene - and the one which I'm always ready to see again - is the quidditch match (a game something like basketball, soccer, rugby, and something else entirely different, all played in mid-air by players riding boomsticks). Also worthy of special mention are the exterior scenes of Hogwarts itself, another computer generated image, but this one utterly realistic and a marvel to see.

SPECIAL NOTE: Some religious groups have condemned Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - the book and the movie alike - as being akin to devil worship, and the franchise has been accused of leading children into witchcraft. These people have neither read the book or seen the movie, nor do they know anything about devil worship and witchcraft. The magic of Harry Potter is comparable to the magic of "The Wizard of Oz'" good witch, or to Mickey Mouse doing a turn as Merlin in Fantasia. It's harmless, imaginative fantasy. Real witchcraft - whether the completely fabricated brand of medieval stake burnings or the religion of Wicca - have nothing in common with Harry Potter, nor does it with them. And true Satanism bears no resemblence to Harry Potter's story, nor to Wicca, either, for that matter.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is rated PG. Although the plotline is probably too complex for the littest children, and there are some scary moments (albeit fantasy-like in nature), any child old enough to read and enjoy the books is old enough to see and fall in love with the movie. Adults - who have also become fans in droves - will find the casting, sets, and effects fascinating, and will derive a good deal of pleasure seeing everything they've imagined come to life on the silver screen. Both my husband and I loved the movie, and the kids in the theatre at the showing we attended were enraptured. In fact, none of them made a peep. Could there possibly be a higher recommendation than that?