The keystone of the Harry Potter franchise is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Technical Review and Closing Comments by Dean Winkelspecht:
Video:
Warner Bros. presents "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" in a fine looking 2.40:1, VC-1 encoded transfer. Being the eldest film of the five film series, "Sorcerer´s Stone" does not look as impressive as the next films, but it is still leagues better than the previous DVD release. Where the film suffers is in both detail and coloring. Colors are muted when compared to the rest of its kin. The hues are slightly washed out and flesh tones are a minor bit pale. When watching any of the other films, "Sorcerer´s Stone" looks muted. The level of detail is also low and there are a number of soft scenes present in the film. Additionally, film grain is quite visible during more than one sequence. Darker sequences suffer the most when it comes to grain, however, I did not see any pixilation, color banding or other flaws that are commonly seen in less-than-stellar transfers. Black levels were strong, with decent shadow detail. The grain and soft nature of the dark scenes didn´t allow for the strongest detail in darker moments, but it was at least average. Source materials were clean and didn´t exhibit any troublesome issues.
Sound:
The HD-DVD release of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" is presented with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack, whereas this Blu-ray release comes fully equipped with an excellent Uncompressed PCM 5.1 mix that should more than please anybody who can playback the full PCM soundtrack. However, "Sorcerer´s Stone" suffers when compared to its four sequels. The mix is quite reserved when compared to even the second film and it cannot come close to what is heard with "Order of the Phoenix." Although "Sorcerer´s Stone" isn´t the most aggressive experience, it uses all six channels and sounds quite good during the most action-filled sequences. Rear surrounds carry information throughout the film and movement is good between the speakers. The .1 LFE channel pounds heavily. I found the Quidditch sequences to be among the more impressive, with a nice 360 soundscape. Legendary composer John Williams handled scoring duties and his theatrical score sounds warm and powerful with the PCM mix. Dialogue is also clean. A lesser capable, but still solid sounding English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and matching Spanish language mix are also provided.
Extras:
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" contains a nice array of supplements that should satisfy any young wizard. Some of the features will be familiar to those who own the original 2-Disc "Special Widescreen Edition" of the film on DVD. The interactive elements and PC DVD-ROM features have all been removed from this Blu-ray release. Of course, the features on the DVD tended to wear thin after visiting them once. However, some of the concept art that was part of "The Library" and other features found on the original DVD would have been nice additions on the DVD set with slightly better navigation. The Jellybean flavor selection wasn´t found on the Blu-ray either and I couldn´t find the tour of Hagrid´s hut. Fortunately, the "Behind the Story" sections on the Blu-ray were culled from elements on the original DVD and the "Capturing the Stone" bit made it intact. The additional deleted scenes more than make of for the missing elements.
Under the "Behind the Story" heading, five featurettes delve into aspects on the making of the first film. Capturing the Stone (16:24) finds the film´s producer, David Heyman and Director Chris Columbus discussing their efforts in transforming Harry Potter from the written word to the big screen. The short Ghosts of Hogwarts (:38) quickly names the ghost characters that appear in the film and doesn´t get too much into any details about any of them. The Yearbook Character Clips is an interactive yearbook that shows short clips of each of the students and teachers of Hogwarts from the film. Sixteen characters are detailed and this is a nice way to help remember the names of all the various characters. Quidditch Story (:44) replays a clip from the story that details the rules of the game. I still think Quidditch is a broken game and only the Golden Snitch really matters. Whoever gets it always seems to win. The final "Behind the Story" clip is called Dragon Egg Lesson (:31) and features narration over clips from the film to educate the viewer about raising a young dragon.
The supplements improve slightly after the "Behind the Story" bits. Under "Fun and Games" exists the Around the World Multilanguage Clip (8:33). This extra finds one scene from the film featuring Rubeus Hagrid talking about his pet dog Fluffy with eight different languages. The first language is English and you can select from seven other languages or let them play together. Dubbing can be fun! The "Trailers" section contains the film´s Teaser Trailer and the Theatrical Trailer. "Additional Footage" is a collection of seven Deleted Scenes (8:59). These excised nuggets of Potter are the nicest extras contained on the Year One Blu-ray disc. They can be played collectively or separately and the Blu-ray disc does a very nice job of providing a short synopsis for each of the seven scenes and I enjoyed the manner in which these scenes were provided. They were fun and worth checking out. The film was long enough without them, so I can understand why they were cut. I liked the owls. Warner Bros. touts their Online site as well.
Closing Comments:
The keystone of the Harry Potter franchise is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone." This first film is not as technically impressive as the four sequels it has spawned thus far and it doesn´t look or sound nearly as good as any of the other films. This is partly due to the age of the first film and a ´dreamier´ style in the visuals when compared to the harder-edged sequels. Supplements are decent are mostly ported from the previous DVD release. They are entertaining and give a nice look into the genesis of this long running and uber powerful franchise. The first film is a very good film that wonderfully sets the basis for the entire franchise. I am always amazed at how young the cast was when this first movie was created and they deserve credit for their performances in this film and for the simple fact they have all stuck together. It is hard to enjoy any of the subsequent films without first sitting down and learning the basics of Harry Potter. You´d certainly be at a loss during the Quidditch match. "Harry Potter" has become one of the most revered franchises in Hollywood history and it all began here.
Video:
Warner Bros. presents "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" in a fine looking 2.40:1, VC-1 encoded transfer. Being the eldest film of the five film series, "Sorcerer´s Stone" does not look as impressive as the next films, but it is still leagues better than the previous DVD release. Where the film suffers is in both detail and coloring. Colors are muted when compared to the rest of its kin. The hues are slightly washed out and flesh tones are a minor bit pale. When watching any of the other films, "Sorcerer´s Stone" looks muted. The level of detail is also low and there are a number of soft scenes present in the film. Additionally, film grain is quite visible during more than one sequence. Darker sequences suffer the most when it comes to grain, however, I did not see any pixilation, color banding or other flaws that are commonly seen in less-than-stellar transfers. Black levels were strong, with decent shadow detail. The grain and soft nature of the dark scenes didn´t allow for the strongest detail in darker moments, but it was at least average. Source materials were clean and didn´t exhibit any troublesome issues.
Sound:
The HD-DVD release of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" is presented with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack, whereas this Blu-ray release comes fully equipped with an excellent Uncompressed PCM 5.1 mix that should more than please anybody who can playback the full PCM soundtrack. However, "Sorcerer´s Stone" suffers when compared to its four sequels. The mix is quite reserved when compared to even the second film and it cannot come close to what is heard with "Order of the Phoenix." Although "Sorcerer´s Stone" isn´t the most aggressive experience, it uses all six channels and sounds quite good during the most action-filled sequences. Rear surrounds carry information throughout the film and movement is good between the speakers. The .1 LFE channel pounds heavily. I found the Quidditch sequences to be among the more impressive, with a nice 360 soundscape. Legendary composer John Williams handled scoring duties and his theatrical score sounds warm and powerful with the PCM mix. Dialogue is also clean. A lesser capable, but still solid sounding English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and matching Spanish language mix are also provided.
Extras:
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" contains a nice array of supplements that should satisfy any young wizard. Some of the features will be familiar to those who own the original 2-Disc "Special Widescreen Edition" of the film on DVD. The interactive elements and PC DVD-ROM features have all been removed from this Blu-ray release. Of course, the features on the DVD tended to wear thin after visiting them once. However, some of the concept art that was part of "The Library" and other features found on the original DVD would have been nice additions on the DVD set with slightly better navigation. The Jellybean flavor selection wasn´t found on the Blu-ray either and I couldn´t find the tour of Hagrid´s hut. Fortunately, the "Behind the Story" sections on the Blu-ray were culled from elements on the original DVD and the "Capturing the Stone" bit made it intact. The additional deleted scenes more than make of for the missing elements.
Under the "Behind the Story" heading, five featurettes delve into aspects on the making of the first film. Capturing the Stone (16:24) finds the film´s producer, David Heyman and Director Chris Columbus discussing their efforts in transforming Harry Potter from the written word to the big screen. The short Ghosts of Hogwarts (:38) quickly names the ghost characters that appear in the film and doesn´t get too much into any details about any of them. The Yearbook Character Clips is an interactive yearbook that shows short clips of each of the students and teachers of Hogwarts from the film. Sixteen characters are detailed and this is a nice way to help remember the names of all the various characters. Quidditch Story (:44) replays a clip from the story that details the rules of the game. I still think Quidditch is a broken game and only the Golden Snitch really matters. Whoever gets it always seems to win. The final "Behind the Story" clip is called Dragon Egg Lesson (:31) and features narration over clips from the film to educate the viewer about raising a young dragon.
The supplements improve slightly after the "Behind the Story" bits. Under "Fun and Games" exists the Around the World Multilanguage Clip (8:33). This extra finds one scene from the film featuring Rubeus Hagrid talking about his pet dog Fluffy with eight different languages. The first language is English and you can select from seven other languages or let them play together. Dubbing can be fun! The "Trailers" section contains the film´s Teaser Trailer and the Theatrical Trailer. "Additional Footage" is a collection of seven Deleted Scenes (8:59). These excised nuggets of Potter are the nicest extras contained on the Year One Blu-ray disc. They can be played collectively or separately and the Blu-ray disc does a very nice job of providing a short synopsis for each of the seven scenes and I enjoyed the manner in which these scenes were provided. They were fun and worth checking out. The film was long enough without them, so I can understand why they were cut. I liked the owls. Warner Bros. touts their Online site as well.
Closing Comments:
The keystone of the Harry Potter franchise is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone." This first film is not as technically impressive as the four sequels it has spawned thus far and it doesn´t look or sound nearly as good as any of the other films. This is partly due to the age of the first film and a ´dreamier´ style in the visuals when compared to the harder-edged sequels. Supplements are decent are mostly ported from the previous DVD release. They are entertaining and give a nice look into the genesis of this long running and uber powerful franchise. The first film is a very good film that wonderfully sets the basis for the entire franchise. I am always amazed at how young the cast was when this first movie was created and they deserve credit for their performances in this film and for the simple fact they have all stuck together. It is hard to enjoy any of the subsequent films without first sitting down and learning the basics of Harry Potter. You´d certainly be at a loss during the Quidditch match. "Harry Potter" has become one of the most revered franchises in Hollywood history and it all began here.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]22518[/release]