Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter by itself is an iconic book movie series, but today I will be talking about the first movie in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Different from my other movie reviews, I will be talking more about how this movie compares to the book.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
The Philosopher's Stone starts off with Harry living in his abusive household and learning about him being a wizard. He and the Hogwarts Groundskeeper, Hagrid, go to Diagon Alley, the wizarding shopping street, to buy his supplies for school and anything else he might need to be a wizard. When he gets to Hogwarts, he gets sorted into Gryffindor, one of the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Throughout the rest of the movie, he and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, notice some strange things and eventually find out about the Philosopher's Stone, which they believe one of the professors is trying to steal. In the end, it is Voldemort who is trying to steal the stone, with the help of a professor who they did not think would steal the Stone.
Compared to the book, the movie does a pretty good job at staying true to the book and the story. However, as always, there are some slight differences and things that were left out. One of my favorite characters was left out of the entire movie series, even though he was in every single book. Peeves the Poltergeist, a prominent ghost in the series, was left out of the movies. Though he was really only a prankster that played mean tricks on the students and teachers, having him in the books was a laugh, especially in the later books as they became more and more emotionally dark.
Another detail they left out was that in the end of the movie is when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are going through all the challenges to get to the Stone, there is no Potions Task. This part in the book really truly proved how smart Hermione was, because she had to pull apart a riddle to find the right potion that would send Harry through the fire that surrounded the room, and make sure that the potion was not a poison.
Other than these two moments, and a few others, the movie stays true to the book and to the story. The movies did a very good job on showing the magical world of Harry Potter and make it whimsical and beautiful, and makes me long to be at Hogwarts despite it being fictional. This movie especially feels so nostalgic, because it is the first movie in the series and the first bit of the Harry Potter world I got to see.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
The Philosopher's Stone starts off with Harry living in his abusive household and learning about him being a wizard. He and the Hogwarts Groundskeeper, Hagrid, go to Diagon Alley, the wizarding shopping street, to buy his supplies for school and anything else he might need to be a wizard. When he gets to Hogwarts, he gets sorted into Gryffindor, one of the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Throughout the rest of the movie, he and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, notice some strange things and eventually find out about the Philosopher's Stone, which they believe one of the professors is trying to steal. In the end, it is Voldemort who is trying to steal the stone, with the help of a professor who they did not think would steal the Stone.
Compared to the book, the movie does a pretty good job at staying true to the book and the story. However, as always, there are some slight differences and things that were left out. One of my favorite characters was left out of the entire movie series, even though he was in every single book. Peeves the Poltergeist, a prominent ghost in the series, was left out of the movies. Though he was really only a prankster that played mean tricks on the students and teachers, having him in the books was a laugh, especially in the later books as they became more and more emotionally dark.
Another detail they left out was that in the end of the movie is when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are going through all the challenges to get to the Stone, there is no Potions Task. This part in the book really truly proved how smart Hermione was, because she had to pull apart a riddle to find the right potion that would send Harry through the fire that surrounded the room, and make sure that the potion was not a poison.
Other than these two moments, and a few others, the movie stays true to the book and to the story. The movies did a very good job on showing the magical world of Harry Potter and make it whimsical and beautiful, and makes me long to be at Hogwarts despite it being fictional. This movie especially feels so nostalgic, because it is the first movie in the series and the first bit of the Harry Potter world I got to see.
I love this blog topic. I have never read the books but I have seen the movie series multiple times. I love the quick summary of the first film. I feel like this film gets looked over because of how old it is. I like the way you described the two parts from the book that never made it in to the film. After reading this I wish they put these two elements in the film. I feel like they would have enhanced the first film even more.
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