Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Revisited

Finally got around to seeing this, and what a treat! Much darker indeed but also much more enjoyable than the original. And the audio is flawless... like how?!?!

When I first heard you were attempting to bring the tone of the film more in line with the others in the series I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, Philosopher’s Stone is my 2nd least favorite movie, but I was worried that you might possibly go too far in the attempt to darken the movie. I’m glad to say that my fears were completely unfounded. This is quite a brilliant edit, and though it has it’s problems, it’s so well done that those complaints don’t amount to much. Reworking the first few scenes of the film was an inspired choice and it works really well in changing the tone of the film. I also really loved the insertion of exterior shots from later movies in order to help make the changes between the 2nd and 3rd film less jarring. The musical score changes and additions are welcome. Most of the time it’s done seamlessly enough that if I hadn’t seen the movie over a hundred times (not exaggerating here) I wouldn’t have noticed.

That being said there were a few sections where I could hear the original track underneath the new music, and several times the new music would only play for a few seconds before disappearing which left me confused as to why the soundtrack changed there. The only music choice that I felt was bad was when they see Hogwarts from the boats. Mostly because the tone of the music doesn’t gel with the visuals at all. The school is lit up all nice and warm and you can see the smiles of joy and wonder on the kid's faces as they approach the school. If you were going to change it I think using a less foreboding theme would have been best.

I thought the removal of Norbert was an interesting choice. I’ve never even thought of removing that scene, but it works really well. There were also a few narrative decisions that didn’t quite work. The last act suffers a bit from the removals that were made. Removing the scene of Hagrid telling them how to get past Fluffy makes the pace moves a bit to fast and makes the trio look like complete idiots for trying to get past Fluffy with no idea how to do so, but the removal of Norbert, as well as the fact that Hagrid’s hut is in a different location from later films, necessitates this. Also, the flashback was used a bit too often.

The only other complaint I have is really minor and doesn’t affect my rating at all but I just thought I’d mention it. I wish you had used the Philosopher’s Stone edit instead of Sorcerer’s Stone but again that’s more of a personal preference than anything else. I still prefer the extended cut of the original movie, and this is mostly because a few important scenes for both the pacing and narrative structure were removed, making the film feel a bit too fast. That being said I’d still give this edit an 8/10 and would highly recommend it to anyone who’d like a different take on the film. I can’t wait to watch Chamber of Secrets Revisited and take a look at both Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix Revisited.

Andreas has put a lot of love into this, and his edits are great. The re-coloration is excellent, and he's truly achieved his goal of aligning the tone of the film with later entries in the series. If you want a darker, more mature version of this film, look no further. That said, I must say the original carried a family friendly charm which was in line with the tone of the book, and suited the film as well. So at least for me, I'm not sure this edit can replace the original, but rather stands as a great alternative way to experience the story.

Technically it holds up well. Audio editing in particular is impressive, seamlessly integrating new pieces from later films which add more appropriate tension or emotion to scenes. In a couple cases however the track choices felt a little jarring, due to their intensity. The boat scene for instance, one of Ron's lines was overpowered by the new track.

Andreas has also updated the sequence where Harry's parents are murdered, and uses this well several times throughout the film. The new prologue is cool, and Harry's nightmare is an excellent touch. I felt this sequence was used one or two many times too often however. And its final appearance during the conversation between Harry and Dumbledore felt shoehorned and the transitions sloppy, which made for a unique instance of an edit which I felt just didn't work.

I appreciated the streamlined run-time, but felt cutting the potions class diminished Snape's character, and cutting Norbert led to an abrupt transition between the Forest scene, and the trio rushing to ask to speak with Dumbledore.

Overall though, well worth watching. Looking forward to watching Andreas' other edits in the series.

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.

First off, my dad and I are HUGE Potter nerds, the books are awesome, the movies are great, and the universe is cool and well developed. Once I finally got this edit, I uploaded it to my Plex library and my whole family sat down and had our minds BLOWN. Andreas has made millions of little changes that make this a better movie than the official release, scenes become more exciting due to awesome re-scoring (snake escaping was awesome rather than cheesy) and flashbacks are also really cool (adds footage from the deathly hallows). So let me get right to the actual technical aspects of the edit.

Audio/Video Quality:
Great, nothing I noticed was out of place and the deleted scene was very nicely incorporated

Visual Editing:
Awesome, color correction is infinitely better, the devil's snare was black and sinister and it looked so cool compared to the theatrical. Gold was removed from most scenes which never really bothered me until I watched this and realized how odd it looked originally. Everything looks very natural.

Audio Editing:
Superb, sound effects, music, voices, etc. were changed and modified perfectly, nothing sounded off or strange. Loved spots where music was added into quiet scenes (library, Olivander's wand shop)

Narrative:
Fun, not much changed other than the first half hour of the movie being not completely in chronological order (which I liked) like having Harry's letter arrive right at the beginning and then show Dudley's party after that and then later show them trying to get rid of the letters.

Enjoyment:
Overall loved it, will burn to a disc and make it my go-to version of the film. This movie is my least favorite of the Harry Potter movies and Andreas has managed to make it way better than it ever was.