Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 186
Fresh: 148 | Rotten: 38
Being so faithful to the book is both the movie's strength and weakness. The movie unfolds exactly as written in the book, so there is little room for surprises or discoveries. For Potter fans, what more can you ask for?
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 43
Fresh: 32 | Rotten: 11
Being so faithful to the book is both the movie's strength and weakness. The movie unfolds exactly as written in the book, so there is little room for surprises or discoveries. For Potter fans, what more can you ask for?
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 1,048,795
My Rating
Movie Info
The best-selling novel by J.K. Rowling (titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in England, as was this film adaptation) becomes this hotly anticipated fantasy adventure from Chris Columbus, the winner of a high-stakes search for a director to bring the first in a hoped-for franchise of Potter films to the screen by Warner Bros. Upon his 11th birthday, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who lives in misery with an aunt and uncle that don't want him, learns from a giant named Hagrid (Robbie
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Cast
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Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter -
Emma Watson
Hermione Granger -
Rupert Grint
Ron Weasley -
Maggie Smith
Minerva McGonagall -
Robbie Coltrane
Hagrid -
Alan Rickman
Severus Snape -
Richard Harris
Albus Dumbledore -
Ian Hart
Professor Quirrell -
John Hurt
Mr. Ollivander -
Warwick Davis
Goblin Bank Teller, Pro... -
Fiona Shaw
Petunia Dursley -
John Cleese
Nearly Headless Nick -
Julie Walters
Mrs. Weasley -
Sean Biggerstaff
Oliver Wood -
Zoë Wanamaker
Madame Hooch -
Tom Felton
Draco Malfoy -
Harry Melling
Dudley Dursley -
Matthew Lewis
Neville Longbottom -
David Bradley
Argus Filch -
Bonnie Wright
Ginny Weasley -
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All Critics (187) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (154) | Rotten (38) | DVD (46)
A near-perfect commercial and cultural commodity.
Top CriticI hear the J.K. Rowling books are great, and on the basis of this 2001 movie I'm ready to believe it.
What a feast for children! Long, and engrossing. Kids will love it! Wizard!
It offers more delights than disappointments -- and that qualifies as one of the year's great reliefs.
The filmmakers want to show us a magical world that is, at the same time, wholly believable. They want to create matter-of-fact miracles, but what they end up with is mostly just plain matter-of-fact.
[A] complete triumph...
Slow, but it establishes the myth, the cast and the look. And it's holding up surprisingly well.
Although it suffers nominally from being over-stuffed and under-paced, it's grand and involving, with magnificent production design and special effects, and some fabulous thesps present and correct.
First Potter movie is a magical ride but also intense.
A combination of computer graphics, detailed sets, and real-life locations gives the film the authenticity its fans expect. (Blu-ray Ultimate Edition)
a fantastic beginning
Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Zoe Wanamaker and Maggie Smith, to name but a few, all put in an appearance and it is these old hands who are the best aspect of the film.
Suffering from too much fantasy over too little reality, Sorcerer's Stone sets Harry Potter up for a longer and fruitful career as a screen legend.
Because the film is so glossy, so flippant in its presentation of the world that author J.K. Rowling has spent her sizable novels dissecting, that I still don't have a good idea what all the fuss is about.
The quickest, zappiest two and a half hours of entertainment you'll ever see.
Even though a few of the book's scenes have been cut, fans probably couldn't hope for a better adaptation. It bodes well for the rest of the series, when strong stories start taking precedence over set-up.
A spectacular franchise takes flight.
I couldn't find one mis-step, one wrong move, or one disappointment in the transition from print to celluloid.
Columbus' rendition of the first Harry Potter is a slavish adapation of the book, lacking imagination or vision, though not as bad as to be insufferable to watch
The special effects aren't overwhelming and the ideas aren't too far-fetched, but the story will reel in just about anybody.
Unfortunately, many fine performances are nearly wasted by Columbus's predictable direction and an overbearing, relentless soundtrack.
Even though this movie impresses and delights on it's own, it is more exciting to view it as a teaser for the films to come
Even without a whit of singing, it is the 'Wizard of Oz' of our time. (Published 12-22-01)
Audience Reviews for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Super Reviewer
Harry Potter is an 11-year-old boy who comes to find out that he is a wizard. He lives with his uncaring Muggle (non magic) aunt, uncle, and cousin since his parents died when he was a baby. They were murdered by a dark and powerful evil wizard named Lord Voldemort. Harry would be dead too, but was miraculously saved, making him something of a legend.
Upon learning of his guarded magic roots, Harry gets enrolled in Hogwarts- a British school for witches and wizards. While there he learns to come into his own, meet people that are actually good to him, and learn more of his dark past.
Looking back, I don't know if it was a good idea to have Chris Columbus direct this, as he does have a reputation for being something of a hack, albeit a decent one. I think his direction is okay here. Yeah, retrospectively it could have been better, but it could also have been much worse. At least with him at the helm we get a good amount of whimsy to go along with a bit of menace, and that's a good thing, as the book was likewise not too heavy on the darker stuff (though that sure changed as time went on).
Many liberties are taken, which is weird since the book is quite short, and the film is two and a half hours. It does get the point across decently enough though, and also works as a piece for those unfamiliar with the source material.
John Williams provides great music, there's wonderful art direction and set design, and there's some nifty set pieces too. Featuring an all-British cast, this film is impeccably cast, and the performances are good too. Finding decent child actors is hard, but they really scored here.
My enjoyment of this movie has waned over time, but it's still not a terrible piece of work by any means, so check it out.
Super Reviewer
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- Dudley Dursley: I'm not Harry.
- Harry Potter: [appearing from behind a wall] I am.
- Hagrid: Well of course you are.
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- Neville Longbottom: You're sneaking out aren't you? You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again.
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- Hermione Granger: What is it?
- Harry Potter: He's going to sacrifice himself!
- Hermione Granger: No you can't, there must be another way!
- Ron Weasley: Do you want to stop Snape from stealing the stone or not?
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- Severus Snape: Clearly Potter, fame isn't everything is it?
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- Draco Malfoy: You think my name's funny do you? No need to tell me who you are. Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley.
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- Vernon Dursley: What happened?
- Harry Potter: I swear I don't know! I was just staring at the glass and then it was gone, it was like magic!
- Vernon Dursley: There's no such thing as magic. [shutting him in the cupboard under the stairs]
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Foreign Titles
- Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (DE)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (UK)
