Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Revisited

My Harry Potter collection is very dusty. That means I have not touched those in a long time. I cannot remember when I even saw this movie. I watched the latest edit that was released. I am unable to compare to my prior experience, but it definitely feels so much better based on the little I do remember.

The movie also felt visually superior and I liked the revised musical score matching the rest of the franchise. I intend to go through the rest of the revisited series when released. This one was excellent (as was Chamber of Secrets where I effectively will provide this exact review because I only have a very hazy memory).

For those who have the movies gathering dust, this is a highly recommended and excellent way to revive the Harry Potter experience.

The amount of continuity errors unfortunately took me out of the movie but not entirely though as to the continuity errors themselves.

The first occurred When Ron was attempting to turn Scabbers in one scene the sweet box comes of his head but in the next scene that shows him with Hermione standing outside the door the sweet box is back on his head.

When McGonagall says your house will be like your family it should have cut to the Great Hall doors opening to make for a smoother transition and to quicken the narrative pacing.

During the scene where the Troll takes a second swing of its club at Harry the sudden cut to Ron casting the spell felt a bit jarring to quick as another scene could have been added before he casts the spell.

Well I thought the scene with the Mirror was done pretty well the use of Jame’s actor from Sorcerer’s Stone contradicts the flashbacks as his appearance is different between those scenes, digitally removing Jame’s Sorcerer’s Stone actor from the Mirror and digitally placing his actor from the later films would be a good way to fix this continuity error.

When Hermione reads the book on Nicholas Flamel the various text in that book reads PHILOSOPHER’S STONE creating some plotholes the first being why everyone keeps calling it the Sorcerer’s Stone when Nicholas Flamel refers to it as the Philosopher’s Stone and it also makes it seem like Hermione can’t read properly and that she and everyone else in the Wizarding World are trying to discredit the author and call the stone by a name that they prefer, these plotholes could be fixed by either digitally altering the text in Nicholas Flamel’s book to read SORCERER’S STONE or through burning and editing a DVD of Philosopher’s Stone.

The scene where Malfoy appears outside should have played until he leaves with Harry than stating his name as it than cuts to Hagrid saying oh dear instead of him going over to the table as it would have made for a smoother and quicker transition.

During the Devil’s Snare scene the immediate cut to Hermione’s face after she tells Harry and Ron to relax felt way to fast and jarring as another scene could have been placed after she told them to relax before transitioning to the scene where the Devil’s Snare swallows her up.

As for the flashbacks well they certainly are an interesting element you decided to incorporate into the edit I felt that there was to many of them as it would have been better if the flashbacks were used more sparingly such as the scene where Hagrid is explaining to Harry about his parents and when Harry meets Voldemort for the final time in this edit.

As to what I enjoyed your choice of music really gave a lot of emotional power and resonance to the scenes that accompanied them as I was completely blown away and the darker filter gave the film a more consistent and mature feel that the films from Azkaban onwards while preserving the magic that made Philosopher’s Stone or for those outside the UK Sorcerer’s Stone so great in the first place.

I hadn’t seen the original for probably a decade, and besides the flashback sequences, it was hard for me to tell what Andreas had changed. Yes, it looked darker (tonewise) but actually there were still a lot of lighter, little kid elements to it. This was great for me, since I think the films should grow up with the main characters. I was worried it would be TOO dark, but I’d say all the small trims and music changes simply accomplish the goal of making it fit better with the rest of the series.

I actually couldn’t remember any scenes that were missing while watching it, and at over 2 hours, it’s probably the best length now. Upon reflection, I realized we'd missed the candy-eating (which I DID quite like), some stuff with Hagrid (which I was thankful to trim), and the ending points ceremony (which honestly was kind of necessary for me as an American that was completely unfamiliar with this school tradition. However, it actually probably doesn't fit well with the overarching tone of the films.) I read as well that many people lamented the loss of Snape's class, but I think he is set up as enough of an ambiguous, threatening presence here to fit his role in the series. It always seemed too telegraphed to me that he just instantly is a jerk to this child... it's a pretty childish way of portraying him, whatever excuses you make for his backstory. Making this a bit of a more mature film, I think the current portrayal fits just right.

I do have to echo other reviewers in saying that my fondness for the flashback sequence wore thin after the 2nd or 3rd repetition. It is a nice way to start the film, and I'm not opposed to the idea of repeated flashes, but only if they were alternate shots/angles/variations. It's just too much repetition, imho. However, overall, this is a fantastic fanedit, and my preferred way to watch the film now.

HP and the Sorcerer's Stone: Revisited has to be one of the best fanedits I've ever come across, and that's how I discovered the man behind the magic, Andreas!

The visual editing is seamless, the A/V quality is spot on, the reworked narrative is solid, and the new score fits the scenes like a glove! Plus, the new colour grade is a step up from the oversaturated pinkishness of the theatrical cut. Now admittedly, some of John Williams' original score is still somewhat present under the newly selected tracks, but all in all, this is a very minor complaint.

If you Potterheads are looking for a more mature take on the Columbus era of the Harry Potter films, this fanedit is for you!

**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.