Harry Potter and The Philosopher`s Stone (Widescreen) (UK)

well the hype is over, the dvd is here, how is it? a very mixed bag. while the film is one of the best family films to come out in a long time, i enjoyed every minute, and it DOES feel too short, the video is a lovely, clean, crisp anamorphic 2.35.1 transfer, the 5.1 audio packs a decent punch, the extras are, in a word, s***. by pandering to children, all the dvd offers are 7 incredibly redundantr deleted scenes whcih take A LOT of finding, and a 20 minute featurette which while interesting, is slightly too kiss-assey. the rest of the features are games for kids, fair enough for them good for them. but for the older harrypotter fan, and im only 17, WHERE THE HELL IS THE COMMENTARY, THE DECENT MAKING OF DOC, AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! still though i bought it for the film,. so im happy.

mod: i`ve now had the opportunity to watch this on a widescreen tv and i have 2 take down the video mark as itdoes actually look grainy, especially in the outdoor scenes like daigon alley. apperently this was shot in super 35 (why?) which would explain this but it does look washed out in places

An enjoyable film, but not the best DVD. Although my equipment isn`t the best in the world, the blacks in Phantom Menace were as black as the bars at the side of the screen, the blacks in this seemed more washed out.

The extras kept me amused for an hour or so, but why didn`t they put the deleted scences into the main feature? They were all complete would have actually added a little into the film. I doubt I will viewing the second disc again, ever.

Oh, boy. Harry Potter is here. The hype was huge (people were actually lining up near the stores that sold the DVD), but does it live up to the expectations?
Well, first of all I have to emphasize that I did not review the 2nd disk (the one with all the extras) since it was missing from my box (relax, I didn`t buy the movie, I only rented it). Therefore I cannot rate the extras. But, in order not to lower the average, I`ll give the extras the average rate they got so far. I think it`s only fair.
So, did I like the movie? Well, not really. I mean, it`s charming and everything, but:
1. It`s way too long.
2. It`s way too childish.
3. It`s way way way too violent for a movie targeted for children and young teenagers. Come on! The ball match scene is extremely violent, not to mention the two Chess matches. Sure, the good guy(s) win(s) eventually, but the process itself is simply too violent. Had I had any kids, I wouldn`t have let them see this movie. Not until they`re into the older part of their youths.
I didn`t feel any empathy towards Harry`s character, either due to the acting or perhaps due to his eyebrows (which make him look like a clown, rather than like a magician).
The video transfer is good. There are no compression signs at all and the visuals are pleasing. The CG isn`t as breathtaking as I was expecting, but still, it`s cute for a kids` movie.
The DD 5.1 soundtrack is good. The surrounds are used very effectively (especially during the more violent scenes). The version I had also had DD 5.1 soundtracks in Hebrew and Greek, which is a nice feature if the youngsters don`t yet speak English.
The menus are animated with sound.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn`t get a chance to review the 2nd disk, thus I did not review the extras. I rated the extras 5 - the average for them so far.
Bottom line - quite childish, yet too violent for kids. I won`t be looking forward to the sequels. Rent it for your teenage kids.

For a disk that was pretty well guaranteed to sell in the millions, it is a fairly disappointing product. I guess their target market was not the type of discerning adults that read DVD Reviewer!

The film? When I saw it in the cinema, I thought it was great and gave it 9/10 on IMDb: I was just pleased that for once the people making the `film of the book` hadn`t messed around too much with the plot.

On repeated viewing, I am not so sure that the film rates so high. It`s a bit like driving on a motorway - the plot takes you there at a steady pace and in a fairly safe manner (with a couple of points where it slows down due to congestion) - but where is the joy in that? Where is that little extra spark?

As an adult, I find the real joy of the books is the satirical description of the `Muggles` world and the Dursleys in particular, and the creation of a whole parallel magical world, with its own Ministry of Magic, school rules and so on. Sadly most of this is missing in the film (maybe we will see a bit more in the sequels when we visit the Weasleys` home, but I am not too hopeful). The Dursley family are excellent in the film, and the shot of all the identikit estate cars parked in Privet Drive was inspired, but there was just not enough of this building up period, and so the line `You`re a Wizard, Harry` lost most of its impact.

I have to say that on a repeat viewing many of the child actors grate. Hermione is a star, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle are spot on, Harry is OK (probably quite a good portrayal of Harry, who is an OK sort of bloke, but the actor is bad at portraying nervousness or excitement), but Ron is too flat and mournful, Neville is extremely wooden, and Percy is frankly appalling! Of course, it could be the direction rather than the actors themselves, and obviously it is a bit demanding to expect a whole cast of child actors to be perfect throughout a long feature film, but I can think of better examples, Lord of the Flies being one of them. Most of the cast of Grange Hill could do better than this, I think.

On to the DVD. The transfer is extremely sharp and the (widescreen) disk is of course anamorphic, but I`m sorry to say there is something wrong with the gamma/contrast settings used in the mastering/encoding process. Basically bright areas are too bright, and dark areas are too dark (it`s not my equipment). As there are many dark scenes and dark backgrounds in the film, and the wizards` robes are black, this is all very unfortunate - especially since the black level is set wrongly (i.e. black is not true black) as another reviewer has already mentioned. Colours are mainly OK, although the greens of the Quidditch pitch are too lurid (unimpressive CGI work for a film made in 2001). I noticed no particular artifacts but overall a poor job for a big budget film. I have given the video 6/10 which is perhaps too much.

The audio is clear and well balanced, but not jaw-dropping. It would have been better if there had been a DTS soundtrack, of course.

I hate the features on disk 2, which are exceptionally irritating (for adults) - I particularly hated having to get the wand in Ollivanders, where there is no clue as to which one to pick and you get a cheesy explosion effect over and over again each time you get it wrong. Personally I don`t like extras anyway, apart from a theatrical trailer and a director`s commentary, as I never look at the rest of the *** that you get on DVDs, but each to his own I suppose. The menu design was quite good, with some nice `family photos` of the Dursleys, but a bit slow to navigate. Would have been 5/10 but lose 3 marks for being irritating.

Magical!!
Loved this movie Brilliantly constructed, its great fun for kids and adults alike. Sort of reminds me of my adventure days when I was at school. Harry Potter finds out that he is a wizard and goes to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry for the first time. There he meets some friends.
Harry, Ron and Hermione form the new, young scooby gang investigating strange going ons at their school.
This movie brings you into their world, a world full of magic, fun and excitement.
2hrs 30mins of pure enjoyment.
The picture and sound are fantastic.
The dvd has alot of extra features but they are mostly sort of targeted at kids.
9/10

MOVIE
A good movie on first viewing in the cinema, mainly because of the novelty of saying, it`s Harry Potter, and it`s exactly how you expected it to be! And that is where the problems lie. No risks are taken. It`s not dark enough, it`s only mildly amusing, and it justs sticks to the book to much, yet cuts out Peeves the Poltergeist. Why? Ron and Hermione actually just annoy on screen, with Harry actually reasonable. The great ensemble adult cast are on the whole great but all have too little to do each to be of mention. The Quidditch scene is a standout, but the poor effects let down a film that unfortunately has to rely on them. If you know the story, it is only the visuals that you are left to wonder at, and even the composting is poor.

VIDEO
Well it`s a new film, so what is their to be expected. It`s in nice 2.35.1, and I can`t recall the layer hop that much.

AUDIO
Only DD, and no DTS, which is odd as it probably would have fitted on the disc with ease, particularly as there is no commentary at all. But it sounds pretty good all the same.

EXTRAS
Well, the good news is there are some but there are plenty of awful kids games, and a lot of ROM content, something which doesn`t work on my Interactual Player, although I can get round it the long way. The problem is the only extras of note are some talking heads interviews, which are OK, and then some deleted scenes, which take an age to get to by playing some pretty boring set top games. And then the scenes aren`t really great. The rest of the disc space is filled up with lots of huge animated menus, with a voiceover, and then clips from the film that you have just seen, so they`re pointless. The only good part is the 3D tour, which is fun actually.