The Harry Potter films have always provided an immersive experience for their viewers. Making the watcher feel like they are right there with the golden trio, all of the films have an essence that helps them feel real in the most magical ways possible. This is especially true for Chris Columbus’s films, as the audience gets to explore a completely new world through the eyes of The Boy Who Lived.
A huge contributor to a good and immersive fantasy film has to be its visual effects; being able to make or break a movie. If the visual effects are not good, no amount of Oscar-winning acting and world-building can save a project.
While all of the Harry Potter films have been praised for their CGI, there seems to be one film that Columbus wasn’t all too happy with. What is even more surprising is that the film ended up winning a Bafta Award for the same thing.
Chris Columbus Wasn’t Happy With The First Harry Potter Film
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is one of the most iconic and culturally significant films of all time. Despite this, its director, Chris Columbus, wasn’t very proud of the way that the movie ended up looking by the end. When one is working on a movie set, there are a number of deadlines that need to be met. While this can help increase the efficiency of those on set, it can also cause many to rush to the job at the expense of the quality.
During an interview with HollywoodLife, Columbus revealed that he had a similar experience on the set of the first Harry Potter film. This was especially true for the visual effects that ended up making it into the final product, revealing that he still thinks back to the first Quidditch match in the series.
There is a part of me that particularly wants to get back into the Quidditch match, which we didn’t have enough time in visual effects to finish properly.
Columbus wasn’t very happy with how the movie ended up looking by the end when it came to its CGI. Knowing that he could have done a better job, despite the technological limitations at the time is quite impressive.
Chris Columbus Would Want To Remaster The Harry Potter Films
When directors and filmmakers are not happy with the visual effects of the final product of their films, they often go back years after their release and fix their mistakes. During the interview, Chris Columbus was asked if he would be interested in doing something like that with the first two Harry Potter films, and his answer may make many fans happy.
The director revealed that he would completely be on board for something like that, loving the idea of fixing the things that he was unable to when he was first working on the movie. However, there was one thing that held him back; the fans.
Columbus revealed that he did not want to mess with the fond memories fans had with the franchise. Since the film’s visual effects were a product of their time, he does not want to modernize them just for the sake of some personal satisfaction.
So, I would like to go back and dabble with that a little bit but there is that thing where, ‘Do you mess with people’s memories?’ You don’t want to do that either.
Instead, he understood that the fans hold these movies very dear to them, just the way that they are. Messing with those memories would only bring about outrage.
All Harry Potter films are available for streaming on Max.
