It's pure magic

Neveye's Forges Vault

It's pure magic

November 5th 2001 (monday)

The Sun

Dominic Mohan

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is themovie millions of children and adults have been desperately waiting for.

I watched the film at it's starstudded world premiere and am convinced the Harry Potter phenomenon will be here for decades to come.

But I entered the screening at the Odeon in Leicester Square with some trepidation.

I've read all four Harry Potter books cover to cover. Surely a movie version of Harry Potter could never do JK Rowling's masterpieces justice?

But Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone does just that.

It's dark, it's scary, it's funny. It's a Willy Wonka for the new millennium with special effects that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Never have 2 1/2 hours passed so quickly. I didn't look at my watch once. And it is the first time I have been to the cinema full of children without hearing any of them cry or fidget.

Magnificent

Daniel Radcliffe is a revelation and was born to play young Harry. Forget Arnie , Stallone and bruce willis - Daniel's Harry is the new superhero.

Somehow, the film - makers have perfectly recreated my mental pictures of Gringotts Bank, Hogwarts school and the Dursleys.

Everything is exactly how I imagined it - something that so rarely happens in film adaptations of books.

Richard Harris is the Professor Dumbledore I envisaged as I raced through the pages.

The same goes for Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and Robbie Coltrane, who is truely magnificent as the giant Hagrid.

Very little of the book has been left out, either. You probably know the Harry Potter story by now. If you don't then you've been living in muggleland for far too long.

Harry is an 11-year-old orphan who discovers that his murdered parents were wizards. He is whisked off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so he can learn to fly broomsticks, play quidditch and wave a wand.

He becomes friends with fellow pupils Ronh Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) - and the trio get mixed up in an evil wizard's plot to steal the Philosopher's Stone that is hidden in the school.

Director Chris columbus has waved his own magic wand and never once lets us down as he captures the beauty and innocence of childhood.

The best scenes have to be the quidditch matches which see Harry soar the skies on his broomstick. The aerial clashes make the premiership look far from magic.

The depiction of Hogwatrs School and the Hogwarts Express will take your breath away too.

King's Cross station will never be the same again. We'll all be looking for platform 9 3/4 where students catch the train to Hogwarts.

You'll laugh and cry with Harry as he tries to escape from his humdrum life in the muggleworld and then descends into a battle against evil.

As with the books, you will find yourself transported into another world for 150 minutes.

I didn't want this movie to end and I don't know how I'm going to be able to wait for the sequels.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the Secret Seven, Faomous Five, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and CS Lewis's Narnia all rolled into one.

I just wish i was 11 again.

Here are the verdicts of some of the stars I mingled with at the premiere last night.

((i'm going to put these under soundbites instead so check there))

JK's Tears of Triumph

by Victoria Newton

(same date, same paper same page ((23)) )

The biggest cheer of the night went to author Jk Rowling when she took to the stage before the film started.

She didn't speak to the crowd but she stood alongside director Chris Columbus who said : "Let's face it, We're here because of one person - Jk Rowling.

"You don't change Shakespear and you shouldn't change these books. This film has been a true labour of love. First and foremost it's for the fans and I'm incredibly proud of this movie."

Earlier Jk told how she had wept with reief when she saw her dream choice of actors bring her characters to life in the film.

She said: " I was extremely nervous seeing the film for the first time but I walked out of the screening slightly tear stained and happy. They really do look as I had imagined them inside my head.

"The first time I met Chris Columbus, the director, he promised he would remain as faithful to the book as he could within the constraints of film and that he would have an all-British cast. And he kept both promises."

The author, whose boyfriend Dr Neil Murray is a Harry Potter lookalike with spectacles and a dark fringe, said she was most impressed with Daniel Radcliffe who plays the young wizard.

"He is more introspective - he's the readers' eyes on the world. That's not easy to convey for any actor, let alone one of 11 or 12. Daniel has got an ability to listen and react very well on screen - and he nailed it."

Jk was also delighted at the rest of the cast, especially Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid and Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall.

She said: "I did get a lot of my dream cast. Robbie is perfect for Hagrid because he is a very loveable character but he had to have a certain toughness underneath.

"The directors have been very keen to faithfully represent the world within my books and obviously that was the quick way to my heart.

"The crux of the matter was that they did not take my characters off to do something I didn't want them to do because I am in the middle of a seven-book serries."