Customer Reviews

They all look so young! - By: Norman Cheeseworthy, 05 Jan 2009
Well, how can you not enjoy this first offering of Harry Potter on the big screen?! Even if the hardcore HP fans knock it for not entirely sticking to the original storyline, introducing different character traits, or giving Harry size 10 feet (ok, made that bit up), there's no denying that this is still a very enjoyable film - no matter where your loyalties lie.

I'm a big fan of the books too, but oncein a while it's good to see something you love brought to the big screen, inaccuracies & all. The one thing I think the films improve on over the books is the way Quidditch is brought to life - the soundtrack is also spot onin conveying all the mystery & enchantment of the books.

Young or old, fans of the book or not - this will appeal to anyone who enjoys a good couple of hours of escapism.

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Pleasant viewing, but nothing special - By: N. Thompson, 13 Aug 2008
Never read the books so I came with an open mind when watching this film. Like the book, the film is for children but can be enjoyed by adults.

Unfortuneatly this came out at the same time as the excellent 'Lord of the Rings' & it cant really compare with Tolkiens classic (same with the books really) but you can enjoy it on its own merit, especially if you havnt bother reading the novel first. If you have, then it could be an up hill struggle. However, the acting & the characters are enjoyable & the whole movie leaves you interested enough to watch the follow-up movies.

This is certainly a better film than some other recent fantasy films like Narnia, The Golden Compass, The Seeker (Dark is rising) & the truely terrible Eragorn.

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Good Start - By: Mr. Martin T. Hanley, 01 Jul 2008
This is a visually beautiful film, with the best of the british lighting up the screen. But it's still my least favourite of the Potter movies, & this is because the pace of the film is slow (though that's mainly due to the setting up of characters & locations). Also though the children do a great job, I just prefer themin the next one because they are much better.
The dvd itself aint great, not too many extra's & no director commentary. For a 2 Disc I give the features 2 out of 5 though the movie is 3.5/5

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enjoyable - By: martin thomas, 07 Jun 2008
ive never read the books but this is an enjoyable fun popcorn thats great for all the family.theres a great british cast too

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Very poor - By: I AM ME, 01 Nov 2007
I have not been impressed with any of the five Harry Potter movies so far, but the first three are on a different level of badness than number four or five. Fine they are very faithful to the book, but they are terrible adaptations & the director & scriptwriter ought to be ashamed of themselves.

The plot is basically like this ( although everybody knows it ), Harry doesn't know he's a wizard until a giant tells him that he is, he then goes to a magic school called Hogwarts & makes friends with Ron & Hermione, but everything doesn't go well because Harry finds out about the philosophers stone which is hiddenin the school, & he suspects one of the teachers is going to steal it.

The problem with this movie is the following: The first two books were more for children than the ones following them, but this takes a novel for 9+'s & turns it into a soppy kids movie for four year olds who aren't able to tell te difference between a good movie & a bad movie, aswell as that they take the direction of the happy ending, & seem to ignore all the horrors that Harry went through during the term. The script is terrible, I mean, no children talk like that, it's just disgraceful that any scriptwriter that bad could be hired for this major a movie. There are some excellent adult actors here, but even they have to struggle with a terrible script, & the three main kidsin it are useless, nowadays Emma & Rupert are ok, but Daniel has only imroved a little bit, but certainly not enough to be convincing. The directing is very poorin this one & only starts to improve at number 3, when they got a new director.

I don't recommend this to anybody except young children, & the only reason I didn't give it 1 star is because of the good acting from most of the adults, & because I can't stand giving something even remotely connected to the genius of JK Rowling 1 star.