Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Widescreen Version)
Distributed by
Warner Home Video
Cert: PG
Cat.no: 22467
Running time: 152 minutes
Year: 2001
Pressing: 2002
Region(s): 1, NTSC
Chapters: 35
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English, Spanish
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Widescreen: 2.35:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: No (!)
Disc Format: 2 * DVD 9
Price: $26.98
Extras:
Never Before Seen Footage, interviews, theatrical trailers, tons
of interactive features and DVD ROM supplements.
Director:
Chris Columbus
Screenplay:
Steven Kloves
Cast:
Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe
Hermione Granger: Emma Watson
Ron Weasley: Rupert Grint
Albus Dumbledore: Richard Harris
Hagrid: Robbie Coltrane
Professor McGonagall: Maggie Smith
Professor Snape: Alan Rickman
Draco Malfoy: Tom Felton
Harry Potter
is another series of novels to get adapted into a movie.
Everyone knew it would happen eventually. What took
Lord of the Rings
fifty years to get made, talks were already taking place when the first
novel hit shelves. It was also guarenteed to be a hit as well at
theaters and ultimately at home.
You'd have to be living under a rock for a few years to not know the
plot to the series. Either that or you don't read or you just think the
series is for kids. True the books have a kiddie feel to them but
there's a lot there for adults too.
Anyway, this movie is an adaptation
of the first novel (called the Philosopher's Stone everywhere else) and
basically sets everything up for the impending sequels. Harry is a boy
that lives with his evil Uncle and Aunt who keep him locked under the
stairs. They have a son named Dudley who terrorizes Harry of course.
One day Harry begins to get letters addressed to him from a place called
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tons of letters flow into
the house until they get away to a remote location. Suddenly in the
middle of the night, they are awoken by a man named Hagrid. He tells
Harry that he is actually a wizard and that his parents were wizards as
well. Harry eventually believes him and they go off to get supplies for
his school year as a wizard. Eventually they end up at Hogwarts and,
thus, the school year begins. The movie takes us through an entire year
while Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione discover a conspiracy afoot
involving the Sorcerer's Stone.
I've read all of the books and even though the first was not my favorite
(Azkaban gets that liberty) the movie made me like it more. If this
film told a story of any old school it would be long and boring, but
Hogwarts is a very cool place with it's ghosts and lessons. Paintings
are animated, staircases move and a game called Quidditch (sort of like
hockey with flying broomsticks) is played.
Even at 152 minutes the story
never seems to drag. If this movie is any indication then the sequels
will be great. Chamber of Secrets is due on November 15, 2002 and
Prisoner of Azkaban is due in 2004. All the books will probably be
adapted by 2010 or a little later.
Into the disc. A seperate full frame version is available but this film
is presented in 2.35:1 so you would be missing a lot. Warner has done a
good job of putting the two and a half hour movie onto one disc. Minor
pixelization can be noticed only in the darkest scenes but the colors
are sharp. Shots of the sky during Quidditch look great and clear. Overall,
a good transfer.
The sound is good too. well. English and Spanish 5.1 tracks are included
and fit the movie well.
Now here's where the DVD falls short of being nearly perfect. You have
to PLAY GAMES to get to the deleted scenes! You have to find Diagon
Alley, go to Gringotts and get money then do a bunch of crap to find
them! The interviews and trailers are accessible right off the bat but
everything else is all interactive with no indication of what to do.
I never did find the deleted scenes. I even tried just skipping to the
title of where they are. The VHS version has them right after the movie.
This is the first time I have ever been jealous of VHS. Warner is
rumored to be bringing a special edition out sometime with more adult
friendly features like commentaries, deleted scenes, a longer cut of the
film, and everything that should have been here. Talk about dropping the
ball.
Overall, Harry Potter is given a good DVD that is seriously hampered by
the extras. I would have probably given it a perfect score if it weren't
for this. I think I mentioned how much I hate the extras in some other
reviews as well. But if you don't care about supplements and just want
the film then I'd definitely recommend it.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
