Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (PG)

Orphaned baby grows up to be famous kid-wizard, goes to spell school, makes chums, attracts enemies, larks about on broomsticks, fights off the forces of evil and heads home in time for tea. How many times have we seen this tale? Many actually, but that's the beauty of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone - - whether on page or screen, it's as cosy as going to your Gran's for fish fingers and chips. Even if Chris Columbus' mechanical direction strips JK Rowling's tale of some of its magic.

DVD Extras:

Trailers, deleted scenes, Self-Guided Tour Of Hogwarts, Self-Guided Tour of Hagrid's Hut, crew interviews, Catch The GoldenSnitch game, Choose A Wand, Meet The Ghosts Of Hogwarts, production drawings, dubbed scenes, Create Potions, Sneak Past Fluffy And Other Challenges, DVD-ROM features.Those looking for an exposé on behind-the-scenes technical wizardry will be disappointed with this double-disc set (available in both widescreen and pan-and-scan formats): 20 minutes' worth of filmmaker interviews is your lot. There's no commentary, no Making Of... and no apologies. Warner Bros have gone to great pains to maintain the allure of Harry's universe - this is a DVD that further immerses the viewer in the world of Hogwarts rather than pulling back the curtain to reveal its secrets.Skipping past the trailers on disc one, the magical mystery tour proper begins on the second disc. Carry On veteran Jim Dale guides all us wannabe wizards and witches through everything we need to know. Head to Diagon Alley to pick up your wand - but only if you can remember how to open the wall. Get shuffled into a Hogwarts house by the Sorting Hat. Catch that Golden Snitch! Brush up on spells in the library then head to class. On the way you'll be given clues that tell you how to evade the obstacles between you and your ultimate goal - the Philosopher's Stone (and seven deleted scenes). Navigation through the games and puzzles is unbelievably smooth - real thought has gone into making this a triumph of interactivity. Best of all are the Hogwarts and Hagrid's hut tours, which let you linger over the sets and zoom in for the details. Older viewers may tire of all the games - - once you've negotiated them once, much of the fun goes out of it. Even so, this will deservedly shift bucketloads. Fifty points to Gryffindor!

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