Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is 18 years old and it's hard to separate it from the rest of the (what has now become) Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The great thing about this film is that it still feels grandiose and awe inspiring. We get so many beautiful and deep locations that are very memorable, probably even more than what story points happen there. There aren't any performances to complain about, the score is wonderful, and of course the plot is great. The issues fall more on the technical side of the movie. For the most part, the CGI stuff isn't bad, except for one very, very bad set of character models. Every time they try to use CGI models of the characters, they look terrible. Just in case there is someone who doesn't know what happens in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, I'll keep the specifics vague, but the best example is CGI Neville. The other big issue is how choppy the movie is. Chris Columbus has explained why scenes are so choppy (child actors are inexperienced and can't work as long so he had multiple cameras going and jumped back and forth to capture the expressions he was looking for), but the story itself feels very choppy. It doesn't quite feel like a full movie, but more like a a series of scenes. There are no scenes that are not entirely plot focused and there are no side plots. Hermione will say "we need to go to the library" and then we cut to them at the library. I understand that it is already a two and a half hour movie, but other than the few Quidditch spots, we never get to look around and round out the world. We are constantly jumping from place to place and scene to scene with zero breaks. We see the trio in Transfiguration and cut to them in Potions and cut to them in Charms. There are never any transitions or even transitory scenes. The only time we even see characters in the hallway is when they are giving us exposition and we have no idea where they've been and where they are going. This really distorts time in the film. We have no idea how much time is between scenes. It's the first day of school and twenty minutes later it's Halloween, then another fifteen and it's Christmas, and then we have no idea even what season it is until it's time for them to go home. The two and a half hours do fly by and feel like much less, but a huge part of that is because scenes are never contextualized and we just shoot through the story. I had a few other issues, mostly "Why don't the just..." things like " Why does Ron have to be on the horse?" and stupid logical errors like when they are walking up the staircase and it pivots to another platform, they walk up it and Harry says something along the lines of "It feel like we aren't supposed to be here" and Hermione says they aren't, because this is the fourth floor and it's off limits. They were already going up the stairs to the fourth floor when the stairs moved, the only thing that changed was where on the fourth floor the stairs let them out, which is just around the corner from where they lead before. They act surprised that the stairs have now put them on the fourth floor, but that is what those stairs have always done. It's been long enough for them to know their way around, so they know where those stairs go, they know they are going up to the fourth floor. Also, why wouldn't they just stop and wait for the stairs to move back? There are only two platforms that that staircase pivots between, so just wait until it moves back. You know, stupid things that you aren't supposed to care about, but I'm a nitpicking bastard and I can't help but notice. There are few movies that are so captivating and awesome that they draw you in and you don't even notice that two and a half hours have gone buy. It definitely has issues, but it is so easy to get engrossed in beautiful locations like the Great Hall and the Forbidden Forrest and characters that are so solid that you now who they are within their first three minutes. Seriously, even if you have never heard of the very idea of Harry Potter, you feel like you have known Hermione forever after her first scene on the train. Snape walks from the door of his classroom to the front and you know exactly what kind of person he is. The only real issues stem from the young cast being inexperienced and the fact that it was made in the early 2000's. Until 2060, when we are knee deep in season on of Harry Potter on HBO, there will never be a film that can capture the wonder and beauty of Harry Potter.