Review of:Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (2001)
Director:Chris Columbus
Rating:PG for some scary moments and mild language
Starring:Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Richard Harris, John Cleese
J.K.Rowlings story Harry Potter and the Sorcerors Stone about a young orphaned boy who discovers that he is actually a wizard has landed in the U.S. of A. and created quite a stir.
We follow the life of one Harry Potter who is abandoned at birth, and left at the doorsteps of relatives to be taken care of. In something out of Cinderella storybook we see his life as bleak, and very little fun things in it. He is the cook, the butler, you get the point. When young Harry Potter (played by Danielle Radcliff) reaches his eleventh birthday great things start to happen. He finds out that his parents were both wizards, and that he actually is one also.
Arrangements are made so that he can attend the school for wizards in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is an instant celebrity with the exception of a couple of people.
Harry has a curious scar on his forehead that was put their by a powerful wizard they call the one without a name. In general they are scared to call his name. It seems like this wizard loved the dark ways, and killed off many a wizard in his quest for control. Harry was a victim to such an attack.
The longer that Harry stays at the School the more he realizes that everything is not alright. They discover a three headed dog guarding a valuable stone. A giant named Rubeus Hagrid (played by Robbie Coltran) knows a lot of what is going on but he also has a way of letting important information slip out.
It is soon discovered that the wizard with no name wants the fabled stone so that he can use it to achieve immortality. With the stone in his possession he could resume his diabolical schemes at full power once again.
Since this is the first time that I have had the opportunity to see anything from the Harry Potter collection either on film or in print my opinion is very high on this film. It put together a wonderful story with a young cast that is sure to grow into a great series. Being the first in a line of Harry Potter movies it leaves a high bar for the rest of the films to follow.
