Review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) by Ashley M — 14 Dec 2013

"HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE".

- First of the very popular franchise based on the fantasy novels by J.K. Rowling is this 2001 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Nine Months). Get taken away to a wonderful world of sorcery, where an unlikely hero gets confronted with a great evil. Filled with magical characters, amazing effects and above all a very powerful storyline, this movie hits the spot. Perfect for all ages. Starring Daniel Radcliffe (The Woman in Black), Emma Watson (Noah), Rupert Grint (Into the White), Tom Felton (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Robby Coltrane (From Hell), Maggie Smith (Death on the Nile), Richard Harris (Gladiator), Warwick Davis (Willow) and Alan Rickman (Die Hard), and guest stars John Hurt (Alien), Julie Walters (Calander Girls) and John Cleese (Monty Python saga).

Harry Potter (Radcliffe) lives in the closet underneath the stairs in the house of his relatives, the Dursley family. On his 11th birthday, Harry learns from a half-giant called Rubeus Hagrid (Coltrane) that his parents were famous wizards who were killed by Voldemort, an evil sorcerer. He was a baby when it happened and miraculously survived. Hagrid invites the boy to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Together they travel to London, where they buy the necessary school supplies in a secret wizarding street, called Diagon Alley.

On the Hogwarts Express, Harry meets Ron Weasley (Grint) who comes from a large but poor wizard family, the intelligent Hermione Granger (Watson), whose parents are non-magical and the intolerable pure-blood Draco Malfoy (Felton). Arriving at school, all first year students are welcomed by professor Minerva McGonagall (Smith) and led to the great hall, where they get sorted by a hat into one of the four houses. Harry joins Ron and Hermione in the house of Gryffindor. After the warning of the school's headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Harris) to stay away from the Forbidden Corridor on the Third Floor, Harry notices one of the teachers, Severus Snape (Rickman), staring at him.

Later that year, Harry, Ron and Hermione stumble upon the Forbidden Floor where they have an encounter with a three-headed dog, that seems to be guarding a hatch...