The Polar Express Collection

Tom Hanks

Leslie Zemeckis

Eddie Deezen

Nona Gaye

Peter Scolari

Michael Jeter

Josh Hutcherson

Daryl Sabara

Jimmy Bennett

Tinashe

Brendan King

Andy Pellick

Josh Eli

Mark Mendonca

Rolondas Hendricks

Mark Goodman

Jon Scott

Gregory Gast

Sean Scott

Gordon Hart

Chris Coppola

Julene Renee

Charles Fleischer

Steven Tyler

Phil Fondacaro

Debbie Lee Carrington

Mark Povinelli

Ed Gale

Dante Pastula

André Sogliuzzo

Isabella Peregrina

Eric Newton

Aidan O'Shea

Aaron Hendry

Kevin C. Carr

Bee Jay Joyer

Jena Carpenter

Karine Mauffrey

Elisabeth P. Carpenter

Bill Forchion

Devin Henderson

Sagiv Ben-Binyamin

Ashly Holloway

Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak

Chantel Valdivieso

Hayden McFarland

Connor Matheus

Evan Sabara

Jack Angel

Rodger Bumpass

Dylan Cash

Cody Klop

Patrick Stogner

Robert Zemeckis

William Broyles Jr.

Gary Goetzman

Steve Starkey

William Teitler

Chris Van Allsburg

Jack Rapke

Alan Silvestri

Don Burgess

Robert Presley

R. Orlando Duenas

Jeremiah O'Driscoll

Scot Boland

Victoria Burrows

Rick Carter

Doug Chiang

Karen O'Hara

Joanna Johnston

Brian Magerkurth

Steven J. Boyd

Debbie Denise

Josh McLaglen

Peter M. Tobyansen

Tony Fanning

James Hegedus

Alicia Maccarone

Norman Newberry

Erin Collins Butler

Diana Goodwin

Mike Stassi

Andrew L. Jones

John P. Goldsmith

Scott Herbertson

Jim Wallis

Pamela Wise

John Carrafa

Luca Kouimelis

Patrick B. O'Brien

François Duhamel

David Schaub

Rob Bredow

Mark Lambert

Alberto Menache

Sean Phillips

Martin A. Kline

Craig Sost

Scott Guitteau

David C. Hughes

Tom Johnson

Dennis Sands

Randy Thom

Dennis Leonard

Kathryn Blondell

Alison Learned Wolf

John Villarino

Glen Ballard

Rick Kelly

Chris Juen

Vladimir Todorov

George Denes Suhayda

Jackson Bishop

Jeffrey Beck

Cathlyn Marshall

Todd Cherniawsky

Smokey Stover

Kenneth A. Larson

Masako Masuda

Kseniya Hoppe

Alex Olivares

Stephen M. Rickert Jr.

Ryan Chan

Timothy Eaton

Fernando Benítez

Juan Gonzalez

Corey Hels

Maks Naporowski

Carlos Pedroza

Joseph Thomas

William B. Kaplan

Cary Weitz

Robin L. Miller

Deborah La Mia Denaver

Daniel C. Striepeke

Audrey L. Anzures

Steven C. McGee

Bradlee Thomas Emmons III

Michael J. Coo

Mark P. Coo

Michael Lantieri

Gabriela Ríos

Jane E. Russell

Josh Einsohn

Animation

Adventure

Family

Fantasy

The Polar Express

Golden Mean

Playtone

ImageMovers

Castle Rock Entertainment

Shangri-La Entertainment

United States of America

***Some kids with creepy dead eyes take a dreamlike trip to the North Pole on The Polar Express*** 

A boy from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is at the age where he no longer believes in Christmas, as far as Santa, his elves and flying reindeer go, but a magical train appears in front of his home on Christmas Eve and whisks him away on an adventurous trip to the North Pole with several other kids.

“The Polar Express” (2004) was based on the 1985 Christmas book and was the first mainline movie to use motion capture animation for all its characters beginning to end (think Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy). Some people think the animation is weak, but I feel it creates its own world and has its own charm. It holds up as long as you can adapt to those creepy dead eyes of the characters.

Some people love this movie while others think it’s weird, like a Twilight Zone Christmas flick. Roger Ebert, for instance, loved it and gave it a perfect grade. I’m sorta in the middle. I see its good points and appreciate them, like the haunting winter ambiance, parts of the trip to the North Pole (e.g. the quasi-rollercoaster ride) and the kids’ investigation of the Christmas factory. But there are some meh parts and dubious sections like the whole last act with the multitude of elves and the towering Santa who looked like he was modeled after 6’5” Christopher Lee with a pillow strapped to his mid-section.

The movie’s interesting in some ways but also quaint in a cheesy way, as well as peculiar and lifeless.

The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes.

GRADE: C

No matter how many times I watch this, it always brought me to tears!

I only wish that I got to see it in 3D at the cinema.

Peter McGinn

Watching The Polar Express is not an annual event for me, but I believe I have seen it three times and would not nix the idea if someone were to suggest watching it again.  I feel a connection to it for an odd reason: my wife and I volunteered one Christmas season to be elves serving cocoa and dancing for an actual Polar Express narrow gauge train ride when we lived in Maine. (Though I can assure you our dancing was not as acrobatic as what you see in this movie.)

The animation feels a little odd at first, but I stop noticing it each time I watch it. The story turns the train trip to the North Pole into a real thrill ride for the children on board, especially for our hero boy, voiced by Tom Hanks. In fact, if you are a Hanks fan, settle in, because he does multiple voices here, including one that sounds remarkably like Gilbert Godfrey to me.

I try to avoid punching holes in the plots of Christmas movies. Half the point is that they will include unlikely events all leading to the miracle of Christmas ending. You want logic; pull out the old algebra textbook!

CinemaSerf

A young man is all excited as he heads to bed on Christmas eve. His sleep is disturbed though, when his house starts to shake. He bounds to the window whereupon he sees the arrival of a great train, one he quickly discovers is heading on to the North Pole. Safely aboard he encounters other children and adventure beckons as they learn that one child will get to meet Santa Claus himself before he embarks on his global deliveries! I didn't love this film. I found the rather sharp, linear, facial animations a bit too sterile and there is way too much chatter with not enough going on. I can play chase the ticket once, but after a while that became little better than a clunky conduit for the rather episodic nature of the narrative. I'm sure that technically it is a masterpiece of CGI and human interaction, but somehow it all just left me feeling that the cheesy sentiment overwhelmed it with it's messages of teamwork and the Christmas spirit well and truly over-egged. Alan Silvestri has provided a nice score, and when the animation scenes focus on the actual train then it does liven up a bit, but sorry - for the most part I wasn't sold.