Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

Starring: Maggie Smith, Richard Harris Director: Chris Columbus Original UK Premiere: 2001 Dvd Release: 11th May, 2002 Number Of Discs: 2 Format: Box set, PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Arabic, English

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Harry Potter & the Philosophers Stone was a critically acclaimed & highly successful film released in 2001, based on the fantasy novel of the same name by best-selling author J,K. Rowling. An agent of Warner Brothers bought the movie rights to the film at a relatively low price soon before the books incredible success. The movie was made at Leavesden Film Studios & released in 2001. The second, third & fourth books have also been made into films. The rest of the series will follow. It is planned that the rest of them will use the same main cast for continuity purposes, although it is commonly speculated that the child actors & actresses will eventually grow too old for their respective parts. The film made in excess of $950 million at the worldwide box office & received three Oscar nominations. J K Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book & the movie. Exceptions are Irish character Seamus Finnigan, Professor Dumbledore & Madam Hooch. She also approved the screenplay, written by Steve Kloves. Posters Of Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone

DVD Extras: Harry Potter & 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 & 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 & beautifully designed selection of special features. Entering the Great Hall a mysterious voice invites you to explore & find the secret hidden within.

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 & 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 , which will appear in letterboxed format on a normal TV screen.

Full Screen crops the theatrical picture to 4:3 ratio , which is the shape of a standard TV screen. There is no letterboxing, but up to a third of the original picture is lost.

To try & please all the fans of JK Rowlings novel was a challenge that the makers of Harry Potter & the Philosophers Stone met head on. The result of their efforts is one of the most lavish, beautiful & magical cinematic treats to hit our screens in years. Director Chris Columbus & screenwriter Steven Kloves prove that although you cant translate everybodys reading of this much-loved book onto the cinema screen, maybe Fluffy was a bit more Fluffy in your imagination or Hagrid a little more giant-like, it is nevertheless possible to transfer Harrys adventures with fidelity as well as superb energy & excitement.

If there is a downside its 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 & watchable, showing great potential to grow into the parts as the adventures continue. The main disappointment is the substantial cutting of the ghost scenes & 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, & 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 & the Philosophers Stone is what it should be: an unmissable treat for the whole family.

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith Cross, better known as Maggie Smith, is a British film, stage & television actress. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1990. She started her career at the Oxford Playhouse Theatre with Frank Shelley & first appeared on the movie screen in 1956. In 1969 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She has been married twice, first to Robert Stephens & then to Beverley Cross. She has two sons by Stephens, actors Toby Stephens & Chris Larkin. She played the title character in the stage production of Alan Bennett s Lady in the Van & starred as Peter Pan in Sir JMBaries fairytale story Peter Pan She won a Tony Award in 1990 for Actress in a Play for Lettice & Lovage Posters Of Maggie Smith

Editors Choice: Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone, Ladies In Lavender, My House In Umbria, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, Sister Act, A Room With A View, Lily In Love, View DVDology

Richard Harris was an Irish actor. Some of his most notable movie appearances were in Camelot, A Man Called Horse and, at the end of his career, the first two Harry Potter movies. He was a notorious playboy & drinker, part of a rowdy generation of talented British & Irish actors that included Albert Finney, Richard Burton & Peter OToole. He was born in Limerick, Ireland & was schooled by the Jesuits at Crescent College. As a teenager he was a rugby player for Munster, but he had to give up his involvement in sports when he contracted tuberculosis. After recovering from the disease he moved to London, wanting to become a director. He could not find any suitable courses & enrolled in the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art to learn acting. In the 1950s he had a number of stage roles. He made his film debut in 1958 in the film Alive & Kicking. For his role in Mutiny on the Bounty, despite being virtually unknown, he insisted on third billing, behind Trevor Howard & Marlon Brando. Posters Of Richard Harris

Editors Choice: Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone, My Kingdom, To Walk With Lions, Barber Of Siberia, Trojan Eddie, The Cassandra Crossing, Gullivers Travels, The Return Of A Man Called Horse, View DVDology

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