Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Posted on 25. Jan, 2008 by Gino Sassani in 1080p, 2.40:1, Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish), Dolby Digital EX (English), Family, PCM 5.1 (English), Reviews, Sci-Fi / Fantasy, VC-1, Warner Bros.

J.K Rowling has created a wonderful world of fanciful creatures and magical wizardry. The most amazing thing about her Harry Potter series is how popular the books have become. Kids are reading again, and in numbers not seen since the 1970’s when it was book series like The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift that captured that generation’s imagination. Those books were likely as popular with us then as Harry Potter is with the kids today. But Rowling’s achievement is a far greater one when you consider the distractions she’s had to compete with for kids’ attentions. Today video games and CGI fantasy films don’t require us to engage our own imaginations all that much. Our dreams have become a bit atrophied with lack of use. The second astonishing aspect of Harry Potter is how appealing it has become for adults. I don’t remember too many parents reading through a Nancy Drew adventure when I was young. Today there are many adults reading the books with as much appetite as the adolescent crowd for which they were written. It is likely this adult interest that has created the demand for the films. Unlike many film franchises, Harry Potter was begun as a 7 film project with little or no concern for their success. The bean counters appeared to have enough confidence that production that began back in 2000 has gone unbroken through to today and the upcoming release of the sixth Harry Potter film. Recent news suggests that we’ll end up with eight films now because it has been decided to split the final book into two films. It looks like that confidence was well founded.

I have yet to read a Harry Potter book, but it is my intent to try to do so before long. However, as that day has not yet come I cannot, nor will I attempt to compare the two media. I’ll leave that for those better qualified to do so. I can, however, speak about the Harry Potter universe from the film point of view. Chris Columbus is largely responsible for the look of this world, and what a powerful image it is. The films take on a dark tone that lends itself more to a Tim Burton enterprise than anything else. From the oddly shaped trees to the misty night vistas there is a lot of Tim Burton’s dreary style to the production, although he was not at all involved in its creation. The creatures are some of the best CG monsters I’ve seen to date, and while the first film might not be quite as slick as the later entries it deserves more than a little praise for the photorealistic images it provides. Hogwarts was obviously intended to be a world unto itself, and the film more than adequately immerses us in that world from the very first overhead sweeps of the Hogwarts grounds to the interior sets which are massive and filled to the brim with detail that is finally rewarded with these hi-def releases.

As the film opens we are at once introduced to Hogwarts’ headmaster, the powerful Dumbledore. This quiet moment in the still of the night sets us on a journey with a powerfully subtle performance by Richard Harris. Harris was a special kind of actor who added depths of emotion to a character without ever speaking. He empowers Dumbledore with the strength and charisma that I can only guess is more than hinted at in the texts. When we finally meet Harry Potter, we are immediately astonished at how much he’s grown since this the first film. It actually was startling to see him looking so young after so recently viewing the most recent film. The change was so slight as to hardly warrant our notice as we followed each film, but the jump from the fifth to the first film is quite dramatic. We’ve all basically watched Daniel Radcliff grow up as if he were a member of our own families. It is noticeable with all the children, but none so dramatic as with Harry. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Ron and Hermione respectively have not as yet grown comfortably into the parts and appear a little stiff here. Again, that was not my original impression, but it is unfortunately compared to more recent refined efforts. Of course, they’ve had years to grow into their parts by now, and it’s grossly unfair to compare them then to now, but there it is. Robbie Coltrane is wonderful as Hagrid and never ceases to impress. Alan Rickman is about as perfectly cast as you can get as the Red Herring Professor Snape. A tradition that would carry forward to the future films is a remarkable job of casting. I can’t imagine anyone else filling any of these roles. Yes, Richard Harris would be replaced later after his passing. Michael Gambon does great service to the part in later films, but Richard Harris was and should have been the first choice. There’s far too much Quidditch for my tastes, but I recognize it’s huge with the fans.

It’s Year One at Hogwarts. Young Harry Potter lost his parents as an infant to the dark powers of an evil wizard whose name, Voldemort, is mostly unsaid in polite circles. The battle left young Harry with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead and living with his normal human (Muggle) aunt and uncle. His guardians treat Harry as if he were diseased and spend all of their attention on their own child, Dudley. When word arrives that Harry has been invited to attend Hogwarts, an elite school for wizards, his guardians attempt to thwart it. You just can’t fight fate, and Harry soon finds himself in an entire underworld of English society governed by the rules of magic. Here he meets two friends in Ron and Hermione who will share many adventures with the boy. Potter’s name is famous, and he finds that while revered by many it is despised by others, and he learns early that forces both good and evil are at work at Hogwarts. Harry’s first trial involves an object protected at Hogwarts by Dumbledore and Fluffy, a three-headed dog as large as a house. This Sorcerer’s Stone has great power that must not fall into the hands of evil. He risks his life to protect or destroy the stone, earning the respect of Dumbledore in the process.

Video

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The VC-1 encoded image is quite sharp and full of detail. Without getting too much into the heated format war, this presentation does indeed suffer from having to satisfy both a Blu-ray and HD-DVD format. The HD-DVD format has less capacity and is therefore limited to an image no more than about 35 mbps while the Blu-ray version could support up to 50 mbps. As these hi-def masters are expensive, most films released on both formats default to the lesser HD-DVD transfer abilities. Still, this is a nice transfer. The dark tone of the film requires an extremely solid black level which is delivered here. Colors are intentionally soft, but what they lack in brilliance they more than make up for in richness. Dark reds in particular jump out at you with their realistic tone and definition. Details are magnificent, allowing the viewer to see the subtle set dressings and designs in a format truly worthy of the craftsmanship that created them. The CG f/x blend into the action flawlessly with no edge distortion or noticeable difference in lighting. When you see Hogwarts for the first time on a misty night, you’ll simply be blown away by the cloud definition and the texture of the mist that floats eerily over the dark green grass. That isn’t to say the film can’t be bright and shiny when it wants to be. The Quidditch match, while a bore for me, is nonetheless visually exciting, showing just how bright and fresh colors can be in this transfer. It’s about the only thing filmed in the light of day and looks so natural it almost doesn’t fit with the film’s overall atmosphere. Perhaps that, more than the game itself, is why these scenes just don’t sit well with me.

Audio

The PCM lossless 5.1 track is nothing short of brilliant. The uncharacteristic John Williams score alone is worthy of more than a little praise. Did you notice that he stole the main theme from Universal’s Dracula? The music goes a long way to give us an enormous sense of size at Hogwarts. Williams does his usual best to distinguish the mundane world from that of Hogwarts. Ambient sounds abound and are integrated nearly perfectly into a solid mix that allows you to truly experience the film rather than be a uninterested witness to it all. Dialogue is able to walk the tightrope from quite soft as is Dumbledore’s nature to the thrilling taunts of Voldemort himself. As much as I hate to admit it, the Quidditch match provides some of the best non-score related audio moments. The brooms fly about us with well placed pan f/x. I do believe there were moments that would have benefited from a bit more of an aggressive mix, but I saw this film as a sort of build up to more things to come, and so therefore easily forgiven if something’s held back a touch in the overall mix.

Special Features

I’m a bit disappointed in the level of features that come with this hi-def release:

Additional Scenes: You get 9 minutes of scenes you’ve already encountered if you bought the special edition discs. Mostly you see more of Harry being mistreated, but there is a key scene where Harry discovers an important clue on the back of his Dumbledore card from the chocolate covered frog package. There’s also an extended version of Harry’s first encounter with Professor Snape in class.

Capturing The Story: This 16 minute talk with the various crew members on the film centers on their philosophy concerning the book. They wanted a good balance of staying true to the original story but yet creating a unique cinematic identity for the franchise.

Ghosts Of Hogwarts: This silly, nearly useless feature is a 30 second introduction to the dining hall apparitions.

Yearbook Character Clips: If you go here you’ll see a book layout with pictures of Hogwarts students. By clicking on any one of them you’ll see a film clip of that character. Really pretty useless since you get nothing other than a clip from the film you already watched

Quidditch Lesson: Again, just a 30 second clip from the film when Harry is told the rules to the game.

Dragon Egg Lesson: Using footage with a new voice over you hear the rules to hatching a dragon’s egg like the one that Hagrid has in the film.

Around The World Multinational Clip: You can watch a clip from the film in a variety of languages.

Trailers: You get a couple of the film’s trailers, but not in HD.

Final Thoughts

Harry Potter is a pretty cool world that I, so far, have enjoyed spending time visiting. Watching the first film again for the first time in a few years has given me an interesting vantage point going forward. I will be watching all five films in HD over the next week or so in order. I think it will be a rewarding experience I look forward to telling you all about. “I think we can expect great things from you, Mr. Potter.”