 --- Harry Potter: The Complete Collection Years 1-7 (8-Disc 8-Film Set) --- From J.K. Rowling's delightful bestseller, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is sheer screen enchantment. At its center is Harry, orphaned, unloved, rescued, enrolled as a wizard-in-training at Hogwarts Academy and as his telltale forehead scar shows, destined for great things. Enter into the world of Hogwarts and experience the rich characters, lavish surroundings, wizardly tools and customs, the high-flying sport of Quidditch... and much more beyond imagining. For the most magic ever to visit your house, see you on Platform 9-3/4! Storyline: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first film in the Harry Potter series based on the novels by J.K. Rowling. It is the tale of Harry Potter, an ordinary 11-year-old boy serving as a sort of slave for his aunt and uncle who learns that he is actually a wizard and has been invited to attend the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is snatched away from his mundane existence by Hagrid, the grounds keeper for Hogwarts, and quickly thrown into a world completely foreign to both him and the viewer. Famous for an incident that happened at his birth, Harry makes friends easily at his new school. He soon finds, however, that the wizarding world is far more dangerous for him than he would have imagined, and he quickly learns that not all wizards are ones to be trusted. Written by Carly Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Greg Maltz on December 14, 2007 -- After reviewing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I was expecting great things from the rest of the Potter series on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, The Sorcerer's Stone did not live up to the expectations raised by Order of the Phoenix. The flagship Potter film looks vastly superior to any NTSC version. But it offered no notable improvement over the HD broadcast on network television, which aired in the fall of '07. That broadcast wasn't bad, but it was not as good as the near-reference quality seen on the Order of the Phoenix. Still, Warner's effort to bring the entire Potter series to Blu-ray is appreciated, and there is much to admire in the 1080p presentation of The Sorcerer's Stone. The Potter saga begins with the young wizard living life as a muggle (non-magical person). He is a virtual prisoner. His parents dead, Potter was sent as an infant to live with his aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley. They treat him like an animal, locking him in a tiny closet under the stairs while bestowing all their love on their boorish son, Dudley. But young Harry Potter soon shows signs that he has magical powers. The faculty at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry--most notably Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris)--is familiar with Harry, having trained his parents and rescued him after he was orphaned. In fact, all of the wizard community seems to know more about Harry than he knows about himself. Letters of invitation begin pouring in from Hogwarts, but Vernon Dursley will not accept wizardry and adopts a policy of throwing away Harry's mail. Vernon even moves his entire family to escape the agents of Hogwarts. Ultimately the school sends groundskeeper Hagrid to fetch Harry, remove him from the Dursley's cruel grasp and help the young wizard get school supplies. During the errands, Harry learns the fate of his parents. They were killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort. Harry begins to discover his self-worth when he realizes that, as an infant, he was the only person who Voldemort could not kill. The murder attempt left a scar on Potter's forehead. Harry is on the train to Hogwarts when he makes two friends: Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). The trio would become somewhat inseparable throughout the Potter saga. In The Sorcerer's Stone, they uncover a plot wherein Voldemort's attempts to return to human form using a powerful stone hidden in an underground chamber at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione decide they must preempt Voldemort's acquisition of the sorcerer's stone. The film follows their first year at Hogwarts as they attend classes, master the art of broomstick flying, face detention in the Forbidden Forest and play a high-stakes game of wizard's chess. Unable to accommodate all aspects of J.K. Rowling's Potter novel, The Sorcerer's Stone focuses on key developments of the plot in a simple, straightforward narrative. Some elements of the book are chopped out. Generally, the writers and editors did a good job with those decisions, but the film still feels a bit light. Worse, Radcliffe's acting is rather stilted and wooden, in sharp contrast to Watson and Grint, who turn in warm performances and seem to have a gift for timing and delivery of their lines. The film gets away with it because Potter was raised in an emotionally repressive environment and Radcliffe is well advised to underact the role than overact. But it would have worked better to turn on the emotional warmth more readily. Another letdown lies in the special effects. While they are engaging, and rendered without pixelation, they appear quite two-dimensional. From John Cleese playing a semi-decapitated ghost to cheap CGI figures crashing into buildings as stunt-doubles, many of the effects have the look and feel of cheap parlor tricks. Others are a bit more convincing, such as the battle with the troll and the incarnation of Voldemort himself. Overall, the effects add to the enchantment of the film, but they seem amateur at times. Warner has adopted a policy of providing reviewers with only a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but not The Sorcerer's Stone. After viewing both, I wasn't surprised. While Sorcerer's Stone was the story that started it all, and proved a good adaptation of the book, with interesting sets and effects, the film is a bit of a let-down in both technical and non-technical ways. While many of the actors shine, Radcliffe does not. The attention to detail in the production is often lacking. Even the scar on Potter's forehead, which is an important element of the plot, is not given the attention it deserves from the makeup team. It looks an amateur tattoo artist's attempt at the gatorade logo. Granted, The Sorcerer's Stone is a low-budget effort compared to subsequent films in the Potter saga and compared to other epic series like Lord of the Rings. And it shows. Still, it is an important story of self-discovery and of magic burgeoning in an 11-year old boy, and effectively kicks off one of the most successful series brought to movie theaters. Cast Notes: Richard Harris (Professor Albus Dumbledore), Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Saunders Triplets (Baby Harry Potter), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia Dursley), Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley), Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon Dursley), Derek Deadman (Tom - Bartender in Leaky Cauldron), Ian Hart (Professor Quirinus Quirrell), Ben Borowiecki (Diagon Alley Boy), Warwick Davis (Goblin Bank Teller / Professor Flitwick), Verne Troyer (Griphook the Goblin [as Vern Troyer]), John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander), Richard Bremmer (He Who Must Not Be Named). IMDb Rating (07/24/14): 7.4/10 from 339,362 users IMDb Rating (11/21/09): 7.2/10 from 120,764 users
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