Rewatch Reaction Post: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone
My family and I (re)watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone tonight. Here are some of my thoughts. All of them spoilery.
Do do do do do do do....
- I don't remember how I felt about the movie when I watched it, but it must have been really cool as a fan to see all of the stuff from the books in action for the first time.
- The book versus movie ratio was pretty solid here, with just a few changes for plot purposes; but I actually think it was almost TOO solid at some points. The characters would be acting normally, then suddenly they'd say a line from the books in a way that, at times, felt very rehearsed . "I'm saying something naturally. Pause. Quote... right from the BOOKS. End quote. Back to acting normally." It may just be me, though.
- Ron was a bit flanderdized here, but nowhere near as horribly as he will be in later installments. (And canon, albeit to a smaller extent.*) I miss Chess Master Ron.
*And I do have some explanation for that, which I'll expand upon a bit later. Short version is that I think a lot of Ron's insecurities caught up to him.
- Hermione is almost insufferable in the beginning, as much as I love her.
- This movie is one of those where you can suddenly place a lot of memes, .gifs and userpics.
- Hagrid is the least subtle person on the planet. I do love him, though. (I actually never really got fandom's hate for him?) Still, he keeps calling the stone "the you know what." No one would think anything of it if you just acted normal, Hagrid.
Robbie Coltrane could not have been a better Hagrid, though. I believe JKR specifically requested he be cast, though.
- The Dursleys were even more cartoonish here than in the books. But that's okay.
- In a scene where Harry's under the stairs, he's playing with toy soldier pieces. This seems to be potential foreshadowing for both the chess scene AND the later books/movies, although they may have also just wanted to remind us that Harry was a kid.
- I do wonder how much JKR set up about the war when she first wrote the books. Did she know that Voldemort was leading a crusade against Muggles and Muggleborns? Did she know about Horcruxes? Did she know who Sirius Black was? (Sirius isn't mentioned in the film, but he is mentioned in the first book as having given Hagrid his motorbike!)
-Whatever became of the Mirror of Erised, anyway?
- You knw the Diagon Alley theme? I realize this isn't how it's supposed to go, nor does it have anything to do with Dumbledore in particular, but for some reason in my head I always heard "Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Dum-ble-dore...."
Overall, I enjoyed it. I don't think my opinion on Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone has changed much since I last saw it. Although the Erised scene as an adult is crushing. Poor Harry. Also, the kids are so young and adorable.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed, before either one of you comes up with a clever way to get us all killed. Or worse, expelled.
(Actually that scene in the film. The line was delivered with perfection, but made no sense in context, as they'd literally just taken a wrong turn and ended up facing Fluffy. It made far more sense in the books, since Ron and Harry were actively breaking the rules. Oh well. Actually, I seem to remember fandom being a little puzzled over that one.)
Next on my rewatch reaction post list: The Chamber of Secrets.
In the meantime, what do you guys think characters apart from Ron and Harr would see in the Mirror of Erised? Particularly ones we know less about.
Do do do do do do do....
- I don't remember how I felt about the movie when I watched it, but it must have been really cool as a fan to see all of the stuff from the books in action for the first time.
- The book versus movie ratio was pretty solid here, with just a few changes for plot purposes; but I actually think it was almost TOO solid at some points. The characters would be acting normally, then suddenly they'd say a line from the books in a way that, at times, felt very rehearsed . "I'm saying something naturally. Pause. Quote... right from the BOOKS. End quote. Back to acting normally." It may just be me, though.
- Ron was a bit flanderdized here, but nowhere near as horribly as he will be in later installments. (And canon, albeit to a smaller extent.*) I miss Chess Master Ron.
*And I do have some explanation for that, which I'll expand upon a bit later. Short version is that I think a lot of Ron's insecurities caught up to him.
- Hermione is almost insufferable in the beginning, as much as I love her.
- This movie is one of those where you can suddenly place a lot of memes, .gifs and userpics.
- Hagrid is the least subtle person on the planet. I do love him, though. (I actually never really got fandom's hate for him?) Still, he keeps calling the stone "the you know what." No one would think anything of it if you just acted normal, Hagrid.
Robbie Coltrane could not have been a better Hagrid, though. I believe JKR specifically requested he be cast, though.
- The Dursleys were even more cartoonish here than in the books. But that's okay.
- In a scene where Harry's under the stairs, he's playing with toy soldier pieces. This seems to be potential foreshadowing for both the chess scene AND the later books/movies, although they may have also just wanted to remind us that Harry was a kid.
- I do wonder how much JKR set up about the war when she first wrote the books. Did she know that Voldemort was leading a crusade against Muggles and Muggleborns? Did she know about Horcruxes? Did she know who Sirius Black was? (Sirius isn't mentioned in the film, but he is mentioned in the first book as having given Hagrid his motorbike!)
-Whatever became of the Mirror of Erised, anyway?
- You knw the Diagon Alley theme? I realize this isn't how it's supposed to go, nor does it have anything to do with Dumbledore in particular, but for some reason in my head I always heard "Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Dum-ble-dore...."
Overall, I enjoyed it. I don't think my opinion on Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone has changed much since I last saw it. Although the Erised scene as an adult is crushing. Poor Harry. Also, the kids are so young and adorable.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed, before either one of you comes up with a clever way to get us all killed. Or worse, expelled.
(Actually that scene in the film. The line was delivered with perfection, but made no sense in context, as they'd literally just taken a wrong turn and ended up facing Fluffy. It made far more sense in the books, since Ron and Harry were actively breaking the rules. Oh well. Actually, I seem to remember fandom being a little puzzled over that one.)
Next on my rewatch reaction post list: The Chamber of Secrets.
In the meantime, what do you guys think characters apart from Ron and Harr would see in the Mirror of Erised? Particularly ones we know less about.