Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)

Elevator Pitch: A baby Harry Potter is delivered by the wizards to the doorstep of his closest relatives the Dursleys, who take him on reluctantly. He lives in their stair cupboard and is bullied by their son. That is until the house is deluged with letters, torn up by Mr Dursley, but revealed in the end to be invitations to enrol in Hogwarts. Harry takes the Hogwarts Express and makes friends with Ron and Hermione and the trio become students of wizardry and friends with the giant, Hagrid, who lives in an adjacent cottage. Harry finds out things about his parents and the dark lord Voldemort, an enemy. The friends go on a quest to recover the Philosopher’s Stone a dangerous endeavour. Can they overcome the barriers ahead of them.

Content: No sex, nudity, drinking or smoking. Harry spends time in the Dursley household and is bullied unpleasantly. Once recruited to Hogwarts he goes shopping in the wizards shopping centre with Hagrid. He and Ron go to Platform 8 2/3 in Kings Cross (although I think they used the St Pancras exterior). Once in the school there is no limit to the magic on offer with a whole variety of effects. There is rivalry between the “houses” in the school and the tutors are not all honest. Quiddich the flying game takes place more than once. 

A View: There is a writer’s maxim which suggests that nothing should be included in a narrative if it does not forward the plot. Well, I have not read the book, but the film wanders about  bit once we have the opportunity of watching the wizardry, and the whole philosopher’s stone strand seems to have been thrown in to create the climax, and to set us up just a bit for the next outing. But it is still a lot of fun, and well worth watching for filmophiles of any age.

If we are looking for films which deal in magic Harry Potter would be top of the list, but there are one or two rivals. You could try Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Pecular Children or even The Sorcerer’s Apprentice .