Director: Chris Columbus
Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Duration: 152 minutes
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) (4K UHD) – Movie Review
Even though Harry Potter first saw the light in 1997, the universe only globally broke through in 2001 when the first movie was released. Young and old were fascinated by the wizarding world that opened up, showing things that normally only happen in our wildest dreams. The series eventually spawned seven books, which were turned into eight movies. The last movie was released in 2011, but even now, a decade later, fans are still hoping for more content, more adventures, and more movies. We do have a new release lined up for you, but it’s sadly no new movie, it’s the 4K UHD version of where it all began with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. As always, for our 4K UHD reviews, we will not be doing a full review of the movie itself.
In this first movie, which is called the Sorcerer’s Stone in certain regions as opposed to the book’s title the Philosopher’s Stone, we see Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), a poor mistreated boy who resides with his uncle and aunt, discovers he has the ability to perform magic. Just like any other gifted child, he receives his letter to go to Hogwarts, a wizarding school. From here on out, his magical adventure starts, where he learns that even the wizarding world isn’t as beautiful as it may initially seem. Harry is referred to as ‘The Boy Who Lived‘, as he was the target of an attack by a very evil presence named Voldemort, who is now referred to as ‘He Who Must Not Be Named‘. It’s clear that something dark is going on in Hogwarts, and luckily Harry has his two new friends, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), to accompany him on his adventure.
As a whole, this 4K version of the movie still feels very relevant. The Potterverse is still very much alive, and more and more merchandise is still being produced. It’s very nice to see this two-decades-old movie in its updated state, and it’s still as magical as it was the first time around. We do have to say that some CGI effects did not age as gracefully as we’d thought. It seems that some things look better in our own memories. That being said, the story holds up really well after all these years, and it’s still very much a nice series of films (and books) to explore for teenagers and young adults.
While the normal 4K UHD and Blu-ray disc do not come with any special features, the added Blu-ray disc with the Magical Movie Mode is one big special feature. It allows viewers to watch the movie, with constant trivia questions, fun facts, background information, lore, commentaries, and so on. We do advise watching the normal version first, as the overload of information may make it so that the actual story is somewhat lost in translation. If you require subtitles in your native tongue, the commentaries will get priority, thus preventing the subtitles of the actual movie to render. We very much enjoyed this approach of adding the special features to the movie itself, and this is actually quite a lot of fun to watch the movie with other Harry Potter fans, while you try to compete to answer the trivia questions the quickest.
Conclusion
The 4K UHD version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is still a very relevant release, and it’s actually a very nice version to have in your HP collection. The movie still feels quite modern, and it’s just wondrous to see how it all started (once again). We would have loved a few normal special features to be included as well, but the Magical Movie Mode is a very nice inclusion and it adds a new dimension to the movie. Harry Potter fans, or even late adopters, will certainly enjoy this magical 20th-anniversary release.
Related Items
1 Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
[…] hand-painted drawings and takes inspiration from classics like Simon the Sorcerer, Discworld, and Harry Potter. The developers promise a mystical comedy adventure with sarcastic British wit, hand-drawn cartoon […]