 Just here at Harry Potter World, soaking in the magic. I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise. I took my family to Universal Studios. This isn't an ad. I'm just a big fan. So next few days I'll be here taking footage, talking about the movies. It's gonna be awesome. My family and I recently had the pleasure of going to Universal Studios, checking out the wizarding world of Harry Potter. I thought, hey, you know what? What better time than now to relive the classic films? We got to see them up close in the form of rides and spectacles and large grandiose structures. Now I wanna talk about the movies that brought these to life based on the books, Imagined and Written by J.K. Rowling. I wanted to fully enjoy the experience without thinking about work or this hobby, but I did bring the camera with. I did get some footage. I did linger around the shops. I did bop out the camera once in a while and take some footage. So throughout this review, not only will you see some movie footage, not much, because Warner Brothers likes to copyright flag these. Clearly this is gonna be a substitute for watching the movie. Come on, Warner Brothers. But also there will be magical moments of my video camera footage. That's shoddy at best of the parks. So enjoy and let's begin the review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Philosopher's Stone if you must. 😜 Reviews. It is almost asinine to believe that the first Harry Potter film came out in 2001. Are you out of your mind with this? Hold am I. How old am I? Before we step out onto the Quidditch Pish though, make sure to get your wand ready and go ahead and cast a spell on that subscribe button because I'm gonna be talking to Harry Potter all week on the channel. Have to have you stick around. Book by J.K. Rowland. Screen adaptation by Steve Knowles and directed by Chris Columbus. The original Harry Potter picture is amazing. No, it's not aged perfectly. There's gonna be cracks showing here and there, especially when it comes to the CG department, some of that computer-generated imagery is not holding up the best, but damn it if it isn't fun all the same. Damn it if it doesn't retain the spirit, the magic, the whimsy of the book. Ooh, it's a fun time. And the fact that it's so expertly crafted from top to bottom, a script that flies by, visuals that are unlike anything you've ever seen on the big screen, some of the most iconic music your ears will ever have the pleasure of hearing. Scored, expertly by John Williams. Did I mention the almost perfect cast? Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint as Little Ron Weasley. This is a dynamic trio, a trio that we will see grow up in front of us as these films progress, not only from a physical and emotional standpoint, but also acting-wise, especially Little Hermione Granger. She really comes into her own around the third film. The first Harry Potter is not my favorite, but it is the one I've seen the most, because every year, at least once a year, my family says we're doing a Harry Potter marathon. We start with number one. Usually it peters out around the fifth or sixth, been there, done that, or other things come up in our life. But man, that first one is such a trip, it's such a treat. They nailed so much of it right out of the gates that it's hard to find fault. Now to circle back to the cast, I did say it's almost perfect. One standout for me is Dumbledore. Neither version, I think, really knocks it out of the park. In fact, neither version really gets it even close. I just don't understand the thought process in hiring Richard Harris. He already has one foot in the grave and the poor bastard barely made it through the second movie. That's another depressing thing about the Harry Potter movies. Half the cast is dead at this point. When I watch these people, it's like dead, gone, mourning you. It's kind of sad now. It's honestly kind of depressing. And the Dumbledore in the book is spry. He's silly, he's out there. Richard Harris's version is gentle, soft, spoken. And it's just not what I pictured Dumbledore becoming. There are so many highlights in this first film, it's hard to know where to start. The sets are in a league of their own. Lord of the Rings levels of set design here. That castle Hogwarts is beautiful. The robots leading into it is haunting, it's exciting. It brings you into that world. You want to talk about perfectly executing something? Let's look at Quidditch, the made up hardcore game from the book. Brought to the big screen, there are no words for how well they did this. She will be mine. Oh yes. She will be mine. Draco Malfoy, hilarious in this film. Just such a douche. And the way he says Potter, hello, Potter. Every time he hits that P, hard as hell. Potter, go to the ballet, Potter. Oh, I love it. I eat it up every time. Very well executed by Tom Felton, who would later go on to be in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and then Nothing Ever Again. I'm sure he's doing Broadway or indie films or something. I just don't, I haven't seen him in a long time. It's kind of sad. I'm Petunian, Uncle Vernon, also perfectly casted here. I believe Uncle Vernon is dead in real life. So Dumbledore dead, Uncle Vernon dead. Hagrid's great too, also dead. On that depressing note, let's switch gears and talk about my favorite professor, Snape, played by Alan Rickman. He's dead too. Just leaving King's Cross station, heading into Diagon Alley. Hey, what's your favorite Harry Potter again? Number fourth. Number fourth. School system is atrocious in America. There are certain lines in movies that I blow way out of proportion. One of them's in Harry Potter. When Hagrid says, you're a wizard, Harry, for some reason every time I hear it in my head, it's you're a wizard, Harry! It's not even close to that. But the way he says it, it like rises up inside of me. It elicits a feeling of excitement that I guess I take to an extreme when I repeat it back. This is a huge franchise. Nailing these characters from day one was a massive W for this thing. Yes, Dumbledore, disappointing that we had to replace him, but everyone else, every single other character is like lifted from the books. The Weasley family. Beautiful, beautiful. The twins, up to no good. Mother the father, little Ginny Weasley, who yeah, she would be a little neutered, well I guess spaded, that would be more appropriate. She'd be more spaded in the later films. Doesn't quite have that rough and tumble attitude or she just doesn't get the chance to prove it. And yes, we don't see Peeves at all from the books and that's fine. Peeves kind of annoyed the crap out of me. So he won't be missed. And Maggie Smith, I mean, come on! Professor McGonagall? Professor McGonagall, no way you could have casted that role any better than Maggie Smith. And old Voldy does make an appearance at the end of this one, but he is not played by Ray Fiennes. Think I said that name right? We're gonna move on. It's actually Richard Bremmer as the face of he who shall not be named. I can forgive this. I can let this slide since he is just a face transposed on the back of Professor Quirrell's head. He will float away in spirit. He'll come back later in a diary. He'll be MIA in Oskobon. And finally he will form into his true version, his snake-like self in the goblet of fire. But for now, I just want to appreciate the hell out of Sorcerer's Stone. I know people say it's kid-ish, it's childish. Yeah, yeah it is. So what? They're gonna be childish movies. They're gonna be movies for entire families to enjoy. I understand you're a grown adult, so am I. And you don't want to watch this kiddie crap? Well, that's a shame on you. Because you can enjoy it. You can look at it and say, you know what? This might not be geared toward the John Wick community or even the Avengers community, but it is geared towards that fantasy world, that larger-than-life scale that I look for in movies that take me away from my miserable, miserable existence here, and the crippling depression will kick in. That's when you turn on Harry Potter. And forget about all of it. One more negative I will throw at this film. The movie runs really good from beginning to about that final act. But once we get to the dog scene, the three-headed dog, Fluffy, that's when things really do start to get a little too Nickelodeon, a little too Disney afternoon. It's a bit silly. And in the final confrontation with Voldemort and the Mirror and the Fountain of Youth, Sorcerer's Stone in the Pocket, that stuff all feels a little convoluted, a little jumbled. It's not explained the best like it is in the book. Now, this will be a problem as the movies continue on. I can overlook it as a fan of the book series, but I can understand the criticisms from people that are just watching the films, thinking, what happened here? How does this make any sense? It's magic. At the end of the day, it's magic. And so is this movie. That's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone or Sorcerer's Stone, depending on who you are, where you live and what you feel like saying. I want to hear from you. I love it. You like it. You hate it. Put it in the comments below. Like the video if you had a good time. And please think about subscribing here because we're gonna be talking about Harry Potter all week on the channel, baby. Gotta have you stick around for it. It's gonna be a good time. See you soon.