Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - bloody brilliant!

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2001)

I confess - I was getting heartily sick of all this Harry Potter hype until I read the book to see what all the fuss was about and found myself really looking forward to it.
Having seen it the other day, all I can say is that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is (to quote Ron) 'Bloody brilliant! Not only a very faithful adaptation, but a very fine film. It's a huge return to form for Chris Columbus - easily his best since Mrs Doubtfire and, with the possible exceptions of some of his early screenwriting work (esp. Gremlins), his best work yet. He's played a blinder, simply by remaining true to JK Rowling's original book.
The film is like a Readers' Digest condensed novel, transferring all of the key scenes to the big screen but losing some of the detail. Whilst that means some of the subtleties of the book are missed, the film's visual strength more than makes up for it. Everything looks exactly as it should, from the Dursleys' quiet suburban home, to Diagon Alley and the mad gothic castle that is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most importantly, all the characters seem to have walked straight from the page. Unlike Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse (who had to be changed to be more like John Thaw), Rowling won't have to change descriptions in future Harry Potter books to match the films.
Not since Ian Fleming's (initially grudging) approval of Sean Connery's James Bond has an author been so vocal in their support of someone else's version of their work and their characters. Conan Doyle never saw a Sherlock Holmes with sound, so it's left for Sherlockians to argue the case for their ideal Holmes be it Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Tom Baker, (my favourite) Robert Stephens, or any one of hundreds. Tolkien fans will no doubt contest some of Peter Jackson's casting decisions for his Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the dear departed JRR himself is not available for comment. With Rowling's blessing, Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter, Robbie Coltrane is Hagrid, and so on and so forth. This input from the author, combined with the apparent intention of everyone involved in the making of the movie to be as true to the book as possible, lends the film an undeniable authenticity.
The novel and the film can each quite easily stand up without the support of the other but reading the book can certainly add to the enjoyment of the film and, perhaps surprisingly, the film can actually enrich the experience of reading the book. Certainly Quidditch makes a lot more sense after watching it on screen (they really ought to consider it for the next Olympic Games).
An excellent family film and (at last) a blockbuster worthy of the title. Highly recommended.