Everyone loved the first Harry Potter movie, but it had a lot of problems…
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potter film. Although the original book was already a sensation in 2001, Harry’s first screen adventure introduced more people to the wizarding world, and as such, the film is of great significance to many Harry Potter fans.
The set design and music in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone are superb – a trend that continues throughout the series. Given the short length of the original, it’s certainly quite gratifying to see the first book get such a faithful adaptation. Looking back at the beginning of Harry’s journey, there are many aspects that are very satisfying.
On the other hand, only a fool would think that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is perfect. Child actors – in any case – always have some problems. Compared to the latter films, the lead performance in this film is somewhat uneven. The story also deviates from the book a few times, and while that’s not a big deal, some of the changes are clearly not good.
Ironically, none of these issues make Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone any less enjoyable to watch. After all these years, many such questions only add to the film’s charm.
7. Rankings are meaningless
The sorting ceremony is an iconic part of the Harry Potter series. Every Potter fan dreams of wearing this hat to see which house they will belong to.
In the original, the students are listed in alphabetical order, starting with Hannah Abel and going to Buress. Zabini over.
In the film, however, Professor McGonagall seems to prioritize the students who are most important to the plot: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, RON Weasley, and, of course, Harry Potter. Susan Bones – a Hufflepuff student – also mentions it, as if to show the randomness of the sorting ceremony, but the end result is not convincing enough.
While this isn’t a particularly big issue as far as the central plot goes, overemphasizing the main character will take you straight out of the movie.
The director should have assigned all the students ahead of Harry in a quick montage, as in the book. This will bring greater continuity, tension and authenticity to the sorting ceremony.
6. Lazy stair design
“Those who do not wish to suffer an unexpected and painful death must refrain from entering the corridor on the right of the fourth floor.” – Albus Dumbledore
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is essentially a mystery story, and the secrets of the fourth-floor corridor are a key part of it.
The plot in which Malfoy dups Harry into a midnight duel does not appear in the film, so the director had to come up with a new way for the trio to find the corridor on the fourth floor. Unfortunately, the alternatives they offer are rather lazy.
Harry, RON, and Hermione were on their way back to the Gryffindor common room one evening when a change in the stairs led them right into the corridor Dumbledore had mentioned in his opening speech.
Then Mrs. Norris appears and the three run down the hallway, alerting Fluffy and discovering the trap door. The scene, while funny, ultimately feels too contrived.
5. Harry’s birthday
Every Potter fan knows that Harry’s birthday is July 31 – which is actually J.K. Rowling’s birthday. But in the movie, Harry’s birthday doesn’t mean anything.
Just after midnight on Harry’s eleventh birthday, Hagrid appears and tells Harry that he is a wizard. A few hours later, they went to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies. Then Harry toddled into King’s Cross with his books, potion ingredients, and his owl to catch the school train.
But the Hogwarts Express doesn’t leave until September 1st. There are several passages in the book that summarize Harry’s last month at the Dursleys, essentially a small transition between Diagon Alley and the start of term.
For whatever reason, this process does not appear in the film adaptation, and as a result, there is an awkward clash between Harry’s birthday and the start of the new term.
4. The trio forgot they weren’t supposed to go out at night
At the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry, RON, and Hermione visit Hagrid’s cabin to witness the birth of Norbert, the Norwegian ridgeback.
Soon they walked back to the castle. The three were talking loudly on their way to the Gryffindor common room when they were caught by Professor McGonagall.
The movie tries to imply that they were caught because Malfoy turned them in, but frankly, the three of them should have known better that they would have been caught even without Malfoy.
Why didn’t they bring the cloak? So they don’t get caught. If they were going to walk around Hogwarts at night, they should at least be careful and keep their mouths shut, instead of Shouting loudly in the corridors as they did during the day.
Given that Hermione was supposed to be the smartest student in the first year, especially since she knew the rules so well, it was hard to believe she could have been so careless.
3. Madam Hooch has no business judging Quidditch
“Look, I want everyone to play fairly and honestly.” – Madam Hooch.
Madam Hooch was clearly bluffing when she made this statement. Because despite the Slytherin team’s constant fouls, she did nothing throughout the game.
In addition to the constant pushing and shoving by the Slytherins, Oliver Wood – the captain of the Gryffindor team – was knocked unconscious by a Bludger before he could get his Quaffle. Worst of all, Angelina Johnson crashed directly into the wooden grandstand and plummeted to the ground. Although she eventually recovered, her accident was fatal.
In the confusion, however, Madam Hooch did not punish any of the players. She just sat there and watched the violence and didn’t care.
Finally she appeared to announce Gryffindor’s victory — and that was that. A lot of harm could have been avoided if she had done her job properly.
2. Emma Watson says her lines silently
It’s easy to find fault with child actors. They don’t have much experience, and when they work with veteran actors, their performances are especially imperfect.
During the filming of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Emma Watson got into the habit of reciting the lines of her co-stars. Because of this problem, director Chris Columbus had to cut a lot of scenes.
While most of Emma’s missteps aren’t shown in the film, when the trio walk outside Hagrid’s cabin to ask him about Norbert, you can clearly see Hermione’s mouth expression mimics Harry’s lines. Once you find this problem, it is impossible to watch the movie without noticing it.
Interestingly, Rupert Grint had the same problem. When Hermione said Snape was “casting a curse on broomsticks,” we could clearly see RON repeating her words with his mouth.
This strange habit will pull you straight out of the story. But Emma and Rupert have since learned from their mistakes.
1. Harry didn’t do any magic
Harry Potter is the story of an orphan who discovers he is a wizard and learns magic at a magical boarding school. As a result, you’d expect Harry to use a lot of spells at school – but in fact that’s not the case, at least in the first year his abilities are quite limited.
The only time Harry uses magic throughout the film is in Ollivander’s wand shop. Of course, he also tried levitation spells and spent a lot of time on his broomstick, but Hermione did the main spell work.
She fixed Harry’s glasses, opened the locked door, set Snape’s robes on fire, attacked Neville, and defeated Devil’s Net. Meanwhile, her two best friends can only watch in awe as she outperforms them in almost every way.
While Hermione is undoubtedly the strongest of the trio in terms of magical abilities, it’s hard to forgive the director for such an oversight. But as subsequent films in the series have shown, Harry has a powerful magical talent, and it would have undoubtedly been better to see that from the start.
