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From Amazon.co.uk
To try and please all the fans of JK Rowling's novel was a challenge that the makers of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone met head on. The result of their efforts is one of the most lavish, beautiful and magical cinematic treats to hit our screens in years. Director Chris Columbus and screenwriter Steven Kloves (thankfully with the help of Rowling herself) prove that although you can't translate everybody's reading of this much-loved book onto the cinema screen--maybe Fluffy was a bit more Fluffy in your imagination or Hagrid (superbly played by Robbie Coltrane) a little more giant-like--it is nevertheless possible to transfer Harry's adventures with fidelity as well as superb energy and excitement.
If there is a downside it's that the performances of the child leads tends to verge on the Sylvia Young-tastic in places. Nonetheless, the three young stars are both likable and watchable, showing great potential to grow into the parts as the adventures continue. The main disappointment is the substantial cutting of the ghost scenes and what promised to be a fine comic turn by John Cleese as Headless Nick, though with more Potter films on the way the ghosts will surely assume their rightful prominence later. There are, of course, some areas of the story that may frighten smaller children--such as the entrance of the evil Voldemort--and undoubtedly for any true Potter fan that cinematic entrance cannot live up to the images created in their imagination. All in all, though, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is what it should be: an unmissable treat for the whole family.
On the DVD: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone really is a magical experience in this lavish two-disc set. Disc one offers the film in all its surround-sound glory along with trailers and links to the Harry Potter Web site, but, disappointingly, there's no commentary.
Disc two is where the real wizardry can be found, with a vast and beautifully designed selection of special features. Entering the Great Hall a mysterious voice invites you to explore and find the secret hidden within (though it's frustrating that in some cases you have to re-enter the Hall after viewing a feature). Various options let you tour around Harry's world: from Diagon Alley to a virtual 360-degree tour of Hogwarts. The interactive component is excellent, with real thought having been put into ensuring that, instead of just the standard behind-the-scenes stuff, there is material aplenty to keep children and adults alike entertained for hours. Throughout the emphasis is on the disc's educational value: yes there are insights to be had from the film crew, but it's in the Classroom where you will find the real precious stones! --Nikki Disney
"Widescreen" vs. "Full Screen"
Widescreen preserves the original theatrical picture ratio of the film (Panavision 2.35:1), which will appear in "letterboxed" format on a normal TV screen.
Full Screen (or "pan and scan") crops the theatrical picture to 4:3 ratio (i.e., 4 units wide by 3 units tall), which is the shape of a standard (non-widescreen) TV screen. There is no letterboxing, but up to a third of the original picture is lost.
Product Description
DVD Special Features:
Never-Before-Seen Footage
Self-Guided Tour of Hogwarts
Mix potions, perform transfigurations, explore Daigon Alley, catch a snitch and much, much more!
Theatrical Trailers
Languages: English (Dolby 5.1 EX) Subtitles: English, Arabic
Hearing Impaired: English
Screen Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1
DVD-ROM PC Features:
Collect Wizard Trading Cards
Be Sorted by the Sorting Hat
Download Screensave and Remembrall
Receive Owl e-mails
Link to the Web
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Quinn
Format:Blu-ray
This set looks fantastic. It has a cardboard sleeve and the main box inside is large, solid and and very well-presented with lovely detailing. If you have all the sets together, they are quite phenomenal to behold! Inside there is a 'Creating The World of Harry Potter' photo album and this contains photographs of many of the Harry Potter film sets. There is also a paper folder which contains two artcards -Snape and McGonagall - and a digital film code leaflet.
The discs themselves are housed in a separate fold-out dvd set:
Disc 1: Blu-Ray Movie (Theatrical Version)
Disc 2: DVD Movie (Theatrical Version)
Disc 3: DVD Movie (Extended Version)
Disc 4: DVD Special Features (Additional Scenes, A Conversation With The Film-Makers, Visit Diagon Alley, Enter The Library, Attend Classes, Learn More About Quidditch, Seek The Mirror of Erised, Gallery of Art & Architecture)
Disc 5: DVD Creating The World of Harry Potter Part 1: The Magic Begins (1. The Magic Begins 2. Characters 3. Magical Creatures 4. Sound & Music 5. The Evolution of Harry Potter 6. Special Effects 7. Growing Up Potter 8. The Harry Potter Phenomenon)
Although this set is marketed as a Blu-Ray set please note that only one disc is Blu-Ray which is why I don't think it's perfect. Unlike the US version of this boxset, the UK version does not contain a Blu-Ray extended version of the film which is very disappointing. The special features from Disc 4 are not unique to this set but the hour long documentary on Disc 5 offers a spectacular behind-the-scenes look at the movies and how it all began. The real highlight is definitely the extended version of the film. The extra scenes really add to the film and aren't just fillers - my particular favourite new scenes include Petunia opening up the eggs to find Hogwarts letters in each one and the little conversation between the trio after they've defeated the troll. I loved these scenes in the books so it was great to see them on screen at last! This set is definitely one for the die-hard fans due to the price - it's just a shame that there isn't an extra Blu-ray of the extended version in the set.
The discs themselves are housed in a separate fold-out dvd set:
Disc 1: Blu-Ray Movie (Theatrical Version)
Disc 2: DVD Movie (Theatrical Version)
Disc 3: DVD Movie (Extended Version)
Disc 4: DVD Special Features (Additional Scenes, A Conversation With The Film-Makers, Visit Diagon Alley, Enter The Library, Attend Classes, Learn More About Quidditch, Seek The Mirror of Erised, Gallery of Art & Architecture)
Disc 5: DVD Creating The World of Harry Potter Part 1: The Magic Begins (1. The Magic Begins 2. Characters 3. Magical Creatures 4. Sound & Music 5. The Evolution of Harry Potter 6. Special Effects 7. Growing Up Potter 8. The Harry Potter Phenomenon)
Although this set is marketed as a Blu-Ray set please note that only one disc is Blu-Ray which is why I don't think it's perfect. Unlike the US version of this boxset, the UK version does not contain a Blu-Ray extended version of the film which is very disappointing. The special features from Disc 4 are not unique to this set but the hour long documentary on Disc 5 offers a spectacular behind-the-scenes look at the movies and how it all began. The real highlight is definitely the extended version of the film. The extra scenes really add to the film and aren't just fillers - my particular favourite new scenes include Petunia opening up the eggs to find Hogwarts letters in each one and the little conversation between the trio after they've defeated the troll. I loved these scenes in the books so it was great to see them on screen at last! This set is definitely one for the die-hard fans due to the price - it's just a shame that there isn't an extra Blu-ray of the extended version in the set.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. Blu
Format:Blu-ray
The film is wonderful, for me clearly the better of the two Christopher Columbus 'family films', and in many ways my favourite before the obsession started with making Harry Potter increasingly 'darker'. Extras are not bad including around nine minutes of deleted scenes and numerous behind the scenes features. But the main issue here is the Blu-Ray quality and that is why this great film gets only three stars.
The video quality is not very good. Contrasts are surprisingly poor, with many scenes too bright (Harry and his owl during the Xmas holidays) and the children's faces often looking vampirically pale due to excessive contrast. There is also far too much soft focus and too little sharpness for the film to ever really shine let alone 'pop' as the jargon has it. Scenes which are just made for HD, lingering close-ups, for example, often appear surprisingly soft and lacking definition. There are moments of HD magic - like the moving bricks in the wall before Diagon Alley - but they are far too rare and are never of reference character. Faces, particularly the children, often lack detail almost as though some form of digital noise reduction (DNR) had been applied! I say "almost" because the film is not short of grain/noise.
Audio quality is pretty good but well short of what it could have been. The PCM track is only 48khz and sometimes lacks the extra detail and spaciousness associated with HD audio. Surround sound is very well used though, particularly in the Quidditch match.
All in all a disappointing BD. The new audio-mix on the "Ultimate Editions" available in the US and continental Europe seems to be an open admission that the soundtrack wasn't good enough. But I wouldn't hold your breath for a new transfer. On the internet I read that some of the video problems are to be blamed on the limited budget for Part 1 and the not sufficiently careful integration of CGI. Although I hope, at the least, a new transfer one day could sort out the contrasts, and remove DNR if that is what is making the kids' faces look so lacking in detail and smoothed over at times.
Not really recommended. The only good news is that a better sound-mix is out there and that general feedback from BD-loving Potter fans is that the series gets much better on BD from Part II on. I'll be sure to post on "Chamber of Secrets" when I've seen it!
The video quality is not very good. Contrasts are surprisingly poor, with many scenes too bright (Harry and his owl during the Xmas holidays) and the children's faces often looking vampirically pale due to excessive contrast. There is also far too much soft focus and too little sharpness for the film to ever really shine let alone 'pop' as the jargon has it. Scenes which are just made for HD, lingering close-ups, for example, often appear surprisingly soft and lacking definition. There are moments of HD magic - like the moving bricks in the wall before Diagon Alley - but they are far too rare and are never of reference character. Faces, particularly the children, often lack detail almost as though some form of digital noise reduction (DNR) had been applied! I say "almost" because the film is not short of grain/noise.
Audio quality is pretty good but well short of what it could have been. The PCM track is only 48khz and sometimes lacks the extra detail and spaciousness associated with HD audio. Surround sound is very well used though, particularly in the Quidditch match.
All in all a disappointing BD. The new audio-mix on the "Ultimate Editions" available in the US and continental Europe seems to be an open admission that the soundtrack wasn't good enough. But I wouldn't hold your breath for a new transfer. On the internet I read that some of the video problems are to be blamed on the limited budget for Part 1 and the not sufficiently careful integration of CGI. Although I hope, at the least, a new transfer one day could sort out the contrasts, and remove DNR if that is what is making the kids' faces look so lacking in detail and smoothed over at times.
Not really recommended. The only good news is that a better sound-mix is out there and that general feedback from BD-loving Potter fans is that the series gets much better on BD from Part II on. I'll be sure to post on "Chamber of Secrets" when I've seen it!
50 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I took my 3 young children to see this film with a little trepidation, knowing it to be 2.5 hours long. Also, having read the books to all of them as bedtime stories, they each had pre-conceived ideas about the characters, portrayed so vividly in the text.
My fears were groundless. From the moment Dumbledore walked onto the screen in the first act they were mesmerised, their sweets and drink were left untouched as they were transported to the magical world of Hogwarts. The time passed far too quickly as they were taken on a roller coaster ride of fun and excitement.
The atmosphere created by Columbus is engrossing, totally convincing. I watched my children's faces as the story developed, from looks of pure delight as the Dursleys house was bombarded with owl post, to hatred as Alan Rickman's Snape bullied the kids and finally to tears as Ron was knocked from his Knight.
The film is not perfect, some of the children's acting is a bit wooden (not helped by the script, which tries to stay too close to the book), some scenes should not have been cut (lets hope we see some of these on the DVD !!) and some subtle clue's provided in the book for eagle eyed kids are missing, but none of this detracts from the overall experience.
As we left the cinema, the first thing my children said to me was "when can we see it again ?". "Soon", I replied. I began to realise that I had probably enjoyed the film as much as they had.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very poor quality
After 5 attempts we managed to see the filme with it only freezing on us twice. I have learn't my lesson, don't buy used!
Published 20 days ago by Martin Paul
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good family film
Thoroughly enjoyed by my 5 year old who watched it daily for over a week. Some bits are a little scary but it didn't put him off
Published 1 month ago by EstherB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Harry Potter -the start of the adventures
This is the perfect introduction to Harry Potter. A great story line and excitemnet from start to finish. You will be hooked and have to read the books and see all the films\!
Published 1 month ago by gillywilly97
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful fantasy
I loved this film the first time round but now I have to re-watch it nearly everyday because my four year old girl is obsessed with it!! Read more
Published 1 month ago by lovesbooks
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't remember buying this one
If we did then it was good decision because the philosophers stone is the best of all of them. 5 stars for a first class film
Published 1 month ago by Mr. V. C. Jordan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
An interesting 1st and great opener and great in the series. JK Rowling is a credit to children and adult fiction. Read more
Published 1 month ago by faye player
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not sure I get the hype
Honestly? Meh. What's all the fuss about?
Kid in peril. Kid flees. Kid acquires magical abilities. Kid defeats bad guys. Anyone read Stephen King's "Talisman"? Read more
Kid in peril. Kid flees. Kid acquires magical abilities. Kid defeats bad guys. Anyone read Stephen King's "Talisman"? Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. Adil-smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT
After reading the box set it was good to see how the book was used to make the film. Worth watching.
Published 1 month ago by STEVE BACON
3.0 out of 5 stars
Daniel Radcliffe blew me out of the water
Customer Video Review
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0:10
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Published 1 month ago by T.Biglowe
5.0 out of 5 stars
a good buy
hello I love harry potter films and the books a great film to watch with the family and to have fun with.
Published 1 month ago by Tink
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