Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Chris Columbus |
| Produced by | David Heyman |
| Written by | J.K. Rowling (novel) Steve Kloves (screenplay) |
| Starring | Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Emma Watson John Cleese Robbie Coltrane Warwick Davis Richard Griffiths Richard Harris Ian Hart John Hurt Alan Rickman Maggie Smith Julie Walters |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | John Seale |
| Editing by | Richard Francis-Bruce |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | November 16, 2001 |
| Running time | 152 min. |
| Country |  United Kingdom(US-backed) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125 Million USD |
| Gross revenue | Domestic: $317,575,550 Worldwide: $976,475,550 |
| Followed by | Chamber of Secrets |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) is a 2001 fantasy film, based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling.
An agent of Warner Bros. bought the movie rights to the book at a relatively low price soon before its incredible success. The movie was made at Leavesden Film Studios and released in 2001. The second, third and fourth books have also been made into films. The rest of the series will follow. The film made in excess of $976 million USD at the worldwide box office (fourth all-time behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) and received three Oscar nominations.
Rowling insisted that the entire cast must be British, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book and the movie. Exceptions are Harry's aunt Petunia Dursley, played by Fiona Shaw who is Irish; Irish character Seamus Finnigan (Devon Murray), Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris was also Irish), Susan Bones (American Eleanor Columbus, director Chris Columbus's daughter who won the cameo role, but had no dialogue), Griphook the Goblin (American Verne Troyer, whose voice was dubbed), The Bloody Baron (Terence Bayler of New Zealand) and Madam Hooch (American-born, but British-raised Zoe Wanamaker). Rowling also approved the screenplay, written by Steve Kloves.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
- Further information: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter, a seemingly ordinary eleven-year-old boy, is actually a wizard and survivor of an attempted murder by the evil Lord Voldemort when he was just a one year old. Surprisingly, Voldemort was successful in killing Harry's parents but not the baby. Harry lives his life in an ordinary household with his aunt, uncle and cousin, under the impression that his parents died in a car accident and that he is just any other boy. On his eleventh birthday he finds out from the keeper of keys, Hagrid that he is actually famous in the wizardry world for surviving the attack, and is requested to attend a wizarding school named Hogwarts.
Harry goes to the school, learns magic across the year, and makes friends and enemies. But a plot is brewing to grant immortality to Voldemort, since thrown into a near-death state by his surprising inability to kill Harry. Harry and his two friends end up in a forbidden corridor, and find a three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor. They must pass this trapdoor, and do other tests, to stop Voldemort.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Soundtrack
[edit] Production
It was originally planned to be filmed at Lancing College in West Sussex, but the headmaster at the time, Peter Tinniswood, declined the highly-paid offer, claiming "the college is for education, not Hollywood".[citation needed]
[edit] Deleted film scenes controversy
The release of the film was accompanied by advertisements that made prominent mention of deleted scenes. While the VHS and VCD version contained one scene after the film, the DVDs included the scenes as an Easter egg; many fans, not knowing this, felt that they were cheated upon buying the discs, and HarryPotter.com ran an article on finding the scenes. As if in apology, the Chamber of Secrets DVD made its deleted scenes immediately available. To access the scenes on the Philosopher's Stone DVD, not only did the viewer have to answer a number of questions based on the film, but that a number of questions had answers that were only available in the deleted scenes themselves or in the book.
On U.S. television, ABC, along with its sister cable network ABC Family, played a version with all the deleted scenes included on the DVD, interspersed into the movie. ABC played the version for the network television premiere in 2004, whereas ABC Family aired the version more recently.
This 'extended' version has also been broadcast on Australian free-to-air television several times. The following is a list of scenes that were not in the final cut of the movie but were included on the DVD as deleted scenes.
- Dudley is trying on his Smeltings uniform when Harry walks in and asks if he will be wearing the same thing. Petunia and Vernon scoff at the thought of Harry attending Smeltings and Petunia shows him Dudley's old uniform being dyed and tells him it will be his uniform at the local state school.
- Petunia cracks open eggs for breakfast but instead of yolks finds crumpled up letters from Hogwarts and shrieks at the sight of owls outside her window.
- Hagrid and Harry are on the London Underground. Harry is studying his school item requirements reading it aloud. When he comes across dragon hide gloves, he asks Hagrid if they mean from a real dragon. Hagrid confirms this and explains how he would love a dragon of his own.
- Harry, Ron and Hermione are walking down a corridor. Harry is thanking Hermione for getting them out of trouble (presumingly after the troll attack). Ron contradicts that they did save her life. At one point, Ron says "What are friends for?" Hermione looks pretty pleased when Ron says this.
- In the Great Hall, all the other Hogwarts students that stayed for Christmas are eating at the top of the tables. Harry is further down the hall looking into the fire. Ron leaves the feast and goes down to Harry, offering to play chess or visit Hagrid. When Harry refuses these offers, Ron warns him not to return to the Mirror of Erised.
- Harry, Ron and Hermione are in the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione studying for their final exams. Ron is going through his Chocolate Frog cards. Hermione warns Ron about studying for his exams when Neville limps in with his legs in a leg locker curse. Ron tells Neville that he must start standing up for himself. Seamus offers to do the countercurse, but Neville refuses as Seamus has gained a reputation for setting fire to things with all his spells. Seamus is insulted by this and points out he has magically regrown his eyebrows (probably after setting fire to them in Charms). However, as he turns and storms out, we see a big bald patch on the back of his head. Harry, after reading one of Ron's cards, alerts Ron that he has found Nicholas Flamel on Dumbledore's card. Hermione tells the other two to follow her (leaving Neville still leg locked).
- This is the full version of Harry's first Potions lesson as it was in the book. This scene includes Harry's back remark about Hermione knowing the answer to the questions Snape asked him. Snape answers the questions he asked Harry and asks the rest of the class to write it all down. However, in the book Snape takes two points from Gryffindor; in the film he takes five.
[edit] Alterations from the book
These are differences between the book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling.
[edit] Characters
The following characters appear in the book but are not in the film (in order of appearance): Piers Polkiss, Mrs Polkiss, Gordon (Dudley's gang), Malcolm (Dudley's gang), owner of the Railview Hotel, Madam Malkin, Hermes (Percy's owl), Augusta Longbottom, students mentioned in specifics at the Sorting ceremony, including Hannah Abbott, Terry Boot, Millicent Bulstrode, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Padma Patil, Blaise Zabini, Peeves (see note at #Peeves), Pomona Sprout, Professor Binns, Irma Pince, Bane (centaur), and Ronan (centaur).
[edit] Peeves
The character of Peeves was cast and set to be portrayed by Rik Mayall. It is reported that scenes with him were filmed, but they were cut from the final outcome of the movie. They were not included in deleted scenes either. It is rumoured that an extended director's cut version of the film will be released featuring Peeves,[citation needed] but as of yet no footage of Mayall in character is available. However, Peeves is featured in the video game versions of the films.
[edit] Locations
The following locations appear in the book but are not in the film (in order of appearance): Railview Hotel, the London Underground (included in a deleted scene), a hamburger restaurant near Paddington station, the greenhouse classrooms, the Gryffindor Quidditch changeroom, the staffroom and the Astronomy Tower.
[edit] Plot Differences
| Item (alphabetical) |
Book (origin of story) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
2001 film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
|---|---|---|
| Before Hogwarts | The Dursleys leave their house at Number 4, Privet Drive to escape the horde of owls delivering letters to Harry. They travel to a place called the Railview Hotel, but are soon bombarded with the same letters. They move to a desolate hut on a rock, far out to sea, when Rubeus Hagrid breaks down the door on July 31, Harry's birthday, and hand-delivers the letter, an acceptance letter to the Hogwarts school. Hagrid takes Harry shopping for his supplies at Diagon Alley, and returns Harry to the Dursleys for about a month before he is to board the Hogwarts Express on September 1. | The Dursleys leave their house at Number 4, Privet Drive to escape the horde of owls delivering letters to Harry. They travel to a desolate hut on a rock, far out to sea, when Rubeus Hagrid breaks down the door on July 31, Harry's birthday, and hand-delivers the letter, an acceptance letter to the Hogwarts school. Hagrid takes Harry shopping for his supplies at Diagon Alley. It is assumed they spend the time at The Leaky Cauldron before he is to board the Hogwarts Express on September 1. |
| Climax | Quirrell snaps his fingers to bind Harry with tight ropes. Later, whenever Harry touches Professor Quirrell, the latter is burned by the deep magical enchantment set upon Harry unknowingly by his mother. | Quirrell snaps his fingers and the room's perimeter becomes a ring of fire, so as to prevent Harry from escaping by some means. Later, whenever Harry touches Professor Quirrell, the part of Quirrell's body he touches turns to ash and hardens to stone. Before Harry passes out, he sees Quirrell die, which may cause a plot hole in the fifth film if the concept of Thestrals is introduced. However, as Quirrell doesn't "die" so much as "crumble", this might not be so much of a problem. |
| Discovering Fluffy | Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville are tricked by Draco Malfoy to leave their dormitory at night to attend a wizard's duel. Malfoy doesn't show up, and instead alerts Argus Filch to the fact that there are four students out of bed after hours. As they run to evade Filch, they land in the room in which Fluffy is stored. | Harry, Ron and Hermione wind up in the forbidden corridor when the staircase they are walking up moves. They run from Argus Filch, whose cat Mrs Norris senses the three students. They land in the room in which Fluffy is stored. |
| Draco Malfoy | Draco is the first fellow Hogwarts student that Harry ever meets. They meet in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, a store on Diagon Alley. They are both trying on wizard’s robes, and Draco is friendly to Harry. They don't learn each other's names until later on, but after Draco insults Hagrid, a character whom by now Harry has grown rather fond of, Harry starts to choose not to be friends with Draco. Later on, when Draco tries to convince Harry that he'd be a better person to be friends with than Ron, Harry makes his wish to remain friends with Ron and not with Draco clear. | Harry doesn't meet Draco until they get to school, but Draco still looks down upon the Weasley family, and Harry still chooses not to be friends with him. |
| Dumbledore's quirkiness | Dumbledore has the school sing the school song before they head off to settle in their dormitories. When Dumbledore discovers Harry by the Mirror of Erised, he tells Harry that if he were to stand in front of the Mirror, which shows your heart's desire, he would see himself holding a pair of socks. | Neither the song nor the socks reference appears in this film, though Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron sing the song in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire just before the body of Barty Crouch Sr. is found. Also, in one of the deleted scenes in Goblet of Fire, it is sung to entertain Beauxbatons and Durmstrang when they arrive. |
| Firenze and other centaurs | Firenze is a blond, blue-eyed, palomino-coloured centaur. Fellow centaurs are Ronan and Bane. | Firenze is dark-haired and dark-skinned. He is the only centaur to appear in this film. (Fellow centaurs Bane and Magorian appear in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.) |
| Forest | The forest in which Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco serve their detention is called the Forbidden Forest. | The forest in which Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco serve their detention is called the Dark Forest. |
| The Mirror of Erised | When Harry looks into the Mirror, he sees his extended family, including his parents. His parents remain silent when Harry tries to speak with them. | When Harry looks into the Mirror, he sees only his parents. They both nod when Harry says "Mum? Dad?" |
| Neville Longbottom's role | Neville accompanies Hermione on the Hogwarts Express. He is with the main trio when they meet Fluffy for the first time. He serves detention with Harry, Hermione and Draco when they are caught out of bed after hours. Neville also gets in a fight with Malfoy during a Quidditch match. Ron tries teaching Neville to stand up for himself. Neville attempts to prevent the trio from leaving the dormitory to save the Philosopher's Stone. Hermione's full-body binding spell prevents him from stopping them. | Neville appears when he is sorted, when he loses his toad Trevor, and in some classroom scenes. He does not meet Fluffy nor does he serve detention. After he is attacked by Malfoy, his fellow Gryffindors ridicule him instead of helping him. He stands up for himself and Gryffindor (in order to avoid losing more points), and attempts to stop the trio from leaving the dormitory to save the Philosopher's Stone. Hermione's full-body binding spell prevents him from stopping them. |
| Discovery of Nicolas Flamel | Harry and Ron, reading Chocolate Frog cards, learn that Dumbledore and Flamel were once friends. This prompts Hermione to take out a book concerning Flamel, after Harry tries unsuccessfully searching for books on the Philosopher's Stone. | Regardless of the fact that Harry and Ron read Chocolate Frog cards, Hermione takes out a hefty book concerning Flamel which she claims she had taken out for "a bit of light reading" on a holiday, after Harry tries unsuccessfully searching for books on the Philosopher's Stone. A scene showing Harry and Ron finding Flamels mention on Dumbledores card was filmed but didn't make the theatrical cut. It can be found on the Extra Scenes section of the Two Disc DVD. |
| Norbert's Escape | At midnight, Norbert is taken to the tallest tower by Harry and Hermione to give to Charlie Weasley and his friends, who tame dragons in Romania. Under the protection of the Invisibility Cloak, they are not seen on the way there, but they accidentally forget it on the way back to their dormitories and are caught by Argus Filch. | The escape of Norbert is not shown. Instead, when Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco arrive at Hagrid's hut to serve detention, Hagrid tearfully mentions that Dumbledore sent Norbert to live in a dragon colony. |
| Quirrell's Death | As he assaults Harry, attempting to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone, Quirrell is blistered and burned as a result of the magical protection Lily Potter left on Harry when she sacrificed herself. Harry manages to keep the stone away from him and is saved by Dumbledore. Voldemort escapes from Quirrell's head, leaving Quirrell to die. Since Harry renders unconscious as Dumbledore comes to save him, he never witnesses the death. | As he assaults Harry, attempting to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone, Quirrell is burned as a result of the magical protection Lily Potter left on Harry when she sacrificed herself. Each part of Quirrell's body that Harry touches turns to a stone which crumbles apart. Harry manages to keep the stone away from him long enough for all of Quirrell's body to turn to stone, thus killing Quirrell. Voldemort's soul escapes from the body, now that it is inert, and injures Harry as it flees. Harry is rendered unconscious, and Dumbledore comes to save him. However, Harry witnesses the death of Quirrell, suggesting that he should see Thestrals in his following year, as is explained in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but he does not. |
| Sorted Students | There are approximately twenty-four students Sorted by the Sorting Hat, in alphabetical order. Some of these students, such as Mandy Brocklehurst or Lisa Turpin are only mentioned once in the entire series, during their sorting. | Five students are shown to be Sorted: Hermione Granger, Susan Bones, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, in that order. |
| Snape/James Relationship | Albus Dumbledore explains to Harry why Snape shows such dislike towards Harry. Snape and James had attended Hogwarts at the same time, and were great rivals. However, James saved Snape's life after learning of a plot that could potentially gravely harm Snape. From that day forward, Snape had hated James even more, because he realised he would have to repay this debt. | Harry does not find out why Snape was so mean to him all year, or that his father had ever known Snape. It is simply implied that Snape, as Head of Slytherin house, dislikes Gryffindors in general, and that he dislikes Harry in particular due to his "celebrity." |
| Tasks Leading to Climax | Each major faculty member – Professors Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape, as well as Dumbledore and Hagrid – has offered a protection to the Philosopher's Stone in regard to their subject. Hagrid's protection is Fluffy. Sprout's challenge is Devil's Snare. Flitwick enlarged hundreds of keys and charmed them so that they would fly around the room; only one fit the door to the next room and to capture it one would have to fly on a broom. McGonagall made a life-size Wizard's Chess game. Quirrell offers a troll to guard the next room. Snape made a logic puzzle/riddle that encorporates seven potions, three of which are poison, two of which are nettle wine, one of which returns the drinker to the previous room, and the last of which advances the drinker to the next and final room. Dumbledore's is using the Mirror of Erised. | Only the first three tasks are shown – Quirrell's and Snape's are not. |
| Tasks Leading to Climax: Devil's Snare | Sprout's challenge is Devil's Snare. Hermione is the last to jump into the pit and manages to escape being ensnarled by the vines, unlike Harry and Ron who are completely bound and unable to move. Hermione remembers that Devil's Snare prefers dark and dank places and produces a fire from the end of her wand which causes it to shrink away. | All three are bound by the Devil's Snare and Hermione remembers that the only way to escape it is to relax and fall through. She does so and is released into the room below. Harry does the same and sinks through the vines and is released as well. Ron is extremely stressed and unable to relax; he is saved by Hermione remembering that Devil's Snare hates sunlight and casting "Lumos Solem", after which the plant releases him. |
| Tasks Leading to Climax: Flying Key Room | Flitwick charmed hundreds of keys so that they would fly around the room; only one fit the door to the next room and to capture it one would have to fly on a broom. All three students mount brooms and attempt to find the key. Harry spots the one with the broken wing and chases it while Ron and Hermione, also on broomsticks, divert it by flying into its path. Harry catches it and opens the door to the next challenge. | Harry mounts the only broom and flies amongst the keys to find the correct one. He spots the correct key due to its broken wing. Once he locates it, the other keys begin to violently pursue him and cut him as they whizz past him on his broomstick. He gets the key to Hermione who opens the door as Harry flies around the room to lead the "angry" keys away from his friends. He manages to get through the door at the last moment and when the wooden door is slammed behind him, all the "angry" keys slam into the door at such a great and violent speed that they embed themselves in the wood. |
| Wizard's Chess | Chess pieces confer with their player and recommend moves. If they capture a piece of the other colour, they drag it off the board. When the king is checkmated, he takes out his crown and throws it at the feet of the winner. | Chess pieces are mute but are quite savage when they capture a piece of the other colour; they destroy the piece with a sword that is part of the outfit of the piece. When the king is checkmated, his sword falls forward as a symbol of defeat. |
[edit] Reaction
[edit] Box office
The film earned in excess of $976 million USD at the worldwide box office (fourth all-time behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest). At the time of its release it became the second highest grossing film of all time. It made $317 million in the US and over $658 million dollars internationally making it the third biggest film at the international box office of all time. The film received three Oscar nominations.
[edit] Critical reaction
Critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper (of Ebert & Roeper) gave Philosopher's Stone two-thumbs up, calling it "The Wizard of Oz of its time". Overall, the movie received a "Certified Fresh" rating of 78% from the movie critic site Rotten Tomatoes.
[edit] External links
- Warner Brother's Harry Potter site
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at the Internet Movie Database
- Movie Tour Guide.com - Maps and directions to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Filming Locations
- "Potter's Field", a 2000 Entertainment Weekly article discussing various directors rumored to be involved with the film.
| J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosopher's Stone | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Chamber of Secrets | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Goblet of Fire | book | film | game | soundtrack |
| Order of the Phoenix | book | film | game | |
| Half-Blood Prince | book | film | ||
| Deathly Hallows | book | |||
| Other books | Other games | |||
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup | |||
| Quidditch Through the Ages | ||||
|
Characters • Places • Spells • Translations • Quidditch Films • Fandom • Controversy • Money |
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