Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
The General Story:
Eleven-year-old Harry Potter, orphaned as a baby, lives with his obnoxious
uncle and aunt, and pain-in-the-ass cousin. Sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs,
young Harry leads a small, quiet existence. That is until a mysterious visitor
tracks him down, with a shocking truth “You’re a wizard Harry”, and the boy is
whisked away to a world of magic and adventure. Attending Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry finally discovers he does fit in somewhere,
making new friends and discovering his hidden powers. But it’s not long before
the evil forces that took his parents away as a baby want to finish the job,
and as Harry’s quest for the truth and adventure take over, darkness and danger
are just around the corner.
What influenced the
movie: Based on the immensely popular novel by J.K. Rowling first released
in 1998, “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone” (or Sorcerers stone for the USA) took all its inspiration straight from
the page of the best-selling book. In the hands of director Chris Columbus, who
had achieved huge success with the first two “Home Alone” movies, Harry Potter
was “The Wizard of Oz” for our generation, mixing childhood antics with
adventure, magic, scares and comedy, for a fun mix that won over young and
older audiences alike, the world over. The first film was reliant on its own
success to continue making movies of the four novels that had been written to
date by 2001, and word that its author had envisioned seven books in total. And
as we know, the first film was a massive hit, raking in close to a billion dollars
at the box office, and quickly launched all future film versions into
production.
How the movie
influenced the 00's: Along with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Harry Potter
was integral to the popularity of the fantasy epics that swept through cinemas
in the early to late 00’s. With seven books to adapt and a young cast who would
quickly grow up, the talent behind the series of movies wasted no time in
greenlighting all future sequels and swiftly moving them into production. “The
Chamber of Secrets” was greenlit just three days after the premier of the first
film, and released exactly one year later, once again under the reins of
director Chris Columbus. Then, as the novels got darker, denser and more
mature, new directors were hand picked to take the series into new territory.
And as the chid actors got older, their acting got better, and every 12-18
months or so, we were treated to another Harry Potter film. Each one dominated
the box office for its 2-3 month run and coincided with the release of three
more books between the years 2003 and 2007. Potter Mania, as it was known, took
over movie theatres and bookstores, resulting in the most successful book and
film franchise of all time. Not bad for a little story written b a single
mother out of a café. That author, J.K. Rowling, would go on to become the
second wealthiest woman in the UK, after The Queen herself.
What makes it stand
out as a film of the 00's: As with any other influential movie on this
list, its success meant sequels were rushed into production, or countless
imitators were made to cash in on the hype and trends set by the original film.
Harry Potter was no exception, with eight films in total being released over
the series decade long reign at the cinema and on DVD. As the Lord of the Rings
came and went in just three short years, this left the door wide open for
almost every other fantasy epic book series containing magic, sorcery, witches
and wizards - and usually a chosen child to go on some magical quest
– to be adapted for the big screen. With movies like “The Seeker”, and “The Golden
Compass” struggling to find an audience, it would take “The Lion, the Witch and
The Wardrobe” from 2005 to finds its place around Harry Potter, and it did
reasonably well with three movies in the series. But of course, it was all
about Harry, Ron and Hermione in the 00’s, as we watched them grow on screen
and off, becoming the worlds most famous teenagers, acting alongside Britain’s greatest
performers, and investing us in the world of Hogwarts and Voldemort’s quest to
finish off the job.
Impact of the movie
still felt today: Harry Potter had to end naturally, but it’s impact lives
on, through repeat showings of each movie on TV at least once a year and it’s
legions of fans continuing to read the books and screen the movies at house
parties. And of course, the recent “Fantastic Beasts” series of movies has done
well, taking the in-built Harry Potter audience back to the Wizarding World to
get their fantasy fix and relive the magic now that Harry has grown up. Book
series and movie series like Harry Potter don’t come along all that often, and
dare I say it, we will probably never see anything rival it in terms of its popularity,
scope and reach, to every corner of the world, to every age, and coming back
into our lives at each stage. In fact, I’ve just shown my 5-year-old daughter Philosophers
Stone for the first time, and she loved it. I was 19 when the first film came out,
and as it was released just a mere three months after the terrorist attacked of
9/11, I was looking for some escapism from the dark, unpredictable world we
lived in. Now at age 36, I still enjoy watching the Harry Potter films, and
have read all the books of course too 😉 And
so, Harry Potters legacy lives on.
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This review was originally part of a special review of films called "Most Influential Movies of the 00's", which you can check out here.
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