Roger Ebert called "Philosopher's Stone" "a classic," giving the film four out of four stars, and particularly praising the Quidditch scenes' visual effects. Praise was echoed by both "The Telegraph" and "Empire" reviewers, with Alan Morrison of the latter naming it the film's "stand-out sequence". Brian Linder of "IGN" also gave the film a positive review, but concluded that it "isn't perfect, but for me it's a nice supplement to a book series that I love". Although criticising the final half-hour, Jeanne Aufmuth of "Palo Alto Online" stated that the film would "enchant even the most cynical of moviegoers." "USA Today" reviewer Claudia Puig gave the film three out of four stars, especially praising the set design and Robbie Coltrane's portrayal of Hagrid, but criticised John Williams' score and concluded "ultimately many of the book's readers may wish for a more magical incarnation." The sets, design, cinematography, effects and principal cast were all given praise from Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter", although he deemed John Williams' score "a great clanging, banging music box that simply will not shut up." Todd McCarthy of "Variety" compared the film positively with "Gone with the Wind" and put "The script is faithful, the actors are just right, the sets, costumes, makeup and effects match and sometimes exceed anything one could imagine." Jonathan Foreman of the "New York Post" recalled that the film was "remarkably faithful," to its literary counterpart as well as a "consistently entertaining if overlong adaptation."