Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Revisited

This is a very hard review to write. Sorcerer's Stone was the movie that brought me into the world of Harry Potter. I'd not had any interest in "those kids books" and only went to see the movie because it had a Star Wars Episode II trailer in front of it (oh boy was I burned there!). However, from the moment Harry and Hagrid arrived in Diagon Alley I was a fan. I was sucked into the world in a pretty intense way. For all its differences to the later movies in the series, this was the one that made me believe in the magic of Harry Potter. While it might not be the best movie from a technical stand point, it has a very high place in my heart.

And so I began to watch Andreas's edit with both excitement and trepidation. The opening lines from Harry's mother sent a shiver down my spine. Good start. The whole flashback beginning really sets the tone of what's to come. Having the discovery of magic be from Harry's point of view makes sense and I was okay with losing the opening scene even if it meant we lost a little of the late, great Richard Harris in action.

What's funny is that for most of the edit I barely noticed the changes. My wife, who has probably seen this movie a hundred times, was a little more attuned. In terms of cuts I would say the only big disappointment was losing the first Potions class as it (in my opinion) sets up the mutual dislike and distrust between Harry and Snape. In the edit it feels like Harry's distrust of Snape comes out of nowhere. I feel their antagonism is a key part of both of their story arcs in the whole saga. That was definitely missed. Another missed part is the final awards ceremony. Now, it's silly and childish and doesn't match the tone of the later movies so I absolutely understand the need for the cut, but it was sad to see Neville's achievement taken away (and losing the mirroring of him "defeating" a snake by giving them the points to beat Slytherin here vs. his more literal defeat of Nagini in Deathly Hallows). But in terms of tone I can see why Andreas chose to let it go.

Now, the biggest accomplishment of this edit comes down to the audio. The re-scoring of the entire movie gave it a whole new feel. It was scarier in the scenes that should have been scarier, more exciting in the scenes that should have been more exciting. Amazing job.

Now the big question. Does this replace the original version whenever I watch the series? I don't know. I feel I'll find myself flipping back and forth between the two versions. Through no fault of Andreas's but rather because of my emotional connection to the original.

To sum up, this edit was fantastic and really does match to goal of giving the first movie of the series a tone that is similar to those that came later. In that Andreas has done an outstanding job.

**Spoilers**
I loved the new pacing and taking away from the more childish aspect of the original.

Some of my favorite things - Draco is more of just an annoying bully side character rather than an over the top, crazy obnoxious evil kid. Much more realistic for the movie and it felt like the kids were all more like kids rather than caricatures.
I love the changed ending with the whole point system taken out.
Also thought the emotional flashback was well done for the ending.
The music flowed so well and I instantly felt like I was watching a much better movie, even when I didn't know why.

A couple things I thought could be better. I wish the flashback wasn't played so many times. I don't remember how many times it popped up but it was one or two many times.
I also thought that Snape's potions class could have been left in. I haven't watched the original in a long time so I don't know if it was removed because of narrative inconsistencies or not. But I missed seeing more of Snape on screen.
A small thing was the first song that gets played on the credits. I don't think it fit in at all. I wish it would've just gone to the Harry Potter music rather than that song.

Overall I loved the edit and will continue watching this version! Looking forward to watching the other Harry Potter edits from Andreas.

I was pretty blown away by this edit. Such great work. A lot of the changes are small but they add up to a much better experience. I wasn't pulled out of the movie because of something cheesy or bad. The audio editing is just boss. Great work, brings it much more in line with the rest of the series. The color grading very much improved the look of the film. It was a bit too green after the unicorn blood drinking scene but that is a minor quibble. Put simply, this film looked and felt more like the rest of the series. Mission accomplished. It has replaced the theatrical cut for me.

I LOVED the new opening. I can see how it might be repetitive for some but I enjoyed it each time. It is important to remember the thrust behind the entire narrative. Well done!

I got a copy of this a while back but with college work etc. have only just had a chance to sit down and check it out properly.

This is a marvellous edit. The first two films in the Harry Potter series are easily the worst of the lot. Andreas stated somewhere that his influence for this edit was the Prisoner of Azkaban (my personal favourite of the films) and it really shows. The atmosphere is so much darker but in a way that makes sense. The opening scene alone is worth getting your hands on this edit for!

Video and audio editing is sublime, very few cuts if any were ever noticeable and the added score from later films really helps to create a sense of 'musical continuity'.

More than anything though it was the little edits things that really improved the experience for me. Little added sound fx such as an apparition noise when Hagrid randomly disappears in the train station?! Awesome! And so many other small changes/additions that make the narrative of the film much easier to digest.

I can't recommend this enough for anyone who found the first film a bit of a slog and I myself can't wait to see what Andreas does with Chamber of Secrets!!

First of all: Andreas, you definitely know how to use the tools. Especially the audio editing is so flawless, great work. In the point of video editing I noticed some hard cuts and surprisingly some blockiness in dark areas, although it's in HD, but this is just minor nagging.

Now my very subjective opinion: Your edit is more away from the book by JK Rowling than the original movie. This is ok, but for me it makes it even harder to watch, because I've read the first book just after it came out, long before there was any discussion about making a film out of it. And by the first watch of the movie it was too short for me, because it left so much. (That's the point of making a film from a book, you have to leave things out.) Despite of this I was blown away by the film. And it was a film I could watch with my 8yr old children, because it's charming, we see nice and beautiful magic, underscored by its color palette - some might call that cheesy :-). For me the whole series of books ranges from Harry's first contact with magic, which gives him hope for a bright future as a wizard, to the last chapter, where everything seems to be dark and hopeless. So does the series of the original movies. If this range goes from, e.g. 1 to 7 your edit narrows this range from 3 to 7.

"HP and the sorcerer's stone: revisited" is not a children's movie.

If your intention was to make a version that matches the tone of the later movies, you definitely came up to the scratch.

I recommend this edit for everyone, who didn't like being the original a children's movie.
And for everyone else to have a different look at the story.