Sorcerer's Stone Movie. The first Harry Potter book comes to life. On DVD and VHS in widescreen and fullscreen formats.

The first attempt to translate the world of Harry Potter to the silver screen and, as book conversions go, it's fair to middling. Even with the slimlining necessary to squeeze the action packed plot into only a few hours, it's not sufferred any terminal amputations. The major plot elements remain, along with enough background to provide a reasonable sense of the wonder which makes the Harry Potter books so spellbinding. It isn't a perfect rendition however, with a lot of the book lost to the screenwriter's need to edit so heavily.

The quality of the acting is generally high, though Dumbledore is the only character with any room for subtlety. Most of the characters are fairly limited even in the books, so their onscreen counterparts hadn't much slack to play with. That said, the greater part of the cast fill their roles extremely well, and the characters they play are extremely recognisable. Perhaps the most disappointing and obvious lack is Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal of Harry himself. Much of Harry's character is lost in his quite crude performance.

Graphically, the film is good, with the Quidditch match providing a high point of visual excellence. Some of the effects are a little obvious, but are easily balanced by the many, many little touches which serve to beautifully illustrate Harry Potter's wizarding world.

Save for the occasionally grating quality of Radcliffe's performance, the film is well worth watching for any fan of the series. Just bear in mind that no film, no matter how well written, acted, or directed, can ever compare to the book by which it has been inspired. Certainly not without being several days long.

Cast: