Released in 2001, the first Harry Potter movie, The Sorcerer's Stone, is an entry point into the fascinating Wizarding World. The movie is an easy favorite because it features compelling quotes, and memorable acting performances by actors namely, Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), and so forth.

Directed by Chris Columbus, the first Harry Potter movie became a critical and commercial success upon its release. As a matter of fact, this book-to-screen adaptation is revered to the present day. It has managed to stay timeless due to various factors, which have held up well over the past 20 years.

8 The Peek Into Harry's Life Before Hogwarts

Dudley Vernon Petunia and Harry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Harry's real test begins when he arrives at Hogwarts, shortly after turning eleven. However, that's not to say the years he spent at the Dursleys were unimportant, as the experiences shaped the wizard in him.

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After the death of Harry's parents, James and Lily, Dumbledore left him on his aunt, Petunia Dursley's doorstep. Although he condemned Harry to difficult years at the stingy Dursleys, the experiences aided in his development and he grew up into a compassionate boy. Harry's good manners in the first movie reflected that he was his parents' sweet and kind child after all, characteristics that he kept throughout his seven-year story.

7 Childhood Innocence

Hermione, Ron, and Harry talking in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the gateway to the lore that is intensely dark, and complex. It gradually introduces viewers to the brewing chaos in the Wizarding World. That being said, the first Harry Potter movie installment flawlessly explores the trope of childhood innocence, and is the most lighthearted of the films.

The screenplay carefully balances Hermione, Ron, and Harry's maturity with their innocence. Hermione thinks getting expelled is worse than getting killed, and Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan frequently run into trouble. Though the later movies get darker, the first film lets the kids be kids.

6 The Trio Is A Timeless Treat

Harry, Hermione, and Ron yell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The nostalgia associated with young Harry, Ron, and Hermione makes Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone the perfect pick-me-up. The first years are eleven to twelve years of age, and as a matter of fact, Hagrid visits Harry in the isolated hut-on-the-rock on his eleventh birthday.

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Young Harry, Hermione, and Ron are quite a trio. They retain their appeal with age, but as children who've just started at Hogwarts, they are mischievous, sassy, and funny. Older viewers can often see their younger selves in at least one of the iconic three.

5 The Trio Forges Their Bond

Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing around the Troll in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone shows how the trio forges an unbreakable bond. Harry sees Ron on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and they share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. They get into a conversation, and bond over Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and so forth. Hermione meanwhile inserts herself into their conversation and doesn't come off as particularly friendly. She's smart as a whip and knows a good deal about Hogwarts already.

The Trio becomes friends after their encounter with the troll in the bathroom. Harry and Ron rush to save Hermione, and she takes the blame, lying to McGonagall that she'd sought the mountain troll out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione become close friends in the aftermath of this troll attack.

4 A Solid Introduction

Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley and Harry at the zoo in Harry Potter.

All the above point to the fact that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a solid entry point to the magical community in which wizards and witches interact. Viewers are educated simultaneously with Harry as he finds his feet in this new setting.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone shows what it was like for Harry living in the Dursley household, who were the people who "raised" him. Despite everything he's grown into a passionate young boy, with a thirst to prove himself.

3 Funny Interactions & Quotes

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The trio interacts with each other, and with their peers, like the typical eleven-year-olds that they are. Draco Malfoy is the mean kid who sneers at his classmates. Hermione is a highbrow person and funny at the same time, and Harry is a curious young wizard.

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Ron's sense of humor is unmatched, and his interactions with Hermione are downright hilarious. Ron's quotes such as, "She [Hermione] needs to sort out her priorities," and "Mental, that one, I'm telling you." have become classics over the years. The cameraderie and rivalries between classmates are timeless.

2 Details About Voldemort's Attack

Lily Potter holds infant Harry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has a lucid structural framework. After Harry purchases his wand, he tells Hagrid that the one who murdered his parents is who gave him the forehead scar.

Hagrid tells Harry about the dark side of the Wizarding World and about the attack at Godric's Hollow. Hagrid's commentary accompanies the montage of the events that went down at the Potters' home and concludes with Voldemort about to cast the Killing Curse on baby Harry Potter. It's foreboding, and hints at the dark themes that come in later stories.

1 Its Lighthearted Tone

Hagrid tries to hatch a dragon egg in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Above all, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a lighthearted movie and a visual treat. It perfectly lays the groundwork for the franchise, without delving into the darkest elements of the lore.

The first Harry Potter movie, among other things, introduces viewers to the best teachers at Hogwarts, Severus Snape's icy exterior, the good-for-nothing Dudley Dursley and Hagrid's love for animals. It lays out all the important aspects of the world without overwhelming viewers, and lays the groundwork for everything that comes later.

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