Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Full-Screen Edition) (2001)

As a Christian adult,(who is old enough to have a child older than Harry Potter's age!) I thought the movie was enchanting and well worth the full price of the ticket and would see it again. For someone who averages going to the theatres once or twice a year, a movie has to be exceptional to make me desire viewing the movie again at the theatres. I laughed out loud and had a delightful time watching the movie. This movie was escapism pure and simple. For the length of the movie, I was there with Harry Potter while he put up with his nasty relatives, got excited about the introduction of new friends and a new and magical world and my heart skipped a beat too when Harry met "Fluffy". And all the while, my real world problems were blissfully forgotten. This fun but harmless movie brought out the kid in me and would surely do so for any other adult whose mind is wider than the width of a number 2 pencil.

What it did not affect was my serious beliefs in what I hold to be true and right. A belief that can be changed by a child's obviously fictional movie wasn't that strong in the faith department to begin with and to blame this light movie for causing any harm to anything is laughable at best. Shame on those in the holier-than-thou camps who tried to discredit this movie by sending those nasty chain letters by e-mail. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. In this case, there wasn't even a molehill. In the past, I usually found a little fire where there was smoke but in this case, the smoke and the all the whining was completely unfounded. I am shocked and surprised that serious adults can make such an issue out of this when there are real issues that we Christians need to deal with. This cannot be one of them lest we Christians lose our credibility or at best, everything else we make an issue of be put in the same "they-are-blowing-smoke-about-nothing-again" light.

Okay, some viewers will nitpick over discrepencies in characters' appearances, but all the IMPORTANT stuff is here. The relationships between the characters are spot-on. The film also successfully convinces us that the magical goings-on are part of the protagonists' everyday lives, whilst at the same time instilling a sense of wonder in the audience. This difficult balance is one of the main reasons the books are so successful.

Some of the child actors are a little wooden at times, but generally the all-British cast is excellent. The rich characters of Rowling's books have translated perfectly. Robbie Coltrane IS Hagrid. Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) have immense fun delivering most of the film's best lines. Dan Radcliffe does well in the difficult task of communicating Harry's thoughts, when the audience is unable to see them written down. Deserved mention, too, for Maggie Smith's McGonagall, Alan Rickman's Snape and Tom Felton's nasty-yet-vulnerable Draco Malfoy.

The quality of the production is excellent. The sets and costumes are fabulous, and the attention to detail is breathtaking. The effects are superb, obvious highlights being Harry's invisibility cloak, and the Quidditch match (an adrenaline-pumping spectacle right up there with anything Star Wars has to offer).

In between the showpieces, director Chris Columbus remembers to let his audience take a breather with quieter moments. Harry staring out of his bedroom window, and he and Ron opening their presents on Christmas morning, are endearingly down-to-earth. And the scenes of Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised brought a tear to my eye (If you've read the book, you'll know why).

That's not to say the movie is without its faults. In an attempt to please purists, ALL the subplots have been included (though pared down a great deal), when omitting a few entirely may have helped the pacing of the film. The opening half-hour may be difficult to grasp for those who are unfamiliar with the book. A few of the magical artefacts seem rather more mechanical than mystical.

But these are all small niggles, really. The bottom line is that 152 minutes fly by as if it were half an hour. The only wish you have is that it were longer, and there can be no better sign of a good film than that.

There are some parts in the books that were cut out (I only noticed because I read the book a couple of days before the screening). It did not totally cover everything it could have in terms of the relationships between all of the main characters.

Still, I feel the magic and other-worldliness of this movie goes over what I ever expected. I loved the acting in this movie as well as the relationship and chemistry between the Magical Three (Harry, Ron and Hermione).

Quiddich was as exhilerating and amazing as the picture in my imagination. The special effects were wonderful and it was so perfect to hear the gasps of surprise and awe as we all got our first look at Hogwarts.

If you have tickets to see Harry Potter this weekend, you are all in for a real treat. Share this movie with the book lovers in your life...then go back and relive the magic by reading the books again!

Oh yes... I do not reccommend this movie to children under 7 years old. There was a set of 6-7 year olds sitting in my vicinity and they were very unhappy with the dark and scary parts of the movie. I am 26 and I was a little spooked by the realistic look of some of the darker characters in the book!