he express train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is leaving from platform 9 3/4, with Warners' two-disc DVD set, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as the ticket. The first film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's epic series, the movie originally wowed audiences with its magical qualities and by sticking to the preordained story of the novel. The magic doesn't hold up quite as well on DVD, but it's there nonetheless.
Sorcerer's Stone introduces viewers to the world of the boy wizard with the distinctive lightning scar on his forehead. Just when life with his overbearing aunt, uncle and cousin gets too oppressive, Harry learns he's been accepted to Hogwarts, the training ground for budding young wizards like himself. Of course, that's news to orphaned Harry—who knows little about his past and his parents until Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), the keeper of keys and grounds, arrives to personally whisk him
away to Hogwarts.
Once at school, Harry settles into life as a first-year Hogwarts student. Together with his chums and fellow Gryffindor housemates Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson), Harry sets about learning the fundamentals all budding young wizards need to know: how to wave a wand, how to handle a broomstick and, of course, how to craft potions. He even becomes the youngest Quidditch Seeker in the school's history. But Harry is no ordinary first-year student: From the time he set foot on the train to Hogwarts, Harry's reputation, and that of his family, preceded him. And his history—coupled with an innate curiosity and propensity for mischief—get Harry and his friends into trouble as they investigate some evil goings-on at the school.
Magical DVD extras are missing
The two-disc set includes a 16:9 letterbox edition of the film on the first disc, and relegates all of the extras to disc two. Considering the lengthy film—which clocks in at over two and a half hours—is crammed onto one single-sided, dual-layered disc, it's understandable that no extras would be stored on the main disc. Then again, there's no playback with audio commentary from the director—something that's become almost de rigueur on films like this (and an omission that makes this film ripe for a second "special edition" style DVD release, perhaps after one or more of the other films comes out).
The quality of the film on DVD is generally good, but there were times when my Samsung DVD player displayed images a little more darkly, and little more muddied, than I remembered the film being in the theater. (The results were no better on my computer's DVD-ROM drive.) And, unfortunately, playing the movie back on the small screen did little to make the poorly integrated special effects in the Quidditch scenes more palatable.
What really drags the DVD down, though, is its utter lack of extras that have substance. Aside from the 17-minute video interview with director Columbus and producer David Heyman, this DVD—unlike the books, which have captivated the imaginations of children and adults alike—caters to youngsters. There are plenty of games and activities on the second disc (many for use via a DVD-ROM) and links to the Harry Potter Web site (which has yet more games). There's a 3D iPIX tour of Hogwarts and Hagrid's abode, a lesson in Quidditch and more. The DVD-ROM also uses One Voice's speech recognition technology to allow navigation through the DVD with voice-activated commands.
Then there are the cutscenes: Seven gems (and duds) that are buried, literally, in the depths of this DVD. It's hard work to get to the cutscenes: eighteen steps must be followed to the letter; and if a mistake is made—whether a wrong button is pushed on the remote, or a wrong item clicked on the computer screen—it will take a full 45 minutes or more of fiddling before getting to enter this DVD's chamber of secrets. While some scenes are particularly satisfying (an extended scene at Hogwarts during the Christmas break, a scene in the library that sets up Gryffindor classmate Neville's rebellion later in the film), most are short snippets that don't provide much added value. And while kids may at first enjoy the routine of going to Diagon Alley and having to go to Gringott's for money, Ollivanders' for a wand and so on—they'll soon tire of it, too. A treasure hunt like this is clever and, to some extent, in the vein of the mischievous Harry, but there needs to be a shortcut directly to the payoff, too.
