4 Reasons why Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone feels like pure magic in movie form

Why does Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone feel different compared to the other seven films? There’s something about it. Maybe it’s more than just nostalgia. Maybe it’s more than that. Either way, two decades later, we’re still talking about it. And for good reason.

1. The music that wrapped it all in awe

You hear the initial strains of "Hedwig's Theme" and can't tell me that you don't feel anything. John Williams did not write a score, he wrote an emotion.

There is an unnerving silence as Harry sneaks by the Restricted Section. The wistful, bittersweet beauty of "Leaving Hogwarts" (which, we confess it, still makes grown people cry). The music was never background, but magic!

"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home"

J.K. Rowling

2. Nostalgia hits like a time turner

Ever sit and watch a movie and, suddenly, years disappear and you're a kid again, cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV set, heart full of magic? That's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It doesn't take you away; it is like being a kid. Before the wars, and the deceit, before destiny's weight had been placed on Harry's shoulders, there were floating candles, a banquet that had no end, an owl tapping on a windowpane.

This is not one of the later movies that accepted darkness. This is a bedtime story. A fairy tale you can walk into, no matter your age.

3. A myth that became modern legend

Here's an interesting fact before Harry Potter, there was no mention of a Sorcerer's Stone. That one was invented for the Americans. But the Philosopher's Stone? That's alchemy, straight out of medieval books. People used to believe that it would transmute metal into gold, make them immortal. Nicholas Flamel? Not just a character in a book, he was real.

J.K. Rowling borrowed but didn't pilfer. She used a less well-known myth and wove it so intensely into modern-day fantasy that today, when hearing a reference to the Philosopher's Stone, one automatically thinks Harry Potter. That is the influence of storytelling.

4. Chris Columbus - The man who built the Magic

Chris Columbus is owed more credit. Not only did he direct this movie, but he also produced it. The golden light of the Great Hall, the raw magic of Diagon Alley, the sense that every corner of Hogwarts contained a secret that was just waiting to be discovered. It was a world you didn't want to leave.

Later directors added grime, but Columbus? He gave us the dream and the Hogwarts we all wanted to go to.

And now? With a new adaptation in the works, the question isn't so much will it be good—but can it ever recapture this?