Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Revisited

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!!

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.

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!

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.

I've always been a Potter fan, but nothing too hardcore. I saw all the films in the theater, read all the books, etc etc. I haven't watched "Sorcerer's Stone" in a while because it can't hold a candle to some of the later films (especially "Prisoner" and "Deathly Hallows"), although it's nowhere near as cringe-worthy as "Chamber". So now, Andreas has set out to bring "Sorcerer's Stone" more in line with the later films, primarily by way of rescoring and color grading, along with some nips and tucks, and beefing things up with a nice flashback sequence.

A/V quality - 8
There's a lot of compression artifacts in this 8 GB MP4, and I suspect some of it is due to the color grading. It's not terrible, but image quality could have been much better.

Visual editing - 9
Not a lot of footage has been cut, mainly the visual editing is the color grading, which for the most part looked fantastic. There were a couple of crossfades that were decidedly un-epic and drew attention to themselves, but aside from those the cuts were seamless.

Audio editing - 10
Absolutely wonderful. If you showed this to a Potter newb, or even somebody who hasn't watched the flick in years, they wouldn't know this was rescored. Only one or two musical cues felt out of place, but the rest was flawless.

Narrative/Improvement - 9
Overall, Andreas keeps the story and characterizations intact, and strengthens the overall mood with the improved music. The biggest narrative change was the new Potters/Voldemort flashback, which was fricking excellent the first time we saw it, but by the fifth time it showed up, it felt repetitive. (And no, I didn't need a tissue for flashback #5.)

Enjoyment - 9
A refreshing way to revisit HP1, highly recommended for Potter-heads. Jolly good show chap!