Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - PG
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this first movie in the Harry Potter series has some intense and scary moments. Harry Potter and friends -- who are only 11 years old here -- are in peril and get hurt, but not seriously, and most of the scares come from fantasy creatures. There's a flashback to the (bloodless) death of Harry's parents and discussion about how they died and the one who killed them.
Families can talk about the Harry Potter series. Do you like the books or movies better? Who are your favorite characters? What themes from the first in the series pop up again in later installments? Why is the scene with Dudley and the snake important? If you got to choose an animal your first year at Hogwarts (owl, toad, cat, or rat) which would you bring? If your whole family was sorted into houses, who would be where? Would you be in the same house like the Weasleys or split up into different houses?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Nell Minow
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE is filled with visual splendor, valiant heroes, spectacular special effects, and irresistible characters. It's only fair to say that it's truly magical.
Fanatical fans of the books (in other words, just about everyone who has read them) were thrilled with the film's release in 2001 and a mighty movie series was born.
Of course fans of the books have to prepare themselves for the fact that no movie could possibly fit in all of the endlessly inventive details author J.K. Rowling includes, and not even a big-budget movie with the best CGI wizards can match the imagination of readers who have their own ideas about how Professor McGonagall turns into a cat or a dragon hatches from an egg. Move all of that over into a safe storage part of your brain and settle back with those who are brand-new to the story to enjoy the way that screenwriter Steven Kloves, production designer Stuart Craig, and director Chris Columbus have brought their vision of the story to the screen.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), of course, is the orphan who lives with the odious Dursleys, his aunt, uncle, and cousin. They make him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs and never show him any attention or affection. On his 11th birthday, he receives a mysterious letter, but his uncle destroys it before he can read it.
Letters keep coming, and the Dursleys panic and hide away on a remote island. But they're found Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), a huge, bearded man with a weakness for scary-looking creatures. It turns out that the letters were coming from Hogwarts, a boarding school for young witches and wizards, and Harry is expected for the fall term.
Hagrid takes Harry to buy his school supplies in Diagon Alley, a small corner of London that, like so much of the magic world, exists near but apart from the world of the muggles (humans). We are thus treated to one of the most imaginative and engaging settings ever committed to film, mixing the London of Dickens and Peter Pan with sheer, bewitching fantasy. A winding street that looks like it's hundreds of years old holds a bank run by goblins, a place to buy a pet owl, a store where the wand picks the wizard, and a pub filled with an assortment of curious characters.
Then it's off to the train station, where the Hogwarts Express leaves from Track 9 3/4. On the train, Harry meets his future best friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and gets to try delicacies like Chocolate Frogs (they really hop) and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (and they do mean every flavor).
When school begins things really get exciting, with classes in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, a sport called Quidditch (a sort of flying soccer/basketball), a mysterious trap door guarded by a three-headed dog named Fluffy, and a baby dragon named Norbert. Throughout the year Harry adjusts to his new magical life and begins to come to grips with his famous status in the wizarding world and what he represents to the darker forces there. He also learns some important lessons about loyalty and courage.
The settings manage to be sensationally imaginative and yet at the same time so clearly believable and lived-in that you'll think you could find them yourself, if you could just get to Track 9 3/4. The adult actors are simply and completely perfect. Richard Harris turns in his all-time best performance as headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Maggie Smith (whose on-screen teaching roles extend from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to Sister Act) brings just the right tone of dry asperity to Professor McGonagall, and Robbie Coltrane is a half-giant with a heart to match as Hagrid. Alan Rickman provides shivers as potions master Professor Snape, and the brief glimpse of Julie Walters (an Oscar nominee for Billy Elliott) will make you glad you'll be seeing more of her in future movies. The kids are all just fine, though mostly just called upon to look either astonished or resolute.
A terrific book and a terrific movie. Every family should enjoy them both.
Families will also enjoy The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Rate It!
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|
|
|
ViolenceKids are in peril often, but at the hand of fantasy creatures most of the time. A three-headed dog chases Harry and friends. Harry and Draco see a dead and bloody unicorn and are chased by a hooded figure in the Forbidden Forest. Harry and friends fight a troll and knock it unconscious, are nearly crushed by a constricting plant, are chased by flying keys, and pummeled by a life-sized chess board. One character dies by turning to dust. Mostly friendly ghosts roam the halls; the ghost Nearly Headless Nick shows how he got the name. Flashback to the (bloodless) death of Harry's parents and much discussion about how they died and the one who killed them. |
 |
|
|
|
Language |
|
|
|
|
Message |
|
|
|
|
Social BehaviorDiverse cast and strong female characters, but all major characters are white. Positive message about the power of love and friendship. |
 |
 |
 |
|
CommercialismWhile the candy mentioned wasn't originally real, it is now: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Slugs, and more. And then there are the action figures, Lego playsets, wands, Band Aids... you name it. |
|
|
|
|
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|
|
|
