Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Revisited

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!

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!

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.

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.