Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) lives with his aunt and uncle and cousin. They keep him in the cupboard under the stairs, and mistreat him constantly.
On the evening of his 11th birthday, a strange visitor - a incredibly large man named Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) - tells Harry that he is a wizard, and he has been accepted to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Upon arriving at school, Harry learns there is so much more to his life than he ever knew. Not only does he come from a well-known wizarding family, he himself is famous as “the boy who lived”, the boy who defeated one of the most powerful dark wizards ever - Voldemort, or He Who Must Not Be Named - as a baby.
There is much for Harry to learn in his first year: the rules and gameplay of wizarding sport Quidditch, at which he is a natural of course, dealing with difficult teachers such as Potions master Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), and most importantly, the value of his two closest friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).
One of the first things I must say about this film is that the casting is absolutely fabulous. This (and indeed the future films in the series) is a veritable ‘who’s who’ of British acting greats. Be it Richard Harris as Dumbledore (later replaced when he sadly passed away after the second film), Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, Zoë Wanamaker as Madam Hooch (the flying instructor), or any of the rest of the cast, there are some amazing performances here. (Obviously, I will be reviewing the remaining films in the franchise, keep reading in coming months for those).
Another point I want to make is the quality of the adaptation. Screenwriter Steve Kloves has done an incredible job of translating J. K. Rowling’s novel to the screen. Almost everything that happens in the book happens in the film. It does help that the first book in the series is rather short, and apparently simple (though fans will know by now there was a lot more going on in that book than we knew at the time!), and doesn’t have a lot of complex subplots as later books did.
The score by John Williams is absolutely magical, no pun intended. Of course, any score by John Williams is bound to be good. One only has to look to the later films (and even the later Fantastic Beasts franchise) and hear Williams’s themes and leitmotifs used and re-used to know just how iconic and brilliant they are.
Director Chris Columbus has made a truly magnificent film here. Columbus works especially well with young and/or inexperienced actors, and has been able to bring out the best in his young cast particularly. He would go on to direct the second film in the series as well, before pulling out to make room for other directors, in order to spend more time with his own growing children.
I realise that in the United States, this film was released with the title ‘Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone’, but as any sensible person would realise (particularly by now, with all the books and films finished), the Philosopher’s Stone is an actual verifiable part of alchemical history and a vital element of this book/film and indeed later parts of the series, while the Sorceror’s Stone is nothing, and refers to nothing.
This may not have been the best film in the series, but by being the first, it was our first introduction to Harry Potter and his adventures, and as such, is a very special and important part of the series.
8 1/2 out of 10.
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