00s Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Adventure/ Fantasy/ Family
Runtime: 152 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, Tom Felton, Saunders Triplet, Fiona Shaw, Harry Melling, Richard Griffiths, Derek Deadman, John Cleese, Sean Biggerstaff, Warwick Davis, Zoë Wanamaker, John Hurt, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Bonnie Wright, Chris Rankin, Matthew Lewis, Mark Williams, Julie Walter

Description: Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, young Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Review: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is the first movie in the Harry Potter series. Based on the books by J.K. Rowling. She wanted to be involved with the making of the movies, so that they stayed true to the source material.
Harry is introduced to us, we learn about his past. Director Chris Columbus takes his time for that, because people who haven’t read the books should understand.
The actual magic starts when Harry visits Diagon Alley and platform 9 ¾. Daniel Radcliffe is a good Harry Potter. Off course he doesn’t have a lot of acting experience, but that doesn’t matter. His friend Ron Weasley, played by Rupert Grint, is a pleasant surprise, but Emma Watson as Hermione Granger is probably the biggest discovery. Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy, probably has the most experience. He is perfect for the mean role of Draco.
Then the adults. Robbie Coltrane is exactly the Rubeus Hagrid J.K. Rowling described. His raw appearance and voice fit the character perfectly. Richard Harris has the friendly, warm and sophisticated charm for Dumbledore. Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and Alan Rickman as Professor Snape, both also excellent cast. Especially Rickman is very convincing.
It’s obviously a well-cast film and Rowling can be proud of the first film. I really love this first Harry Potter adventure.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Female Book Characters

I already shared my favorite movie character, both male and female, with you. Now it’s time for the book characters that I love. As always, ladies first.

5. Clare Abshire (“The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger)
Some people might call Clare insane, for giving up her life for a man who travels through time. He can leave at any time and be gone for quite a while. Clare knew that she loved Henry and she wouldn’t be happy without him. To me, Clare is a hero.

4. Minerva McGonagall (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling)
Professor McGonagall seems fierce and she is very strict. That has led to a huge amount of respect. I like her as an authority figure and she’s always been my favorite female character from the Harry Potter series. Her students can always rely on her.

3. Jane Eyre (“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë)
Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. I love that she’s so assertive and she speaks her mind, although most people won’t expect it.

2. Katniss Everdeen (“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins) Far out the strongest woman I ever read about. Katniss has to survive in a game where young people have to kill each other. Most people would have already given up, but not Katniss. She fights, helps others and defeats.

1. Elizabeth Bennet (“Pride & Prejudice” by Jane Austen)
It is already my favorite book, but Elizabeth Bennet is an intelligent young woman, with a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous. Elizabeth doesn’t want what every other woman wants (read: her mother). She doesn’t want to just ‘marry well’. She wants to love a man and marry him out of love.

They almost made the top 5: Celia Foote (“The Help”), Hermione Granger (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling), Fanny Price (“Mansfield Park” by Jane Austen), Beatrice Prior (“Divergent”’ by Veronica Roth), Matilda Wormwood (“Matilda” by Roald Dahl), Benny Hogan (“Circle of Friends” by Maeve Binchy), Violet Baudelaire (“A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket), Allie Hamilton (“The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks) and Cecilia Tallis (“Atonement” by Ian McEwan)

Movie Moments: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

I love the Harry Potter series and I think this is my favorite movie of the series. And it's filled with so many great moments. Here are my favorites.

Moment # 1: Snake
When Harry and the Dursley’s visit the zoo, they see a python. Dudley thinks he’s boring, but when then glass disappears Dudley falls in its habitat. The snake escapes and the glas reappears again. Dursley is now locked behind the glass.

Moment # 2: Letters
Harry gets a letter, but his uncle rips it up. Every letter adressed to Harry gets destroyed by uncle Vernon. But on Sunday, the day where you usually never get mail, the Dursley house if flooded with letters to Harry.

Moment # 3: Harry meets Hagrid
When the Dursleys and Harry have escaped their home, a very big, hairy man comes busting through the door. It’s Rubeus Hagrid, coming to get Harry and bring him to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Moment # 4: Gringotts Bank
While being at Diagon Alley to buy school supplies, Harry doesn’t know how to pay for it all. Hagrid takes him to Gringotts Bank, where Goblins work. When they arrive at the vault, Harry sees it’s filled with money his parents left him.

Moment # 5: The wand
Harry goes to Olivander to buy a wand. He tries several wands that don’t work for him. Then, when he found a wand suited for him, Olivander tells Harry there was only one other person to have this wand. The person who gave him his scar and shall not be named.

Moment # 6: Platform 9 ¾
Harry has to take a train to Hogwarts, but his ticket says platform 9 ¾. When he can’t find it, he asks Molly Weasly. Harry has to run through a wall between platforms 9 and 10.

Moment # 7: Meeting Ron and Hermione
On the train Harry meets Ron, who’s also going into his first year at Hogwarts. Just when Ron is trying to show Harry a magic spell, Hermione enters and tells them how well she can do magic.

Moment # 8: The sorting hat
All the new students have to be sorted in to the different houses. They have to put on the sorting hat and it tells you which house you belong in. Hermione and Ron both get into Gryffindor. When it’s Harry’s turn, he hopes he doesn’t get into Slytherin, so the hat tells him it’s going to be Gryffindor.

Moment # 9: Troll
Hermione is in the bathroom when a troll enters the room. Harry and Ron are trying to rescue her. Ron finally gets the levitation spell and makes sure the troll loses his bat. Harry is the one to save them from the troll.

Moment # 10: Quidditch
Harry is playing his first official Quidditch match and it’s against Slytherin. They are a very mean team, but Gryffindor manages to win thanks to Harry.

Moment # 11: Invisibility cloak
It’s Christmas at Hogwarts and for the first time Harry got presents. He gets a cloak, but when he puts it on he sees it’s an invisibility cloak. He doesn’t know who he got the present from.

Moment # 12: The mirror of erised
While trying to hide from Snape, Harry finds a mirror. In that mirror he sees himself and his parents. Professor Dumbledore warns him for the mirror and tells him not to go searching for it ever again.

Moment # 13: Norbert
When Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hagrid, they find out about his secret. He has a dragon’s egg, which is starting to hatch. It’s a Norwegian Ridgeback and Hagrid calls him Norbert.

Moment # 14: The forbidden forest
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco are punished and have to join Hagrid into the forbidden forest. When they split up, Harry and Draco see a dark shade drinking a dead unicorns blood. Draco gets scared and runs away while the hooded shade is moving towards Harry. Firenze manages to scare it off and saves Harry. They think the shade could be Lord Voldemort, the man who shall not be named.

Moment # 15: Entering the room
Someone is trying to steal the philosopher’s stone. Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to stop him. First they have to pass Fluffy, the three-headed dog. Second is the flying keys, which aren’t easy to catch. Third the three kids have to play wizard chess, something Ron is very good at. Finally Harry has to face the man who’s after the stone and sees who he’s working for.

Moment # 16: Gryffindor wins
It seems that Slytherin won this years housecup, but not all point have been devided yet. Hermione, Ron and Harry were all granted points for their bravery. It is Neville who wins the points that deliver Gryffindor the housecup.

Favorite Moment: Moment # 8: The sorting hat

50 Books Challenge - # 14: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Story: Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped to hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility. All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley - a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years. But all of that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry will find unforgettable. For it's there that he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter.
Start: march 10th 2011
End: march 11th 2011
Comment: I decided to reread the entire series and buy the books. So now I own the first two and I reread the first book in the series. Harry is introduced after a short intro about his background. His adventure starts there and it's a challenge for him to live up to people's expectations of something that he doesn't even know he can do. Harry proves himself, but he also has his flaws. He doesn't know how to play chess and he isn't the smartest kid in class. That makes him believable, by not making him some kind of a 'super human'. I love his friendship with Ron, who's my favorite character in the book. And later on with Hermoine, who seems a bit stuck up in the beginning. You start to like her in the end. I love it when I can enter Harry Potter's magical world and when I start reading it's hard to stop.
Rating: 5/ 5