By The Bel: J.K. Rowling's – “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” Book vs. Film

Book

I don’t think there is actually an official book trailer for this one; if there is, I couldn’t find it.

Now, I have a confession to make. Before this blog series, I had never really wanted to read these books, mainly because of the incredible hype surrounding them, so I came to the party over a decade late.

My first impressions are of a charming children’s story about a young boy who learns there is more to life than we can believe. I’m intrigued to see how the CGI and special effects will help or hinder this story’s transitions to the film medium.

I sniggered enough while reading on the bus that the driver nearly missed a green light because he was staring, waiting for me to tell him what was so amusing. 

The world building is fun and allows the characters to get up to plenty of mischief. The Quidditch games were fast-paced, as one would imagine them to be, and there is no way a film could down-play the excitement generated in the book and still remain a box office success.

I picked up my battered and bruised copy of The Philosopher’s Stone at Lifeline Book Fest in January for 50 cents, so I won’t make judgement on the cover.

Paperback, 223 pages

Published June 30th 1997 by Bloomsbury Publishing (first published 1997)

ISBN 0747532745 (ISBN13: 9780747532743)

Let’s get on with watching the movie, shall we?

The Film

The film brought to life some of the more complicated moments in an extravagant way. Fluffy was a stand-out for me. Considering I came from the era of George Lucas experimenting with some of the first computer animations in film, this adaption was extremely entertaining. The use of green screen is becoming less and less obvious, and this really makes anything seem possible.

I was surprised to see some of my favourite actors/ comedians who include but are not limited to Zoe Wanamaker (My Family), Warwick Davis (Willow), and John Cleese (Fawlty Towers). There’s also an uncredited part played by one Zoe Sugg (Yep, Zoella was in it). It’s really no surprise that the box office was bursting at the seams when this film made its debut in 2001.

The verdict – I think I’ll go against the norm here and say the book was better, hands down. I did like the film; it was a rollicking good time, but I think the power of the page wins out here. Perhaps the filmmakers didn’t want the dark elements to take over in something aimed at families, but I think those parts needed a bit more exposure.