75
San Francisco Chronicle by Bob Graham
Absolutely the best single moment, beautifully presented, comes when the orphaned Harry looks in a mirror and sees his parents there. It is brilliant in its simplicity and very moving.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Columbus's Harry Potter has many delights, but the magical alchemy that the book seemed to achieve so effortlessly eludes it.
80
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Retains (and in many cases, boosts) as much of the spirit [of the book] as you could reasonably expect. And it makes a worthy attempt to duplicate Rowling's engaging sense of humor.
60
There's a palpable avoidance of risk as this new mythology is wheeled gingerly into the marketplace and carefully positioned to zap your pre-sold brain...Solid but uninspired, Harry lacks brio. It's respectable and a bit dull.
88
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
If the movie doesn't ultimately transport us to places The Wizard of Oz once took us, that may be partly because "The Sorcerer's Stone" is just the first chapter, with more magic waiting to be parceled out in the coming years.
75
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
That sense of déjà vu is at once this Harry Potter's balm and its limitation: many charms, but few surprises.
75
Does it immerse the uninitiated into a new, fabulous world? Yes. To the book's many readers, does this feel like the real "Harry Potter"? For the most part, yes.
50
The film lacks moviemaking buoyancy -- the feeling of soaring in space that Rowling's magic-carpet prose gives the reader. The picture isn't inept, just inert.
58
Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy
In their hands [Terry Gilliam or Tim Burton or even Steven Spielberg], Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone might have made as terrific a movie as it is a book. When Columbus got the job, however, it was guaranteed only to be a commercial success.
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold
It's eye-filling, well-cast, often very funny and executed with great imagination and flair.
I just recently rewatched this film, and boy has it held up! Harry Potter was my childhood (and I'm sure the childhood of many others) and this is where it all started. With wizardry, mysteries, and magic broomsticks--what more could a kid want in a movie? I believe this franchise should be a staple in all children's lives, whenever they are born.
This isn't a groundbreaking film, but there's something very cozy and nostalgic about this movie. Great family movie, especially around Christmas!