The Polar Express

This Holiday Season... Believe.

MPAA Rating: PG

IMDB Rating: 6.6 / 10

Length: 100 min

Tags: adventure, family, fantasy, animation

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers:

Cast:

Hero Boy
(Tom Hanks)
Conductor
(Leslie Zemeckis)
Hobo
(Eddie Deezen)
Scrooge
(Nona Gaye)
Santa Claus
(Peter Scolari)
Sister Sarah
(Andy Pellick)
Know-It-All
(Josh Eli)
Hero Girl
(Mark Mendonca)
Billy - Lonely Boy
(Peter Scolari)
Pastry Chef
(Andy Pellick)
Waiter
(Josh Eli)
Smokey / Steamer
(Michael Jeter)

Editor Review

One of the more unique Christmas films of modern times, The Polar Express, is an interesting blend of live action and animation. The actors were first shot on camera, and then the action was transferred to computer-animation via motion capture.


The film features a young Michigan boy, simply called Hero Boy, sceptical about the true magic of Christmas. He boards a mystical train for the North Pole in an attempt to rediscover it. On the train he befriends a group of children on their way to see Santa Claus, especially a young girl. Tom Hanks plays their mentor, the conductor on the train, along with five additional roles in the film, ranging from a hobo to a certain jolly, fat man...

The film is adapted from Chris Van Allsburg's book of the same name, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, who is a long-time Hanks collaborator, including such films as Cast Away and Forrest Gump.

The film did not convince the audience on its first run, and has received some mixed reviews. It was considered a failure by some critics, but it has since gained cult following, and is considered as one of the best modern Christmas movies.

The film harbours - and it must - a great love for trains, with some fine detail of the locomotive. Iteven basing the main infrastructure of the film on famous and dazzling train station buildings, such as the Pullman plant Train manufacturer in Chicago, IL being used as inspiration for one particular city's architecture.

The train encounters rollercoaster turns and dips, has Hero Boy providing some hair-raising acrobatics on skis, and even has a song by Hanks, who has dancing waiters perform a song about hot chocolate as they serve it for the children. What more could anyone ask for?

The film cost a steep $170 million, and barely made its money back, but we all know that profits shouldn't be how we calculate quality in the film industry. If only if Hollywood bigwigs knew the same.
Whatever people may say, this is a snowy Christmas tale with a warm heart.

Fun Facts:

All of the roles of children in the film were actually played by adults, who acted with over-sized props to get the scale and movement correct for a child's action.

It was the first mainstream film to be simultaneously released in 3D IMAX, as in 2D in theatres.

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