Episode 79: Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone Review

 

Topic: Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone Review

 

Finally a chance to see if Print matches Film!  I’ve wanted, and probably some point will, to do this with Anime as there are numerous examples of printed comics (Manga) being turned in to animated shows (Anime), and sometimes the differences are stark, and sometimes, it’s a One to One copy.  This isn’t the case, as Harry Potter itself has numerous changes to it that take an 8 hour read in to a 2 hour film, and with a shortened run time, some liberties are necessary.  So here’s our thoughts on it.

 

Quick Run Down

1. Harry potter is dropped off to the Dursleys after Voldemort’s defeat
2. It is shown how poorly Harry is Treated and the weird stuff that happens around him
3. Letter being sent to Harry about being accepted to Hogwarts are stopped by Dursley,
4. Hagrid introduced and explains how Harry is a Wizard
5. Harry is introduced to the wizarding world, gets his supplied, Hagrid picks up the Philospher’s Stone
6. Harry Travels to Hogwarts via Train, befriends Ron
7. Harry is sorted in to his house, Gryphndor
8. Harry is introduced to His Teachers, along with Snape, who dislikes Harry
9. Harry is tricked in to a duel with a rival student, but learns of Fluffy, a 3-headed dog
10. A troll is in the school, and Harry and Ron defeat it, Hermione befriends them
11. Harry is explained and played Quidditch as a seeker
12. Christmas, Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised and its secrets
13. The Trio learn who Nicolas Flamel and that he created the Philosopher’s stone, leading to them leaning that it’s hidden in the school
14. The trio learn of Norbert the dragon, and in getting out of the school, Harry, Hermione, Nevil, and Draco are sentenced to detention when caught
15. Everyone is sent to the Forbidden Forest for detention, to find a injured Unicorn, Harry encounters Voldemort, but is saved by Centars
16. The Trio journey through the defense leading to the Philosopher’s stone.  The Puzzles along the way are:
1. Fluffy – Calmed by Music
2. Plants – Stopped by fire Magic
3. Flying Keys – Harry catches the right key floating in air
4. Chess – Ron leads the Trio through a chess game, but he is taken out at the end due to his sacrifice.
5. Another Troll – but already beaten
6. Potion Riddle – Hermione solves the riddle, but passes out due to the potion making someone fall asleep
17. Harry meets Professor Quirrell, who is trying to use the Mirror of Erised to get the stone.  Harry gets the stone, and then confronts Voldemort, who is living on Quirrell’s head.  Quirrell is stopped by Harry’s inherent Protection magic and burned badly, and dies of his wounds.  Harry passes out before Dumbledore arrives to save Harry.
1. Harry wakes up in the hospital, has a chat with Dumbledore.
2. Gryphndor wins the House cup due to Dumbledore giving pity points
18. Everyone goes home for the summer

 

Sorcerer’s Stone Vs Philosopher’s Stone

Reason noted was due to Scholastic thinking that Philosopher sounded too archaic for readers, and suggested Sorcerer instead.  Rowling disliked this change and felt that she should have fought harder for it not to be changed, but didn’t have the clout or prestige at the time to do so. 

 

During filming, any reference to the Stone was done twice, one for the British audience, one for the America audience, where they actually used the differing terms.

 

 

Book:

 

Pro

• Enjoyed the comical nature of the Dursleys.
• Easy to understand writing style for children’s literature.

 

Con

• Felt like it took a while to get in to the magical aspects of the books

 

 

Film

Pro

• Children Actors weren’t that bad.
• Depth of Cast, pretty much nailed all the looks
• Love the Castle & music
• CGI is dated, but doesn’t take you out of the movie

 

 

Con

• Seamus Finnigan – Unnecessary character in the film.
• Ghosts could have been used better used to add exposition
• Poor use of exposition throughout film (Ex: Centaur + Unicorn Scene)
• Lack of useful world building, IE not adding much context to prior events or reactions

 

 

 

Changes from Book to Film

• Shortened Dursley elements
• Harry + Hagrid (Birthday in July)
• Getting to the train station
• Draco meets Harry
• Harry meets Ron, George, Fred
• House Points
• How Harry learned of the 3-headed Dog
• Troll Scene (Minor changes)
• Snape v Quirrell
• Missing the Gyphndor v Hufflepuff match
• Everything with the Dragon
• Missing potion test
• Ending Fight (Quirrell + Protection magic)